gathering 3 notebook pdf

© 2013, 2015 E. Stanley Ott, Ph.D.

Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible© 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

August 2015

� e Barnabas Leadership Group®

Gathering 3 - Clarifying Vision

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© 2014 E. Stanley Ott: The Vital Churches Institute | 901 Allegheny Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15233 | 412.246.4847 | www.vitalchurchesinstitute.com

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Table of Contents - Gathering 3

Barnabas Group Gathering 3 p. 5-6

Word-Share-Prayer p. 7 - 9

Seven Circles of Leadership p. 10

Leadership Examen p. 11

Leadership Journal p. 12

Companion Coaching Experience p. 13

Clarifying Vision p. 15-39

Circle of Vision p. 17

Planning Rhythms p. 30

10/90 Rule of Leadership p. 32

The Work Review p. 34

Sendings p. 37

Circle of Vision

Vision: Setting Goals and Making Plans p. 43-52

Develop a Strategic Plan for Your Church p. 53

Adaptive Change

The Cynefi n Framework p. 57-60

Adaptive Challenges and Action Learning p. 61-76

Principles of Eff ective Leadership

Leading People Without Losing Them p. 79-88

Principles of Eff ective Leadership p. 89-100

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Barnabas Gathering 3 - Day One

12:00 Gather for lunch

1:00 Welcome and Introductions - brief sharing around the table

1:30 Word-Share-Prayer (triads)

1:45 Overview the Notebook sections.Our Aim, Framework and Process,Review: Moments and Movements and the Art of Noticing,A quick summary of our work so far

2:15 Refl ection in small groups What have you learned about yourself over the last months as a leader? Where do you see your leadership growing edge? What aspects of the coaching pairs worked or did not work for you?

3:00 Small Groups Debrief

3:15 Break

3:30 (or so) Orientation to the Circle of Vision

4:00 Goal Setting and planning for technical (linear) Leadership Moments

4:30 Goal Setting and planning for adaptive (non-linear) goal challenges

5:30 Break

6:00 Supper

7:00 Th e setting of and/or discernment of vision, goals, and plans

8:20 Evening worship and Dismiss

Barnabas Group Gathering 3 - Clarifying Vision

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Barnabas Gathering 2 - Day 2

7:30 Breakfast

8:30 Gather - Word-Share-Prayer

9:00 Th e 10/90 Rule of Leadership Th e Ministry Review

10:00 Break

10:15 Sendings

11:00 Individual PPT

12:00 Lunch

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Word-Share-Prayer:READ: (NRSV) 1Samuel 17:4 - Gumption II

4Th ere came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was fi ve thousand shekels of bronze. 6 He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 Th e shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam… “Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

2 Samuel 21:19 Th en there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 20 Th ere was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great size, who had six fi ngers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; he too was descended from the giants. 21 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of David’s brother Shimei, killed him. 22 Th ese four were descended from the giants in Gath; they fell by the hands of David and his servants

REFLECT: All of Israel was afraid to take on Goliath one-on-one. Yet, we discover in the months after David’s encounter with Goliath that Hebrews, who had avoided combat with Goliath, stood tall in facing others just as intimidating. Why?

Gumption is the interesting combination of courage and common sense. Th e godly gumption is that which acknowledges fear and anxiety, sets it aside, puts one’s literal trust in almighty God and gets the job done.

Name an situation in your life in the last month requiring gumption.

RESPOND: When you face a situation that requires godly gumption, how may you be mighty in spirit when you may feel exactly the opposite?

REQUEST: Jot down some blessings and prayer requests that you and others may have.

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Word-Share-Prayer:

READ: (NRSV) Matthew 4:18-19 - Jesus calls his disciples

18 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fi shermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fi sh for people.”

REFLECT:

Notice key phrases that strike you in this passage. What vision does Jesus off er?

What do you notice about Peter and Andrew that fi t them to be witnesses of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection?

What new insights does this passage off er you about leadership?

RESPOND: In what ways will you apply this text to your own life and ministry?

REQUEST: Jot down prayer requests that you and others may have.

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The Seven Circles of Leadership

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Leadership ExamenA very useful practice of Christian spirituality is known as the Examen. Examen, “a weighing” out from the Latin, is an examination of one’s life in which we think through our moments of joy and sadness (often referred to as “consolation and desolation”) and our refl ections on God’s presence in each moment. It’s a way of discerning God’s work in our lives.

For example, for the evening Examen one takes a few minutes at end of the day to refl ect on two questions. As Adele Ahlberg Calhoun writes, there are many ways to ask these two questions:

• For what moment today am I most grateful? For what moment today am I least grateful?

