To Be, Is To Be Perceived

One of the lesser-known figures in the Western philosophical tradition is the 18^th Century English Bishop George Berkeley (pronounced, “Barkley”). Besides being a religious leader in the Anglican tradition, a philosopher of human perception, a proponent of the healing powers of tar water (hey, no one is perfect), he also advanced the study of optics, specifically how individuals formulate an internal understanding of external phenomena.

For Berkeley, that interest in optics and perception formed the basis for his philosophical reflections on human knowledge and experience, making the Good Bishop a thought leader in the field of immaterialism or idealism. In short, Berkeley believed that we could not truly know the world external to us since all our understanding of and interaction with it are mediated through sense perception.

To give credit, the argument is logically airtight. If you were to be deprived of all your senses, how could you know anything about the world outside of your head? Even now, as my fingers touch the keyboard in typing this sentence, the actual touch is being translated as an electrical signal firing across a synaptic gap from one neuron to another in my brain.

If the mediation occurs as an internal electrical process and is only made “real” once it arrives at its destination in our minds, then the only things that can truly exist are... ideas.

Perhaps the most famous summation of Berkeley’s philosophy is the Latin phrase: “Esse Est percipi.” To be, is to be perceived. Nothing comes into existence unless it is first perceived as an idea in the mind of the observer.

You might be surprised to know that I quote this phrase often when working with nonprofit leaders and boards of directors. Not because I think they are only ideas existing in my head when I am sitting in their boardrooms, but because I see too often where nonprofits do not pause to see how they are perceived by the world outside of their collective organizational senses.

At Armstrong McGuire, our engagements usually start with an organizational assessment, regardless of the type of work we are doing on behalf of our clients. Executive transition management? It begins with an organizational assessment. Strategic planning? Organizational assessment. Interim management? Organizational assessment.

See the pattern?

Sometimes we get the question, “Why do we need to do an assessment? No one knows this organization better than us.”

As nonprofit leaders and practitioners, it’s understandable to assume that when we have our sleeves rolled up, digging deep into governance, operations, strategy, and finances, that we are privy to knowledge that others external to us cannot access.

That is true.

But equally as true is that in those moments, the danger becomes that we may have such a granular focus that we can no longer see the forest for the trees. In those moments of hyper focus, it is easy to lose sight of how our organization is perceived by our clients, funders, and partners. (As an aside, the famous “If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” quote is often misattributed to Berkeley).

It is human nature, and arguably a shortcoming of our species, that perception can quickly become reality. If an organization is suddenly perceived as directionless, financially unstable, or programmatically insolvent and unable to deliver on its mission, that perception can quickly—very quickly—become an accepted reality in the minds of our communities and stakeholders.

To be, is to be perceived.

Organizational assessments help your organization get a measure of external perception, often providing a critical opportunity to course correct internally and reclaim your narrative externally.

Don’t let the perception of your organization become its reality. Before you dive into your next strategic plan, organize your next board retreat, or launch the search for your next executive leader, begin with an assessment that asks the tough questions and helps you to get at the hard truths of your nonprofit.

Then, your organization can proclaim with greater assurance the motto of the state of North Carolina instead: “Esse Quam Videri.”

To be rather than to seem.

Todd Brantley is a Senior Advisor with Armstrong McGuire who specializes in board governance, rural community & economic development, faith communities, strategic planning, organizational assessment. Learn more about Todd and check out his other musings in his bio.