In the previous article we discussed the over rules of an institution in comparison with the covert rules. Now that you have had time to explore the overt rules thoroughly, it is time for you to explore the covert rules. One must know the overt rules very well, before one can see the covert rules, because they are just about invisible and they are usually in opposition to the overt rules.
The overt statements and documentation of an institution, if it is democratic, states what the people want: What the members, employees and leaders plan on together and decide in the open. The covert rules are the habits of the institutions carried on by the people who agreed with the overt statement publicly, but not for real, so to speak.
These people have a great deal of power within the institution. They want it to survive for a long time. More importantly, they want to be a part of it for a long time and they want to feel comfortable there. They don't want it to change enough for them to have to change and adjust to it. It is like an administrator of a church once jokingly said, "If people come here and there is a copying machine here just about to fall apart, people want that copying machine to stay there from the time they arrive until the leave."
When people become involved in some institutions, especially voluntary association like clubs and congregations, they don't want any change. They want what they joined to exist and stay the same way as when they joined it. This is unrealistic, of course, and those who want to freeze the institution know this, but they do not recognize that they are engaged in such fruitless behavior as trying to freeze a dynamic, living entity in time.
The only real way to understand the overt rules of an institution, other than by breaking them and receiving a great deal of chastisement, is by examining the fruit of the institution. What is the fruit of the institution? It is something that comes as a result of the influences of the people with covert power. One can find the covert rules by looking at the physical parts of the institution.
Where is the building located? Who are the real constituency, or the people that it caters too? Who are the employees? What is their racial makeup? What is their educational level and cultural class? If it is a multi-cultural staff who is in charge overtly, and who really has the power covertly? These are some of the questions that you should be asking yourself. It takes time to gather this information, of course, but it can be done. Firstly, one must know the overt statement and belief systems, and then one can compare those statements to what one sees. If one hears the overt statements over and over again, but in action sees the total opposite in planning and behavior, one is seeing the overt rules right before one's eyes.
No institution becomes the way it is by coincidence. It comes from the thoughts and behaviors of someone in that institution who is working to guide it. If the elected leadership is stating one thing and working to bring about their vision along with the people's visions and it isn't happening it is most likely that some hidden power group is organizing to stop it from happening. This group is not working haphazardly, even if we cannot see them, they are working in a well organized fashion to hinder the changes in the system so they can create it as they would have it.
You can tell what the people at the real center of power want by looking at what is there. It is that simple. Let us review a bit and explain it by an equation If we learn what the overt mission of a system is and compare it to what we have in the system we can clearly see what the covert power structure wants.
External Actions – Overt Mission = Covert Mission.
According to this equation and the book, Leading God's People, by Richard Bondi, a systems theorist, the way to work to change the institution, therefor, is not to work on the overt mission, it is to work on the covert mission. The leadership of the institution needs to be in touch with the constituency constantly and to bring the covert into the open as much as possible. The leadership is always learning about the overt mission and bringing it out into the open. When every one sees what is going on in the dark and then discuss it and decide if they want to continue to do those behaviors or not openly, they can adopt new rules and regulations as to whether to allow them to continue or not.
Confronting this small group of power people, however, takes a strong leadership and also a strong institution where all of the members and constituency are dedicated to the overt mission. If the leadership is not dedicated to the overt mission itself, or the members and constituency don't care enough about it to do anything, the system becomes high jacked by a small group of people and it freezes in time. It doesn't grow anymore. It chases off people who are enamored with the overt statement, and it eventually dies or becomes meaningless. This is not a problem if one wants to have an fraternity of social club. This may be good behavior, in fact, but if ones overt mission is outward focused, this can be a very big problem.
For your assignment this week be observant and answer the following questions:
Who is the elected person in charge?
Who is really in charge?
Who has the real power?
What is the makeup of the leadership and employees?
Who is the constituency?
What type of employees or leaders tend to suddenly leave for no apparent reasons?
Where does the money come from?
These are just a few questions that you can ask yourself. Finding the answers will lead you to the overt rules of an institution. This, however, can take several years, if the institution is very good at hiding them, or the people involved are purposely working behind the scenes. One shortcut to finding them is talking with people who have somehow broken them. They can tell you exactly what the covert mission is. Talk with those who have been involved for a long time, but who are not at the core of institutional power and you will get a good view of what is really going on in your institution.
Next we will zero in on the makeup of the power group and the tools they use in order to push their agenda forward. There are innocent people who blindly work to support their own agenda out of fear and those who know very well what they are doing and who support their own agenda because they are used to doing so in other areas of life. We hope that the experience provided by the course will suite you well. A Return to Being Human Religiously, a book written by Dr. John W. Gilmore, can provide you with much more information on the inner workings of institutions.
Dr. John. W. Gilmore is a writer of several books on Spirituality and Growth. He is an ordained minister with a D. Min. degree in Spirituality. He is a certified Reiki Master Teacher, Massage Therapist and Reflexologist. Dr. Gilmore is also a teacher of marital arts and spirituality. For more information and for his latest book, Reclaiming the Religion of Jesus in a Modern Age and more articles like this one, look at this e-zine, or visit our free Casing Your Institution 101 Journal at http://www.dswellness.com It will lead you to a free online course that you or your employees can do. Reunion of Souls, Dr. John W.Gilmore. A book of deep spirituality in Sci-fi form. |
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