PLANNING FOR PROGRESS
MORE LIGHT in MASONRY (VII):
PLANNING FOR PROGRESS
by Allen E. Roberts
(This seventh Short Talk in the Leadership
series is based on the Masonic Leadership
Training film, PLANNING UNLOCKS THE DOOR,
with the permission of Macoy Publishing and
Masonic Supply Company. The script was
written by Allen E. Roberts, who also
produced the film. The films are available
from Macoy on either a rental or purchase
basis.)
"Brethren, I spent over 60 hours researching
this speech. Now I'm too tired to give it,
and you're too tired to listen. I'll just say
that your Lodge had a glorious 150 years. I
hope the next 150 will be just as glorious.
Thanks for inviting me. Good night."
It was 11 p.m. when a Past Grand Master made
this declaration. The festivities had started
with dinner at six. The dinner was over in 45
minutes, but the Lodge wasn't opened until
8:05, 35 minutes past the scheduled time.
Then the Worshipful Master had gone through
the whole gambit-opening, reading the minutes
of previous meetings, reading of petitions,
balloting, introduction of numerous guests,
all of whom had been invited to "say a few
words."
Few speakers have the courage of this Past
Grand Master. No matter how carelessly they
are treated, they will give the speech they
have prepared. And Masonic speakers are
generally polite and considerate. In spite of
the suffering they may be subjected to, they
attempt to make the leadership look good.
A few years ago I was invited to speak at the
200th anniversary banquet of a Lodge in
another jurisdiction. I spent many hours
learning about the history of the Lodge and
the jurisdiction. Then I put my notes
together, not an easy task. The audience was
to be mixed. Ladies just don't like dry,
factual presentations.
The day before the event my wife and 1 drove
through a snow storm to the hotel where the
banquet was to be held. No one was present to
meet us; there was no note awaiting us; no
one called during the evening. We heard from
no one.
Over 500 were present for the festivities on
the following evening. The serving of the
meal was delayed. The hotel staff had goofed.
The remains of a wedding reception had to be
cleared away before the guests of the Lodge
could be seated. The service was slow. The
schedule, if there was one, was off by well
over an hour.
The Grand Master was introduced and spoke
briefly. Then all the Grand Lodge officers,
the Lodge officers, committeemen, and other
dignitaries were introduced. Two young girls,
under the direction of their mother, danced.
A comedy team consisting of a man and woman
entertained the group with smutty jokes. The
laughter from the audience was sparse. I
shuddered I could feel my stories being
buried. A lump formed in my stomach. It grew
larger as the evening wore on.
A magician followed the vaudeville team. The
audience squirmed noticeably; many left the
room. Some never returned. At 11:35 I was
introduced. My wife whispered, "Don't say
what you're thinking, please!" I didn't. I
merely hit the highlights and was through in
ten minutes. Even so, there was no dancing.
The affair had to end at midnight.
Another Lodge honored one of its members -
its only living Past Grand Master. A dinner
preceded the meeting. The Lodge was opened 30
minutes late. The "program" dragged and
dragged. A Grand Lodge officer turned to me
and said, "What a golden opportunity for
Masonry is being lost. I'll bet that over 300
of those present haven't been in a Lodge for
ten years. It'll be another ten before
they'll attend another." The speaker for the
occasion was the Grand Master. It was almost
11 p.m. when he was called on to speak. I
don't know what the honored guest had to say.
I was gone long before he was presented. So
were many others who had been there to honor
him.
All of us can relate other examples of poor
planning. That is the main reason so many
members are staying away from Masonic
meetings. Even when the Lodge has a good
program, improper planning can ruin it. So,
let's look at the first principle of
leadership-planning. We'll return to speakers
later.
Planning is difficult. It's easier to work
with our hands. Planning involves things that
we don't like to do. We have to think; we
have to do paper work; we have to follow
orderly procedures. The average Masonic
leader would rather work with the
ritual--confer degrees, teach catechisms or
lectures - because these are familiar areas.
They have become second nature to him. From
the first day of his entrance into Masonry he
has had to work with them. This can be
likened to the doctor, plumber, bricklayer,
and accountant who have become proficient in
their trade or profession through long usage.
This becomes their operative work, and is
much easier to perform than is planning, or
managing-using the principles of leadership.
We have determined that the principles of
leadership are: PLANNING, ORGANIZING,
STAFFING, COMMUNICATING, and CONTROLLING,
with GOAL SETTING an all important part of
planning. This was discussed at some length
in the June, 1972, Short Talk, Growing the
Leader. We must set goals, then
constructively plan to reach them.
