Rev. J.N.M. Wijngaards, MHM, 1968, St.Paul Publications, New Delhi.Contents
It is fashionable for authors to apologize in the introduction to their books for having written so badly or for having written at all. I too would have plenty of reasons for offering my excuses to the reading public. This booklet is not complete. It was written in a hurry. It does not cover the whole field of the apostolate. In short, it has defects and not a few. Yet I do not think that offering excuses will do much good. I only beg my readers to keep the purpose of the booklet constantly in mind. It is intended to do only one thing: to illustrate by concrete examples how we can learn a great deal from secular efficiency. The chapters are meant to stimulate those in the apostolate to further study of such efficiency. The booklet will have achieved its aim when more priests, sisters and lay apostles discover how a more systematic approach to the apostolate can expedite their work. The information contained in the various sections was collected from standard works on Business Management. The books listed here proved especially helpful: L.A. APPLEY and others, Effective Communication on the Job, New York 1963. W. E. DU CKWORTH, A Guide to Operational Research, Methuen and Co., Ltd., London I962. R.A. JOHNSON and others, The Theory of Management of Systems, Mc Graw Hill Book Co Ltd. New York 1963. H. W. FRANCKE, DerManipulierte Mensch, F. A. Brockhaus, Wiesbaden 1964. N.R.F. MAIER and J. J. HAYES, Creative Management, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York 1962. J.G. MASON, How to be a more Creative Executive, McGrawHill Book Co. Ltd., New York 1960. T.G. ROSE and D.E. FARR, Higher Management Control, McGrawhill Book Co., Ltd., New York 1957. H.THEIL and others, Voorspellen en Beslissen, Het Spectrum, Utrecht 1964 The examples from the various spheres of the apostolate have been given for the sole reason of proving the applicability of the general principles. No allusions to specific persons’ institutions or places should be seen in them. I owe a special word of thanks to good sister Sara Grant, R.S.C.F., for giving me so many useful suggestions and for correcting the manuscript. Her contribution has certainly given the work a wider application that might otherwise have been possible. 1. Problem-solving“To act without reflection is not good. Pastors have usually a tight programme of work. The apostolate demands their attention from morning till night The Bishop who reads his daily post in the diocesan office, the parish priest who quickly plans his day over his cup of coffee, the religious who takes her place at her desk in the school or hospital at the opening of a new day: they all meet problems or foresee them, reflect on their implication and try to solve them. There are innumerable problems in the life of the Church. They are large and small. They may last for a short time or may harass us for years. They may involve one person or a whole parish, an institution, even a diocese. Those involved in the apostolate know the nature of such problems. Many have acquired a remarkable capability in dealing with them. Their natural talents and experience have formed them into good decision-makers. Their inborn gift of imagination and the initiatives they have previously undertaken may have given them that genuine creativity and versatility of mind needed to solve problems effectively. It is also possible that problems remain with us, that we feel incapable to face up to them or to find suitable solutions. It may be that we are searching in vain for ways and means to rid of ourselves of a difficulty without knowing precisely how to tackle the question. It is here that one spontaneously feels the need of some systematic approach to problem solving. How can we clear our minds regarding the first steps we should take? What is the best way to arrive at a responsible solution? What is the quickest and safest method to deal with problems that ask for an immediate decision or entail great future consequences? The secular world has developed certain guidelines for problem-solving that can be helpful to us in this matter. It is worthwhile looking at some examples. The Soap Company has been suffering heavy losses on account of the consumer’s rising interest in washing powder. The problem is: will this tendency continue? Will it be necessary to switch over immediately to a greater production of washing powder? Will it be possible to recapture the market from other firms? Will the switch-over in production be justified in spite of the great expenses foreseen? The company obviously needs some systematic approach to solving this problem. Well, you may say, do we meet any problems of the same complexity in the Church? The answer is: Certainly. We do! Take the case of the Religious Order or the Diocese which intends to open a new Seminary or a house of formation. What will be the place most suited from the point of view of available site, educational facilities or promising relationships? How will future developments affect the set-up of the institute? Should we plan on a large or on a small scale? Will we have the required personnel to staff it, and so on. This surely presents a very difficult ‘problem’ with an infinite variety of complications. The way in which the problem is to be solved cannot leave us indifferent. The Superior who has to make the decision will, in one way or other, have to do some systematic ‘problem-solving’. We might take a simpler example of a personnel problem in a certain bank. The general may have three highly qualified persons on his staff who, at the first impression, would all be fit to become his assistant. The situation may be that the acting assistant manager is due to retire after two years, and that the higher management wants him to suggest the most capable persons to succeed him. Here the director has a problem: Which of the three men should be selected as the candidate? What qualities should weigh heaviest in making this judgement? To what tests should he subject the three men to arrive at a better evaluation of their merits? How is he to exclude personal preferences and likings from his judgement? How will his eventual choice effect his relationship with the others? In other words he faces the problem of suggesting the correct appointment to an office. The same problem we frequently meet in the Church. It is a cross for many bishops and religious superiors. It is the difficulty of deciding who, of the available personnel, is the right person for a certain job. It is one form of decision which will often require a systematic approach in the working out of the solution. There are hundreds of problems in the apostolate that could be mentioned here:
