The FIVE Dysfunction of Islamic Organisations (2)

2. Fear of Conflict

The desire to preserve artificial harmony stifles the occurrence of productive, ideological conflict.

-Important concept to understand: Ideological conflict vs. Personal conflict-

Have you ever met a husband and wife who never had an argument with one another? Have you ever met a parent that never had a disagreement with his or her children? Didn’t think so.

Why do we expect that Islamic organizations should operate under some kind of happy-go-lucky utopia? To preserve this naive notion of how things should be, we avoid engaging in any kind of conflict. What ends up happening then is that direct conflict is avoided within the organization, but it is replaced with back-stabbing, personal conflicts, and politics.

You have seen the organization where there may be a body of 7 people. 3 of them meet separately, and 4 of them meet separately. Then they concoct conspiracy theories about how the opposing campreally feels about an issue, and why they are pushing a particular position over another. Then they get riled up, and go out to the community seeking more support for their own side. Next thing you know, it’s an all out community conflict with name-calling, people not talking to each other, and the conflict finally erupting at a dinner party at some innocent person’s house while the innocent bystanders try to enjoy some chicken biryani.

Muslim organizations simply seem to want to avoid having any healthy conflict (discussion) . This is why they all dread meetings that are boring, and where nothing gets done. When organization members trust each other, they can talk freely with one another and debate themerits of different ideas. Sit down and completely hash it out. A certain level of maturity is of course required, so that the debate does not turn personal. The element of trust is what allows people to freely credit or discredit ideas without worrying about hurting someone’s feelings (and then later making personal attacks behind their back).

Meetings should be lively and focus on the concepts and ideas being discussed – even if they become emotional. Let people be passionate about why they feel that a certain project is a waste of money, or that the dome of the masjid should be 25 feet in diameter instead of 30 feet, and so on.

This is important because once the merits of an idea have beenthoroughly discussed, everyone has had a chance to air their objections or concerns, and people can respond to them. So let the best ideas win. Once that is done, even the people who initially opposed the idea, can support it from an organizational perspective. Contrast this with a board member who unwillingly votes in favor of a certain project, waiting for it to fail, then running around telling the community, “I told you so!”

To be continue..

The FIVE Dysfunction of Islamic Organisations (1)

I got an e-mail from someone yesterday. The Five Dysfunction of Islamic Organisations. So interesting. Then I decided to paste it in my blog. I’ll paste it one by one because it quite long. For those who have problem with their English (like me. Huhu..), it’s quite bored to read it continuously. Hehe..But for those who want to read it clearly, you may visit Br. Ibn Abee Omar of MuslimMatters.org since the real article copied from there.

This information should benefit anyone involved in Islamic organizations, but it really needs extra attention from those in leadership positions in their communities to start to effect the type of change needed to prevent dysfunction.

The Five Dysfunctions Are

1. Absence of Trust
2. Fear of Conflict
3. Lack of Commitment
4. Avoidance of Accountability
5. Inattention to Results

These are laid out by Patrick Lencioni in his book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. While the pertinence to a professional or corporate environment is obvious, these are at the core of the problems faced by Masajid and Islamic organizations across the country.

1. Absence of Trust

The fear of being vulnerable with team members prevents the building of trust within the team.

Understanding trust means refining our notions of the term. Trust means knowing the others around you have good intentions, and that you don’t need to shield yourself around them. It is distinct from reliance, which is “trusting” that a peer will perform a given task reliably. Trust is being able to open up, and show vulnerability while knowing that those vulnerabilities won’t be used against you.

What we find with many Islamic organizations is that people’s actions are dictated by what others will think about them. Think about the person elected to be the Masjid treasurer with no accounting or financial experience whatsoever. This person continues to do this job day in and day out, despite not being able to do it well. Instead, this person is focusing on holding this position for strategic reasons vis-a-vis others within the organization. He is constantly trying to protect himself. If trust existed within the organization, he would be able to display that vulnerability and instead be 100% focused on performing the treasurer duties to the best of his ability.

It is commonplace that the higher ranking members in these organizations are usually the “well-educated” ones (e.g. the “doctor uncle”). One thing we often fail to realize is that these people have been trained their entire lives to be competitive with their peers and constantly outperform them. Personal reputations are at stake. If these instincts cannot be ‘turned off’ for the betterment of the organization, then a lot of time is invested into managing the fallout. Examples of this include having constant meetings to manage people’s behaviors, and seeing a decrease in the willingness of organization members to help one another.

Organizationally, another factor that contributes to a loss of trust is not identifying and utilizing people’s skills. How can trust exist in a masjid construction project when a Muslim contractor who has been managing construction projects for a living for over 20 years is sitting around while the organization turns over the masjid construction plans to a pediatrician?

This is the fundamental building block to freeing Islamic organizations of dysfunction, and it is perhaps the hardest because it requires the greatest overhaul in attitude and environment.

Once established however, it can foster constructive conflict.

To be continue..

Sedap ke makan daging tu??

