There are times when the universe becomes more apparent in its coincidental overlaps than other. Right now as I am sitting in a coffee shop and I reading my religious leadership homework, an unfortunate meeting is taking place. Two people interested in starting a non-profit online organization have invited an expert in online field to give them advice on how to proceed. The tension from the table is palpable. The person who has been brought in to consult clearly thinks that these two individuals do not have any realistic expectations of what details a non-profit website should entail. The number of times I have heard the consultant say: “Well, if you guys are actually serious about this, you should do this.” Yet I never once have heard him say, “Why are you guys interested in creating a website that helps raise funds for peoples’ cancer surgeries that are not covered by their insurance.” He is so focused on “In order to make this work, you have to do this.” I do not disagree that these two individuals who have called for the meeting thought out enough of the practical details of making their idea a reality. Yet, the blunt and dismissive style of the consultant is not bringing these people from vision into realizing how reality needs to go.
The two people who have the vision for this website are frustrated by the details that the consultant suggests: “People are looking for a way to donate, but they are so hindered by overhead.”[i] They are so passionate about the cause, that they dismiss the practical considerations as obstacles to letting people help each other. Perhaps they are dispirited by the fact that their anticipated “Realities” are not as practical as they had thought and that there are more details than they expected.
Bacher and Cooper-White explain that “Vision and reality, not either/or makes for effective planning.” This is a good idea (although, to be political for a moment, I think points to the very real need for a more robust and helpful health care system in the United States); yet the inability for vision and reality to communicate to one another is making this potentially wonderful project stay grounded. A good place for this to move forward would for both to recognize the basic necessity for the other and to affirm their commitment to what they are planning. This division creates conflict and diminishes the potential for a future.
Comic image borrowed from XKCD
[i] Robert N Bacher and Michael L Cooper-White, Church Administration, 65
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