It’s Not about the Pizza
Recently, I was listening to a discussion among some men on the radio about a pizza restaurant they had visited. During the discussion they mentioned the fact that, when they walked into the restaurant, there was a sign that welcomed them (and others) to the restaurant that had been recognized for ten years in a row as the cleanest restaurant in that particular chain of restaurants.
The curiosity of one of those men caused him to ask an employee what they did in order to earn that distinction. That, in turn, led to the young lady giving him and his friends a tour and discussing the procedures they had in place to try to keep the restaurant clean. It appeared to those men that the employee had a great deal of pride in the reputation of her place of employment.
That was not the part of the discussion that caught my attention, though. I wasn’t all that impressed by the cleanliness of one restaurant in a chain of restaurants I’d never heard of before. What I was impressed by was the memory these men had of their visit.
As these men reminisced about their experience, they came to the realization that the restaurant’s reputation for cleanliness had caused them (maybe subconsciously) to be more careful as they ate. They joked about not wanting to be responsible for diminishing or ruining the reputation of the chain.
While they were laughing, I started thinking. I began to think about the relationship between expectation and behavior.
Specifically, I began to think about how to decrease the tension between expectations and behavior. You see, whether we are talking about local congregations of God’s people, various levels of government, business and industry, education, homes, or any number of other things, there are those who have the responsibility of leading. Corresponding to that, by definition, there are those who are accountable to them.
As a corollary to that, there will also (by definition) be some degree of tension between the expectations between those in leadership positions and the behavior and/or performance of those who are under their supervision. As I listened to a lighthearted conversation about a pizza restaurant, I started thinking about some ways to decrease the amount of tension.
One way, of course, would be for those in leadership positions to lower their expectations. Sadly, I believe that we are seeing the effects of this in almost, if not all, every segment of our society. In all too many places, mediocrity is the norm.
The other way by which the tension between expectation and behavior can be eased is to hold to a standard and encourage people to live by that standard. Please notice that the word I used is “encourage.” I did not use words like “browbeat,” “hammer,” “intimidate,” etc.
Think back a few paragraphs to my discussion about how the guys on the radio realized how their behavior changed in a pizza restaurant. Nobody ordered them to be careful. There was no information posted about fines or punishment if tea was spilled or some other mess was made. Instead, they realized after they were there that they had been influenced by the environment in which they found themselves.
Leaders, are you (we) listening? If things are not going the way they should be going, could the cause be an unhealthy and unproductive environment? If that is the case, could the cause for that possibly be because standards have been lowered instead of held onto in a kind, but firm way?
If that is the case, who is responsible for that?
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AUTHOR: Jim Faughn