Alan Briskin

Alan Briskin is an organizational consultant and author or co-author of a number of books relating to organizational theory including: The Stirring of Soul in the Workplace and The Power of Collective Wisdom: And the Trap of Collective Folly. Briskin also co-wrote Daily Miracles and Bringing Your Soul to Work: An Everyday Practice.

Briskin attended Goddard College in Vermont finishing with a degree in Education, and earned his Masters and Doctorate degrees in Psychology at The Wright Institute in Berkeley, California.

In his early career, Briskin directed a youth educational program in a group home in Plainfield, Vermont. He later went on to direct a vocational program for inmates at the St Johnsbury Correctional Center in Vermont. Briskin is the founder of a consulting practice based in Oakland, California. His book, Daily Miracles: Stories and Practices of Humanity and Excellence in Health Care, co-authored with Jan Boller, won the American Journal of Nursing’s 'Book of the Year Award for Public Interest', and was chosen as the President’s Pick by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.Briskin's published books, including The Stirring of Soul in the Workplace and The Power of Collective Wisdom, explore the role of meaning, purpose, and collective wisdom in the work environment.

In the late 1990s, Briskin helped Saybrook University to develop its first Masters and Doctoral programs in Organizational Systems. The programs were related to Saybrook's field of organizational leadership and transformation, and Briskin remains on the faculty as an adjunct professor.

Briskin was co-founder of the Collective Wisdom Initiative, sponsored by the Fetzer Institute, and from this research co-authored The Power of Collective Wisdom.

Briskin has written about how organisations function, with a particular focus on integrating the individual’s spirit or soul, into the workplace. He has proposed that as organizations developed historically, uniformity and a dedication to efficiency resulted in a loss of individualism among employees. This approach focused primarily on operational mechanics, such as goals, organizational charts, and job descriptions and saw employees as an issue that needed to be addressed rather than as a resource to be nurtured. Instead organizations should concentrate on developing individuals to enable each person to become a change leader with the agency to take responsibility and initiate change.

In Briskin's view, by ignoring emotions organizations created environments where negative emotions like increased anger flourished among employees. According to Briskin, a holistic view would see organizations incorporating the spirit and soul into the working environment. Briskin has also written about collective wisdom and collective folly, encouraging individuals within organisations to listen to other groups.

Briskin’s theories were utilized by Naomi Parkerson, Director of Human Resources, at the Private Urban University, along with those of Danah Zohar and were the basis for introducing wellness offerings that successfully increased employee satisfaction. Briskin has also worked with the George Lucas Educational Foundation, Kaiser Permanente and the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco.

• The Stirring of Soul in the Workplace, Jossey-Bass (1996), Berrett-Koehler (1998)
• Bringing Your Soul to Work: An Everyday Practice, Berrett-Koehler (2000) [with co-author Cheryl Peppers]
• Centered on the Edge: Mapping a Field of Collective Intelligence and Spiritual Wisdom (2001) [with co-author Sheryl Erickson]
• Daily Miracles: Stories and Practices of Humanity and Excellence in Health Care, Sigma Theta Tau, Honor Society of Nursing (2006) [with co-author Jan Boller, RN, Ph.D.]
• The Power of Collective Wisdom: And the Trap of Collective Folly, Berrett-Koehler (2009) [with co-authors Sheryl Erickson, John Ott, Tom Callanan]
• Deep Dialogue: Harvesting Collective Wisdom in The Transforming Leader: New Approaches to Leadership for the Twenty-First Century, edited by Carol Pearson, Berret-Koehler (2012)

• Briskin recognized as Noted Humanist Scholar by Saybrook University, 1997
• Award of Excellence for The Stirring of Soul in the Workplace, from Body, Mind, Spirit Journal in category of Business, 1997
• Book of the Year for Daily Miracles, from American Journal of Nursing in the category of Public Interest and Creative Works, 2007
• Silver Award Winner for The Power of Collective Wisdom, from Nautilus Book Award in the category of Conscious Business and Leadership, 2010
• Advisor, Goi Peace Foundation

• "The Stirring of Soul in the Workplace". Retrieved 19 December 2014. 
• "Book of the Year Awards-AJN, American Journal of Nursing". Retrieved 16 December 2014. 
• "BK Book & Author Awards". Retrieved 19 December 2014. 
• Carol Pearson (2012). The Transforming Leader: New Approaches to Leadership for the Twenty-first Century. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. ISBN 978-1-60994-120-8.