James Bampfield

Speaker
Dutch
English
Photo of James Bampfield

Who is James Bampfield?

James is a British writer, thinker and coach who helps companies to play a more comprehensive and positive role. “Pleasure at work” is not a hollow slogan. After a classic British education (which involved studying at Cambridge), he spent ten years exploring the world. He then specialised in organising and facilitating change in Flemish companies, NGOs and public authorities. He is the co-founder of Quinx, an international consultancy organisation. During his lectures, he shows how you can be authentic and open at work, taking pleasure in it at the same time.

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    Yin and yang in daily life and on the work floor

    Yin and yang are two well-known terms from Taoism. According to this philosophy, people will be healthy and happy if they find a balance between male (yang) and female (yin) characteristics. Every man and woman possesses both complementary characteristics. Taoism says that the balance between yin and yang is essential in every aspect of the universe. You could describe yin as connectedness and yang as decisiveness. Many problems in Western society can be attributed to an absence of this balance. For instance, burnouts and inefficient or rudderless organisations. In the West, the business world has traditionally focused on yang qualities such as competitiveness, growth and hierarchy. Too much yang results in recklessness; too much yin in stagnation. James Bampfield helps people and organisations to understand where this balance has been lost and shows the best way to create harmony between both characteristics.

    Pleasure at work

    Why is pleasure at work so important? Why do people not (or no longer) have pleasure at work? How can organisations build a pleasure-reinforcing culture? Pleasure is often the polar opposite of work: “Work first, then play…” However, in the right circumstances, work can be the biggest source of pleasure that people can experience. Use the tools that James has discovered to tap into these sources. This lecture is intended for all kinds of people, including care providers, educators and managers, and is particularly useful in Flemish business culture where duty, sacrifice and routine are normally prioritised above pleasure.

    The joy of giving

    During this lecture on ‘The joy of giving’, James Bampfield tries to banish the idea that it is selfish to pursue pleasure. Serving others is also accompanied by a specific, deeper form of inner pleasure. Charity is often associated with guilt, duty and self-sacrifice. This presentation adopts an alternative view to the generally accepted idea of ‘giving’. It teaches people how they can use privileges wisely and enjoyably.

    The role and importance of pleasure

    Chocolate, sex, volunteer work, sport, art, spiritual ecstasy… your sense of pleasure cannot simply be switched off. That’s why you should indulge it, with discipline, says James Bampfield. The British thinker and coach uses a diverse mix of insights and philosophical reflections to shed new light on the role that pleasure plays in our lives. He goes through the whole spectrum, from selfish pleasure and simple pleasure, to soul pleasure and spiritual pleasure. Bampfield seeks inspiration from thinkers such as Epicurus and Freud, and spiritual figures such as Buddha and the Dalai Lama, to offer pleasure and enjoyment as a female counterweight to the excessive male pursuit of truth, which has given the world as much misery as it has ‘progress’. According to Bampfield, this new way of thinking about happiness not only results in greater self-fulfilment, but also in a more peaceful society.

    Burnout: an absence of pleasure

    When someone suffers a burnout, one of the biggest effects is a complete absence of pleasure in life, both at home and at work. We are doing more and more, and running further and further, but are never satisfied. Our whole cycle of stimuli and satisfaction is completely upside down. ‘Bore-out’, which is the ugly sister of burnout, works in the same way. During this keynote, James Bampfield shows how pleasure and satisfaction can replace performance and duty as an objective. James helps you to break undesirable patterns of behaviour and teaches people to enjoy the simple things in life, which have been lost in the rat race.