Purpose - The purpose of this introductory paper is a harbinger to the collection of scholarly articles by some well-known international scholars in quality and business fields to this special edition of IJQRM on mindfulness and quality in small and large firms. It also provides an analysis of existing research on mindfulness in general. Design/methodology/approach - Through a survey of secondary data, this conceptual paper reviews the theory and extant literature on mindfulness, quality and reliability in small and large firms, and provides a picture of the application of the mindfulness theory in different disciplines, including business. Findings - First, mindfulness enhances quality and mindlessness diminishes it. Second, mindfulness-based approaches to quality may offer a more resilient and sustainable solution to quality and reliability issues facing organisations, compared to routine-based approaches. Originality/value - The paper shows how management approaches that promote human cognition of quality and reliability issues in organisations and capacity to develop multiple effective and resilient solutions can better serve businesses than the routine-based quality and management initiatives. Keywords Quality, Reliabilit