Recently, I read a line from Harvard’s President, Larry Bacow. At the moment it seemed profound and worth sharing. He said, “A leader can plan…but not predict.” (27) My immediate response was to agree, but I realized I needed some time to sit with that and ponder it. I would like to do that here. I may well take the short sentence in directions Bacow would not have considered, but that’s what good quotations are supposed to elicit.
Clearly, Bacow is talking about leaders. It is also clear he has himself in mind, but he is smart enough to know all the other leaders are in the same boat. Surely, it is the responsibility of leaders to plan. In most cases they are running businesses or non-profit organizations---all of whom want to survive and thrive in the years and decades ahead. Because virtually all my adult life I have worked for non-profit organizations, I think even better planning is typically in order. Most non-profits are scrambling to make it a few more months or years. Their planning often is too short-term.
The key distinction Bacow makes is between planning and predicting. Both have to do with the future---a future that comes to all of us individually and corporately. Some people and organizations spend all their time focused on the present. Today is all that matters. At one level, this is understandable. Certainly the present is all we have. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not yet. In most cases we assume that tomorrow will come. But don’t plan for it.
Yet when we think about it, much of what we do today sets the stage for tomorrow. I spend a great deal of time with college students. Virtually all their studying is a preparation for their tomorrows. They talk incessantly about their hoped-for jobs or careers. Their language is usually aspirational---“I want to…” There is nothing wrong with that; they are young and should have many years to come. Making no plans condemns them to far less than they can manage with some effort.
The rest of us usually make plans. We plan vacations, holidays, what we want to do at Christmas, etc. Even simple acts like planning what to eat reveal how important this exercise is. I often tell students, if you don’t learn to make plans, you must be hoping to be lucky! Not to make any plans puts us at the mercy of whatever comes our way. We should not assume this is going to be always good. In fact, lack of planning usually spells bad things ahead.
The planning function especially applies to each of us as we grow up. That is part of the maturing process. I see no evidence babies make plans. But at some evolutionary point kids get a sense of the future and personalize it. Future becomes “my” future. And these kids get the sense that they can perhaps shape their future by their plans. Friends at school make plans to get together after school. They plan to play the guitar because they really like music.
Predicting is another matter. Planning usually deals with what our aspirations and hopes aim for. Predictions claim to know exactly what the future holds. Maybe we can predict some things in a general sense. We know we will die, but we can’t predict when that will be. At least, until we get so sick that some say you only have a few days to live.
But we know we can’t predict Wall St. or which person we might marry. We have kids, but we can’t predict what they might want to do for a living or what kind of person they might be. Planning can help tip the odds in favorable directions. Loving a child makes it much more likely they will turn out well. But there is never the guarantee of predictions. To predict is to be able to say ahead of time that something will happen or come true. Planning hopes that it might happen. And luck is to put our lives in the hands of fate.
All of this may seem to lack any spiritual element. But I think it does. I am one who thinks there is a God---a Higher Being. I have faith God cares about me and you, of course. I can do nothing and hope God takes care of me and makes my life wonderful---a version of trusting luck, or in this sense, God.
I could also make some plans. For example, I can plan to take time each day to be disciplined in prayer and attentive listening. I want to know God in personal ways. I want to be friends with God and plan to do my part. I plan to read things and become more knowledgeable.
I plan to go to church or small groups to grow my spirit and ask for others to help me in this process. Of course, I cannot be sure how Gods feels about this, but I am willing to do my part to engage God---whoever God turns out to be.
I find I can’t make predictions when it comes to spiritual issues. For sure, I can tell you how I “think” things are and will be. But that is not a prediction. It is more like speculation. I know the New Testament says that God is love---and I trust this is so. I guess at the most general level that means we can predict God will act lovingly. I have faith this is true. But I don’t know what that means and, therefore, cannot predict how I will be dealt with lovingly.
Maybe a little time in hell will shape me up as a person. I don’t predict that is true. And I sure don’t plan to test it! I plan to do other things.
Clearly, Bacow is talking about leaders. It is also clear he has himself in mind, but he is smart enough to know all the other leaders are in the same boat. Surely, it is the responsibility of leaders to plan. In most cases they are running businesses or non-profit organizations---all of whom want to survive and thrive in the years and decades ahead. Because virtually all my adult life I have worked for non-profit organizations, I think even better planning is typically in order. Most non-profits are scrambling to make it a few more months or years. Their planning often is too short-term.
The key distinction Bacow makes is between planning and predicting. Both have to do with the future---a future that comes to all of us individually and corporately. Some people and organizations spend all their time focused on the present. Today is all that matters. At one level, this is understandable. Certainly the present is all we have. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not yet. In most cases we assume that tomorrow will come. But don’t plan for it.
Yet when we think about it, much of what we do today sets the stage for tomorrow. I spend a great deal of time with college students. Virtually all their studying is a preparation for their tomorrows. They talk incessantly about their hoped-for jobs or careers. Their language is usually aspirational---“I want to…” There is nothing wrong with that; they are young and should have many years to come. Making no plans condemns them to far less than they can manage with some effort.
The rest of us usually make plans. We plan vacations, holidays, what we want to do at Christmas, etc. Even simple acts like planning what to eat reveal how important this exercise is. I often tell students, if you don’t learn to make plans, you must be hoping to be lucky! Not to make any plans puts us at the mercy of whatever comes our way. We should not assume this is going to be always good. In fact, lack of planning usually spells bad things ahead.
The planning function especially applies to each of us as we grow up. That is part of the maturing process. I see no evidence babies make plans. But at some evolutionary point kids get a sense of the future and personalize it. Future becomes “my” future. And these kids get the sense that they can perhaps shape their future by their plans. Friends at school make plans to get together after school. They plan to play the guitar because they really like music.
Predicting is another matter. Planning usually deals with what our aspirations and hopes aim for. Predictions claim to know exactly what the future holds. Maybe we can predict some things in a general sense. We know we will die, but we can’t predict when that will be. At least, until we get so sick that some say you only have a few days to live.
But we know we can’t predict Wall St. or which person we might marry. We have kids, but we can’t predict what they might want to do for a living or what kind of person they might be. Planning can help tip the odds in favorable directions. Loving a child makes it much more likely they will turn out well. But there is never the guarantee of predictions. To predict is to be able to say ahead of time that something will happen or come true. Planning hopes that it might happen. And luck is to put our lives in the hands of fate.
All of this may seem to lack any spiritual element. But I think it does. I am one who thinks there is a God---a Higher Being. I have faith God cares about me and you, of course. I can do nothing and hope God takes care of me and makes my life wonderful---a version of trusting luck, or in this sense, God.
I could also make some plans. For example, I can plan to take time each day to be disciplined in prayer and attentive listening. I want to know God in personal ways. I want to be friends with God and plan to do my part. I plan to read things and become more knowledgeable.
I plan to go to church or small groups to grow my spirit and ask for others to help me in this process. Of course, I cannot be sure how Gods feels about this, but I am willing to do my part to engage God---whoever God turns out to be.
I find I can’t make predictions when it comes to spiritual issues. For sure, I can tell you how I “think” things are and will be. But that is not a prediction. It is more like speculation. I know the New Testament says that God is love---and I trust this is so. I guess at the most general level that means we can predict God will act lovingly. I have faith this is true. But I don’t know what that means and, therefore, cannot predict how I will be dealt with lovingly.
Maybe a little time in hell will shape me up as a person. I don’t predict that is true. And I sure don’t plan to test it! I plan to do other things.
Comments
Post a Comment