Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to carry out a literature review on collective mindfulness and identify the key conditions and processes under which it can be developed within organizations. Design/methodology/approach – Systematic analysis of published empirical studies and theoretical models about mindfulness in organizational contexts. The summary of analysis is listed below. Collective mindfulness, defined by Weick et al. (1999) as the “capability to induce a rich awareness of discriminatory detail and a capacity for action” is a fundamental resource for effectively respond to environment changes (Tsoukas and Chia, 2002; Levinthal and Rerup, 2006; Weick and Sutcliffe, 2006). If so, in an ever-changing environment to promote collective mindfulness is to develop and support a crucial key to organizational success and survival. Therefore, one might ask what can organizations do to cultivate collective mindfulness? What are the fundamental conditions under which it emerges? The body of literature on collective mindfulness describes two different ways of fostering mindfulness within organizations. One answer rests in Weick’s and colleagues (Langer 1989 and Weick et al. 1999) theory about mindfulness in High Reliable Organizations (HRO). In this approach mindfulness is promoted through processes of improving quality and quantity of attention towards work processes and organizational environment. A different answer argues that artistic processes can also promote collective and individual mindfulness, by removing objects from the automatism of perception, by defamiliarizing predominant beliefs and assumptions and allowing people to “see more” and “see differently” (Langer 1989, 2005; Barry & Meisiek, 2010. Moreover, art as one of the most important ways of expression of human feelings and values can provide processes and tools to approach emotional dynamics and aesthetic aspects within organization, which are also expected to broaden people’s perception and people’s willingness to be open to new ways doing things (Schiuma, 2011; Barry, 1994; Barry, 1996; Berthoin Antal, 2009). Originality – We integrate into a single model of mindfulness in organizations, two separate and apparently disparate theories about mindfulness in organizations which hitherto have been developed separately (Arts and High Reliability Organizations). Practical implications – The most important implication is to identify the key conditions and processes under which collective mindfulness can be developed within organizations.