CONTENTS
Foreword ix
PART ONE: An Introduction to Suffering, Compassion, and Work 1
1 What Is Compassion at Work? 3
2 Does Compassion at Work Really Matter? 13
PART TWO: Awakening Compassion in Our Work Lives 31
3 Noticing: The Portal to Awakening Compassion 33
4 Interpreting: The Key to Responding with Compassion 43
5 Feeling: The Bridge to Compassionate Action 59
6 Acting: The Moves That Alleviate Suffering at Work 75
PART THREE: Awakening Compassion Competence in Organizations 93
7 Envisioning Compassion Competence 95
8 Understanding Compassion Competence 113
9 Designing for Compassion Competence 133
10 Leading for Compassion Competence 165
PART FOUR: Blueprints for Awakening Compassion at Work 189
11 Your Personal Blueprint for Compassion at Work 191
12 Your Organization’s Blueprint for Competence 195
13 Overcoming Obstacles to Compassion at Work 207
EPILOGUE: A Call to Awaken 221
Notes 225
Acknowledgments 240
Index 243
About the Authors 251
Monica C. Worline, PhD, is CEO of EnlivenWork. She is a research
scientist at Stanford University's Center for Compassion and
Altruism Research and Education and Executive Director of
CompassionLab.
Jane E. Dutton, PhD, is the Robert L. Kahn Distinguished University
Professor of Business Administration and Psychology and cofounder
of the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of
Michigan's Ross School of Business; she is also a founding member
of CompassionLab.
Foreword author Raj Sisodia is a professor at Babson College and
the co-founder of Conscious Capitalism, Inc.
2017 Silver Nautilus Award Winner in the Business & Leadership
category.
“A remarkably thorough and compelling read that will remind you how
much more potential exists if we can bring more care and compassion
into our organizations.”
—Tom Rath, New York Times bestselling author of StrengthsFinder
2.0
“Awakening Compassion at Work takes a candid look at both the joy
and the suffering present in our workplaces. How we frankly
acknowledge that suffering and transform it is a critical
competency for any leader in the 21st century. This book is a
marvelous guide for that transformation.”
—Pat Christen, Managing Director, The Omidyar Group
“The definitive guide to research and practice on unleashing
compassion at work. The world’s leading experts reveal how we can
build teams and organizations where people stop checking their
values at the office door and start caring about each other.”
—Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Give
and Take and Originals
“Work is a place where most of us spend a large percentage of our
waking hours. Yet for many, the workplace remains a source of
stress and anxiety. In their landmark book, Worline and Dutton give
us an overview of the problem and science based solutions. It will
help individuals not only in the workplace but in their lives. For
the employer, it is a powerful tool to give employees meaning in
their work and to increase creativity, productivity, and ultimately
shareholder value.”
—James R. Doty, MD, Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery and founder
and Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and
Education, Stanford University School of Medicine, and New York
Times bestselling author of Into the Magic Shop
“The go-to book on the hottest new trend in the corporate world:
compassion. Worline and Dutton have spent years researching
positive deviance: how to bring greater humanity to the workplace.
Their work is groundbreaking: a compassionate workplace is happier,
healthier, and more productive. Packed with real-world examples of
the many companies they have advised and researched, Awakening
Compassion at Work is for all those who want to see themselves and
their company succeed to its full potential.”
—Emma Seppälä, PhD, Science Director, Center for Compassion and
Altruism Research and Education, Stanford University, and author of
The Happiness Track
“In today’s ever so fast-paced, technological, and profit-driven
world, our humanity in the workplace is all too often passed over
or even forgotten. Awakening Compassion at Work not only contains
memorable examples of noticing, interpreting, feeling, and acting
on suffering in the workplace but also provides a toolkit for
engaging colleagues in using compassionate actions to create new
norms and routines that nurture our bonding together and resilience
to innovate, collaborate, and improve our work environment. I
highly recommend that you read this enjoyable and forward-thinking
book to awaken your compassionate self, not only at work, but also
at home.”
—Roger Newton, Executive Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer,
Esperion Therapeutics, Inc.
“Seldom do we get a gift that helps us step outside of our
self-centered lives into noticing and caring about others—beyond
feeling for them to helping reduce suffering and make others’ lives
and work fulfilling. Worline and Dutton offer us the emotional glue
that binds our social fabric in organizations and cultures through
compassion. Steeped in rigorous research but without the
obfuscation of academia, the book draws you in with engaging
stories and gives you hope with the authors’ exercises and guidance
in how to reduce the toxicity of guilt and blame and create a new
social architecture of caring. Read it—it will fill your soul!”