The parish priest may wonder whether it will be wise to start a new lay movement, whether he should devote time to a possible social development scheme or whether ‘Alcohol Anonymous’ will counteract the bad habits of some of his flock. Many of these problems can be solved and are solved with the help of common sense, experience, natural talent and inborn initiative. But for many others a more methodical approach to the solution might be most helpful. The Methodical Approach When hearing about the ‘methodical approach’, many a pastor or superior may feel uneasy. It is natural for us to react, used as we are to dealing with problems in a far more spontaneous manner. Objections will come to our mind and it will not be out of place to give them some attention. It might be said that the methodical approach to problem solving belongs to the secular sphere. In the Church and in the apostolate we are dealing with souls. We are handling the instruments of grace. We are preaching the word of God which has its effect in man’s inmost personality. It is Christ who lives and works through the Church. It is His Spirit who guides and moves us. It is prayer, sacrifice and the invisible communion of the saints which influence our external actions. Is there any place here for secular methods of solving problems? How can we tackle problems that involve the nature of man’s response to God; his conversion of heart of his refusal of grace? Can modern methods help us solve the problems of ‘fewer vocations’, ‘confirmed sinners’, ‘failure in the apostolate’ and ‘human weakness?’ Does the field of action of the apostolate not transcend the powers of human methods? The objection is a serious one and it demands a considered answer. It is true that in the apostolate of the Church we encounter many problems which lie beyond the power of human endeavour. We are, after all, not “fighting against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this darkness, against the evil spirits in the air.” (Eph. 6/12) We need spiritual weapons: truth, justice, faith, hope in salvation and the Word of God (Eph. 6/14-17). Nothing would be more fatal than if we were to imagine that all problems can be solved by human powers alone. In the reality of the apostolate we will have to face many problems that cannot be approached in such a way. They will require prayer and sacrifice. They may be solved by God’s Providential guidance of history or by the charismatic insight he may grant to one of His chosen instruments. There is that devil of whom Jesus said that it can be exorcised only “by prayer and fasting” (Mt. 17/21). No human methods will avail in such problems. But we would be altogether mistaken if we were to think that all problems in the apostolate belong to this category. There are many problems which do not arise from the ‘mystery of sin‘ (2 Thess. 2/7), but from the very complexity of human life. Supernature builds on nature also in the apostolate. Christ left it to His Apostles to organize the natural and human aspects of their mission according to their normal human intelligence. Some examples from St. Paul’s life may illustrate this point. St. Paul was often faced with the real problem of which route he should follow for his apostolic journeys, Rarely, as in the vision at Troas was he guided by a direct revelation. In the ordinary circumstances he had to take his own decisions, and these did not come about without a considerable amount of planning (cf Acts 15/36-37). Often he tried to make his journey more effective by sending others ahead of himself (Acts 19/21-22). He took quite a lot of trouble to organise collections of money in the churches he visited (2 ,Cor. 8-9). To avoid unnecessary delay in Ephesus Paul arranged to meet the priests of the locality in Miletus: certainly a delicate way of solving a pastoral problem (Acts 20/16-17). During his stay in Jerusalem he tackled another problem: the Jews were under the false impression that he despised the Law of Moses. On the advice of the local Church authorities, St. Paul partook in the ceremonies that concluded the nazarite vows of four Christians (Acts 21/20-24). In many more instances St. Paul was left by God to tackle problems with his own ingenuity: the problems of the plot against his life (Acts 23/12-17); the problem of the court case before Felix (Acts 24-25), the problems of his journey to Rome (Acts 27-28). In other words: Sacred Scripture itself shows us in the model life of the great Apostle of the non-Jews how pastors have to solve many problems with their own intelligence. Surely God’s grace will be there, but it presupposes the application of all human talent and ingenuity. When St. Paul enumerates all his suffering, he makes specific mention of his problems:
St. Paul’s whole personality was involved in the encounter with his pastoral problems. He exerted all his human powers to tackle them. It is here that the methodical approach finds its justification also in the apostolate. For ‘method’ is no more than ‘a streamlining of thought’. The systematic approach is really a refined way of using our common sense. If God expects us to use all our human power of intelligence to meet a challenge, he cannot but sanction the fact that we do it in a rational, and thus a methodical, way. The method of ‘problem-solving’ that has been worked out by human minds in the experience of the secular world, can rightly be applied to many problems in the apostolate too. There is nothing ‘unholy’ about these methods, any more than God’s ministry excludes good common sense. In fact, where the methodical way of solving problems proves more efficient, we would be entirely wrong in refusing to make use of it. Far from fearing the methodical approach, we should welcome it where ever possible. First Step: Determine the precise nature of the problem The secular worlds of business, administration and education have worked out a methodical approach to problems which involves five steps. The first step consists in the accurate definition of the nature of the problem on hand. In many cases this stage might seem quite superfluous. We might be inclined to say: But I know what my problem is. However, experience and a few sober reflections teach us that this would be a false assumption. Let us begin by considering the human mind. It is essential for the mind to concentrate on one thing when thinking. However fast it may switch its focus of attention from one subject to another, it can only concentrate on one of them at a time. This necessarily entails that the mind will tend to dwell on one aspect of the question and overlook other important aspects. This will all the more readily happen when in the course of time we have acquired habits of thinking, or when we have become emotionally attached to a particular way of considering things. Is this exaggerated? Let us take some concrete instances. The parish priest of a mission station feels that his new assistant has become a problem case. This young priest proved quite enthusiastic and active on his arrival from the Seminary. He took his share in the ministerial work with all the dedication and willingness one could have expected. But then a decline set in. The assistant began to show signs of reluctance to go to the villages on the normal pastoral rounds. Whenever possible he leaves it to his parish-priest to do this work. He tries to find excuses for his unwillingness to do the ministry in the out- stations. The parish priest experiences this as a kind of resistance to his authority, as an escape from duty, as an unfair dodging of a common task. In short: the assistant has become problematic to him and he may not know what to do about it. He may tell the bishop that Father So-and-so had better be appointed somewhere else in a school or in a town parish, since he proves unwilling to work in the villages. Frequently, the true nature of such a problem has not been understood. It is quite possible that the parish priest has jumped to his conclusions without sufficient investigation. If he allows his feeling of resentment to predominate he may simply attribute the young man’s reluctance to a basic lack of the apostolic spirit. Or he may overlook other aspects, as he cannot imagine the difficulties the other man may experience. The reasons given