Introduction:
Delta Tau Delta was formed in response to a problem within an already existing organization. A group of men saw injustice happening and decided to make a change. This plan does not propose to make as drastic of a change such as creating a new organization, but using the same principles as the founding fathers to recreate your chapter. For this you need to think like a founding father, because when those eight men started to plan did they mean to make a new organization, or did they originally mean to change what already existed? I believe it was the latter of the two, it just became too daunting of a task. In these next few pages I will lay out the ground work that will make a daunting task, into small easy to handle problems that can be addressed one at a time. You do not need to reinvent the wheel, or in this case the fraternity, you just need to improve it.
Plan of Attack:
This problem needs to be addressed in stages, like any important undertaking it will take time to fix this problem. This plan is a just a skeleton, it is up to you the active members to flesh it out, and make it work.
Step one: Target brothers who want to make a difference. To make this team work you need some key players. These key players are as follows:
The Dreamer: This person will be your golden child for this operation. This brother might appear flighty, or might be a quiet person, who everyone knows but does not really know what to expect from this person. This brother more then likely has some truly brilliant ideas, but more then likely will either not know how to properly implement them, or does not have the ability to get people to listen to him. He will be the heart of this operation, so make sure you listen closely.
The Work Horse: This brother might not have really big ideas on how to fix this chapter, but sometimes they will surprise you. These kinds of people come in all shapes and sizes, but all share the same trait of plowing through. Give these brothers a task and they will make sure it gets done. You might need to lay out the plan for them step by step, but you know it will get done.
The Leader in Training: Here is another very important part of this plan. Find a brother who has solid leadership potential, but who is willing to learn. He could become the president of your fraternity with the right guidance, just make sure you let him know that you are always trying to help him, even when you criticize him. This is how he will grow and flourish. If you find the right person, this brother will have a group of people with in the chapter that already listen to what he has to say, because he has proved to some of the chapter his worth. This is the person who will become the mouthpiece per say for the ideas.
Misfits: Here are some of the most important people in your chapter. These brothers might fit in the other categories as well, but best fit here. The term misfit has negative connotations, but it is not meant in such a way here. These are the brothers that are right for the chapter, but the chapter is not right for them. I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but every chapter has them. These could be people who are blazing stars, your sought them out during recruitment for this very reason. These are men who can bring about positive changes, and inspire people to be more like them. But the issue is, once they get into the chapter, the negativity of the chapter dims this light. They are exactly what the doctor ordered for your chapter, but soon after entering the chapter they realize their talents would have been better utilized in one of the more Alpha chapters on campus. It is your job to get this guys and use them, not loose them. These are the guys with the really good grades, the charisma, the good looks. They were probably the elite in high school, but they are also down to earth, an all around great guy. Use them as examples, a model for future Delts, not misfits, but role models.
The Concerned Alumni: This role also comes in many shapes and sizes. For the most part you will probably want two different types of concerned alumni on your team. You will want to pick alumni that have a lot of skills to offer you. These might come in the form of Dreamer, or a group facilitator. One of the alumni should be a recent one. One that you knew while he was still an undergrad. These alumni still feel that they belong to the chapter, but also bring a few more years of experience to the table. If they are recent, and even better still involved with the chapter, you will not need to waste time getting them up to speed. The second type of alumni you will want for your team is the natural born leader. This also should be some what recent, but not an immediate alumni. Listen when your brothers talk, is there an alumni they talk about almost as if he was a god? They speak very highly of him, and all he did for the chapter? This is your man. Find him, and convince him that you and the chapter need him, in any way he can. At the most basic level he can do two things. The first is take your ideas and polish them, making them a bit more realistic, and more user friendly. The second one is lend his name to an idea, or better yet attend a meeting and speak in support of your idea. If the chapter speaks so highly of him, it will not be hard to win the support of the chapter if he is in favor of it.
Your team should include all of these, but are not limited to this group. Remember you might be able to make a change by yourself, but with more people backing you the easier it is to make that change.
Step Two: Get together and start thinking!
This is probably the most crucial stage of this entire process. For an effective operation, you need to keep this on the down low, but not a complete secret. Many people will see this as severing the brotherhood, if you make it too public, but if you keep it too secret then how will you get more people to join your cause? The best way to do this is to meet away from your chapter. Find a room in your student center, and meet there. Feel free to talk with one another in your house, or common areas about some of the things, but keep the bulk of this plan secret until it is time for the unveil.
So you are in a room away from your chapter, now what do you do?
Talk! But with a purpose. If you all just sit and bicker and/or complain then how is that any different then chapter meeting? You need to have clear set goals from the get go. Make sure you have brought paper and pens. Also you should look at getting a room with a white board, or bringing some large posters, white board is better as it can be erased. So now you have the room, the people, and the board. Start problem solving right? Wrong.
Sub step: Problems first.
