Before Vision

I've spent a lot of time over the last twenty-five years reading, writing and speaking about change. I have led a great deal of intentional, planned change, and I have found myself carried along by a river of change that looks nothing like “planned.” Healthy change begins before a vision; healthy change begins with a desire for a vision. When an individual or an organization begins to wonder what a new reality might look like, the possibility of healthy change is born. Oftentimes, healthy change begins with what someone has called “a holy discontent with the way things are.” That sense of holy discontent pushes a person or an organization to wonder what might be. When people begin that wondering, they open themselves to the possibility that God has something in mind for them beyond what they already know. The very idea that there’s something beyond what we know is challenging for many people. In the time of the great explorers, the motto of Spain was “non plus ultra,” no more beyond. But once the exploration took hold, the King had the motto changed—“plus ultra,” more beyond. That change of understanding set the stage for an entirely new way of seeing the future. For an individual or an organization, believing that there is more beyond is the first step in turning the holy discontent into something positive. From there, it’s possible to begin the process of discerning what the new vision will be. The discernment of vision takes many forms, and will depend on the personality of the individual or the organization. Some are methodical and linear, while others are serendipitous, unstructured and curious. While the development of vision is not tied to a style, it is connected to the desire to imagine the plus ultra and to be willing to commit time and energy to its discovery. Beyond that, inspiration may come slowly, like a light spring rain, or in a rush, like a summer thunderstorm. For Christians, for churches and other ministries, discernment also means trusting that in the middle of the process God will be active and will lead the searchers through the difficult middle time to something powerful and good. For the faithful, it is God who reveals and calls one to the plus ultra. Individuals come to their plus ultra often through personal difficulty and struggle, and sometimes the holy discontent causes one to reimagine the form or content of one’s life. It is an unpleasant lesson that few of our important discoveries happen while life is problem-free. But when the holy discontent can give way to the plus ultra, a person can begin to have hope for meaningful, healthy change. Some persons get are unable to see for themselves what others around them can see, and are then unable to grasp that there could be a plus ultra in their own lives. For the ones who care for these people, it is important to know that until a person is willing to wonder for him or her self what might be, it isn’t possible to effect change on their behalf. The caregiver can’t be more invested in changing that person than the person is personally, for to do so will only invite heartache, frustration and disappointment. For organizations, one common roadblock is the disconnect between those who have a holy discontent and those who are perfectly content with non plus ultra. Often, those who are in leadership positions are there because they are motivated for change, and this can lead to frustration when the rank and file don’t share their passion for what might be. A key for removing the disconnect can be to share the plus ultra more often and with more variety, so that others might begin to wonder what might be. Sometimes it could mean taking more time to listen to understand what keeps people from imagining the possibility of a new future. Occasionally, leaders must simply understand that they are simply at such a different stage in the visioning process that they will need to slow down and wait a bit while others catch up. For most of us who embrace change, this is very difficult. Once an organization recognizes its holy discontent with the way things are, begins to wonder what might be and imagines that there is plus ultra, more beyond, then the work of discerning a new vision can begin.