Letters - 02 December 2016
From fuzziness to a Living Wage
The case for fuzziness
John Lampen suggests that there is sometimes a case to be made for fuzziness in setting objectives (4 November). Many organisations are obsessed with the setting of SMART (specific, measurable, action oriented, realistic, timetabled) objectives. This often leads to a bureaucratic tick box mentality that can result in ridiculous activities – such as Daniel Blake in the Ken Loach film, I, Daniel Blake, who is expected to get written evidence from employers that he is looking for work, when he is unable to take work up even if it is offered, wasting their time and his.
Specific objectives come largely from the military and business fields. Perhaps we should look to other worlds for inspiration. Families have a sense of commitment at their heart: few, if any, have specific objectives, except perhaps in the very short term. Establishing very specific expectations in advance (such as over exam results or particular careers for their children) is often a recipe for disaster.
Similarly, in the world of art, there is often an intention to explore a particular theme or subject in a particular way, but seldom with a very specific form of outcome in mind. Neither do I have a sense that Jesus had very specific objectives: more a sense of living in the present and responding to what he saw around him.
Chris Bemrose
Officers and other ranks
Thank you for publishing my recent letter (28 October). May I now draw Friends’ attention to the fact my own heading for my letter was not ‘Titles’ but ‘Officers and other ranks’.
My concern is not so much with our testimony against titles but with the way our testimony against elitism is being insidiously undermined by the acceptance of elitist military titles for some of those who work at Friends’ House.
Sheila Savill
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