This may seem completely backwards, I mean you are here to help fix the chapter, so why not start looking for solutions right? Well which solution do you look at first? You don’t. You need to think like Google for this(See What Would Google Do? By Jeff Jarvis). Google did not just jump into the sea of the internet and try to carve out a niche. Instead Google listened to people who complained. Listen to the common gripes about the chapter. Compile all of the problems people are having with the chapter. Once you see what everyone is complaining about within the chapter, you can start too see what is actually really important to them. For example brother B complains about how no one is cleaning up after themselves, and he has to do it. This could mean that Brother B regards personal responsibility as a core value, or it could be cleanliness and organization. Ask questions, and figure out what is important to people. When you figure out what is important, and what the issues are you can start creating new solutions.
Step three: Solution Time!
Combine like issues together under larger issues. Like Accountability, personal responsibility and pride in the chapter. All of these values are similar, and more then likely are causing similar issues. When you have similar issues you can probably create a solution that fixes all three issues, and helps boost the importance of these values within your chapter. Keep it Simple! This will be your mantra for this part of the game. If the solution takes 10 minutes to explain, then it probably will take even longer to pitch to the entire brotherhood. You are trying to put in the smallest amount of effort, for the largest positive change. Also think outside of the box! More then likely it was traditional thinking that got your chapter into the mess it is now, so do not fall into the same ruts. Just because it has never been done that way before, does not mean it will not work. You just need to find the right way to pitch it to the chapter. This might take more then one meeting. The important part is working all of the kinks out. Make sure you have a solid plan, and have sound reasoning to back up your choices. Your plan will be challenged, so be prepared.
Step 4: Polishing the ideas!
So you finally have some really great ideas, and a solid plan on how to fix this chapter. Time to bring it to that concern Alumni the chapter listens too. Or even better a group of concerned Alumni. Pitch your ideas to them, let them mull it over, and offer some advice on it. Sometimes the suggestions the Alumni offer will send parts of this plan back to the drawing board, other times it will be simple fixes. If the idea is a radical one, it might need the alumni there for the big pitch to the chapter. Once you have gotten this done, it’s finally time to start implementing your plan.
Step 5: Time to bring it to Chapter
This will be probably the hardest thing you will do. Before you get ready to bring this idea to the chapter, your group might want to start feeling out other members of the chapter. By this point the rest of the chapter might have realized that you are up to something, and it will only help your cause if you get more people on board with your ideas. Start small. Do not roll out your entire plan in one fell swoop, that will just scare the chapter. Pick some small key things that are easy to implement, but will have a large effect. Get your Leader-in Training to bring the idea to the chapter, or to the committee member in charge of the area you are trying to change. For example if you have a really awesome brotherhood event, but your brotherhood chair is not in your group, have the leader go to this person one on one to pitch the idea. It will be up to the leader to sell this idea. Once the idea comes to full chapter it is up to everyone in the group to support this idea. In many groups, there are only a few people who actually make decisions, the rest just follow. Make sure you have enough people to counteract the naysayers who lead. If you show the chapter that enough people think this is a good idea, there is a good chance it will actually happen. But also make sure you listen to the opposition, they might be saying things you never thought of. The point of this operation is to create new ideas, not a voting block to railroad things through. Listen to the chapter, and see if what they say is valid, or is it just people being lazy, or stuck in tradition?
Now What?
So your program, idea, or event has passed. Now what do you do? Well many things are needed to be done at this stage. First your group needs to decide the next thing to put to chapter, and when is the best time to bring it to light. The second thing is bring out the Work Horses. Make sure you have people involved in the implementation of your plan. What good does it do, if you create this brilliant fix, but then the chapter bungs it up in the follow through? Something to keep in mind at this stage of the game, is do not expect a change overnight. Say you plan a weekly brotherhood event, do not expect the entire brotherhood to show up that first week. It would be really awesome, but not practical. Celebrate the fact even if only three brothers show up! Especially if these three brothers are not part of your group. If they are not part of your group, they might actually care about this place as much as you do, it might be time to approach these brothers and bring them into the fold. Celebrate every small victory, because it is a victory. It might not be as grand as you were hoping for, but it is a great place to start.
Final stage!
Remember that this will be a long term engagement, you have to look to the future as you do this plan. Every brother in your chapter is only temporary, even you. Start grooming new members to your ideals early as possible. Get them doing things that are beneficial to the chapter, such as community service, early on, that way the do not know any better. This is the best way you will make a change. The second important thing you can do is get your people in power. If you have people in positions where they lead, and can make bigger changes, it will make your job that much easier. Look at key positions in your plan, it could be Brotherhood, or Director of Risk Management, or maybe even President. How much easier would it be to change your chapter if you had people who wanted to make this a better place in these positions? I mean what have you been working with a Leader-in-Training for if not to get them to become president? Slowly your chapter will start taking form, and becoming the best it can be! One brother at a time.
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