Hanya gambar hiasan

Suatu malam, aku dan beberapa orang sahabatku telah pergi ke sebuah majlis. Acara wajib dalam mana2 majlis orang Melayu, mesti ada makan2. Makanan malam itu agak enak, dan salah satu menunya adalah sup sayur (nama ja sup sayur, tapi ada daging dan ayam dalam tu. Huhu..). Sambil menikmati makanan, kami berbual-bual. Dalam berbual-bual, timbul kisah seseorang. Perbualan menjadi hangat. Pelbagai cerita mengenai dirinya keluar. Dalam kehangatan berbual, aku ingin menambah sup sayur dan time korek2 mangkuk tu, tiba2 terjumpa cebisan daging. Terpana sebentar. (Jap, ni daging lembu, ok!! Jangan fikir bukan2.). Aku menoleh kepada sahabat di sebelah, lalu berkata, “Cuba bayangkan, ni adalah daging orang yg tengah kita cerita ni. Sanggup nak makan??”. Jawapannya, korang jawab sendiri. Yang pasti, selepas pertanyaan aku tu, depa tak makan daging dalam sup tu.

Mari kita sama2 renung sebentar. Perumpamaan yang aku buat tu adalah daging yang dimasak sup. Bagaimana pula jika yang ditawarkan itu daging busuk, seperti yang Rasulullah ceritakan dalam pengalaman Baginda ketika peristiwa isra’ dan mikraj? Hukuman bagi orang yang mengumpat? Astaghfirullah,.astaghfirullah..astaghfirullah..

Sedap sungguh ketupat palas

Makan dengan rendang daging rusuk

Sedap sungguh mengumpat dan membalas

Tak sedar diri dah makan daging busuk

Huhuhu…

Imam Al-Ghazali telah menyenaraikan 20 kejahatan lidah, antaranya kata-kata kasar, kesat, lucah, berbohong, menyumpah, melaknat, mungkir janji, tuduhan palsu, suka berdebat dan mengumpat.

Dari Abu Hurairah r.a. Nabi Muhammad Saw bersabda: “Barang siapa yang beriman kepada Allah dan hari akhir, maka hendaklah berkata yang baik, kalau tidak lebih baik diam.” (HR Bukhari dan Muslim)

Rasulullah Saw bersabda: “Sesungguhnya Allah benci kepada orang yang jelek budi pekertinya serta kotor lidahnya”

"Tidaklah dihumbankan muka manusia ke dalam neraka itu sebagai hasil tuaian lidahnya. "(Hadis Riwayat Tirmizi).

Rasulullah s.a.w juga bersabda: "Bukanlah dia seorang mukmin (jika) dia suka menuduh, suka melaknat, bercakap kotor dan keji." (Hadis riwayat Tirmizi).

Sabda Baginda lagi: "Sesiapa yang banyak bercakap banyaklah kesalahannya, sesiapa yang banyak kesalahannya banyaklah dosanya dan siapa yang banyak dosanya, api nerakalah paling layak untuk dirinya." (Diriwayatkan oleh Baihaqi).

Ok, kesimpulan dia, buat sendiri. Just nak ajak kita fikir dan muhasabah diri balik. Dalam sehari, dah bape banyak daging busuk yang kita telan. Kalau timbang kilo, mau2 dekat 10 kilo kot. Huhuhu…oleh itu, peringatan untuk diri dan juga sahabat2, hindarkanlah diri dari mengumpat. Jika tak bleh stop 100%, kurang2kanlah. Sedikit demi sedikit, kurangkan tabiat suka mengumpat. Memang kadang2 bila kita dh geram kat seseorang tu, kuar semua bahasa2 yang tak patut, kuar semua benda2 buruk yang dah lepas. Ya, emosi/nafsu amarah sering saja berjaya merajai hati kita. Just jinakkan kembali nafsu tu, ingatkan diri akan balasan yang Allah sediakan untuk mereka2 yang tidak menjaga lidahnya. Ingatkan diri dengan siksa2 api neraka yang Allah telah tetapkan untuk mereka yang lalai. Ingatkan kembali diri akan kehadiran hari qiamat di dalam surah An-Naaziat. Ingatilah juga surah An-Naba’, surah Hud, surah Al-Waqi’ah, surah Al-Mursalat, surah At-Takwir. Surah2 yang menyebabkan Rasulullah beruban.

Pada sahabat di sekitar diri ini, bantulah jua diri ini untuk meralisasikan hari2 tanpa jenayah lidah dan telinga. Ya, bak kata cik fizah, tak ramai yang baik, tapi ramai ingin jadik baik, dan aku salah seorang yang ingin menjadi baik. Oleh tu, marilah kita saling bantu membantu dalam mengerjakan perkara2 yang baik ini. Akhir kata, marilah kita sama2 hayati dan tadabbur makna surah al-‘Asr, surah yang sering kita baca.

“Demi Masa! Sesungguhnya manusia itu Dalam kerugian. Kecuali orang-orang Yang beriman dan beramal soleh, dan mereka pula berpesan-pesan Dengan kebenaran serta berpesan-pesan Dengan sabar.”