Today, my preacher used a phrase that immediately caught my attention: selective righteousness.

Two words, but they carried an entire message.

He was talking about wolves and the danger of being devoured. One wolf may not be able to overpower an animal much larger and stronger than itself. But wolves move differently when they gather as a pack. Together, they can surround, exhaust, and eventually devour something none of them could take down alone.

That image stayed with me because people can move like packs too.

It happens when a group gathers around a shared grievance, judgment, rumor, or dislike. One person’s criticism becomes another person’s confirmation. Then someone else adds a story, an assumption, or

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how often the people closest to a problem are the farthest from the decisions being made about it.

But there is another layer to that conversation.

Sometimes people are invited into the room. They are asked to share their experiences. They complete the survey, participate in the focus group, attend the meeting, or answer the questions.

The organization listens.

Then nothing changes.

That is when we have to acknowledge an uncomfortable truth:

Listening is not the same as including.

We can allow people to speak without allowing their knowledge to influence the outcome.