by the assistant will then be looked upon as empty excuses and not as the real source of trouble. But suppose that the parish priest does not start presuming that he knows the real nature of the assistant’s problem. Suppose he begins with the methodical assumption that he still has to determine where the problem lies, then he might find out that the assistant feels incompetent to do his work through lack of a proper knowledge of the vernacular. The assistant may or may not realise this himself. From friendly conversations and a real attempt to discover the man’s difficulty, it may emerge that he feels very much his inability to speak the local language. Perhaps people have been commenting on it. Perhaps he has begun to grow annoyed at his stumbling over words during catechism class or during the sermon. After some time he may have become self-conscious about it. Speaking in public in that language has grown into a real ‘odium’. He has begun to look upon his weekly sermon as a burden which he tries to escape in every possible way. It is obvious that the discovery of the real nature of the problem will show the way to the proper solution. The parish priest will now be able to present his bishop with a different kind of report. He may suggest that his assistant be given some special facilities to overcome this language problem. In this way he will have tackled the difficulty effectively and saved a man from degradation and perhaps, from a life of unnecessary self-accusation. It is surprising to see how often we imagine we know the precise problem we are dealing with. I remember a case of sister, teaching in a high school, who wanted to begin the Y.C.S. The response to her many invitations was very poor. At the first meetings that were organized some children turned up, but soon very few remained. The sister did everything possible to improve the situation. In class she often harped on the beauty of this apostolate and the need for her pupils to volunteer. All to no avail. In the end she came to the conclusion that there was something wrong with the children. She attributed to them a total lack of apostolic spirit. Fortunately she had the good sense to call in a full-time organizer. This person soon came to the conclusion that the Sister herself was the real problem standing in the way of the development of the Y.C.S. With all her good intentions she had made the grave mistake of dominating the proceedings right from the beginning. The children had immediately sensed that the Y.C.S. meetings were going to become an exact replica of religion classes and so they backed out. The full-time organizer advised the sister not to attend the meetings at the beginning. Participation immediately went up. After some time, when with outside help the group had begun to function normally, sister was advised to be present, but not to interfere. In this way the group was gradually established until sister could take her normal share as spiritual adviser. All through she had imagined that the problem lay with the children. In actual fact it lay with her. The determination of the real problem was the first step to a systematic solution of it. In other instances the problem may be even more complicated. It may be that we simply feel that there is something wrong, and yet we find it impossible to lay our finger on the sore spot. A certain bishop may feel frustrated because he notices that many important matters cannot have the considered attention he would like to give them. Sisters of a certain Congregation would like him to give regular conferences on the Vatican Documents, but he knows he will hardly manage to prepare such talks as well as he would like to do. And so he does not know whether he should accept or not. Many weighty documents, enquiries, reports, letters of information, keep coming in by post and they are dutifully laid aside for further study-a further study which he feels is highly unlikely to materialise. He has received requests to attend meetings on a regional or national level, but he wonders in how far his presence will be required and what contribution he should make towards them in the line or serious preparation. The diocesan bulletin and the regional weeklies are foremost in his attention and he would gladly send in more articles, if only he knew more precisely what type of subject was most necessary for his people. At the same time he receives innumerable invitations to attend functions in schools, parishes and other institutions. He sees possibilities for more frequent ecumenical contacts with dignitaries of other Christian Churches. He understands the legitimate claims for personal visits made by the outlying parishes, by the religious houses in his diocese and top-ranking officials in his place of residence. It may be that all these things leave the bishop with a general sense of despondency, with the certainty that there is something wrong even though he does not know exactly where. In cases of this kind it pays to approach the matter very methodically. It is good to reflect on the fact that one has not yet discovered the true nature of the problem and that it is therefore necessary to collect data from which it can be determined. All the factors that seem to enter into the picture could, for instance, be written down and compared. In the case of the bishop which we cited as an example, it may well be that the crucial question revolves around the division of time. It may be that the traditional set-up of his daily routine has not left enough room for the many important activities that demand his time: study of contemporary and administrative documents, the preparation of conferences and articles, the visits etc. There may be less important activities that have so far taken up too much of his day, such as correspondence, accounts and other administrative duties. The real solution for the bishop might then prove to be the appointment of a very efficient secretary, who could take down his letters in shorthand and look after all the filing and current administration. When tackling problems we should consequently beware of jumping to conclusions. Let us first look at the case systematically, distrusting even our own understanding of the problem. Let us first try to find out, from all available information, what precisely is at the root of the difficulty. Clear knowledge of the nature of the problem goes a long way towards bringing about a valid solution. Second step: Collect facts about the problem It is well known how much we are inclined to generalise and to formulate over-all statements which are actually only based on one or two instances. The secular fields of problem-solving have established beyond doubt that the greatest obstacle to an effective approach in the matter often lies in our ignorance of the factual situation. A certain Catholic literature Centre complains of lack of response on the part of the readers. Whatever booklet they produce, only few copies are sold. They have attempted various improvements, such as reduced rates, more attractive covers and better paper. Nothing seems to help. Very frequently one will discover that in these circumstances nothing further is done to get more information, more reliable data about this lack of response. Any advertizing agency will tell us that the marketing of a product requires a good deal of research regarding the demands of the consumer and the best areas of distribution. First of all, is the lack of response universal, or does it affect only certain sectors of