Stop Bellyaching and Be Loyal!
Introduction
People come and people go. The choice is how they go and w
hen they leave. In church ministry, as well as in the corporate world, this revolving door seems to have moments when it spins uncontrollably. The challenge is how do you mitigate the revolving door?
Albert Hirschman in his work, Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States, helps to understand the principles of why people make the decisions to stay loyal to the organization or choose to exit. “Organizations able to exact these high penalties for exit are the most traditional human groups, such as the family, the tribe, the religious community, and the nation, as well as such more modern inventions as the gang and the totalitarian party. If an organization has the ability to exact a high price for exit, it thereby acquits a powerful defense against one of the member’s most potent weapons: the threat of exit.”[1]
Summary
Using the analogy of customers and a product and organizations and members, Hirshcman walks us through how people choose to engage the product and the organization. “Some customers stop buying the firm’s products or some members leave the organization: The is the exit option. As a result, revenues drop, membership declines, and management is impelled to search for ways and means to correct whatever faults have led to exit.”[2]
In contrast if a firm or organization “express their dissatisfaction directly to management or to some other authority to which management is subordinate or through general protest addressed to anyone who cares to listen: this is the voice option.”[3] The loyalty of the customer or member can be a deterrent and a catalyst that causes one to speak up and hope to change the direction and/or product.
It seems like a simple choice to either exit or share your voice. “The presence of the exit alternative can therefore tend to atrophy the development of the art of voice.”[4] The sticky wicket is loyalty – product and or organizational. Hirschman believes behavior can be distorted when “an organization is able to extract a high price for exit (over and above the forfeit of the price for entry which occurs inevitable with exit).[5]
Analysis
Hirschman uses charts and terminology to prove his point that organizations and products can recuperate if proper XAL(point of exit in the Absence of Loyalty) meets XWL(point of Exit with Loyalty) helping prevent the TX (point of Threat of Exit).[6] The goal is to find a road back for organizations and products. Deterioration takes place with growth, time, and product/organizational aging.
My world in the local church is the balancing act of hearing the voice before people decide to exit. Organizational (and in our day political) loyalty has become a thing of bygone days referred to as “the good ole’ days”. I agree with Hirschman that truly giving people a chance to express their likes and dislikes can help to expose and eventually eradicate issues that may be unrealized or unseen.
The challenge with too much voice is that people’s likes, interests and desires are all over the map and fickly at best. With many “flavors” of religious thought and expression you feel like you are at Baskin Robbins. If someone hears of a new “flavor” they will abandon organizational loyalty and exit.
Of great humor was the analogy of the word “bellyache”. “The loyal member does not exit, but something happens to him: he begins to be acutely unhappy about continuing as a member, contracts qualms or Bauchschmerzen (bellyaches) as the phrase went among German Communist party members dissatisfied with the party line.”[7] It made me want to learn how to properly pronounce the German word and use it on members who are bellyaching.
[1] Albert O. Hirschman, Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States, (Cambridge Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1970), 96.
[2] Ibid., 4.
[3] Ibid., 4.
[4] Ibid., 43.
[5] Ibid., 96.
[6] Ibid., 88.
[7] Ibid., 88.
12 responses to “Stop Bellyaching and Be Loyal!”
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Hi Phil. As pastors we inherently want to keep the people who are part of our church. You state, “My world in the local church is the balancing act of hearing the voice before people decide to exit.” I agree! My contextual issue is two fold. First, it is rare that someone exercises their voice in church but when they do, how do I know how much to implement? Like you say, there are a plethora of “flavors.” Secondly, in my context, most people tend to exercise their voice AFTER they have exited. In other words, the pastor is the last to know.
Aaron:
I feel your pain. I believe you take the opportunity to listen, but you must eventually choose the direction (“Failure of Nerve” comes to mind) and keep it…no matter the “exit”.
Second, the “voice” after they leave….that one hurts. There doesn’t seem to be an answer that makes sense on this one. It does not only make sense, it hurts when you have the heart of a pastor and are willing to hear their “voice”. How have you handled it?
Phil
Phil,
Great blog title.
The picture of the crying child does look like some of my former parishioners…at least the attitudes and maturity displayed.
You accurately observe that loyalty is a thing of bygone days. Do you think we have any hope of rekindling loyalty? If so, how do we accomplish that? Or maybe better to ask: in an era of no loyalty, how do we develop at least a modicum of loyalty in people to our local congregations?
Maybe pastors should keep secret the meaning of ‘bauchshmerzen” so we could say it when people complain and they’ll just think we’re sneezing.
Marc:
Rekindling loyalty….the cultural drift away from organized religion is riddled with antics that are on the church that we need to take responsibility for.
Loyalty needs to stem from vision that is embraced by parishoners….that has eternal value. I know that Jesus had is 12 that had issues, but eventually the gang turned the world upside down.
Phil
Phil,
I totally identify with your experience. I call it drama.
Everybody has an opinion. Even though giving people voice is a healthy thing to do, it can also be a draining process if not carefully designed. A leader can be pulled in so many different directions and become a people pleaser or people appeaser.
Based on my experience, I have learned that voice is shaped more objectively when people are united behind a common mission/vision. Eventually, it is the vision itself that becomes the filter that separates the comments that should be heard from the ones that should be ignored. In a sense, vision becomes like a criterion that minimizes the struggle of being pulled in different directions.
What mechanism do you have in place to give people voice to share their frustrations so that drama can be minimized? How do you determine whose voice is influential and should be listened to?
Pablo
Pablo:
Great question….we have tried to empower leaders so that they can be relational with people enough that they are leading. Is it working? Depends on the “voice” that is speaking….not always the person being spoken to.
Vision is a great test for membership…..but have you considered adding “values”? I am becoming a greater proponent of both….not just the vision. People can grasp the vision but get lost in the “values” of the leader.
Phil
Phil,
I liked your opinion and graphics on your blog. I too see much of the movement in today’s church as belly aching and complaining. Do you ever think we will see a rise in loyalty and decline in voice and exit when it comes to church attendance?
Aaron
Aaron:
Not sure that the “voice” in the contemporary church is going to change. Today’s culture is so expressive whether it is by social media or being politically correct. We must keep the vision alive and Christ-centered leadership.
Phil
Phil,
I love the picture and the take on this whole idea. How do you manage the voices that come at you and not to you? When people just complain to complain. What structure do you have for them them really have conversation with you?
Love the imagery!
Kevin
Kevin:
Not sure that we have a good “management” plan for complainers. We have attempted to empower leaders to deal with people….but some people take advantage of all leaders…..no matter who they are.
I have tried to keep open communication and open heart with the church and leaders.
Hi Phil
Great blog! who would have thought of less on named their blog “Stop Bellyaching and Be Loyal” but a great scholar like you.You have given us a new word Bauchschmerzen (bellyaches). Thanks for the insight!
The question that comes to mind, “why are the members Bellyaching? In the nature where there are bellyaches, they are caused by something that have been consumed.The church need to find the underline causes , maybe there is a lack of a voice, environment that fail to addresses concerns, and absentee of the whole truth. When we identify the problem , then we can address the cause and encourage the members to voice their concerns.Then it time to say, ” Stop acting like a child… Bellyaching and Be Loyal.”
Great, interesting blog that addresses a major concern within our church.It great sharing with you. Rose Maria
Rose:
In a world of “rights”, everyone, even Christian, think they can speak their mind…..no matter the consequences. I totally agree that we need to have our ears open for the “voice”. The challenge is the balance game between being overly open to “voice” and enabling people to act like children.
Phil