The Canary Crisis!

“I am very much afraid that, if we open the door of the cage,

the canary will have forgotten how to fly.”

John Gowans

S

ome years ago I was participating in a gathering during which the leader was encouraging his local leaders to be creative and take calculated risks…to step out of their comfort zone in order to be help their denomination become more effective in ministry.

One-by-one, delegates stood up and questioned whether they really were being given permission to try things, and whether there would be retribution if they tried new initiatives and failed. (The latter reflective of a denomination uncomfortable with creative people, especially if those people had a maverick tendencies).

As I sat through the session, the above quotation came into my mind, together with the thought that this was - perhaps for the first time - an opening of the “cage door” and invitation for the “canaries” to come out and fly.

But, you have to wonder why, given the opportunity, they resist flying.  Maybe…

• If they have never been taught how to fly, it’s not surprising that they have a fear of flying, and
• If they have never flown or been encouraged to fly, their wings would never have been exercised and the muscles strengthened. So that, even if they had (plucked up!) the courage to step out of the cage trying to flap their wings, they would have likely plummeted to the ground.
• If the door to the “cage” had never before been opened… if the limitations (the “bars”) were, to the “canary” considered reasonable and normal, then even when the door is finally opened, the new possibilities may not even be recognized.
• If never encouraged, the “canary” may not even know he has the potential to fly!

The biggest asset of any organization, secular or spiritual is not money, or buildings, or possessions, or programs, or reputation…it is the creative potential of its people and the intellectual capital they represent.

Warren Bennis says that: “When you ask people in organizations how much of their brainpower they think they are using on the job, the standard response is about 20 percent…” Imagine that… 80 percent of the creative potential of an organization/denomination unused and probably under-developed!

“If you want to create a point of view about the future,

if  you want to craft a meaningful strategy,

you have to create in your organization

a hierarchy of imagination.”

Gary Hamel

© Terry Camsey, August 2009 (Used with permission of the author)

Writer: A published and recorded composer; cornet soloist of international fame; Terry Camsey was a Salvation Army officer for over twenty years mostly in the area of Church Health and Growth who in retirement is a church growth consultant. He studied with Carl F George (of the then Fuller Institute of Evangelism) as a church growth “doctor” (Diagnosis with Impact), Lyle E. Schaller, Charles and “Chip” Arne and trained as facilitator with Covey Institute (Seven Habits and  First Things First), and The Edward de Bono Lateral Thinking Course.

Terry has traveled as Church Growth teacher around the world including Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, Australia and New Zealand, Philippines, Germany.

He is writer of “Slightly Off-Center” (Crest books) and regular columnist in New Frontier (The Salvation Army USA West’s periodical) for over two decades.

5 Comments to The Canary Crisis!

1. Great article.

   I very much fear that this is what can so easily happen to women in leadership in the Army. The temptation is to get comfortable on the perch, fulfilling the role, looking all very pretty, but actually caged. And when this has happened for too long, self-confidence goes. We begin to wonder if we ever knew how to fly anyway (especially when others seem to be flying so well without us) and content ourselves with pecking at the bottom of the cage.

   Limited exposure means limited knowledge, limited self-confidence, limited opportunities at meaningful ministry…
   leads to frustration and a great deal of frantic feather-biting. Misery.

   Then there are the times when we get that darn door finally opens (as a result of much angst) and are finally able to operate as God has created us to. We use our gifts (hey, I’m not so bad, afterall!) - God speaks through us and we really know that this is the way things should be.

   I guess this is not just for females but in the male-orientated movement we belong, it fits. And I know it’s up to each one of us to open that door and then fly and sing our little hearts out, but it seems to be getting harder - not easier.

   Please, oh God, give us some more ‘cage-door openers’ - people willing to take a risk, to be creative, to step into the unknown and to have the guts to speak for the voiceless, to rise above the poo and truly be the person God has created them to be, to care and love as Christ in our world.

   Terry says it so much better…

   Robyn C.
Robyn Clinch on April 7th, 2010

2. I appreciate all you say Robyn, but isn’t it those who keep our cage door firmly shut - the “cage guards” - who need to open it and let the urge to fly be released?

   Terry Camsey
Terry Camsey on April 9th, 2010

3. Good stuff, Terry, as always. I have a post coming up which will represent my take on what you have written, and my comment on the comments.

   Joe.
Joe Noland on April 9th, 2010

4. You are so right, Terry. I guess I was attempting to cover myself in case someone accused women of not being proactive, not wanting to be out of the cage, not willing to fly anyway.

   Let’s face it, some birds are pretty cluey and just a few manage lift the door and escape (our budgie, Bluey, did this with alarming ease!)… usually they are quickly gathered up and put back in the cage and a new lock fitted, ensuring restriction and confinement.

   My, this analogy is so apt, I am quite depressed…

   God help us.
Robyn Clinch on April 10th, 2010

5. Don’t be depressed, Robyn.

   I have pondered this many years…at first my hope was to reach decision-makers who have the power to reverse such situations, but I have come to the conclusion that the best plan is to light fires at the grass-roots level of the organization in the hope that some heat may arise, gradually leading to an “aha!” moment of discovery at the top.

   Terry
Terry Camsey on April 10th, 2010

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