June 5
Who Does the Work?
A committee discusses a new arrangement with great confidence. The people who will answer the calls, unlock the building, or carry the supplies have not been asked about it. Everyone at the table means well. Yet an important kind of knowledge is absent: what the proposed arrangement will actually require on an ordinary Tuesday.
Participation brings practical experience into decisions before consequences arrive. The person doing the work may notice a difficulty that disappears when viewed from a comfortable distance. Asking for that perspective is more than good manners. It acknowledges that responsibility carries knowledge and that a useful plan needs more than the enthusiasm of its authors. The same consideration belongs at home and at work, wherever our decisions create tasks for someone else. We may discover a better way, or at least understand the effort we are asking another person to make. Either discovery is worth hearing.
Whose daily experience is missing from the decision I am helping make?
The person carrying the boxes knows something about their weight.
For the A.A. nerds: Twelve Concepts for World Service, Concept IV.