the faithful? Secondly, has the product been sufficiently brought within easy reach of the reading public? Thirdly, what kind of needs are keenly felt by the reading public so that a response would be expected? It is no use continuing with any literature programme without assessing at least a few of such basic facts. Even if it were to involve some expense, this research should be undertaken. The problem cannot be solved without an adequate supply of reliable data. Or consider the complaint, so frequent in some parts of the country, that Catholic schools are not willing to accept Catholic children. I know one instance where serious accusations of this nature were taken to the Hierarchy with respect to certain educational institutions. Meetings were held with view to solving the problem. The discussion had already proceeded to an advanced stage when it was suggested that reliable information should first be collected. The resulting facts were an eye-opener to all concerned. It was proved beyond doubt that, in the area under discussion all Catholic children legitimately applying for education had been taken into Catholic institutions. Where applicants had been rejected, the reason proved to be the lack of the required academic standard. Upon this information the complaint was withdrawn. The whole commotion had begun with a mixture of exaggerated personal grievances on the part of certain individuals which had led to generalizations. I have no desire to discuss here the stand taken or to be taken by Catholic schools in the matter. This simply affords a good illustration of how the lack of reliable facts can obstruct the resolving of a problem. Facts are required in all kinds of problems: whether they be on the human plane or in the material order, whether they concern one parish or a whole diocese, whether they lie within our own field of experience or not. In complicated matters we may need specialized advice and the help of people trained to collect statistical data. In the more ordinary problems of daily pastoral life we may have to do some of our own research. Whatever it’s form, let us not forget that it is no good attempting to solve a problem without knowing the facts. An adequate supply of reliable data is one of the pre-requisites of responsible decision making in the pastoral field also. Third step: Search for new ideas and alternative solutions. God has endowed man with creative faculties. The development of human history is one continuous illustration of this theological fact. Of all the creatures God made, there is only one that has been made in His likeness, in the likeness of the Creator. Man alone, by the use of his mind can, as it were, create new combinations on earth. The coming of Christ, with its introduction of a new creation’ has also marked the beginning of man’s creativity in the spiritual field in new forms of Christian charity and service. The very world in which we live and the Church in which we have grown up, witness to the influence of man’s creative thinking. One might wonder what this ‘creativity’ has to do with the solving of problems. The answer is that in the solution of any new problem man has to use his creative power. A brief survey of modern science will convincingly demonstrate this. All the new forms of transport arose in response to man’s need to escape from being bound to place and to conquer distance. This problem urged him to solutions which each in turn were truly revolutionary and creative: the use of animals as means of transport, then chariots and wagons, motorcars, steamers, aeroplanes and rockets. Think of the field of communication. Man was faced with the problem of conveying messages to other persons. In the course of time this problem gave rise to such wonderfully new creations as script, the alphabet, ink and writing paper, printing, the telephone and telegraph system, radio, television and internet. In every human field of life, be it building, war, agriculture, medicine, administration or industry we find innumerable examples of the creative action of man. This surely was in God’s mind when He turned the world over to man with the words: Subject the earth!. The conquest of the world entails the gradual overcoming of many problems by new creative interventions of man. It would be a fatal mistake to restrict this creativity merely to the extraordinary new inventions made from time to time. Creativity is a normal element in our daily life. It is an absolute requirement in the solution of our ordinary problems. Perhaps we have not given thought to this. Suppose a phone call comes through to the presbytery that a Catholic lady who lives ten miles away, is at the point of death. The parish priest would like to rush to the place, but it so happens that his car is out of order. What shall he do? He may first think of his assistant who possesses a motorbike. Suppose the assistant proves to be away at an association meeting, so that it is difficult to reach him. The parish priest might then phone to a good Catholic family and ask for the use of the car. Or he might consult the time-table of the bus-services to the place in question. It may be that in the end he has to adopt a combined solution: he may contact a catholic home near the hall where the association meets and ask them to pass on the message to his assistant. After rapidly surveying all the alternative solutions the parish priest will select what seems to be the most practicable one, and often this will give real credit to his ‘creativity of thought’. The problem may not have been so great, and yet quite a considerable amount of imagination has been exerted in a short time. It is necessary to understand the function of our imagination in this process to looking for a new solution. The imagination serves to offer alternative solutions. It was the parish priest’s imagination that told him:
The imagination does no more than suggest possibilities. It opens new doorways. It searches for new light. It concentrates on the presentation of what is new, what could be, what is likely to be forgotten. And this is a very valuable service to man. Woe to the man who has no imagination! He will find it extremely difficult to see his way out even in the daily stresses of life. At the same time, however, we should realise that the imagination is not man’s power of judgement. The judgement comes after the alternative solutions have been proposed. In our concrete case: after the suggestion of the imagination Try your assistant, the parish priest may come to the judgement: This solution is not valid because my assistant is out! The grave mistake which we normally make is not to give enough room to our imagination and, therefore, to our creativity. We allow our power of judgement to interfere, before the imagination has had its time to suggest all the alternatives it could. The lesson which we can learn from the secular experience in “problem solving lies mainly in this point. We cannot afford in the solution of problem of any gravity to pass over a serious search for ‘new alternatives’, for ‘new ideas’, for true ‘creative thinking!. On no account should we begin to exclude alternatives right from the beginning. We should patiently list them. We should allow our imagination to have its full say before we apply the power of our judgement. In all possible ways we should elicit the suggestions of others and register them however absurd they may seem at first. Since the solution will have to be ‘creative’ in some sense or other, we may expect