Right in the centre - To change or not to change

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Published on Thursday, January 14, 2016

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

One of the key phrases a person hears in meetings is “That’s how we have always done it.” Seven words that can either be the basis of an organization or the death knell. How does one know the difference?

If an organization is growing and thriving, it probably isn’t following the “That’s how we have always done it” mantra. If an organization is dying or flailing about, they likely are following it. 

Certainly any organization, town or business has to build on their strengths. Some of those strengths may well be rooted in doing some things the same as they always have been done. Some of the basics for an organization that don’t change are things that can’t be changed. A town is located where it is, it can’t change that. The major highways are where they are, they aren’t likely to move. Rail lines can be moved but more often they just disappear. Geographic features such as Riding Mountain and our lakes, those are things that don’t change much. In that respect, the “That’s how we have always done it” idea is pretty much set. Some things we can’t change.

However, when it comes to arranging our affairs, we can change some things. For example, does the Town of Neepawa need 80 plus organizations? Maybe it needs that many organizations, but can it sustain that many? Are there enough activities, people and money to sustain 85 organizations? The same question needs to be asked about every town although, obviously, the numbers vary from community to community. 

One of the saddest things is to watch an organization die. Dwindling numbers, dwindling overall population, dwindling finances all lead to a demise. We have all watched as towns lose schools, churches, organizations and events.

So what do we do? The first thing is that, by default or by design, a community has to decide what it is good at and what are the natural elements. Obviously, location needed to be evaluated and exploited. Is the town a commuter community? Most are to some extent. It never ceases to amaze me how many people work somewhere else than they reside. Is it an industrial town or an ag service town? What is the purpose of the place? Once that’s decided, then the level of organizations that are feasible become more evident.

Organizations fail for a number of reasons. The main one is what my wife and I call “shrinking the pie list.” Let me explain. Every town and many organizations have a fall supper. They have a list of people who will bring or send pies. Maybe it’s 20 people at two pies each so with 40 pies at six pieces per pie, you can serve dessert to 240 people. Not a bad sized gathering. So if in a given year one or two of the pie people can’t send a pie or says no for some reason, you might have to make do with four less pies, it creates a bit of problem. If you lose a few each year, you have a “shrinking the pie list.” An organization can’t do that, they have to keep a long pie list or they won’t have enough pies. It’s pretty simple and it applies to every aspect of every organization.

So it is with any group. You have to keep a long list of people who will help out. That means you have to have good “askers”. The key to any good organization is having good askers.

Another real key to strong organizations is effective, and hopefully short, or at least not dragged out meetings. Most groups have monthly meetings and it has to have a good chairperson, a good set of minutes, a treasurer’s report and financial statements. The meeting needs an old business and a new business section. Occasionally, a long term planning session is needed. One problem that rural Manitoba is facing is that meeting management isn’t being taught as rigorously as it once was. The 4-H program still does it some, so does Toastmasters and some of the service groups, but there are getting to be fewer and fewer people who know how to run a meeting effectively and efficiently. Nothing hampers an organization like a poorly run meeting. In the distant past, organizations could overcome a poorly run meeting because meetings were also a social highlight. For some folks, a monthly meeting was the only social outing in a long winter month. Today, we have hundreds of social outings and dull, poorly run meetings just don’t rate.

“That’s how we have always done it” simply doesn’t cut it any more. We have to evaluate what works and why it works, not just blindly depend on endless tradition. If “That’s how we have always done it” gives the desired results, that’s good. If it doesn’t, then it’s time for a change.