—Richard Boyatzis, PhD, Distinguished University Professor,
Departments of Psychology, Cognitive Science, and Organizational
Behavior, Case Western Reserve University, and coauthor of Primal
Leadership
“Monica Worline and Jane Dutton are the world’s experts on the
subject of compassion in organizations. Theirs was the first
research conducted on this topic almost two decades ago, and their
insight and practical wisdom is captured in this volume. This is
the statement on what we know and what we can do about the subject
of compassion in organizations.”
—Kim Cameron, PhD, William Russell Kelly Professor of Management
and Organizations, Ross School of Business, and Professor of Higher
Education, School of Education, University of Michigan
“With Awakening Compassion at Work, Monica Worline and Jane Dutton
bring to bear their academic brilliance, sizable hands-on
experience in business and psychology, and a gift for getting to
the core of a principle that is essential to individual and
organizational success. Using in-depth research, collaborative
explorations in first-rate organizations, a boatload of meaningful
and moving examples, and practical guidelines for igniting the
remarkable power of compassion, the authors have fashioned an
essential, pragmatic, and fascinating book that will be riveting
reading for anyone in the workplace.”
—Ari Cowan, Director General, The International Center for
Compassionate Organizations
“In our rapid-change, hypercompetitive, and global economy,
encountering a compassionate leader can be rare; being embraced
within a compassionate organization culture even more so. In
contrast to this harsh organizational anthropology, Worline and
Dutton set forth with conceptual clarity and rich exemplification
practices that empirically lead toward a compassionate
organizational milieu. Any leader perusing this manuscript will
experience a shift in consciousness. Enacting the new wisdom will
radically change an organization’s culture.”
—André L. Delbecq, PhD, Professor of Management and Senior Fellow,
Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education, Santa Clara University
“If you are one of the many who think compassion has no place in
business, read this book. Extraordinary performance comes from
tapping into the full power of your team. After more than thirty
years in business, one thing is clear to me: compassion is central
in a culture that gets extraordinary results.”
—David Drews, founder and CE0, Justus Equity, LLC
“Suffering is inevitable and can reveal itself anytime, anywhere.
This inspiring book will transport you into work worlds that dare
to care. Discoveries from the Compassion Lab spring to life in
vivid stories of how compassion and work go hand in hand in
successful organizations. Most importantly, Worline and Dutton
offer practical guidance on how to reshape the social architecture
of your organizations to support the improvisation of authentic
compassionate acts. This book holds the power to open hearts
worldwide.”
—Barbara L. Fredrickson, PhD, Kenan Distinguished Professor of
Psychology and Neuroscience, The University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, and author of Positivity and Love 2.0
“Groundbreaking! Based on fifteen years of scholarly research, this
book makes the case for compassion in the workplace—both
interpersonally and systemically—and offers a clear blueprint for
how to do it. The authors offer design principles and nuanced
examples that reflect the day-to-day reality of organizational
life, encouraging and empowering readers to go out and try it for
themselves. This book is destined to change many lives for the
better.”
—Christopher Germer, PhD, faculty, Harvard Medical School, author
of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion, and co-editor of
Mindfulness and Psychotherapy
“What we produce and how we produce the goods and services all
around us is one of the most important human issues of our age.
From the sweatshops of Asia to the boardrooms of high technology,
we know that there can be considerable competitive pressures that
cause great stress and at times deeply immoral behavior. Dutton and
Worline are world leaders and pioneers in the extraordinarily
important turn toward more compassionate work. Here is a book that
outlines in detail some of the challenges a compassionate approach
to work confronts and how to deal with them. This is an outstanding
book that will be a classic for years to come. It will aid greatly
the human endeavor to create a more compassionate world.”
—Paul Gilbert, PhD, FBPsS, OBE, Professor, Centre for Compassion
Research and Training, College of Health and Social Care Research
Centre, University of Derby
“Hurrah! Worline and Dutton have made the business case for
compassion and created a road map for bringing it to life in any
organization. Their courage and clear seeing lead us to a more
productive and positive future.”
—Edi Pasalis, MBA, MTS, Director, Kripalu Institute for
Extraordinary Living
“Workplaces are often toxic and actually give rise to human
suffering. Drawing on extensive research, the authors show the many
positive outcomes of recognizing and confronting this truth. With
great skill they show us how to create organizations that alleviate
suffering and awaken compassion. This is a must-read that will be
with us for a very long time.”
—Robert E. Quinn, PhD, Professor, Ross School of Business,
University of Michigan, and author of The Positive Organization
“The value of this book is that it clearly articulates not only why
but how to stimulate cultural elements that will make alleviation
of suffering through compassion an everyday occurrence for any
organization that desires to do so. I am blown away with the
authors’ ability to move this complex and oft-avoided concept of
compassion into an easily accessible initiative for any
organization. Not only does this benefit individuals experiencing
suffering, but thanks to the clear strategies for implementation,
profound cultural strengthening can occur.”
—Fred Keller, founder and Chair, Cascade Engineering
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