In the book on Masonic leadership, Key to
Freemasonry's Growth, we read: "With more and
more materialistic things vying for the time
of man, planning has become more a necessity
than ever for fraternal organizations. The
lack of goals, or goals not clearly defined,
and then no plans to reach them, will not be
tolerated by the busy men of today. They have
become used to efficiency and this is what
they expect to find in the leaders of the
organization."
That's a whole series of reasons for
planning, but let's enumerate some other
concrete REASONS FOR PLANNING:
- For Change
- To Build for the Future
- For Improvement
- To Stimulate Growth
- To Increase Efficiency
- To Build Morale
- To Improve Human Relations
- To Grow Leaders
Change, we've said before, is all around us.
Some of it is good; some bad. Nothing can or
does remain static. Change can be chaotic, or
it can be smooth. Proper planning makes the
difference. Planning is a necessity-not a
luxury. Planning becomes a tool, when
properly used to produce desired change and
transform the organization into a vibrant
structure. It takes us from the present into
the future in an orderly manner. And it must
be orderly if we are to improve the future.
The planning we do today will affect the
lives of countless individuals until the end
of time. If that sounds melodramatic, think
about the Holy Bible, Socrates, Plato,
Pythagoras, and other individuals of
centuries ago.
We want our planning to produce improvements
in what we do, to stimulate the growth of the
organization and the individual. We want our
Lodges, our districts, our Grand Lodges to
become more efficient in meeting the needs of
their members.
Planning, unquestionably, builds the morale
of the members. It gives them a feeling of
security, makes them more confident in the
leadership. Along with this morale-booster,
it improves human relations. It improves the
way the members work together in Teams,
becoming one great Team that works for the
benefit of the organization as a whole.
In this way it grows leaders for today,
tomorrow, and the future. It stimulates these
leaders to work with the members in selecting
even tougher goals for the organization -
goals - that will cause them to reach for the
stars-and through participation, reach those
stars more often than not.
This participation is all important. Always
keep in mind that IT TAKES PEOPLE TO MAKE
PLANS WORK. One way to get this participation
is to hold informal "bull sessions" with
those who will be affected. Bring out
everyone's ideas. Kick them around as you
follow these PLANNING STEPS:
- Determine the Purpose of the Organization
- Set the Goal
- Gather Information
- Analyze Factors
- Formulate Assumptions
- Determine Budget
- Set Timetable
- Establish Measurements
- Take Corrective Action
Few management consultants agree on the
actual order of the steps to be taken in
planning, but most management experts agree
that setting goals to enhance the purpose of
the organization is the next critical step in
the planning process. Before anything can be
accomplished, there must be a goal to aim
for.
This must be emphasized, lest there be
confusion when you work with others in
establishing goals. There is much honest
disagreement about whit the goals should be
called. Some believe they are "objectives"
and should be called that. Others say they
should be termed "roles and missions." And
there is other terminology. If we know what
we are looking for, we won't let the
differing terms confuse us. We'll put up the
target, then aim to hit it.
You won't always use the planning steps in
the order in which they are enumerated. You
will use other steps as well. In fact, you
will use all the principles of leadership
that have been discussed in these 1972 Short
Talks, More Light in Masonry.
An excellent plan to follow can be found in
Guide 7 in Key to Freemasonry's Growth. The
Planning Guide on the opposite page, taken
from the film, Planning Unlocks the Door,
supplements Guide 7. Its arrows point out the
importance of continually reviewing,
reconciling, and modifying the goals and
objectives that have been established. We
will follow these planning steps in a
practical example, one that you can put into
action immediately.
We have established as our PURPOSE FOR
EXISTENCE - To Make Good Men Better. One of
our GENERAL OBJECTIVES will be a well-rounded
program of Masonic Education. We have decided
on this because we know that THERE CAN BE NO
DEDICATION WITHOUT EDUCATION. We want to make
our members Master Masons in every sense. One
of our GOALS is set. We want an excellent
MASONIC speaker. Our Team gets together and
it will GATHER INFORMATION about speakers
throughout the area-or the country, if the
budget will stand it. The Team will ANALYZE
the credentials of several speakers. It will
FORM ASSUMPTIONS about the availability of
the one finally chosen, such as what he will
charge or what we will offer as a fee and his
expenses. Here we must recognize that it
costs money to travel, to eat, for loss of
time to attend the meeting and the
preparation beforehand. We'll look at the
BUDGET and determine the funds available.
