Many times it has been my good fortune to receive a new thought from an unexpected place. As a writer, I never really know where a new idea or concept will come from. Frankly a good idea beats the heck out of writer's block any day of the week. Heaven knows I have had too many instances of that.
Not too long ago, as I sat in my favorite, comfortable easy chair watching yet another night of boring television, it suddenly it came to me. I need to stop watching this tripe for a while. The sudden fear of brain meltdown came over me.
How many times could I watch That 70's Show before my brain would turn to mush. Step one in this new approach to life involved turning the TV off. Once that was completed, I stood up, paced out to the kitchen and brewed a fresh pot of coffee.
A short time later I returned to my favorite chair with an old magazine and an even older book. The magazine was an older edition of The New Jersey Freemason. The book was Stephen R. Covey's fabulous The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
You might say to yourself that these two literary documents were as far away from modern television, with its inane sameness, as a person can get. It was the combination of these two literary works which led to a very late night for me. The inspiration for many a number of problems facing me in different parts of my life came at me fast and furiously.
The message from David Chase, the Grand Master of Masons in New Jersey at that time seemed fairly simple at first. He began by quoting that email message regarding today's young people that many of us have seen on more than one occasion. It is the one that tells us about how many of the things that we over the age of forty take for granted as gospel.
You know the one that states in part, "... (T)hey have never feared a nuclear war. To them there has only been one pope. They have never feared a nuclear war. Most have never seen a ... black and white TV." And on it goes. Mr. Chase was making a real point. It is truly amazing how you can read something many times, and not get the point until, "WHAM!!!" One night it comes to you in a blinding flash. You young people are really quite different from us older folks.
If this then is the case, how can we expect them to join us in any endeavor, unless we can discover what they are all about? While the Grand Master was addressing his remarks to the Brotherhood of Free and Accepted Masons in New Jersey, I felt that he was saying things that crossed the borders of every organization I can imagine.
Really folks, is there a more ritualistic, or traditional group than Freemasonry? Many of the things we do during our Masonic rituals have passed intact from the days predating the foundering of our great nation. Seeing the head of our group speak on the topic of change was an inspiring and thought provoking thing to read. But is this concept of change limited to just the Masons. What about all of the rest of society?
Once we understand the motivational factors for people of their age, we must willingly seek them out and let them share in what we do. And it is critical to approach them in a way that is amenable to them. It has long been my experience that no one likes to join a group where they will be abused, belittled, brow beaten, and trivialized. No one likes to be told to do things just BECAUSE! No one likes to be made to feel foolish every time they ask a question.
Unfortunately, this is what is happening all across the spectrum. Many of us have been in the organizations to which we belong for so many years that we automatically fall victim to the 'we've always done it that way' syndrome. The sad thing is that far too many do not even notice the phenomenon at work.
Anyone who enters such a group as a new member and begins to challenge the norm of that group, in any way, is made to feel foolish. People tend to want people around them that mirror their view of themselves and their world. Those not fitting in are driven away. The Lord only knows how many times I have witnessed this.
Perhaps I have even been like this myself. It is a human trait to want things to remain as they are, even though such thinking is a fool's mission. In the Grand Master's commentary he urged Masons throughout New Jersey to embrace the younger generation.
He was attempting to portray to the brethren the true nature of those who are turning 21 this year, and whom we are seeking to bring into the fraternity. He urges us to seek these people out. But more than that, he urges us to share the reins of power with them. He knows how hard it is to do this, and as a result asks us to make an extra effort in that direction.
Perhaps, my dear readers, he has hit at the heart of our problems in the fire service as well. It has been my observation that the leadership in far too many organizations has hung on to the reins of power well past their prime. By clinging to what they perceive to be the proper way to run the fire service, these people may well be creating an organizational environment that has nothing to do with today's young people. It is not relevant and therefore becomes an anachronism.
By now you may be wondering where Stephen Covey's book fits into this discussion. Quite simply there were too points that he made early on that seem really critical to me at this time. In the early part of his text, he pounds home the need for us to become proactive in our view of the world. He speaks to the fact that if we do not take control of our lives, we possess no right to complain when others begin to call the shots for us.
I believe that this is a critical thought that compliments those above in the paragraphs I have just written. If change is to occur in the fire service, someone has to step up to the plate and cause it to occur. That is how I have lived my life and you cannot imagine how many times it has gotten me into trouble with the powers that be.
The problem was quite simple in every case. Through my career I became a voice and a force for change. Many of the people whom I was challenging did not want change. The result in almost every case involved arguments, recriminations, and periodic punishment. I was whipped more often than most government mules.
Oh, I was never put on charges or anything like that, because I always took pains to stay within the regulations. However, my career was stifled, I was shunted into dead-end positions, and my assignments were occasionally jumbled. I guess that you could say that I was paying the usual price for being proactive. Let me assure you that I always lived to fight another day. This should serve as an important motivator for those of you who may be afraid to buck the system.
While returning from a recent meeting at the National Fire Academy, I passed a particular construction equipment distributor located next to the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Eastern Pennsylvania. I love to ride by their facility, because they have a signboard out front with motivational sayings. On this particular day they had a particularly insightful statement. It read," ... The only way to manage change is to create it..."
This short quotation leads me directly into my next thought from the Stephen Covey text. On page 89 he states that, "... (T)he proactive approach to change is from the inside
