Grand
York Rite
of Freemasonry
of the State of Missouri
Of Goals and Great
Expectations
Russell S. Hanson
RDGL, Region 4
September 16, 2005
I achieved the goal for this day early. I tied my shoes. “How under-whelming,” you might think. You might also think, “With goals like that how will you ever amount to anything.”
Freemasonry teaches us, urges us, and, at times, forcibly recommends us to set lofty goals. We are encouraged to use our energies for the betterment of ourselves, and humanity in general. Our passion for the Craft, a passion that we fully and wholeheartedly embrace, can and does, though, set us up for failure. Repeated failures lead to depression, despondency, and apathy. We eventually loose our passion for the Craft and lapse into minimalist Masonry. We pay our dues and that is about all we ever will do again. The sad fact is that we do this to ourselves.
Setting goals is important to all human endeavors. In business, goals provide a direction for progress and wealth. In organizations, goals provide a direction for growth and internal improvement. In ourselves, goals provide a direction for living and contribution.
Goals are the end zone, the reward, the completion. Goals are also stationary and mobile. While this sounds contradictory, the statement embodies the nature of goals in general. A goal, once set, is a fixed point on the horizon. We take a bead on it and work toward it. But as we progress toward a goal we integrate that progress into our perspective of the goal itself. This is not necessarily a bad result if the degree of change is kept small. The mobile nature of goals, if allowed to go unchecked, results in mission creep and ultimately to a collapse of whatever system is being used to work toward the goal. In other words, failure.
Expectations result from our anticipation of achieving goals. In any endeavor to reach a goal there exists a difference between the force that drives a system toward the goal and the resources available to actually perform the task of reaching the goal. This difference between what management expects and what workers can produce leads to an expectation gap. Large expectation gaps lead to dissatisfied managers, which leads to increased pressure on the workers. This, in turn, leads to dissatisfied workers, which begins a cyclical collapse of the system. In other words, failure.
“Okay,” you think, “so what has all of this business 101 stuff got to do with Freemasonry?” We must learn from the failures of others else we will be destined to repeat them. We need to approach goal setting in a way that provides achievability in a reasonable time frame. We need to shift the way we approach our goals so that our expectations are commensurate with our ability to work toward them. And we need to view our resources, both internal and external, in a reasonable and responsible manner.
I am not suggesting that we set our goals low. I am suggesting that we approach our endeavors with moderation and responsibility. I am suggesting that instead of setting a single, decade spanning goal, we consider setting several goals. Call them sub-goals, mini-goals, benchmarks, or milestones. I am suggesting that we balance the time frame for potential achievement with the magnitude of the goal. In this manner we can see tasks completed, feel the progress, and get to celebrate achievement often. And celebrate we must, each and every one of them. Celebration gives us a “feel good” moment. Celebration provides a reduction of stress, an improvement of attitude, and a desire to begin the next task. In other words, success.
I am not suggesting that we minimize our expectations, either. I am suggesting that we keep our passions in due bounds and that we treat both ourselves and others with decorum and respect. I am suggesting that we recognize and acknowledge the inevitable gap between expectation and reality. In any endeavor there must be a management structure and a work force, though at the present time some of the same men participate in both. In our roles as managers we need to gauge our work force’s capability in order to set appropriate task distribution. Understanding our work force’s capacity will allow us to set appropriate time frames for achieving a goal. While providing sufficient encouragement to push the work force toward achieving a goal, we must be careful not to let the stress of our encouragement kill the work force’s enthusiasm for doing the work. As the goal is approached, expectation and reality converge ultimately arriving at a point where management and work force can celebrate each other’s achievement. And celebrate we must, both management and work force, for a job well done. In other words, success.
Regardless of how we each personally approach the issue of goals and expectations, we should always remember that moderation and decorum mark the acts of the upright man. We should also remember that all Brothers are entitled to every consideration and respect. We are all volunteers in our Masonic organizations. We each make choices about when, where, and how to spend our precious time in order to participate. When we choose to participate as a worker we are obligating ourselves to perform whatever tasks may be assigned to us. If we are chosen to assume a leadership role, then we are in effect being elevated to management status. As managers of volunteers, we must learn to accept and forgive each worker’s failure regardless of our personal disappointment.
Finally, we must also learn to accept failure gracefully when circumstances beyond our personal control are the cause. We must learn to forgive ourselves as we forgive others though we still have the urge to keep beating ourselves up for failing to achieve a goal to which we had dedicated our blood, sweat, and tears. Every once in a while we need to learn to let go of the stress and frustrations and to be satisfied with what we have accomplished. Every once in a while we need to take a day when to tie one’s shoes is the goal of that day. Every now and then in order to maintain our perspective on life, we need to be satisfied with just putting on our shoes.
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