Empowerment, Innovation, and Sliced Bread

Organizations must learn how to change to respond to the world as it is in the Twenty-first Century. The world is rapidly changing and organizations must adapt or innovate to this change. Adaptation is making adjustments to existing practices for improvement. Innovation on the other hand tends to look for future trends and make preemptive changes to grow their customer base. The hope is that these improvements will meet the expectation of the consumer. Innovators often create things that customers didn't even know they needed. No one knew that they needed a device to store and play their digital music until Apple develop the Ipod. They created a solution to a need, before the need even existed.

Innovation is empowering!

 

Innovation comes from a person's creativity or their ability to create. Although most organizations do not encourage their employees to create, every employee should be able to offer creative solutions to their companies that make their jobs easier and faster, satisfy the customer, or bring in more revenue to the company. Many organizations have seen the benefits of encouraging creativity and have developed programs and have started to establish a culture of creativity. Creativity and innovation is the key for organizational success in the modern world.

Apply this to the church

 

For a few years now, I have been studying change. I have seen many churches struggling to grow in today's world, while other churches seem to be thriving. Many researchers have studied this phenomenon and have written many good books on the  subject. The facts speak for themselves. The majority of growing churches are less than twenty years old. Many of the large archetype mega-churches, although have a very large weekly attendance, have leveled off. Many mega-churches that are making a difference and seem to keep growing have adopted the multi-site paradigm. Meanwhile, every church is faced with change. The simple fact of the matter: every established organization, church or otherwise, must change with the times or continue their decline.

That leads to my other interest; understanding why some churches struggle to change and others don't seem to? We all can agree that change is inevitable. Looking in the mirror each day and watching our children grow up tells us that life is always moving forward and that everything changes. As it turns out, this is a very complex question and not easily answered. It is safe to say that I will not be able to answer the question in one blog. However, I have one observation that will help.

Churches must innovate. I heard one church health expert say that churches must adapt or die. This is true, but I am suggesting that churches should not merely adapt, they should innovate. The definition of adapt is to become adjusted to new conditions. The definition of innovate is to make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, ideas, or products.  You might be thinking that they sound the same. However, there is a nuanced difference between the two concepts of change.

First, adaptation is doing thing differently to solve the problem. For example, a church that has leveled off starts to decline. All the church leaders and members notice the drop off in attendance and offerings. They begin looking for something or someone to blame. All of the usual suspects are named--economy, possible conflict, the non-denominational churches that have lured many away, spiritual warfare has been waged against them, the location of the church, the state of their facilities--the list goes on. The next obvious step is to look at the churches nearby that seem to be growing and learn from them. Established churches cannot change their core values or their doctrine, but they can change other things that seem to attract people, so they begin adapting according to what "seems to be working" in other churches. They change worship style, they begin small groups, they start a children's ministry in the park, or change their name with the hopes of reversing the declining trend.

 

Many of the adaptive changes some churches undertake do not make considerable differences. I can list over twenty churches that I know of personally that have undertaken adaptive changes with minimal results. They instead should be innovative and look for different ways to accomplish their mission in creative ways. Churches that adapt, see the their problem as losing members, but their real problem is what it always has been--reaching the lost and ministering to the hurting, and discipling new converts. The reason that the church was founded is the same today as it was then. The solution is to find creative ways to accomplish their mission.

 

One innovative church in New Mexico found a creative way to reach people in their community especially the youth. They started a nonprofit organization. The purpose of the nonprofit was to help stop unwanted teen pregnancy in their community by promoting abstinence. This message was one that they could take into the High Schools and Community College. The nonprofit was awarded a grant to purchase a truck that the bed raised up into a rock climbing wall. They would set this truck up at parks, local events, fairs, and anywhere youth would assemble. All events were co-sponsored by the church and all of the workers at the events would wear shirts with the church name and logo. Depending upon the venue, they passed out tracks, shared their faith, and invited them to church. Since the nonprofit was its own entity, they did not receive money from the church and had the ability to raise their own funds. If memory served me, the nonprofit eventually paid the salary for the youth pastor who served as the Director of the nonprofit also.

This church didn't adapt, it found an innovative solution to accomplish its mission. It didn't just find a new way to slice bread, it found an alternative to sliced bread. 

Do you have a story of how a church found an innovative way to accomplish their mission? I what to hear about it!

Please submit the story below.....

 

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HOW TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE AND FULFILLED

 

 Do the little things in life keep you in the ruts?

 

Learning how to prioritize work or house tasks and accomplish them can help us be more effective and more fulfilled.

1. Prioritize the things you need to do.
 

Every task has a level of urgency and importance. There are four possible combinations. Understanding this will help us to prioritize the things we must get done.

 

• Not important, not urgent
• Not important, urgent
• Important, not urgent
• Important, urgent

2. Just start...do not procrastinate.

 

Sometimes the best thing to do is to just get started.

