Reflections on zero and zero-centered spirituality in organizations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to invite managers and practitioners to reflect on the meaning and implications of the concept of zero for individual and organizational spiritual growth. Design/methodology/approach – Building on spirituality and complexity literatures, this paper stimulates non-traditional thinking in organizational change and leadership. The paper uses the concept of zero as a creative metaphor for organizational development. Findings – The paper introduces a systemic, unified, multidimensional, holistic, complex, chaotic and dynamic paradigm for organizations based on spirituality: paradigm zero. Zero represents paradox, transcendence, interconnectedness, balance, modesty, creativity, inspiration, and the essence and mystery of human existence. Practical implications – This paper invites managers to consider a futurist perspective called zero-centered thinking that enables creativity and reflection in the middle of complexity. Originality/value – This paper builds on cutting edge spirituality and complexity concepts to enable new thinking for twenty-first century managers and professionals. Zero philosophy provides organizations a new trans-disciplinary paradigm based on spirituality, complexity, chaos, systems sciences, quantum physics, emergence, and Sufism.