The term ritual has a religious connotation, but is also used in the anthropologist field where it is used to understand different cultures.

It is difficult to trace the word "ritual" to its roots, but a basic ingredient of a ritual is found in religious thought. Apparently in the beginning of the previous century a Swedish "Lutheran archbishop and theologian who in 1930 received the Nobel Prize for Peace," was said to have changed the central notion of religious thought to holiness. (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9068489)

And this gave an opening to divide, categorize or distinguish the sacred (holy) from the profane. To understand the meaning of a ritual this terminology offers of basic fundament. A ritual refers to an activity that is somehow sacred and therefore separated (with a certain ceremony) from the other worldly (profane) activities.

There are many different rituals of which many are known to all of us; think for example about the New Years ceremony, but more common and more closer to us are the "life crisis": birth, puberty, marriage, death... These are all very visible activities. They are easily recognized and the way different people are engaged in the ceremony offers insight in their cultural background. What they value as important.

This is probably why the concept of rituals is now much broader used. In the anthropological area, the study of rituals is used to investigate and understand differences and similarities in cultures. And also in business. Organizations can focus on rituals to learn more about organizational preferences, values and priorities. Therefore the study of organizational rituals offers an extra view on the way your organization is organized.

2006 Hans Bool