most benefit from the suggestions that do not appeal to us in the beginning. In many an instance we do well to write down all the alternative solutions we can think of and all the possibilities suggested to us by others. A practical example is in place here. A certain editorial board had agreed on bringing out a series of six booklets on the apostolate of literature. After some initial difficulties competent writers were found for five of the booklets. Attempts to find an author for the sixth one failed. The editorial board was summoned to an emergency session as the time for the appearance of the booklets drew near. Many solutions were proposed as to who should be asked to be the sixth author. There were serious obstacles in the way of all suggested names. Finally, it was decided to list all the alternate solutions. One member then suggested simply dropping the sixth booklet, incorporating its contents into the five preceding ones. Of all the alternatives this one first evoked the strongest resistance. On further inspection, however, it proved a very easy and acceptable solution, so that it was adopted by unanimous agreement. When reflecting on this problem afterwards, it was found that much time had been wasted on account of the fact that all had fixed their minds on having six booklets. Taking this for granted, the obvious solution of reducing the series to five booklets only, was not even seen as an alternative. And not seeing alternatives is a block to the mind. A particular school, run by Sisters, was hard pressed for catechetical instructors as some of the Sisters were to be absent for some months. The principal called the Catholic members of the staff, both lay and religious, to discuss the allotment of catechetical instruction. As many of the lay teachers felt incompetent to take this commitment on themselves, the meeting dragged on with little success. During the discussion one of the teachers suggested that the help of a nearby convent be invoked: surely they could spare some people for a term! The religious present were inclined to rule out this possibility altogether. They voiced a number of good reasons which seemed to doom the attempt to failure from the very start. The principal, however, thought better of it and approached the convent in question. Without any great difficulty some Sisters were obtained on a temporary basis. It was post-factum an obvious solution, but it could not be recognised as such until it had been seen as an alternative. Secular business and administration have realised the value of ‘good ideas’ end ‘useful suggestions’. The Government of the U.S.A. has opened a special branch to collect ‘new ideas’ concerning matters related to the army or the administration. In this ‘Incentives Awards System’, it collected more than 294,000 suggestions in one year. Of these it was found that 79,000 could be made use of. Awards to the amount of $2,365,000 were granted for these suggestions and it saved the Government at least $200 million through greater efficiency. General Motors, one of the greatest American industries, collects over 30,000 practicable new ideas from its employees every year and has registered great advances on their account. In the Church a similar atmosphere of ‘creative thinking’ will be most helpful. Pastors, principals of schools, heads of institutions and all in positions of authority can only benefit from stimulating those in their care to give suggestions and recommendations. In problems of any magnitude we should enlist the help of all ranks of the faithful to give advice and express their opinions. Those involved in the direct apostolate are at times prevented from seeing alternatives because of the fixed patterns of work and thought. The electrical engineers of the Thompson Products, Inc. (Cleveland, U.S.A.) struggled in vain to find a solution to a very costly problem: leather straps that were used for polishing in the factory kept tearing at the edges. Emma Gabor, a girl who worked at one of the machines, suggested applying nail polish as she had found that this was also a good way to stop ladders in her nylon stockings. The idea brought her the award of $6000 and it saved the company more than $43,000 a year! The church in Western Europe was desperate over the loss of Christian labourers. An assistant parish priest in a parish of Brussels, the then Father Joseph Cardijn, worked out a simple programme of training Christian Workers in cells, teaching them a Christian approach to work by such seemingly obvious methods as the Gospel enquiry, the review of life, and the ‘See-Judge-Act’ method. It was a relatively simple suggestion, but it revolutionised the development of the lay apostolate and formed millions of responsible Christians. Creativity then is a ‘must’ in the bringing about of valid and lasting solutions. Fourth Step: Take some time for ‘brooding problem over the problem There are a good number of problems with which we have to deal immediately on the spot. Many a priest will remember the sudden ‘grave cases’ encountered in the confessional, when on the spur of the moment rather weighty decisions have to be taken. It is not impossible that afterwards, when the mind has time to consider the problem again in a more leisurely manner, one may recognize that another solution might have been given. The human mind cannot give its best judgement when it is under strain or hemmed in by the urgency of the moment. Moreover, the validity of certain suggestions, the true weight of some stray remark or some passing observation, may come back to us more forcefully at a later stage. In the solving of great problems we should accustom ourselves, therefore, to allow our minds time to digest the information received and the alternative suggestions given in our subconscious. It will be found that the decision is much lighter if the problem has ‘matured’ in our mind and if the possible solutions have ‘grown’ in our understanding. In the methodical approach to problem-solving this will mean that we will deliberately postpone the taking of the decision with some days. One particular Catholic institution needed to be given a new name. A competition was held among the leading Catholics of the town to collect suggestions. This resulted in a list of forty-two possibilities. The board of the institution spent a long time discussing the merits and demerits of the names suggested. Some thirty were rejected outright, but it was difficult to come to an agreement regarding the remaining twelve. A heated exchange of opinion took place, which revealed some deepseated difference of view among the members of the board. The President took a wise decision. He decided that the list of twelve alternative names should be taken up for final discussion at another meeting scheduled to take place after a month. Meanwhile the members were requested to think the matter over. When the board met again the question was resolved within a short time. It turned out that the opinions expressed on all sides had had time to mature: there was a remarkable unanimity on the merits of the name that was finally adopted. In solving our pastoral problems it is wise to follow this procedure whenever we can. Hasty decisions usually lead to regret. Giving time to ourselves to ‘brood’ over the problem does not mean indefinite delay, however. We should set ourselves a time-limit. We should fix the day when we shall pronounce the verdict and make our selection from among the alternative suggestions. The interval granted us