The Unexpected - Giving Way

A colleague recently commented that he would like to be paid $1.00 for every time he has heard or read the word “unprecedented” the past six months. Indeed, “unprecedented” seems to be the word of the year in the midst of our new pandemic-racial reckoning-political turbulence-social media reality.

Then again, the unexpected is what makes our nonprofit and philanthropic sector so invigorating. It may not feel this way, but if ever there were a set of institutions set up to be nimble, it’s us. The vast majority of America’s nonprofit organizations are small, with under $2 Million in annual expenses. A majority of those have an annual budget that’s less than $1 Million. Ours has historically been a nimble sector. We jump in to solve problems that are not profitable enough to be worthwhile for business ventures nor universal enough to command the attention of government.

“With a little political savvy and a lot of courage, small organizations can change… quickly.”

With a little political savvy and a lot of courage, small organizations can change strategy, change business model — even change objectives — quickly. In our best incarnations, nonprofit organizations are responsive and nimble. We can have tremendous positive impact when more entrenched institutions are hamstrung into limited efficiency.

Let’s not lose that entrepreneurial spirit when we need it most. Times are tough. Work-from-home environments are tough. Layoffs are real. I know it’s hard. But even with all the economic uncertainty, our staff teams and boards are creative, dedicated, generous people.

Our job as leaders in the sector is to provide the right amount of structure to give all that creative energy a constructive place to go. Things are hard right now. For many of our organizations, revenue is dropping even as demand for services is increasing. Please don’t just “wait it out.” Today is the day your organization needs you to be as open to new ways of doing things as you are committed to its mission. This is a good time to treat co-workers with extra patience. It’s a good time to think nimbly. It’s a good time to be a leader.

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Creating Meaning

Usually when we ask the question, “Why?” we are looking backward, searching for causation. While there is value in understanding how we ended up where we are, most of the time there are too many variables to definitively decipher repeatable recipes for our current triumphs or predicaments.

But what if we are looking in the wrong direction? The Hebrew word for “why?,” which is “lama?” (sounds like “llama”), points us to a forward looking version of the question “Why?” The Hebrew word “lama?” can be thought of as a contraction of the prefix “l’…,” which means “to” or “toward,” and the interrogative word “what?.” In other words, the Hebrew language is suggesting that when we ask the pervasive, very human question “Why?” we ought to be directing our thinking toward the future, not the past. Don’t ask “From where did this come?” Ask instead “To where do I take this?”

Taken together, perhaps, the Parable of the Chinese Farmer and the ancient wisdom of the Hebrew language are directing us to respond to the vicissitudes of live by devoting ourselves to creating meaning through creative purpose. Purpose, or meaning, is not something we merely attempt to decipher. It is something we are responsible to create, perhaps in partnership with the Divine. Whether we confront tragedy, anxiety or triumph, we are challenged to direct our pain, our pride, our talents and our struggles toward making the world something closer to what we believe it can and should be. What would happen if our way of celebrating success, mourning loss and managing uncertainty all consisted of a new kind of “Why?” What if we responded to life’s every conquest, concussion and curve-ball by asking “What am I supposed to do with this? How do I make it matter?”