Should Vision be Realized?

Last weekend our church held its 40th anniversary celebration.  Invitations were sent out to throngs of people who over the years had spent time at our church to come and take part in the weekend's activities.  On the Friday night, a BBQ was organized at a members farm.  The weather was amazing.  Clear blue sky and sunshine.  As evening drew near we had an unobstructed view of the blue moon that was taking place (it just so happens that this was the same day that Neil Armstrong was being laid to rest).  There were plenty of hugs, smiles and rekindling of old friendships.

The next evening was a formal banquet held at a nearby location to the church.  It was not held at the church directly because the building was just coming to the end of a rather major renovation project.  After 40 years of use, you can imagine that there might be some things that needed to be...well...upgraded.  The first stage of the renovations were going to be unveiled the next day (Sunday), when they were going to hold the first service in the newly renovated sanctuary with all the new sound and lights and everything.

Rewind 15 years.  

I'm a volunteer working in the sound and technical area of the church and providing leadership on the church board.  The sound board we are using was donated by someone from the congregation.  The speakers we are using were donated by someone from the congregation (is the pattern starting to show?).  We hold things together with electrical tape and binder twine.  Sound stuff is always put into the yearly budget - but it is the first thing to be cut when the finances are low (and for us that was every year).  

So I did what any good visionary would do - I drew out what the future would look like and turned it into a 5 year plan.  I tried to sell it to the leadership of the church and they did support it verbally - but when it came time to buy these things it was the same old story.  Nothing moved forward.  I lasted at this for about 10 years and finally gave up working in the technical space.  I was just tired of not seeing things move forward.

Fast forward 10 years

The church decided to take on a capital campaign to undertake some major renovations.  Included in the renovations is a full upgrade of the sound and lighting system.  I was originally one of the leaders for this project and helped cast some of the vision of the future. As a result of taking a Masters Degree (and a few other things) I stepped down from the leadership role to focus on my studies.

Fast forward to one week ago

It is Saturday evening and I'm in line to attend the 40th anniversary banquet.  There are many people here that I have not seen for a long while.  As I approach the entrance there are  greeters meeting those who are arriving, welcoming them to the event.  As I reach my hand out to the greeter, she notices me and she says something like: "You must be very excited to see how your vision will have come into being?"

Full Stop

Was I excited to see the vision come to be?  I didn't feel excited. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn't feel...well...anything related to the completion of the project.  Why?  I probably should feel something - shouldn't I?  I mean, this is what I wanted.  This is what I dreamed of.  This is the vision that I helped create - coming to fruition.  Nope.  Nothing.

I talk about the future as if I've been there and experienced it.  And for me this is how it is - its like I've been there.  But when it comes to the here and now - I feel like "What do you mean excited - I've been wandering around in this vision for 10 years.  It's old. It's boring.  It's ... it's...it's the now".  In The Truth About Leadership, Kouzes & Posner say that: "Vision is the lifeblood of any organization. It is what keeps it moving forward" (p 51).  But what happens when you make it to your vision - reached your goal - met the challenge?  Now what?  Where do you go from there?

What this says to me is that a vision is much different than a project.  Projects come and go but visions - visions need to be built to last.  Visions describe the essence of where the organization is going.  Visions need to be presented in such a way as to make it appear to be within reach yet at the same time innately designed to not be achievable.  Why?  Because much time and energy will need to be expended to promote and encourage the vision within the organization - to get it moving - and to keep it moving.  If this was physics we might call the vision our "vector". Vectors have magnitude and direction - but no destination.  Leaders do not have the luxury to spend precious time supporting a vision only to have it come to a conclusion. 

I feel better knowing that the milestone we reached is a great end to a fantastic project (or at least this stage of it).  The sanctuary looks nice.  The carpet is cool.  The lights are fantastic and the sound is what I would call "clean".  I also feel better knowing that where we are is not the culmination of a long term vision; because visions need to be made to outlast the visionary.  Or at least they should be.