The scene keeps replaying. It is a recurring battle; project versus business management. The tension between different agendas and priorities is start. One wants to get the activities completed. The goal is to put the basics in place and mark the checklist as complete. The alternative view wants this and more. S/he wants to the task to be sustainable and supportable. Not only does it need to work, it has to work with the appropriate controls and staffing in place. Just as one side thinks it has finished a step, the other side challenges. It is difficult to get anything in sync. Priorities conflict. Objectives differ. The measures of successful outcome vary.
There are several variations on the confrontations. One simply avoids keeping others informed. It is as if nobody else exists. The story is not told. The plan is not revealed. The confrontation is postponed until it is too late.
Another uses partial information. Differences in analysis and opinions are downplayed. Disagreements are presented as a consensus. If one does not catch the fine print, one does not realize how one’s views have been misconstrued.
At the end of the opposite spectrum, everyone is engaged without the reminder that we are on the same side. Differences in perspectives morph into personal attacks. It is as if everyone has taken on an old character in a confrontation. Metaphorically, the conversation takes off without any content. “He interrupted with a shout: ‘Paul, you’re crazy! You’ve read too many books, spent too much time staring off into space! Get a grip on yourself, get back in the real world!’” (Acts 26.24)
I find myself reminding others and my heart of the following mantras.
We can see and do more together than we can do apart.
We are all human. We fail more often than we admit. Compassion is as important to you as it is to me.
As today unfolds, I realize that I need others. Together, we can do great things. We also need abundant quantities of understanding and empathy. These are the beginnings of a response.
