Report from the Board: The Questions Within
Ginger Sall,
Chairman
LLLI Board of Directors
From: LEAVEN, Vol. 36
No. 4, August-September 2000, p. 62
Often the Board column in
LEAVEN tries to answer questions. This might have given the misimpression
that there are always answers to the questions we are asked. Perhaps
expecting to find answers has kept us from learning as we explore some
of the most basic questions within our organization. These questions
are not unique to La Leche League. They are common to many organizations
and are shared by many groups of people who join together to work toward
a shared purpose.
- Where should decisions
be made? Is it a good idea for decisions to be made at the most local
level possible? Or should decisions be made toward the center of the
organization in order to coordinate activities, achieve economies
of scale, and avoid duplication?
- How should information
be shared? Should information be shared directly and freely between
individuals as needed? Or should information proceed in a linear fashion
throughout the organization so that all along the line also have this
information?
- Who should participate
in decision making for the organization? Is it enough that those making
decisions feel deep personal responsibility to the organization and
hold themselves accountable to acting for the welfare of the whole?
Or do we want to extend participation to as many as possible as part
of their ownership of the organization and shared commitment to its
purpose?
- How much attention should
La Leche League give to "how it works" compared to "what it does"?
Should we devote a large amount of resources to building and maintaining
an organizational structure? Or should we expect the structure of
La Leche League to support whatever work we do in pursuit of the purpose?
- Is it enough that La Leche
League helps many mothers to breastfeed their babies? Or does this
organization have a responsibility to expand mother-to-mother support
to many more mothers than it currently is reaching?
- Is growth via incremental
steps, where the next goal is always within sight, most appropriate
for La Leche League? Or are there occasions when the sum of incremental
steps is pulling La Leche League off center-and only a quantum leap
of change will preserve the fundamentals of the organization?
- Is La Leche League defined
by the people who are here already? Or is La Leche League described
by purpose, beliefs, and principles-and ready to welcome any who want
to work within that context? if so, who are the people to write the
purpose, beliefs, and principles?
We might be able to talk
for days on each of these questions without coming to definitive answers.
In the process, however, we would learn more about each other and about
ourselves.
In response to each question,
hearts naturally leap to an answer that feels "right" and touches a
chord within each of us. As practical considerations enter the discussion,
we start to appreciate other points of view, sometimes quite the opposite
of our first heartfelt response. That first approach, which felt so
right, might now seem too difficult and impractical for the real world.
Yet as we begin to control the chaos, it's easy to drift into a situation
of control for the sake of order. If only we might find that fine line
between chaos and order, where there is enough freedom to feed the flames
of the human spirit and enough order to work in the real world.
To find the answers that
touch our hearts and are practical enough to really work, we need to
see these questions and answers in more than one way. The answers are
not merely "yes" or "no." They are both. As we develop the capacity
to see more than one "right" answer to these questions, we add another
dimension to our decision-making and expand the set of possible solutions.
After the initial leap and
the period of practical corrections, we aim for the right mixture of
chaos and order, a "chaordic" solution that is on the line between "yes"
and "no", black and white. Does this exist in the real world? Good question.
Yet we can work to approach the limits of a "chaordic" state. Even if
we are not able to zoom in and land exactly on this fine line, we benefit
from the richness of opportunity and satisfaction of being very close
to it.
These questions are not going
away - answers or not. Addressing the roots of the tensions that strain
relationships and drain effectiveness is a positive enterprise for any
organization. By exploring, we continue to learn and grow together toward
the fullest potential for ourselves and for our organization. Through
our collective inquiries, we hope to discover a new dimension of possibilities
for La Leche League, strengthening the essence of our organization and
expanding the scope of mother-to-mother help to many more mothers and
their babies.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:31:33 UTC 2007.