• When did I give and receive the most love today – and the least love? When today did I have the deepest sense of connection with God, others and myself ? When today did I have the least sense of connection?

• When did I experience desolation?” Where did I fi nd consolation?• How has God been doing in my life in the past six months? Th emes

developing?1

Th e “Leadership Examen” follows a similar process. In essence the process of journaling and engaging reciprocal peer coaching is all about refl ecting on the observations of one another’s Leadership Examen. To practice a nightly Leadership Examen in a spirit of humility simply ask a few more questions of your day and jot down your answers.

Basic questions:• In each leadership moment of the day, what did I do that encourages me and

what discourages me? What will I do to grow from this as a leader?

For greater detail using the Seven Circles of Leadership:• When did I behave in a manner worthy or unworthy of my Lord? (Circle of the

Leader)• How did I treat people today? With love, dignity, and respect or in de-valuing

ways? (Circle of the Follower)• Was I clear about vision or the process of discerning vision with others? Did I

seek my Lord’s wisdom? Was I open to the new idea? (Circle of Vision)• Did I invite others to join me or us? Was I direct, winsome, of godly gumption?

Did I side step this or leave it to others? (Circle of the Call to Action)• Did I develop the teams/groups of which I am a part – their esprit de corps,

their interpersonal relationships, their individual members fruitfulness? (Circle of Team)

• Did I give others ways to serve and to carry some appropriate load by transferring responsibility to them along with the tools and encouragement to enable their success? (Circle of Delegation)

• Did I develop others as leaders, inspiring their capacity to create or see vision and to practice the rest of the seven circles? (Circle of Development)

1 Calhoun, Adele Ahlberg. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press 2005. pp. 53-55.

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My Leadership Examen Journal

Contexts for Leadership

What encouraged me as I led today? What discouraged me as I led today?

Personal life Rule of Life Home life Social life Community life

June 7 I re-established my daily devotional time. I wrestled with the “when” of this. Settled on 6:30 – 7:00 a.m. but know this will be tough. Leading myself not easy. Circle of the Leader

June 8 Jack and I talked about updating our wills. I offered a written list of possible items for our will that moved us off our inclination to squabble a bit about this and into a good conversation. This process of “anchoring” by offering a paper proposal as a “straw man” helped establish a general direction. Circle of Vision.

June 12 Michelle Smith called to say everyone could meet Thursday morning. I said I had a commitment Thursday morning but the afternoon was wide-open, suggesting 1:30. She preferred the morning but was all right with it.

June 13 I talked with Phyllis, our Treasurer, about getting statements out on time. I sat down with her, reviewed the necessity and looked her in the eye and smiled saying, “This needs to be done on time.” She smiled back. I think it will happen. Yay!

June 14 I met with Scott Green and Mary Lawson to resolve the issues surrounding what, if anything, we should charge for use of our community center large room. Marty was uneasy with this but knows it’s become a problem. I think I handled this pretty well. Circle of Team

June 7 I asked Jack where the boxes of our family tax files are because they aren’t where we usually keep them. He was immediately defensive saying he had no idea where they were. I said, “Honey it’s not about you. I just need the files from 2008. Would you see if perhaps the boxes were moved when we prepared the extra guest bedroom for company last Christmas? Sure enough he found them in the garage! I suggested this is not the best place for such material and it didn’t end well. Wish I’d left it with a, “Thanks for finding the boxes.”

June 9 My community center microphone has failed for two weeks in a row. I asked Bill, who maintains our equipment, to check it out after the first problem and am bothered it wasn’t taken care off. I fired off a blunt email. Bill called me to say he’d ordered a key component that hadn’t arrived and forgot to tell me. He wasn’t very happy with the tone of my email. Too late I remembered the wisdom that email is best for affirmation and information but not for confrontation.

June 9 I invited Mary Jones and Jenny Stephens into a triad with me to study Discipleship Essentials. Mary a yes. Jenny a no. I know I didn’t give Jenny enough information and rushed to a “You wouldn’t want to do this would you?” I realize my invitation was actually a negative. I need to ask people straight out, “Will you do X?” Circle of the Call to Action

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Th e Companion Coaching Experience

Th e Barnabas process combines three signifi cant elements that contribute to growth in leadership capacity: learning, leading, and refl ecting (or Read-Lead-Heed). Th e companion coaching conversations off er usthe opportunity to be peer coaches for one another. Our role is to ask questions of one another to enhance the process of refl ecting on our leadership practices. Th ese questions are not an exam and have no judgmental component to them. Th eir only aim is to help one another think more originally and refl ectively about our own selves and specifi cally how we have led.

