DYNAMICS OF ORGANIZING
by: Shel Trap
Strong Organizations Make Things Happen
The difference between a weak and ineffective organization and a strong, effective
organization is that the weak organization will always find reasons why something can't be
done and the strong organization will always find ways to make something
happen.
Another way to say it is that the ineffective organization is afraid to take risks, the
effective organization is willing to take risks.
Reasons given by ineffective organizations on why something can't be done:
“That won't work here.”
“The leadership/people don't understand the issue.”
“We aren't ready for that at this point.”
“We don't have the resources to get into that fight right now.”
“That would alienate ____________, _____________, ____________, .”
*Insert: Business Community, Churches, a leader, a funder.
Any of the above may be a valid reason for not doing something, but experience shows that
most of the time they are excuses to avoid getting into an issue or doing an action.
Response given by an effective organization:
“How can we make that work here?”
“How do we help the leaders/people understand the issue?”
“What steps do we have to take to get ready?”
“How can we find or shift the resources that we have to get into this fight?”
“That would alienate ____________, _____________, ____________, .”
*Insert: Business Community, Churches, a leader, a funder.
“How much damage would that really do to the organization and how do we minimize the damage?”
Notice the different way of looking at a situation. The ineffective organization is looking for reasons and making statements why something will not work. The effective organization is asking questions about how do we make it work. Statements usually indicate a rigid position that would not change no matter what. Questions indicate a flexible position, searching for ways to make things work.
It takes no brains to say why something won't work. It is also a very comfortable
position, because it means that no matter what is suggested there will be a reason why it
can't happen and therefore the organization will not have to take any risks.
The organization that asks questions about how to make things work is looking to be
creative and to take risks. That position will lead it to being an effective organization.
Change does not come from statements, it comes from questions that are
seriously addressed.
In a meeting not too long ago with an organizer, the organizer was lamenting the fact
that the organization would not go into direct action. For the next two hours we talked
about how the organization could move to direct action. For every
suggestion offered there were at least two “reasons” why that wouldn't work. It
became evident that one of the major reasons the organization did not go into dirent
action was either the fear or laziness of the organizer.
The truth of the matter is that organizations do not make decisions, leaders and
organizers make decisions. That shapes the type of organizations that will exist. So if
you find leaders or organizers making statements about why things won't work, you
can be pretty sure that the organization will be weak. If you find leaders and organizers
asking questions about how to make things work, you can be pretty sure that you will find
a strong organization.
It is an easy to make statements. The challenge is to ask questions about how we are going to make it work. The reward will be a strong effective organization.