We'll know then if we can afford the speaker
we want. The Team will decide WHEN he is
wanted. It will ESTABLISH MEASUREMENTS for
the speaker, such as what subject it wants
him to stress, and how long it wants him to
speak.
Each step along the way the Team will REVIEW,
RECONCILE, and MODIFY the plans for the
achievement of the goal. As this is done,
CORRECTIVE ACTION will be taken to come up
with the best possible plan. Such action may
mean that the second or third choice for a
speaker may be the answer. If so, don't let
the final choice know it.
As we go along in the planning process, we
will be aiming for the target - to ACHIEVE
THE OBJECTIVE. By following these steps, and
modifying them as necessary, we will achieve
our objective more often than we will fail.
This planning process should be followed for
every objective we set. But because Masonic
speakers will always be important to the
educational program at every Lodge, let's
establish some simple considerations for
them.
Give your prospective speaker a choice of
dates. This will give you a much better
opportunity of obtaining him.
Give him a choice of subjects, or leave it up
to him. No matter how good a speaker may be,
he is better with some phases of Freemasonry
than others.
Let him know how long you want him to speak,
but don't make this too rigid. Some subjects
can be covered in five minutes; others may
take an hour or more. You will find, however,
that the better speakers will try to stay
within 20 minutes.
Tell your speaker to whom he will be talking.
If it's a tiled Lodge, you will need to say
no more. If it's for a dinner meeting, he
will need to know the type of
audience-ladies. children, or only men.
Make sure that you both understand whether he
is to receive an honorarium, and whether or
not that figure includes expenses. A
speaker's out-of-pocket expenses, like
travel, lodging, meals enroute, etc., should
always be paid.
Confirm all arrangements in writing. This
will take away the chance of error. Give him
the date and hour, allotted speaking time,
the subject, expenses and/or fee, how to get
to and from your locality.
Get a biographical sketch for publicity and
introduction purposes. Get a recent
photograph if you plan to give the
information to the newspapers.
Let your members and all the Masons in the
area know about your program! Put out a
bulletin that will be an "eye-stopper." If
you can, get the story in the newspapers, on
radio and television. Use a Telephone Team.
Above all - sell your speaker on his merits -
NOT on your members' obligation to attend.
And this should be your plan regardless of
your program-sell it on its own merits.
To be courteous is something we all learn in
Freemasonry. Sometimes we fail to put it into
practice. We invite speakers, or groups such
as Masonic thespians, degree teams, Grand
Lodge officers, members to serve on panels,
then do not see to their comfort. Before and
after your speaker (or group) arrives:
If he is to stay overnight, be certain that
lodging has been arranged for him. He
deserves the same consideration as does your
house guest. Take care of his transportation
from the hotel to the meeting.
Give him some time to himself. If you don't
meet him, call him on the phone and welcome
him. Ask him if there is anything he needs.
You will have left a copy of the program of
the activities at the hotel for his arrival.
Let him know who will join him at the head
table, if it is to be a dinner meeting.
Be certain the public address system (if
used) is working.
Provide a lighted lectern. This will be
appreciated, even if he doesn't use it.
Position the head table away from the main
entrance to minimize the distraction of late
arrivals and early goers.
Arrange to have the tables cleared before
introducing the speaker. See that he has
water to drink if he wants it.
DON'T "DUMP" THE SPEAKER WHEN HE'S THROUGH.
Stay with him. Introduce him to others. Let
him visit if he wants to. See that the
financial agreement is promptly taken care
of. Take care of his transportation after the
meeting.
Send him a thank you note, even if he wasn't
what you expected! Send him any news
clippings available, particularly the
favorable ones.
Will your program be a success? It will be,
if the planning steps outlined are followed.
These detailed suggestions about only one
phase in planning and achieving a good
Masonic meeting may seem "elementary"; but
they illustrate the "nitty gritty" of
planning for progress.
Planning isn't easy. Being a Constructive
Leader isn't easy. It's tough. But the
satisfaction you will get in carrying through
a plan to achievement is something that
cannot be described. You have to experience
it to enjoy it.
One thing is certain. Where there is
meaningful planning, there is progress; where
there is no planning, there is only
dissatisfaction and failure.
(Next month: Masonic Study Groups: what they
are, how they are formed, what they can
accomplish in turning members into dedicated
Master Masons.)
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