3. Learn the art of self-motivation.

 

Do not wait for your boss to motivate you into action; you may not like how it is done. If you are self-employed or do not have direct supervision, the ability to motivate yourself is a must. Give yourself rewards for accomplishing tasks. When facing decisions about what you need to do, ask yourself what will give you the greatest sense of satisfaction or relief when it is done--then do it.

4. Focus on what you are doing and stay on task.

 

Plan ahead to eliminate known distractions.

5. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

It is better to finish well with a little help than it is to not finish on you own.

 

6. Be accountable.

 

Individuals that can work well without someone to be accountable to are rare.

 

There are many more elements that help us get things done, but these six have helped me finish many projects.

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Is "doing church" too complicated?

I have found few books more helpful than "Simple Church" (by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger) for helping churches stay on track. I suppose that when I was pastoring I felt that ministry should be complicated to be successful. I didn't consciously say this to myself, but I sure went about pastoring like it was complicated. After reading this book, I  admit that I was guilty of making ministry more complicated than it should be. 

The message of this book is "simple" yet profound. Simple is in. Complex is out. That mantra keeps running over and over in my mind as I coach pastors. It is something that all church workers should be aware of.

Simple Church is defined as a congregation designed around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth.

The process is simple:

Clarity  >>> Movement >>> Alignment >>> Focus

"Focus" is the area that I struggled with while I was pastoring. Focus is the commitment to abandon everything that falls outside of the simple ministry process. Leaders tend to get involved in many things that pull them away from the ministry in which they were called to do. 

"Simple Church" is an easy and straightforward read and is worth adding to any church worker's tool box.

Rainer, Thom S. & Geiger, Eric. (2006) Simple Church (Kindle ed.) Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing group.

What book or books do you consider essential for your ministry tool box? Please let me know...leave a comment below and subscribe to this blog so that you will not miss any of my updates.

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The Size of the Dog in the Fight

Mark Twain said something like, "What matters is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog." There is a lot of wisdom in them there words. This is important to remember in a "bigger is better" culture that we live in (especially here in Texas). This is also true when it comes to churches. A bigger church does not mean it's better.

Churches of more than two thousand average attendees represent less than half of one percent of all churches in America. Yet, these mega-churches are often held up to be the models of ministry for all churches. I received an invitation by email to attend a church leadership  meeting sponsored by the Leadership Network (http://leadnet.org). I went online to register for the event only to find out that I could only attend the meeting if I directly worked with a church that averages over 1000 in attendance). Excluding those of us that work with churches of smaller sizes is an indication of how small churches are undervalued and underestimated.

Large churches enjoy the benefits of having more resources, but smaller churches have strategic advantages in the areas of authenticity, discipleship, evangelism, leanness, inter-generational ministry and leadership development. By their nature, small churches are more intimate and developing a sense of community comes more naturally. To capture some of the benefits of small churches, some mega-churches have opened up satellite churches.This "multi-site" approach has become more popular for mega-churches than building larger buildings to house all of their congregation under one roof. The multi-site approach enjoys the resources of a mega-church and the advantages of smaller congregations.

Data that supports the theory of a small church advantage is largely anecdotal because these advantages are harder to quantify. However, the qualitative data is present in the stories of thousands attending small churches. Although, there may not be sufficient data for me to proclaim here that small churches have significant advantages over large churches, I can say without hesitation that being small in size does not have to be a hindrance. The strongest endorsement of small over large church sizes is in the very real effort of large churches trying to emulate the the small church experience through small groups.

If you are aware of quantifiable research in the area of this discussion, I would be interested in examining it. 

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Empowered Team Development

Many pastors, writers, and consultants agree that developing ministry teams are a major key to effective ministry and building a successful church. There is, however, a big difference in a group of people working together and a team. A group is normally defined as two or more people who interact in some way, whereas teams are usually thought of as groups with shared goals and common objectives. This suggests that teams are more than mere work groups. I have been part of "teams" with conflicting interests that resulted in poor team participation, communication, and effectiveness. In reality, they were teams in name only.

A team is a collection of individuals who exist within a larger social system or organization. These individuals are identified by themselves and others as a team. They are interdependent and perform tasks that affect the other individuals and other groups.

Teams have several common characteristics. A team can be of any size, but a team of relatively few members are easier to manage and tend to be more effective.  Think of an NFL football team. Each team is allowed fifty-three players on the active roster (only forty-six can suit up for a game). The players are categorized as offensive or defensive players. They are further divided  by the position they play. A football team is really a team of teams. Each player and each team have different functions and goals, but they all share in the ultimate goal of winning the last game of the season. A church is also a team of teams with the same God-given mission.

