Abstract
While the field of management, spirituality and religion has developed greatly during the last decades with an increasingly number of publications in special outlets as well as in highly ranked journals, the bulk of the research on workplace spirituality still relies heavily on the use of quantitative methods. The field is struggling to find methods, which allow an in-depth, first- person understanding of how spirituality relates to work. With this paper, I hope to contribute to the advancement of alternative research methods by proposing a novel and innovative approach to data generation. The suggested approach takes departure in action research and, especially, the notion of clinical inquiry, defined by Edgar Schein as “gathering useful data in settings that are defined by 'clients' who are seeking help”. If the helping process is perceived as successful, the clients will be motivated to reveal more relevant, in-depth data, also when it comes to sensitive issues, which are usually not within research of traditional research methods. In order to illustrate the approach, I draw on a longitudinal study in which the approach was used to help business leaders to integrate insights from spiritual development into their working life. This paper focuses on (1) how a clinical group setting was created, (2) the design of the intervention, (3) a particular technique called “project discussions” was employed to help clients, and (4) how the use of these techniques provided an opportunity for data generation. It is concluded clinical group setting fulfills the function of a holding environment, a safe space in the borderland between spirituality and business, which allowed them to find support in their developments. As a consequence, in-depth data about how these developments came about could be generated. I also argue that the proposed approach may be a viable way for researchers’ with the dual vocation of both facilitating change and creating academic knowledge about that change. This means, in my case, to carry out research with a method that comes straight from the heart.