Having been on the receiving end of you-should-do-this, you-should-do-that, etc., I can relate. It is a common -- and maddening -- scenario in community and volunteer settings, and it arises often in board meetings.
But I've also seen that sentiment (if not the specific Rule) invoked as a way of tapping down organizational accountability. If organizations claim to be open to feedback, they should expect suggestions and recommendations, including some that only leadership is in a position to implement.
So...if the "Levy Rule" is to be applied fairly, then the organization must give the Suggestor the institutional power, authority, and support to implement the suggestion, with accompanying recognition if the project is carried through successfully.
Be careful how often you use the rule though. In other committees and settings, "you say it,you do it" often leads to no one making any suggestion, because they don't want/don't have time to do said action..
The rule seemed to be aimed at those with the power and ability to do so. At least thats how I took it, obviously the rule would have to be tweaked to work in areas where the people on the board (the parents etc) work crazy hours or at jobs where they can not pick up the phone for non work business (ever see a McDonalds employee planning a non work event during working hours? Of course not, we would be screaming that were standing in line while this woman is planning an event for her kids soccer team!)
this didn't have anything to do with power. We were just a bunch of neighbors who did all the work for the girls soccer league (like equipment distribution, tryouts, coaching, and refereeing) who got together every couple of months in a board meeting. We were all putting in lots of hours of our spare time, and the idea simply was that, if someone thought the league should do more stuff, he or she would have to agree to help do it.
I do understand the concept but I think it effectivly silences those who may not be able to take time out of their days to do these things, or who work odd job hours. Im sure your hospital must have overnight janitors or other people who work weird hours, and do not have the ability to even really make phone calls from "the office". Should a janitor from your hospital not be able to comment about his sons soccer league because he does not have the time and resources available to him to coordinate it?
I was simply stating that your rule only works best when addressed to a group of people in your economic situation. There is nothing wrong with that, but its something that should be considered. I would really hope that if somehow a child from a combined income of less then 40,000 (or less) household was in your soccer league and the parents wanted to have some sort of input that you would not just shut them down because the father is a janitor and the mother works at McDonald's and they just do not have the ability to pick up the phone at 2pm and have people call them back etc to get these things done.
Comments
two ways of looking at it
Having been on the receiving end of you-should-do-this, you-should-do-that, etc., I can relate. It is a common -- and maddening -- scenario in community and volunteer settings, and it arises often in board meetings.
But I've also seen that sentiment (if not the specific Rule) invoked as a way of tapping down organizational accountability. If organizations claim to be open to feedback, they should expect suggestions and recommendations, including some that only leadership is in a position to implement.
So...if the "Levy Rule" is to be applied fairly, then the organization must give the Suggestor the institutional power, authority, and support to implement the suggestion, with accompanying recognition if the project is carried through successfully.
Corollary
Be careful how often you use the rule though. In other committees and settings, "you say it,you do it" often leads to no one making any suggestion, because they don't want/don't have time to do said action..
The rule seemed to be aimed
The rule seemed to be aimed at those with the power and ability to do so. At least thats how I took it, obviously the rule would have to be tweaked to work in areas where the people on the board (the parents etc) work crazy hours or at jobs where they can not pick up the phone for non work business (ever see a McDonalds employee planning a non work event during working hours? Of course not, we would be screaming that were standing in line while this woman is planning an event for her kids soccer team!)
Golly, folks
this didn't have anything to do with power. We were just a bunch of neighbors who did all the work for the girls soccer league (like equipment distribution, tryouts, coaching, and refereeing) who got together every couple of months in a board meeting. We were all putting in lots of hours of our spare time, and the idea simply was that, if someone thought the league should do more stuff, he or she would have to agree to help do it.
I do understand the concept
I do understand the concept but I think it effectivly silences those who may not be able to take time out of their days to do these things, or who work odd job hours. Im sure your hospital must have overnight janitors or other people who work weird hours, and do not have the ability to even really make phone calls from "the office". Should a janitor from your hospital not be able to comment about his sons soccer league because he does not have the time and resources available to him to coordinate it?
I was simply stating that your rule only works best when addressed to a group of people in your economic situation. There is nothing wrong with that, but its something that should be considered. I would really hope that if somehow a child from a combined income of less then 40,000 (or less) household was in your soccer league and the parents wanted to have some sort of input that you would not just shut them down because the father is a janitor and the mother works at McDonald's and they just do not have the ability to pick up the phone at 2pm and have people call them back etc to get these things done.