The main characteristic that differentiates a team from a group is that teams are formed around common interests and values. Common interested and values bond the team members to one another. A shared values system creates a sense of identity and purpose. The second important characteristic of a team is their purpose. Teams are not appropriate for every church function, but they should be formed when the team is likely to outperform individuals or groups working independently. When a team is formed, their purpose should be well defined with specific goals and objectives.

Some churches and organizations have teams that meet perpetually like church boards and budget committees. Some ad hoc teams are formed for particular projects then disbanded when their tasks are completed. In either case, team building are formed in phases.

1. ORIENTATION PHASES- this is about the make-up of the team. Team members learn about the other members as they come together. They share their personal goals, values, dreams, and plans, etc.
2. CONFLICT PHASE - the ground rules are established, roles are identified, and procedures are clarified. Tension is necessary just as friction is necessary for movement. During this phase different ideas, procedures, jobs and tasks are discussed.
3. EMERGENCE PHASE - The outcomes of the group discussion regarding team structures, procedures, and relationships and the establishing of the individual roles begin to emerge. This phase ends when a consensus is reached and recorded.
4. PERFORMANCE PHASE - During this phase, the team functions are executed. If the team is perpetual, periodic evaluation of the members, their roles, and procedures is necessary. 
5. TERMINUS PHASE - Only temporary teams will come to an end. There are advantages of having teams with a predetermined life-cycle. This is especially true if the team is experiencing conflict or they are not effective.

Effective teams have a clear understanding of goals to be achieved and an enthusiastic commitment to accomplishing those goals. Recent polls have shown that the average organizational member does not have a clear understanding of their organizational goals. It can be assumed that the top leadership has a clear understanding of their overall purpose. Often this understanding is not clearly and continually communicated to the members. Many churches are guilty of the same mistake. Every Church differs in size, location, and make-up. Each church strives to accomplish God's plan in a unique way. The uniqueness should be communicated to the ministry teams.This mission keeps church leaders focused and the ministries aligned.

Teams should be developed in accordance with the various functions of the church. "24 to Double" (http://www.24todouble.org) suggests seven teams:

1. Outreach
2. WOW (First Impressions)
3. Shock & Awe (Production of cutting edge services)
4. Worship
5. Follow-up
6. Children
7. Small Groups

These represent some natural teams that leaders form. However, churches will develop teams according to their resources and what are needed to accomplish their mission.

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Chaordic Consulting II

The last blog described chaordic consulting as having an outside consultant identify internal and external factors which affect organizational efficiency. A force field analysis approach examines the goals of each system of the organization and the methods used to accomplish these goals. These are the driving forces. The hindrances to the accomplishment of these goals are then identified. These are the hindering or balancing forces. In this process, the consultant is making sense of organizational chaos and order. Force field analysis is a strategic tool use to understand what is needed for change in both corporate and personal environments.

The purpose of any consulting process is to help identify and implement procedures that will make the organization more efficient and productive. It is the job of management to keep the organization running, productive, and competitive. Some organizations have internal consultants or individuals that are trained in organizational behavior and theory. There is however advantages to having outside consultants evaluate the organizations operations. First, an outside consultant can view the organization structure and function without bias. Management may be unduly influenced by pet people, processes, or products that will not influence a consultant. Second, management is often too close to the systems to objectively assess them. Third, consultants have training and experience across a broad field of organizational practice and use this expertise to assess an organization.

Often leaders suspect a problem such as low morale and motivation. Organizations may be struggling to remain competitive, want to improve profits, increase production, reduce conflict, change organizational culture, or expand the company. Given the responsibilities of organizational leaders, they may not have the time or expertise to address these needs and turn to outside consultants. Chris Argyris lists three things necessary to any successful intervention. These are especially true to make sense of chaotic organizational situations and bringing orderly interventions. The first is valid and useful information. The consultant must be able to evaluate the organizational situation as it actually exists. The information comes from several sources. The basic information is empirical data. This includes balance sheets, profit/loss reports, employee statistics and evaluations, and any hard data that would give a realistic picture of the organizations health. The consultant should sign a confidentiality statement that any information will not be shared or used in any way other than to evaluate the organization. Other information is gained by surveys, interviews, and observation. The second necessary item for consulting is free choice. The client has the choice to implement the suggested intervention or not. The third necessary item is internal commitment. Internal commitment means the course of action that has been internalized by each member so that they experience a high degree of ownership and has a feeling of responsibility about the chores and its implications.

