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It’s worth confessing that most of us, at some point, settle into a comfortable, professional routine (a rut, really) that intersects with achieving a certain level of competence and the expectations placed on us about the job.
Once we learn the job (it takes about 3.4 years to get “competent” at a new job) and find efficient (if not practical) ways of doing it, we’ll rarely stray from the patterned practices of routine.
For most of us, this happens relatively early in our careers or on the job, at about four years in. That’s just enough time to get competent. Within five to six years, we’re coasting.
It’s a case of “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” But it’s also a case of a non-thinking stance, “We’ve always done it this way before.”
The danger here is that a failure to reflect on one’s practices leads to stagnation and stifles the imagination.
Donald Schon, in The Reflective Practitioner wrote:
“Much reflection-in-action hinges on the experience of surprise. When intuitive, spontaneous performance yields nothing more than the results expected for it, then we tend not to think about it. But when intuitive performance leads to surprises, pleasing and promising or unwanted, we may respond by reflection-in-action.”
Being caught up in non-thinking routines and habits may be a product of homeostasis. Still, it may also be a question of being caught in the lethargy of resistance to change. It’s a sure sign of accommodation to the system.
This is the challenge of leadership: either the system will accommodate the leader, or the leader will accommodate the system.When the latter happens, leaders have defected in place.
Practicing imagination and creativity takes energy. They require lifting one’s sight beyond the mundane day-to-day routine and glimpsing the horizon. Only then may we gain perspective and perceive ways of doing things differently.
The Leadership in Ministry program of the Center for Lifelong Learning is designed to help clergy leaders become reflective practitioners.
This peer-mentoring experience, led by experienced reflective practitioners, will help participants gain new perspectives about their ministry experiences, practice discernment, and broaden their horizons about ministry.
Consider getting out of your rut with one of its many workshops throughout the year.
Israel Galindo is Associate Dean for Lifelong Learning. He directs the Pastoral Excellence Programs at the Center for Lifelong Learning.