will also give us an opportunity to pray for light. Prayer is the best preparation for action. Fifth step: Evaluate the alternatives The final decision depends on the evaluation of the alternatives. It is here that our power of critical thinking must come into play. What is the actual alternative solution? How are we to exclude the impracticable ones and select the one that will serve our purpose best? Which person is most suited for a certain appointment? Which site should be selected for a new school? In what manner should we go about collecting funds for a project to be undertaken? The alternatives lie before us and we may wonder how to do the elimination. There is nothing that fills us with so much indignation as a referee who shows partiality to one team. We all expect the referee to give his decisions according to well established rules. We want him to be objective and to pronounce judgement in strict harmony with the norms of the game. When about to select the best alternative we should be in the same frame of mind. Our selection and evaluation should be based on objective norms. such as the good of the Church, the inherent promise of development. The particular goal we want to reach. Too often we allow personal preferences, personal fears, personal ambitions or pet-ideas to keep a stranglehold on our mind and its decisions. In many a case this will not happen intentionally. We may be so much possessed by the undercurrents of our personal involvement that we hardly notice the large share which emotion or liking has in our decision. The secular branches of ‘problems solving’ face the same difficulty. They have proved that it pays to determine the norms on which the decision is to be based therefore the alternatives are taken up for selection. Usually this procedure will force us to see the alternatives in a more objective light. Suppose that a certain parish is composed of two distinct language-groups. The introduction of the vernacular into Holy Mass has created a serious problem between the two communities. Various solutions as to alternating services in each language have been tried, but without complete success. It so happens that the parish needs to be divided anyway. The bishop finds himself faced with some clear alternatives
There will be innumerable factors that will enter into the making of the decision: the preference of the groups involved; the consequences of the decision for the parts of the diocese; the economical strength of both language groups, and so on. The bishop will not be able to proceed until he has laid down for himself the norms that count for his most: whether it is the geographical size of the parish (people live nearer to the Church or the parish as liturgical community (those belonging to one language may for a more natural group for the liturgy), or the parish as centre of pastoral work (the convenience of the priests in charge), or other considerations. An objective definition of the function of a parish as a cell in the diocese will go a long way towards seeing objective norms on which the problems could be brought to a definite solution. Another helpful technique developed by the secular sciences at this stage of evaluation is the procedure of discussing or considering the various alternatives in ’rounds’ There is a first more superficial ’round’ in which the alternatives are grouped under various categories: the more likely solutions, the improbable solutions, the apparently useless solutions, and whatever category may suggest itself. This provides a rough division that can serve as the basis for the second round in which each alternative is taken up for a detailed examination. Once one of the alternatives has been lifted out as the most acceptable solution, there is still a third round to consider whether this solution can be modified in harmony with the good points of the rejected alternatives. Let me give an example. There is a demand for a hostel for Catholic students in a certain city. A religious order that has been entrusted with the spiritual care of the students at the University will have to sponsor this undertaking. The superior in question, with some of his consultors has determined that there are quite a number of possible solutions:
In the first round of discussion option 3 might be labelled as ‘unlikely’, 2 and 4 as ‘less likely’ and 1 as ‘the most likely’ solution. A more close examination in the second round might eventually return the scale of judgements. Option 1 proves impracticable because of the lack of a sufficiently numerous Catholic population. 2 may have to be ruled out because of the high costs. 3 would seem to make us project the wrong image on the university campus. 4 remains, therefore, as the solution that promises the best results. Now the turn has come for the third round in which the solution might be modified as follows: for the time being Catholic students shall continue to seek their own accommodation in the hostels that are available. But the following steps will be taken to counteract any untoward influences they might experience in those hostels:
It is obvious that the final solution arrived at combines good elements that were found in several separate alternative suggestions! It proves that all the alternatives have been carefully weighed and that the last drop of usefulness has been squeezed out of each one of them! Having read the above description of how problems are to be solved in a methodical approach, one might feel inclined to say: But it is only common sense to do it in this way! The reply is: Yes and No. It surely is common sense, because all scientific methods are fundamentally nothing else but more elaborate forms of what our mind (and, therefore, common sense)dictates. That is why natural decision-makers will often follow the described procedure in a spontaneous way. Yet in another meaning of the word the methodical approach is not just ‘common sense’. For this approach has been tested and tried like any other scientific method and it has thus acquired the status of a far more reliable guideline. Research in traffic accidents have shown that in fifty percent of motor accidents it is the head of the driver that is hit first. Consequently, the wearing of a crash helmet provides a good margin of safety. It may be argued that ‘common sense’ also could have told us that crash helmets increase our safety. Of course it could, but methodical research has told us something more definite, namely that in actual fact the head is the most vulnerable part. A responsible motorist may decide to buy a crash helmet at the mere dictates of his ‘common sense’. Faced with the results of the enquiry he practically has no other choice. ARE YOU A GOOD PROBLEM-SOLVER? Scale to judge yourself. Put after each question Yes, No or At times. (Call to mind a problem you had to solve recently, and apply the questions to the way you went about solving it.) 1. Do you often ask yourself: “What am I trying to do ? – What is the precise nature of this problem?” ……………… 2. Do you put your problem before other people? ……………… 3. Do you react against generalizing statements made by others about people or events? ……………… 4. Is it your custom to check the information you received on its reliability? ……………… 5. Do you always wait to make a decision until you have alternative solutions? …………….. 