The consulting process includes several phases starting with the “entry” phase. The start or entry is the period where the organizational leaders and the consultant dialogue regarding the consulting process. This is not a sales pitch by the consultant, but a mutual examination of the consulting process from start to finish and the responsibilities of each party. The organizational leaders should be confident in the abilities of the consultant and the consultant should be confident in the ability of the leaders to provide accurate information and the commitment to the consulting process. Neither party at this time is committed to the process. Once an agreement has taken place, then the information is gathered. The amount of information, the process of getting the information, and the used of the information has already been agreed upon in the entry phase. This will probably require onsite visits by the consultant. Once the information has been acquired, the assessment/feedback process begins. The consultant may ask for clarification or request more information during this time. Based on the determinations in the evaluation process, plans are made in terms of goals and objectives. The consulting relationship can end at this point, but usually the consultant helps implement the procedures especially if the plan calls for additional training. Short term goals can be implemented and evaluated. Long term goals can be implemented and the consultant can be retained as a coach for the process or end the relationship depending upon the agreed upon life-cycle of the consultation.

Outside consultants help organizations help navigate through chaos and bring fresh and unbiased perspectives to organizational leaders.

Chaordic Consulting I

After pastoring for eight years, the past two years I have been involved with Church Consulting. As I have gone to churches with the consulting team I have been reminded of the word “chaordic”. Chaordic is an adjective that describes an organization as a blend of chaos and order. The term “chaordic” was first coined by Dee Hock, the founder and former CEO of the VISA credit card association. This mix of chaos and order is described as the harmonious coexistence of chaos and order, but neither being dominant. In his book “Birth of the Chaordic Age”, Hock defines chaordic as the behavior of any self-governing organism or system which harmoniously blends characteristics of order and chaos.

“Chaordic” expresses the character of the church and any organization especially in the face of the fast and drastic changes that are taking place in the twenty-first century world. Churches in America have struggled to adapt to the changing world. [See “The American Church in Crisis” by David T. Olson] Understanding that chaos and order are both at work in the church can help ecclesial leaders to adapt to the changing world.

The general use of the word chaos means a state of confusion or lacking any order. However, according to chaos theory, the word chaos has a slightly different meaning. Chaos in this context refers to an apparent lack of order in a system that obeys particular laws or rules. The idea, in an organizational setting, is that no matter how complex organizational systems may be, they rely upon an underlying order. Also, simple or small organizational systems and/or events can cause very complex behaviors or events. This is also referred to as the butterfly effect. First described by Edward Lorenz, the butterfly effect theoretically says that small changes in one area can have dramatic effects on other organizational systems and outcomes.

Lorenz, an MIT meteorologist, was re-running a computer model to predict weather conditions. The second time he entered the rounded number, .506, instead of the previous number of .506127 with the thought that the slight modification would produce similar results. Instead, the results were radically different from his first outcomes. According to scientific thought at that time, the results should have been only slightly different because the inputs were thought to be about the same. This led to the realization that very small, seemingly inconsequential changes in one place or system can have very large consequences elsewhere in the organization. Lorenz later summarized this thought by asking, “Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?”

“Weather” is a good illustration of chaordic. On a day-to-day basis, weather seems to be unpredictable and random. However, observed long enough weather patterns can be detected and even predicted to some degree. In recent years, we have become aware of how weather events on the other side of the globe can have local affects. An earth quake in Indonesia can produce Tsunamis thousands of miles away. Organizations, like hurricane Katrina, will never be 100% predictable, but patterns can be identified that can help organizations adapt.

Football gives another more simple illustration of Chaordic. When I was in elementary school, I would watch football with cousins. To a young boy’s eye, it seemed as though the players lined up, ran around, and then jumped on the ball and each other—then repeated the process occasionally kicking the ball. It could be best described as organized chaos. [This is also my understanding of Rugby to this day, but more chaos than order.] However, as I grew and got involved in sports myself, I began to see the order of the game. Even with “order”, a football game can be described as chaotic order. The object of the game is to execute plays in the face of opposing forces and to disrupt the execution of your opponent’s plays. This dynamic insures that plays are seldom executed to perfection without opposing forces. Football teams succeed by adapting and changing. Football teams have people dedicated to scouting their opponents, identifying their strengths and weaknesses and summarizing opposing personnel and developing a “game plan”. Every game plan is tentative. As the game progresses, the execution of the game plan is adjusted as the opposing forces are successful or not. Teams adjust or lose. Football teams have the luxury of evaluating successes and failures throughout the week and adjusting for the next contest. The stakes are higher for organizations [especially the church] than they are for football teams.

So what is Chaordic Consulting?

Chaordic consulting is having an outside consultant identify internal and external factors which affect organizational efficiency. Like the restaurant owner calling in an expert to discover why they were losing customers. The owner’s efforts had been focused upon insuring that the food and service was first rate. Ultimately it was found that poor upkeep of the restrooms was the primary factor hindering repeat business. Updating the dining room and a remodel of the restrooms gained back lost business and gained additional customers. This increase in business not only made a financial impact, but also improved the overall moral of the restaurant staff. Like the restaurant owner, managers and pastors are often too close to the problems to identify them so they call upon consultants to help identify the resisting forces.