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Category Archive: change
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Why Churches Need Design Thinking
Unless you lead the only local church in America that has no problems, then you need to find an effective process to solve the challenges that you face.
What I know about you is that you didn’t go into church leadership to deal with a lot of the stuff that you have to deal with. You went into church leadership because you believed God was calling you to something significant…something life changing…something…well, other than what you spend a huge amount of time doing.
As a leader, you have to deal with all the “other” stuff. You know, the stuff that no one really tells you about. The stuff that wasn’t a part of the conversation when God called you to give your life to the church. But what if He had? I can almost imagine what that conversation would be like.
God: I have gifted you and called you to give your life to full time ministry in the local church…
You: Wow. I am humbled. I will get to lead people from pain to peace, from lost to found. I will get to proclaim your Word and watch people respond by giving you their lives, I will have the honor of representing the most Holy God as the leader of His people.
God: Yes, but… there is more. You will also get to spend time with people who say horrible things about you because you made a decision about something without asking them. You will be put in the middle of situations that you have no control over, yet be held accountable. You will watch people leave the church because you said something that they did not like. You will go to sleep at night asking me…”Are you sure this is what you called me to do?’
You: Hmmm… is there anyway to just do the good stuff?
So where does that reality leave you? If you are like me, it leaves you looking for the best way possible to navigate the web of decisions and problems that we all face as we lead the church. I can share what I have learned, and how it can completely change your circumstances. (more…)
Tagged creativity, design thinking, leadership, process
What do you really need to know?
Inside the dashboard of Google Analytics I can slice and dice hundreds of pieces of data.
I can tell where the person was from, I can see how long they stayed on the site, and what pages they were looking for. I can tell if they are new or returning. I can even tell what web browser they were using.
Here is some interesting info on my website stats for the past 3 months:
Top Counties/ Territories :
- United States
- Indonesia
- Canada
- United Kingdom
- Argentina
- Poland
Wow! I never know I had such a loyal following in California (hello Bellmont!) and I am still shocked at all the people in Indonesia that like to check out the website.
But in reality, none of this REALLY makes me a better consultant. It is just more information to process.
The trend that I have seen is for churches and nonprofits to think that they need more information to be effective. This usually results in a long process of using evaluation tools and/or subscriptions to information sites, and then months of trying to figure out what the information all means. With very few exceptions, this is a huge waste of time and money.
What you need is Application, not Information.
Most of the time, you know what you need to do.
You just want information to back up your decision. You are looking for “something” to blame if it goes wrong – so they don’t blame “someone” (YOU!). Spend a few minutes online to see of you are on track with your thoughts and then DO what you should do. If you are really stuck – get someone to coach you through the process of taking you from where you are to where you want to go — but please—focus on Application and not Information!!
Tagged decision making, information
Church Planting Challange
About 8 months ago one of our pastors decided that it was time to go plant a new church. At the exact same time as this decision, we had been laying the groundwork for our first multi-site effort. We (the Lead Pastor, he and I) spent a great deal of time praying and talking about whether his new work would be a church plant of our church, a satellite campus, video venue or just have no affiliation with our church at all. Ultimately, our friend made the decision for us.
He wanted to structure this new church in a way that would not fit any of the concepts that we were working on. It had to be it’s own entity with no connection to us.
That was hard.
We looked for a win-win solution for both our friend and our church. He had been a key leader for several years, and a gifted communicator. Our church was better with him, and our church was good for him. We decided that we would try to keep him on staff for close to a year, while slowly decreasing his responsibilities and allowing him to ramp up the new church. Planting a church is challenging, and this would give him financial stability and continuity as he began. It would also allow us to keep him in the teaching rotation, and benefit from his gifts.
There were leaders in our church that challenged me on the wisdom of this arrangement. In business, (and in many churches) once you announce your are leaving – you’re out. But we were convinced that we could make this work. The three us have met together most every week for a time of prayer and accountability. We have committed to communicate and be honest with one another throughout the process. There are times that is easy, and others…well “not so much”.
Tagged Church Plant, tough lessons, transitions
Church Leadership is Boring (sometimes).
I recently sent out a tweet that said “Sometimes, Church leadership is boring”. It got a lot of reactions!
Here’s the deal. Every job is boring on occasion. There are no exceptions. Even when you are serving the most Holy and Awesome God.
When you think about it, you know that it is true. “Bored” is literally a state of mental being. I have been in incredible places with my boys, where opportunity and adventures abound – and I still hear the phrase ” I’m bored.”
I have met with some incredible, cutting edge, type “A” leaders in both the church and business worlds and heard the phrase “I’m bored.”
Tagged boring, challenges, leadership
Tough Leadership Decisions
There is a great story (probably true) about a leadership decision that Mike Slaughter of Ginghamsburg Church made several years ago. The church had been meeting for worship in a gymnatorium kind of space and as the church grew, so did the quality of the worship service. That quality was one of the big draws for people who attended.
