“Normalization
of deviance is a long term phenomenon in which individuals or teams repeatedly
“get away” with a deviance from established standards until their thought
process is dominated by this logic: Repeated success in accepting
deviance from established standards implies future success. Over time,
the individual/team fails to see their actions as deviant. Normalization
of deviance leads to “predictable surprises” which are invariably disastrous to
the team”. – Mike Mullane
Does this ring a bell in any of our minds? When we read the texts of the great Masonic minds
of the past, can we see this phenomenon?
Are we the same now that we once were in the late 19th
century? The early 20th
century? The mid 20th
century?
Present day Masonry is the result of this phenomenon. We have deviated so far from what we once
were, the only explanation is this phenomenon known as the Normalization of Deviance. More often than not, it is applied in the
technical or safety fields. Astronaut
Mike Mullane used it to describe the reasons behind the Shuttle disasters at
NASA. But it fits here in our own Fraternity.
Masonry is a craft, when you read the old texts, it is hard
not to believe that it is not a technical craft. It is known that as a society, we have
drifted far from classical rhetoric and education that was prevalent among the
educated classes of the 18th century, which was generally who made
up the ranks of Freemasonry both in the Colonies and in Europe. Here in the States, we slowly drifted away
from what Freemasonry was in Europe (and in many cases today, still is). We allowed everyman access to our craft and
to ensure its survival. Over the years,
we have become more and more lenient in our admissions. We had to, because it became more and more
difficult for some to understand and memorize the profound mysteries of our
Craft. Reading became less and less a
part of our radio, television, computer and device driven culture. To the point where some, or many men are not
properly vouched for, for the sake of survival.
Honestly, how many of you have signed a petition vouching
for a man you had just met? That, my
friends is 100 years of the slow moving Normalization of Deviance in
action. We have done what Hayward had
written about in Symbolical Freemasonry,
“The
Fraternity is not a social club, an insurance society or a charitable
institution, but a body of picked men consecrated to a certain set purpose;
therefrom it follows that only those who possess the qualifications for such a
fellowship and the abilities for such a work should be permitted
membership. The receiving of unfit candidates,
as was the fate of so many buildings erected by the old Norman architects in
England which went down because “they used poor stone, and scamped with the
trowel.” A wise business manager will not employ insufficient help. A sensible church will not accept unworthy
members. For like reasons Freemasonry
must guard well its own portals else it fail of its high mission, which God
forfend!”
We are all guilty, but we had to. We as a fraternity had to survive, we needed
the dues, the petition fees. We took the
chance that these men would become worthy and well qualified. The risk was taken, the standards slowly
drifted away, because we continued to survive.
“Repeated success in accepting
deviance from established standards implies future success” (Mullane).
Hayward goes on to say, “his
name and his dues are valueless if they are not accompanied by his willingness
ever to serve as a loyal son of Freemasonry”.
By deviating, we have largely become a Fraternity of watch fob Masons,
which is “invariably disastrous to the team”.
I say largely, because the truth is in the books of the Lodge. How many names are on your books, versus how
many of those same names are willing to sacrifice their time (the length of
their cable tow) to answer a summons. It
is also very true, that not all Lodges suffer this same problem, which is why I
always look to what those Lodges are doing differently.
We can not go back to what we were ages ago. As an organization, we are far from home and
the mindset of those within the halls of our temples are not all alike, they don’t
all seek the same light. But we can work
with what we have to achieve greatness.
It just takes true and worthy leadership to inspire that willingness to
serve the Craft and the Lodge.
“The
power of all teams resides in the uniqueness of the team members; in their
diversity of life experiences which yields a diversity of insights into team
situations. When individuals become “passengers” and don’t put their
unique perspectives on the table for the team and leadership to consider, the
team will suffer”. – Mike Mullane
We, meaning the lodge, are a Team in the 21st
century. We need to learn to operate as
a team and include all of the unique and diverse skills and traits of each
building block in our team. Leadership
is about team building and orchestrating the many hands placing the blocks into
place to build that virtual temple.
We as leaders in our craft have to learn how to inspire, to
some, this is natural, to others, it is a learned skill. We have good men in our midst, but it is up
to us as Masonic leaders to inspire participation in our membership. Making each member feel like an individual
contributor, that their voices are heard and valued is how we start to inspire
that sense of belonging, of community.
How we do that, is found within each individual leader. We all lead in different ways and we have to
know what stones we have to build our temple and how to best place those
stones, to make a strong and beautiful structure.
As leaders, we take that rough ashlar and turn it into the
smooth ashlar, which is what is needed for the building of the Temple. We inspire change, devotion and action. Anyone can give orders, forcing someone to
act, to inspire others to achieve is another thing all together, that not
everyone can achieve, but we can all aspire to do. A great leader also inspires others to out
achieve the master himself.
“Success
isn’t a final destination. It’s a continuous life journey of working
toward successively higher goals for yourself and your teams.” – Mike Mullane
It is true, we have deviated from what we once were. It is true that our building blocks are not
as perfect as those who preceded us. But
we are not as bad off as we think we are.
We have the tools we need at our disposal, we have the materials in our
midst to build the Temple, now we need to take the trestle board and lay out
our plans, using what we have to work with and to inspire others to achieve
that level of success and to work towards receiving the lost word of a Master
Mason. To work towards becoming an inspirational
man who can set the craft to work and give them proper instruction.
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