 The
Need for Action, Not Talk
by Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters)
from The
Art of Supportive Leadership, Copyright Hansa Trust
The newly elected officials of a formerly
corrupt city government were in a tizzy. It seemed to them
as though all their constituents had conflicting theories
as to how the city government should be reorganized, and each
was shouting for the acceptance of his own theories.
“We can’t possibly satisfy them
all!” cried the councilors in exasperation.
“Never mind,” said the new mayor,
a man of experience. “All we need to do is give them
a well-run government. If we do, their theories won’t
matter to them any more.”
Such, in fact, proved to be the case. Once
the citizens found the new tree of government bearing wholesome
fruit, they no longer cared much how the tree was being watered.
How often one finds debate only confusing
issues instead of clarifying them! At such times, almost any
action is better than wasting further hours, weeks, or months
arguing the best possible course of action.
Planning that facilitates action may indeed
save weeks of work. But planning that shelves action indefinitely
only discourages the flow of creative energy. Many a project
has been started under such a burden of carefully detailed
plans and weighty expectations that, like an overloaded plane,
it never manages to get off the ground.
People who devote too much time to discussing
what they intend to do almost never end up actually doing
it!
In one case to which I was a witness, the
planners were so eloquent about a project that many people
became fired with their enthusiasm.
I was not among them, however. There had
been too much talk, too many brochures, too many tours of
the property for a project that didn’t yet even exist.
As things turned out, the project failed.
How could things have turned out otherwise? The reasons for
its failure were simply these: too many beautiful dreams;
and too little energy left over, after the dreaming, for constructive
action.
The effective leader knows that an encyclopedia
of good ideas is no substitute for even the least of those
ideas put into actual practice. For, in the last analysis,
the essence of leadership is action–not discussion,
no matter how intelligent or convincing the talk.
In every deliberation there comes a point
when the door to further discussion must be firmly closed,
even if the subject has not been exhausted, even if it seems
that the best possible solution has not yet been reached.
This point is reached when discussion begins to block, rather
than liberate, a group’s creative flow. At this point
almost any action, short of utter lunacy, will be better than
no action at all.
Never allow a group’s creativity to
become stifled by an excess of words.
It may be argued that action, without careful
deliberation, may prove not only hasty, but harmful. In fact,
however, action itself often has a way of clarifying issues.
Obviously, one shouldn’t, figuratively, leap blindfolded
off a precipice. But one should at least test the possible
avenues of descent, instead of standing about, endlessly theorizing.
The most important thing in leadership is
to keep the creative energy flowing. As long as it continues
to do so, that flow will itself generate ideas. It will melt
away obstacles, open up new possibilities, and create a host
of undreamed-of opportunities.
Remember these rules, then:
1. Leadership means action, not merely good ideas for action.
2. Don’t waste so much energy in planning that you have
none left over for acting on your plans.
3. Action generates creativity.
4. Almost any action is preferable to prolonged inactivity,
born of indecision.
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