Th e primary goal of the mutual coach is therefore not to give advice butto ask questions designed to help the peer be self-refl ective. At times the peer coach may off er counsel but the main task is questions and the minor task is guidance. Help each other think through, “What did I do right and well? Where was I off the mark? How may I do this more eff ectively in the future? What Circles of Leadership were involved?”

One goal of the companion peer coaching experience is to help you get in touch with your current leadership habits, the ways you react to people in good moments and in diffi cult moments, and how you may develop new habits that will foster a growing leadership capacity. Th e questions your peer asks of you and your refl ective replies can open a window into your actual habits and behaviors and ways to improve. Seeing ourselves as we really are has been one of humanity’s challenges for a long time, yet it is a key to our growth into new practices.

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• Th e elements of the Circle of Vision• Th e diff erence between technical (linear) challenges and adaptive (non-linear) challenges. • Goal setting for technical (linear) challenges• Goal setting for adaptive (non-linear) challenges• Th e 10/90 Rule• Th e Ministry Review

Pre-Gathering Preparation

1. Read “Th e Circle of Vision”2. � e Leadership Challenge Chapters 2 and 4 Kouzes and Posner3. Leadership on the Line Heifetz and Linsky

BeginningsWord-Share-Prayer (triads)

“We must be the people of God before we do the work of the people of God.”

Our Aim, Framework and Process

1. Our aim is for each of us to grow in our capacity as leaders.

2. To grow leadership capacity, Barnabas employs two triple helixes framework and a process.

Th e framework: discipleship, leadership and context

Barnabas Group Gathering 3 – Clarifying Vision

Objectives: To Learn and Apply - (from Greek to Hebrew):

Brief re-introduction of the coaches and

participants.

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Th e process: learning, doing, refl ecting.

A quick summary of our work so far:Barbara Kellerman – a changing leader-follower relationship. Jim Kouzes and Bary Posner � e Leadership Challenge – fi ve practicesTh e Seven Circles of Leadership

Th e Circle of the LeaderTh e Circle of the Follower

Greek vs Hebrew Education

Refl ection in triads1. What have you learned about yourself over the last months as a leader?2. Where do you see your leadership growing edge?3. What aspects of Leadership Examen, PPT, your companion cluster,

and ways to value people worked for you?

Whole Group DebriefWhat have we learned?

How is your Leadership Examen going? Move from a purely Leadership Examen to keeping an Examen Journal daily at least one week before your triad meets. Include both your Spiritual Life Examen – noticing God’s presence in your moments of encouragement and discouragement – and your Leadership Examen – noticing your leadership moments and ways your behavior were encouraging and discouraging to you.

How did your peer-coaching experience go? Divide into triads. Over lunch set your monthly meetings. Include a Barnabas Coach in one of them.

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Th e Circle of Vision Vision = Goals, objectives and plans (because a vision or a goal without a plan is only a wish).

� e Leadership Challenge

New book: Making Vision Stick by Andy StanleySee Readings:Circle Three: The Circle of VisionVision: Setting Goals and Making PlansDevelop a Strategic Plan for Your Church

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As we discuss vision the nature of vision, the Spirit of God is almost certainly going to place some ideas – both large and small – on your heart. Please attend to the spark of the Spirit and take the time to write down what comes to your heart to do. (Nehemiah 2:12b: what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem.)

Vision is a complex subject that is both broad and specifi c

Th e Philosophy of the Circle of Vision: To lead you must “see” where you are going and have a plan to get there.

Th e Practice of the Circle: Discern vision. Plan action by yourself and with others.

Vision is the capacity to see possibilities – the ability to see what could or what should happen. Vision is any desired outcome. It helps us see our destination and our plans help us see the route by which we will either get there or navigate in that direction.

“Vision Pairs” express the central elements of the Circle of Vision.Strategic (or Defi ning) Vision and Tactical Vision

Sustaining and Advancing Vision Vision In and Vision Out (Leading in and leading out) Technical and Adaptive Vision

Goals focus our eff orts and formalize desired results. Th ey are the big picture expression of what your vision seeks to accomplish.

Goals and objectives are similar concepts. A goal is generally a higher-level aim that often un-measurable and has a long horizon to accomplish. Objectives are lower-level aims that include measurable outcomes and a time line.

While they do have someone diff erent meanings in the general culture, the main thing is that you know what they mean for you and for your organization.

Did Jesus have goals? Objectives? Can you give examples?

1.

2.

3.

Be the Leader Who Leads - Circle of Vision

The diff erence between Role Orientation and Goal Orientation - Glasser

Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” Mark 1:38 Here we have the goal” to p“reach and an objective “go to the nearby villages” Goal: The calling and development of the Twelve. Objective: Matthew follow me. Goal: To preach the good news of the Kingdom of God. Objective: go to Samaria. Goal: To lay his life down on our behalf. Objective: not to resist his arrest when it occurs.