6. Are you inclined to accept solutions suggested to you by others? ……………… 7. Is it your habit to postpone important decisions, setting yourself a time-limit in advance? …………… 8. When making a decision, are you adverting to the undue influence your habitual way of thinking may have on you? ……………… 9. Do you write down the alternative solutions to problems, with the pros and cons of each? ……………… 10. Have you adopted five new solutions for various (big or small) problems in the last month ……………… Evaluation: Give yourself two marks for every Yes, one mark for every At times and no marks for every No Score: 2. Operational ResearchThe simple man trusts everything. The concept of operational research as a special branch of scientific research has gained prominence only since the Second World War. But since then it has proved so extremely useful that no respectable secular management can do without it. What does operational research mean? In a few words we might attempt to describe it as follows: Operational research is a systematic way of determining in how far a certain process is achieving its end and how this process can be improved, streamlined and re-directed to give better results. It is not necessary here to make many subtle distinctions between various types of operational research and its close allies. In simple terms operational research means: knowing precisely what you are doing. Let us imagine the postal services. All over the country there are thousands of post-offices, big and small, in which postal clerks are helping customers who want to send letters or parcels, who want to buy stamps or who wish to pay money orders. It is a well-known fact that the customers often have to wait for a long time. On the other hand there are certain hours in the day when the postal clerks have little or nothing to do. In some places the postal staff can hardly cope with the flow of customers, in other places the clerks are definitely under-employed, it is easy to see that this situation is highly unsatisfactory both for the customer and for the postal service. In one way or other it will have to be worked out how with a minimum of personnel maximum service can be given to the customers. For this operational research is called in. Special investigations will be made to find out precise data as to the number of customers that enter each post office as to the average waiting time, as to the relative distribution of busy and slack hours during the day, and so on. From this certain adjustments in the use of the personnel can be suggested such as a new distribution of staff to various post offices, a new time-table including peak-hours with increased personnel and other similar measures. Operational research will keep checking the findings in this field and will thus supply the management with the information needed to control the use of the available staff to the maximum of efficiency. It may be useful to analyse somewhat more in detail the methods employed by operational research. One basic principle is: collecting the facts. Another principle is imitation of the process in the form of a model. In the case of the postal services quoted above, the operational research will first conduct enquiries to establish the precise figures and data. Then, on paper, different possible reconstructions of the distribution of personnel will be worked out. Again, on paper, it will be tried out how this new distribution will function. From the conclusions arrived at by the simulated new arrangements the most efficient system can be calculated. It is obvious that in the apostolate there are many areas of which cannot be brought under operational research in any form. The well-known spiritual adage that we do not know how and where grace works, proves this up to the hilt. We know only too well that it is impossible to gauge the effects produced by the preaching of the word in all its many forms. There is in the deepest strata of our soul a realm that cannot be fathomed by any human instrument. Moreover, God’s Spirit breaths through human realities in ways that go far beyond our human understanding. It would be simply heretical to reduce the reality of the Church to elements that could be measured or expressed in human words. To this extent there are severe limitations to the use of operational research in the apostolate. On the other hand we should realise that in the Church, in our apostolate and in all its external means, such as institutions, associations, the press, there is an undeniable human element that does fall under the guidance of operational research. The applications to pastoral life are numerous. In big city parishes the times of the Holy Masses (with the respective vernaculars) have often been fixed in the remote past and little thought is given to question whether these times correspond to the most efficient time-scheme possible. Operational research in one large city demonstrated that in some parts of the town there was a tendency for the parishioners to go to the late Masses. Some early Masses were dropped and adjustments were made to give more attention to these Masses which before had been considered the ‘appendices of the Sunday morning’. In some neighbouring parishes, with different strata of the population, there proved to be demand for a very early Mass – at 4.30 a.m. to cater for Sunday tourists who would like to use the Sunday for picnics. It was also found that in this city more than 30% of the parishioners attended Mass outside their own parishes for reasons of convenience. By common agreement of all the parish priests the timings of Mass were arranged in such a way at every half hour a Mass was to begin in one or other parish Church. Some parishes agreed to cater for special masses such as a Mass for Teenagers, a Mass for Daytime Workers, etc. The advantages of this application of operational research soon won over the most severe critics. An interesting finding during this enquiry was that the parish clergy had not anticipated many of the outcomes. They were greatly surprised when presented with the facts produced by statistical methods. Many generally accepted assumptions were completely overthrown in the light of new information and it enabled the responsible parish priests to plan Masses with a greater sense of justification. Operational research need not always concern large scale and complicated processes. There is the simple matter of the Sunday Sermon. Week after week we prepare our Sunday homily without any sure guidance on the effectiveness of our preaching. Our audiences will surely benefit from our preaching to some extent, but are we certain that we provide them with what they need most? How are we to check the impact we are having? In one way, of course, we will never be able to find out, namely in so far as God’s grace and its effectiveness are involved. But what about the human side of our sermon? Are we really effectively communicating? It is extremely difficult to gauge the influence from the reactions of our faithful. They have been trained not to manifest any reaction at all during Mass and it is rare to find spontaneous reactions afterwards. We may, therefore, have to go out of our way to collect data on a more systematic basis. There are very simple and effective methods to help us in this. One approach that has proved rather effective is to enlist the advice of some Catholic Action groups, such as the YCW, Legion of Mary, CSU or the Sodality (preferably more than one). You briefly explain your purpose: you want suggestions on how to make the Sunday sermon more effective. What do people need most? What type of sermon helped them best? After introducing the subject it may be good