THERE are organizations and institutions of all sorts that have the power and liberty to control their own destiny. They have the option to change, or even transform, for the better. However, there are other organizations and institutions whose decision to change brings about repercussions that go unnoticed until their negative outcomes manifest. The core issue lies with those that change but unwittingly lose their way.
A popular story drives this point home. The parable of the Ocean Rescue Society serves as one illustrating how institutions change or transform for one reason or another, ultimately drifting from their original purpose and identity. The “Ocean Rescue Society” is a loose term used for various territorial search-and-rescue and marine conservation groups. It is typically associated with the Swedish Sea Rescue Society (SSRS), the most prominent historical maritime society of its kind. Historically, this informal organization was founded through volunteerism in 1907.
It began as a gathering of people dedicated to rescuing shipwrecked sailors and other distressed victims of oceanic activities. The society was renowned for members who were courageous, disciplined and trained to face the perilous ocean to rescue drowning sailors. They had a reputation for being respectable and driven by a higher purpose. As volunteers, they belonged to what they built as a lifesaving station.
After the group’s senior members passed on, new members joined but found the station too rough and uncomfortable. They renovated the lifesaving station building into a cozy membership clubhouse. Eventually, they stopped actively launching risky rescue boats themselves, choosing to hire crews instead.
As time passed, serving the “shipwrecked” became an inconvenience. The club’s resources were diverted to maintain luxurious social activities for its paying members.
This story tells us that organizations and institutions can change or transform naturally to survive and thrive in changing times. Some try to respond to new ways of doing things to stay relevant, while others need to scale up productivity in favor of more lucrative, money-making directions. While this evolutionary process is inevitable, it leaves those who still believe in the original purpose disappointed, distressed, confused and in disbelief.
Returning to the story, the solid foundation of the Ocean Rescue Society was a collective consciousness of individuals. They shared a noble purpose of service, pure altruism, and a high level of passion, matched by the offering of their own raw emotional and physical energy.
If the story were to continue, it would surely be replete with negativity and discontent from the immediate successors who wanted to sustain and preserve their core purpose and values as a rescue society, rather than becoming an exclusive clubhouse for leisurely social activities.
I am sure many can relate this scenario to their current organizations or institutions, especially when sighs of resentment and frustration grow louder each day in the halls and corridors of workplaces. People are asking simple but hard questions, such as:
“Can we go back to our original purpose?”
“What was the intent of the founder?”
“What is our reason for being here?”
“Why can’t we stay the same?”
The institutionalization of what was once an informal group of people — working together for a common purpose, guided by raw passion — is now driven by the imposition of rigid rules, formal displays of pleasantries, management control and bureaucracy. This shift inevitably dissipates eagerness and weakens the intense motivation that once existed.
In other words, any unintentional organizational or institutional transformation can yield collateral damage. It can sap the raw energy of members, bleed dry their reason for being, drain initiative, and kill creative thinking. It is a steep price to pay — a repercussion of the need to change while losing sight of the original purpose.
I recall the disappointment and dissenting voices of university professors when they were met with the requirement to comply with standardization and accreditation metrics. The clamor of these educators was that they felt more like machines expected to produce results. They lost confidence because they felt their expertise was underutilized, trapped in a box where their time and energy were consumed by obedience instead of academic freedom. Ultimately, they lost the original purpose and joy of the overall process of teaching and learning.
Institutionalization, standardization, transformation are some of the major steps that modernize organizations or institutions. But if done with inadvertence, some elements of dynamism, original creative fire, and passion could dissipate.
Fr. Jesus “Jay” Miranda Jr., OP, is an organization and leadership studies resource person. He teaches at the Graduate School of the University of Santo Tomas and the Department of Educational Leadership and Management of the Bro. Andrew Gonzalez, FSC–College of Education of De La Salle University Manila.
jaymiranda.op@ust.edu.ph