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Just Having a Good Plan Doesn’t Guarantee Good Results
The Articles of Confederation, 1781 to 1789, – a demonstration of a poor plan – were replaced by the United States Constitution. Thomas Jefferson writes in his autobiography about several problems and how they were solved, such as a committee’s behavior of avoidance – not only avoiding discussion of issues but members avoiding each other.
Jefferson describes how Benjamin Franklin tells a funny story during a debate to make a point about getting along with each other in order to get things done. Dr. Franklin’s story: Two men lived in the Eddystone Lighthouse in the English Channel and shared duties. When supplies were delivered in the spring, the boatman discovered that the two keepers quarreled “soon after being left [six months earlier at the remote lighthouse], had divided into two parties, assigned the cares below to one, and those above to the other, and had never spoken to, or seen, one another since.”(1)
As Robert Burns said in his 1785 poem, “To a Mouse” after ploughing a field and accidentally destroying a mouse nest:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy! (2)
Just having a good plan doesn’t guarantee good results. People who rely on plans alone – whether it is a strategic plan, project plan, action plan, master plan, lesson plan… retirement plan, a low-carb diet or a community plan – may end up like the mouse without a house or the keepers of the Eddystone lighthouse.(3)
Avoiding problems – and each other – does little to help a collaboration succeed. Community outreach and collaborative efforts require the time for staff members to be able to listen and respond to individuals, families, and businesses. Dr. Judi Moreillon, Texas Woman’s University, School of Library and Information Studies, and author of Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies in Elementary School Libraries: Maximizing Your Impact, says, “People working in the libraries of today and tomorrow need administrative permission to establish professional relationships with representatives of other organizations and businesses. They need to go into the community as a “listener.” In order to see how they can connect the library to support their community, librarians need to say, ‘This is how we can work with you to help you reach your goals.’ In this way, the library becomes a leader in specific ways within each community – economically, civically, educationally, or culturally.”
A successful library meets challenges and overcomes or works through or goes around obstacles in order to help the organization and the community grow and flourish. A library may think about growth in terms of adding staff members, branches, and partnerships or increasing floor space and collection size or boosting program and service statistics, but growth means flourishing in the right way for your community. Don’t let traditions limit your thinking in these ways. Meeting challenges ignites growth. The growth of a library means making the right things happen in order to support the enlightenment of humanity in your neighborhood – through overcoming everyday obstacles and offering top-notch activities tailored for your customers, such as storytimes for children, makerspaces for teens, and book discussion programs for adults.
How can the library fulfill its community role and meet challenges in meaningful ways? What are my partners’ needs, challenges, limitations, and strengths? Can I take the time to visit my partners' locations, talk and listen to their administration and staff? How can I help them meet their challenges? (Find out what support they would appreciate the most.)
To borrow from Benjamin Franklin’s story about getting along with each other: How goes it, friend? How is your companion? Have you not seen him or her today? Have you forgotten or ignored someone?
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1. Adrienne Koch and William Peden, eds., The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson (New York: The Modern Library, 2004), 54 – 55.
2.From Robert Burns, “To a Mouse,” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43816/to-a-mouse-56d222ab36e33
3. Excerpt adaptation from pages 81 – 85 of Inspired Collaboration: Ideas for Discovering and Applying Your Potential by Dorothy Stoltz with Susan M. Mitchell, Cen Campbell, Rolf Grafwallner, Kathleen Reif, and Stephanie Mareck Shauck. (Chicago: American Library Association © Copyright 2016 by Dorothy Stoltz, Susan M. Mitchell, Cen Campbell, Rolf Grafwallner, Kathleen Reif, and Stephanie Mareck Shauck. All Rights Reserved.)