to ask them to think about the matter until the next meeting when you intend to spend fifteen minutes to collect their opinions. The information gathered will be most enlightening. You may be in for surprises. In one case a young assistant found out several facts that had completely escaped him: half the congregation could not hear him properly; his references to Scripture were lost as they presupposed too much from the audience. He also found that his careful preparation of the sermons was greatly appreciated and that there was a great demand for straightforward explanations of the new stand of the Church in ecumenism, dialogue and freedom of conscience. It is amazing how gladly and how intelligently many lay people will help us to improve on our sermons if only care to enlist their cooperation. Other methods to achieve this have been: handing slips of paper to all those attending Mass asking for suggestions on making the sermons more effective (the slips of paper are collected immediately after Mass). This method is only practicable in certain circumstances. Then there is the possibility of asking some people, young and old, specialists and those belonging to the middle classes, to be your special ‘sermon critics’. You request them to tell you frankly their reactions and recommendations. There are many congregations of religious that are engaged in the work of education. When pressed to specify their objectives they will define them in certain points such as: formation of our Catholics, serving the country by producing responsible citizens and exercising an indirect apostolate by educating the non-Christian intelligentsia. These objectives merit the highest appreciation. They are, no doubt, worth the enormous amount of personnel and resources which the Church is willing to give to them. But in how far are we effectively reaching our objectives? Is the present set-up of our educational system the most efficient way to achieve the end? Only operational research can enlighten us on this matter. It has already been called in both by individual schools and by congregations, with some remarkable results. In one educational institute of great repute it was found, to the dismay of the religious community serving it, that both students and lay staff had a completely distorted picture of the motivation of the religious personnel attached to school and college. Many years of close contact with Sisters had not succeeded in opening the eyes of a large section of the non-Christian teachers and pupils to the spiritual motives for which the sisters did their work. They were under the impression that Religious Sisters group together in common houses to make life easier, to secure good jobs for one another and to escape the burdens of married life. They had learned to respect the Sisters as good teachers, capable organizers and strict disciplinarians, but they had failed to see in them the spiritual, dedicated persons they really were. The objective of doing indirect apostolate was thereby not being obtained. On further inspection it came out that this could be remedied with some minor adjustments: the prayerlife of the Sisters was arranged in such a way that the non-Christian students could witness it better (by making the chapel accessible; by introducing prayer during college hours); readjustments were made to make the Sisters more free to give classes on moral science; the institute began a concerted policy to stress the motivation of its service (applicants at the beginning of the school year were given a leaflet to explain the religious motivation for the Sisters dedicating their lives to education). Operational research was thus a real help to making the Congregation achieve its ends in a more responsible manner. I believe that the examples enumerated above will amply prove that operational research finds many applications in the pastoral apostolate. In our ‘down-to-earth’ and ‘scientifically-minded’ twentieth century the modern pastor cannot overlook the advantages for his apostolate that can be derived from methods that have been developed in the secular field. If it pays to calculate in a highly rationalised way, the number of clerks to be appointed in post-offices all over the country, it will be helpful to us to adopt similar guidelines in certain aspects of our personnel policy. If secular business invests capital to work out a highly rationalized system of verifying and controlling its successes in marketing toothpaste or cosmetics, it is worth our while to find out more precisely how far we manage to market the message entrusted to us. The children of this world are more intelligent in their own ways than the children of light. The implication is that we should learn from them. 3. The Critical Path MethodA man may plan his course; Organization belongs to the apostolate of all layers in the Church. Bishops and their immediate staffs find that much of their time is taken up in organizing meetings, retreats, conferences and seminars. All superiors are continuously engaged in one or other form of organization, whether it be in the line of building, printing or education. Parish priests, heads of institutions, secretaries of associations or directors of service centres: all know by experience what it means to organize a project, large or small. Considering the lack of specialized training in this science of programming and planning, one cannot but be impressed by the excellent performance so often achieved. Many a person proves an efficient organizer by nature, and experience adds a good deal of refinement. But one must also deplore that so often valuable time is wasted, or resources not effectively used, because of the lack of any systematic approach. Many a busy pastor could save himself a lot of time and worrying if he knew some simple but efficient way that would guarantee successful organization. The secular sciences of management have developed the so-called critical path method. It is a way of determining the various activities involved in a project and the most efficient way of coordinating them. For the construction of a house, various basic materials will have to be procured, such as steel, bricks, concrete and wood. Meanwhile preparations must be made for certain specialized work that will have to be done in one or other particular phase of the building, such as installing the electrical equipment, fitting the frames for the doors and windows, laying the waterpipe and sewage system, and similar jobs. Different firms may be involved. Certain parts of the work cannot be done before others have been completed. All this requires a coordinated plan in which the various activities have been linked so as to finish the building within the shortest period and with the maximum use of the available personnel. The critical path method deals with this type of planning. It seems to me that this method may best be explained by giving a detailed example. Most readers will be familiar with the organizational background of seminars and so we may well take this as our starting point. Suppose that the seminar is going to be conducted for teachers from various districts of a region. Simplifying matters somewhat, we could then distinguish the following activities that go into the preparation:
It may be that we would wish to calculate the time we need to prepare for our seminar. The thing to do is to express the activities enumerated above in a scheme such as that found in figure one.
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