{"id":312,"date":"2011-01-19T20:42:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-19T20:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/herding-cats\/"},"modified":"2011-01-19T20:42:00","modified_gmt":"2011-01-19T20:42:00","slug":"herding-cats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/herding-cats.html","title":{"rendered":"Herding Cats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
<\/a><\/div>\n
John Michael Greer<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

Author and Archdruid John Michael Greer<\/a> has a new blog post titled \u201cThe Secret of Herding Cats<\/a>.\u201d It\u2019s an essay on the ineffectiveness of the climate change activist movement. As with all his blogging, this entry is reasoned and thoughtful, but ultimately more pessimistic about our long-term future than I think appropriate.<\/p>\n

But this blog entry has the best illustration I\u2019ve come across in a long time. Religious leaders of all descriptions \u2013 but especially Pagan leaders \u2013 frequently call what they do \u201cherding cats.\u201d We know what that means: our groups are full of folks who are fiercely independent and who are reluctant to work together unless it\u2019s on their own terms. That makes leading them virtually impossible.<\/p>\n

Greer says that\u2019s wrong. He says:<\/p>\n

In point of fact, herding cats is one of the easiest things in the world. All you have to do is go to the place you want the cats to go, carrying with you a #10 can of tuna and an electric can opener. The moment the cats hear the whirr of the can opener and smell the fragrance of the tuna, they\u2019ll come at a run, and you\u2019ll have your herd exactly where you want them. Now of course that strategy assumes two things. It assumes that you\u2019re willing to go to the place you want the cats to go, and it also assumes that you have something to offer them when they get there.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This illustration is exactly right. An effective religious leader has to lead from the front<\/a>: you have to go where you want others to go and do what you want others to do and then say \u201cjoin me.\u201d You can\u2019t lead from the rear and scream \u201cmove where I say move.\u201d Or as my Baptist father used to say \u201cpractice what you preach.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just going where you want people to go \u2013 you\u2019ve got to have that can of tuna with you too. Most of us aren\u2019t quite so instinct-driven as cats, although you should never underestimate the power of pizza and beer to generate a good turnout! This is where the ability to articulate a vision comes in \u2013 you have to be able to tell people why they should do what you think they should, and how their lives will be better if they do. <\/p>\n

So the next time you feel like you\u2019re herding cats, find a metaphorical can of tuna and go open it where you want to cats to go.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Michael Greer Author and Archdruid John Michael Greer has a new blog post titled \u201cThe Secret of Herding Cats.\u201d It\u2019s an essay on the ineffectiveness of the climate change activist movement. As with all his blogging, this entry is reasoned and thoughtful, but ultimately more pessimistic about our long-term future than I think appropriate. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHerding Cats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"John Michael GreerAuthor and Archdruid John Michael Greer has a new blog post titled \u201cThe Secret of Herding Cats.\u201d It\u2019s an essay on the ineffectiveness of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/herding-cats.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Herding Cats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"John Michael GreerAuthor and Archdruid John Michael Greer has a new blog post titled \u201cThe Secret of Herding Cats.\u201d It\u2019s an essay on the ineffectiveness of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/herding-cats.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-01-19T20:42:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_cpRXT6ZSHTw\/S9M4gF-j-QI\/AAAAAAAAAbI\/_etdrWiNmso\/s400\/z+Gorsedd+2009+John+Michael+Greer.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/herding-cats.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/herding-cats.html\",\"name\":\"Herding Cats\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-01-19T20:42:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-01-19T20:42:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\"},\"description\":\"John Michael GreerAuthor and Archdruid John Michael Greer has a new blog post titled \u201cThe Secret of Herding Cats.\u201d It\u2019s an essay on the ineffectiveness of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/herding-cats.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/herding-cats.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/01\/herding-cats.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Herding Cats\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"description\":\"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Beckett\"},\"description\":\"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. 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