As many churches do, Ginghamsburg decided that it was time to build a large “state-of-the-art” worship center. When they were in the meeting to finalize the blueprints, as the story goes, Mike Slaughter took a step back and made a tough call. “We have always said that we will focus on youth and children. This expensive building does nothing for them. We need to abandon this project and put up a youth center instead.” And that is exactly what happened.
Tagged challenges, Difficult decisions
Tim Brown from IDEO
IDEO has long been considered the “founder” of the Design Thinking movement. Tim Brown is one of the thought leaders on this topic. In this interview with Business Week, he speaks to several questions about how design thinking can help businesses. The first question “What are the steps” is a very basic steps in the Design Thinking process. Tim explains these in detail.
1. Approach problems as if they were projects
2. Look outside your organization for possible solutions
3. Create “tangible” solutions early
4. Wrap a story around your solutions
Tagged Creative Leadership, environment, IDEO, Tim Brown
Change in the Church
I spend the majority of my time working with leaders of local churches. Talk about a group that struggles with change!! One of the most significant ongoing “challenges” that these leaders face is that they have experienced success with something in the past, and are having trouble adjusting to the currently reality.
Churches have a great deal of trouble distinguishing between their “methods” and their “work”. No product or service delivery “method” is effective forever, but the “work” of the church never changes. When it is being effective, suffering is being relieved, people are finding hope, and lives are being changed for the better. It is vital that the church finds ways to be effective.
Tagged challenges, change, Leading change, vision
21 Rules of Innovation… numbers 15-21
15. A good team is always an active learning team.
16. Be aware of the balance and flow of polarities that exist for your team. Remember that too much team can be just as bad as not enough. Allow for individual self-expression within the team. Teams are not problems to solve, they are a mass of polarities to manage (see Bruce Johnson’s “Polarity Management”)
17. Your team is a strong as its weakest link. A good team makes efforts to cover, improve, or strengthen its deficiencies. Read “The Goal” by Eli Goldratt to understand more about the “theory of constraints.”
18. Effective teams engage in constructive disagreement around content with a ‘yes and not a ‘yes but’ attitude.
19. Listening is key.
20. Know thyself – what you can contribute to the team and what others can contribute that doesn’t come naturally to you.
21. In teams, seek to ‘pull in’ the outliers, the mavericks, those who we tend to exclude. Everyone has something important to offer the team – find it.
Tagged Innovation
21 Rules of Innovation…numbers 8-14
8. Trust is not blind. The more you seek to understand the motives of your team members, the better.
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9. All teams go through rough patches. As Dean Kamen says, if you don’t encounter big problems or surprises, you’re not innovating. When it “hits the fan”, be an example in keeping the faith and remaining positive.
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10. Vince Lombardi won a lot of championships by focusing on, and repeating endlessly, the most basic plays and fundamentals. Basic fitness and clarity of jobs and roles were the rock he built his teams on. So, when in doubt, return to the basics.
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11. Sometimes a person simply shouldn’t be on a team. Be very careful in making this judgment, because sometimes the mavericks are exactly who you need. Still, sometimes people can’t be brought into the fold and focused on the goal at hand. If you are dead sure, cut out the “cancer”. It’s a very tough call, but when you make it you are often thanked for doing it by other team members.
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12. Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate. Celebrate victories, even the small ones, and celebrate learning even in failures or setbacks. Edison was of the philosophy there is no failure; be like Edison.
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13.Kick-off’s are important. Do them with energy and style.
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14.Communicate unselfishly, share your knowledge, and share honestly in a way that the person can hear.
Tagged Innovation
21 Rules for Innovation..1-7
Greg Fraley wrote this list, with the assistance of Kim Greene, for the 2009 CPSI Team Building participants. They had made the request for a bit of “real world” content (imagine!).
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1. A strong bold initiative and vision inspires teams. It has the right people wanting to be involved.
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2. If you are the organizer/leader know that Who is on the team may have more impact then any other choice you make. As they say in golf, all bets are made on the first tee.
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3. If you can’t choose who is on your team, clarity of roles and task fit, are very important choices.
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4. When a team member leaves or a new member comes on board, don’t forget you have work to do in reforming the team. Really, it’s a whole new team.
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5. Don’t forget the fun element… “if it’s not fun, you’re not doing it right” (JFK). Try to integrate an element of fun in all the team does.
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6. Regardless of who is on your team, overt appreciation of strengths and diversity is a good place to start. Starting with positives is always a good idea.
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7. Build trust all the time. Make deposits to the “savings account” you have with each team member. You can, and will need to, “withdraw” from that account in difficult times (thanks Stephen Covey). A key to building trust is rigorous integrity around your word. Do what you say you will do. If you don’t, or have a problem, come clean on it ASAP.
Tagged Innovation