The Senior Warden: Closing the Work, Paying the Wages
Download MP3This episode introduces the Senior Warden as a closure function—the role responsible for ending a phase of work in a way that honors the “contract terms,” ensures the work was worthy of its pay, and helps people leave without dissatisfaction. The lodge is framed as a contemplative role-play space where you can sit in a chair mentally and use the role to analyze your behavior, relationships, and systems.
🔑 Key Takeaways
- The lodge can be used as a mental role-play environment for self-analysis.
- The Senior Warden role is “relatively obvious” because its closure duties are explicitly stated.
- Closure means bringing a transaction or phase to a clean end so parties “got what they needed.”
- Closure doesn’t require everyone to be happy, but aims for the best available outcome.
- Closure creates a demarcation that frees resources so you can move to the next phase.
- The Senior Warden can “pick up additional tools” to do the analysis work from that position.
💬 Featured Quotes
- “This week we’re going to be talking about the senior warden…” (0:00–0:08)
- “It’s productive mentally to imagine… that the lodge room is almost like a big opportunity to role play.” (0:08–0:24)
- “You’ll sit in a job or a role and use that to help you analyze your behavior, your relationships, the systems that you’re interacting with in the world.” (0:30–0:44)
- “The senior warden is a relatively obvious role… it is explicitly stated in the rituals… that the senior warden’s job is to close the lodge, pay the craft their wages… and see that none go away… dissatisfied or upset.” (0:44–1:14)
- “The senior warden was the guy who’s making sure that all of the sort of contract terms… were honored and met.” (1:23–1:37)
- “Senior warden’s role was to make sure… that the work was sort of worthy of its pay.” (2:37–2:53)
- “It’s the functional process of closing out.” (2:55–3:02)
- “It’s bringing closure to a situation so that everyone… got what they needed wanted could out of the situation.” (3:07–3:25)
- “That doesn’t mean everyone’s always the happiest, but it does mean that… the best possible outcome was created.” (3:31–3:39)
- “Create these lines of demarcation between actively working and closure so that we can essentially free up resource and kind of move to the next thing.” (4:02–4:11)
- “You may have to pick up additional tools from that position… in that mental landscape to do the work.” (4:49–4:56)
Creators and Guests
Host
Brian Mattocks
Host and Founder of A Mason's Work - a podcast designed to help you use symbolism to grow. He's been working in the craft for over a decade and served as WM, trustee, and sat in every appointed chair in a lodge - at least once :D
