My presentation, basically, looked at the current situation of the organisation, the hopes of the organisation, the strategies available and, last but not least, urgent areas for focus.

No doubt, there will always be supporters and detractors in whatever we do. And, I’ve attended enough meetings to know that some people just talk for the sake of talking.

What was disturbing to me was not so much that these people had critical things to say, but the fact that they did not seem to use their intellectual faculties critically before they spoke.

Insofar as personal development, managing projects and/or strategic plans are concerned, we need to make some basic distinctions, including what is urgent, and what is important (yes, there is a huge difference), and what are the short term and the long term goals.

Those who attend to urgent matters all the time (and neglect important matters), are like firefighters who never bothered to make sure their fire engines and hydrants are in tip-top condition. They just go where the situation demands their attention, but never bother to question why they are not effective in putting out fires. Indeed, if these firefighters could come up with good fire prevention plans for people, they wouldn’t even need to be running around trying to put out fires in the first place.

To use the firefighters analogy further, although we need to attend to short term goals immediately, we must also pay attention to longer term goals like developing the organisation and building capacity for the future. I know that it’s very tempting to just focus on short term things, but far too often we’ve failed precisely because we take a short term view of our endeavours. If all we did were put out fires day in and day out, without attending to training needs, organisational development and strategic planning, we’d have fire engines getting lost on the way to the fire.

Even in the most desperate of situations, we must be calm and collected, and assess the situation before we act. To “win”, we must maximise the utility of the resources we have – the people and the equipment – and apply them to the situation in a way that will give maximum results.

Although I’m not a certified project manager or strategic planner, I believe I know enough to say that we are doomed to failure if we do not even make the effort to truly listen to what others are saying, to critically and honestly evaluate where we are right now and take the time to seriously consider where we really want to go.

Well, people sometimes display their ignorance when they speak for the wrong reasons. As Plato said, “Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.”

The scene (in the movie), depicts a holy man saying “Such ignorance. It’s this ignorance that is our misfortune”, and then a widow arrives.

After greeting her, he asks the widow “… you’ve been doing this service for many years. So many years of sacrifice and devotion. Do you feel closer to self-liberation?” After a long pause, she replies slowly, “If… self-liberation means… detachment from worldly desires… Then, no, I’m no closer.”

The holy man hesitates, before he replies solemnly, “whatever happens, never lose your faith… Never lose your faith.”

That reminded me of something I had read earlier today. Mother Teresa, whilst accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, said,

“By blood I am Albanian. By citizenship an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the heart of Jesus.”

Wow! That to me is amazing devotion, both to her faith and ideals. And she maintained those from a very young age until her ultimate demise. It really humbles me to stand in the shadow of such giants…

Somehow, I was also reminded of an earlier conversation I had with a friend. He’s real supportive and I always have great conversations with him. On top of that, he’s also a real practical and results-oriented kinda guy.

So, naturally, when I was faced with a values-challenging question, I posed this to him: “How does one manage a business/organisation, be practical about real life, and yet maintain one’s faith and ideals?”

And that stumped my friend… Hmmm, I guess it’s not an easy question to answer. Oh well, as Robert Frost would say: “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.”