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Setting annual goals is appropriate for the person and organization that has a fairly routine approach to ordering its life. While they will face both technical and adaptive challenges, they do have time to think though what their goals are and to work on accomplishing them.

Sometimes life is moving so rapidly that setting a goal that takes a year to accomplish is actually just a great fi ction and the best you can do is generate new understandings of what needs to be on the fl y – agile leadership – with new goals every two weeks - and work to address them even as new matters to deal with surface. Th is is especially true in complex adaptive and in chaotic situations.

Stephen Covey: Goal! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPwrfa7oY-M

In our manic day with its heavy pressure of present demand, planning is a spiritual discipline.

Nygren and Ukeritis (1993) distinguished outstanding leaders from typical leaders based on the competencies of achievement motivation, long-term initiative or strategy, ability to focus on group goals over individual goals, use of power through consensus building, ability to persuade members to support group goals, and deep grounding in spirituality and humanitarian values.1

Technical (linear) and an adaptive (non-linear) Leadership Moments

Technical or linear environments are reasonably straight-forward and predictable. You (you personally or a leadership team) know how things work and how to get things done. Whether you are planning a large dinner social dinner or a concert you can discern what needs to be done by using the “W” Questions – What is to be done, by Whom, by When, Where and Why?

1 Cited in Rosemarie A. Ong, Ph.D, “Leadership Development Experiences of Exemplary Roman Catholic Parish Priests: An Exploratory Study,” George Washington University, 2013.

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However, adaptive environments are neither predictable nor linear. While you may be able to fulfi ll your vision answering the “W” Questions, its likely that in an adaptive environment you will have to be light on your feet, be open to experimenting and willing to modify what you are doing as you go along.

Examples of Adaptive Challenges:

1. How will we win participation of those who are under forty years of age.

2. How will we grow true adult disciples (moving from involvement to discipleship) and handle the transitional issues in relation to our current Christian Education eff orts?

3. How do we create a sustainable children’s ministry given the busyness of our volunteers and the less regular attendance of children in Sunday school.

4. How to properly equip people to serve in our ministry when the people are already harried and overextended?

5. How can we accomplish fi ve adult baptisms per year for three consecutive years?

What are some adaptive challenges facing you today?

Common terminology for adaptive leadership is “Agile” leadership and “Nimble” leadership. You can tell from the very terminology that we are speaking of ways to navigate uncertainty rather than simply “solve a problem.”

For example in agile leadership thinking the horizon of the goals may be only two weeks away, you assume they aren’t quite right, and the issue is velocity – how much you accomplish more than how successful you are. Th e idea is when things are really fl ying you have to throw a lot of mud at the wall to see what sticks and move on from there with more mud!

Ask for group input. It is not necessary for everyone to speak.

Leadership on the Line - The danger of leadership, pg. 95-108.

Ask the group you give some examples of adaptive challenges you are facing right now? You may illustrate with one or two of your own.

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Character qualities for navigating the adaptive challenge include:

1. Humility “In times of rapid change, what you know can mislead you” Robert Dilworth. Without a humble “teachability” and willingness to learn, we are closed to new ideas and fresh approaches. Such humility allows a “holy fl exibility” to respond to situations as they arise.

2. Inquiry – the willingness to ask questions3. Initiative – the heart to start – to move beyond chewing ideas4. Gumption – to be strong, be of good courage and do it! 1 Chronicles

28:20

Goal setting and planning for technical (linear) Leadership Moments.

Some goal-setting and planning pointers:

Set WW (What When) goals or S.M.A.R.T. goals - linear plans.

Th e value of goals in the process of leading is their capacity to clarify what you are seeking to accomplish. Th e key is to hold them in a “loose-tight” manner - loose to the degree that you remain open to changing goals as situations and conditions change and tight to the degree you want something actually accomplished by a given date.

While SMART Goals are widely used (Specifi c, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-based), the simply W & W goal is easy to develop and easy to modify.

W – the What you aim to accomplish W – the When it is to be accomplished.

Develop a master plan for generosity development by August 15, 2015• Invite three others to form a Discipleship Essentials group by May

1, 2015• Recruit the team and develop the plan with them to launch a

ministry to professional women to commence September 1, 2015• Work out our/my will and estate decisions by June 15, 2015

As you begin to practice the Circle of the Follower - while also attending to the ministry of soul care with a few others, matters relevant to your home and those close to you and to matters of church and work, use W & W goals to pattern where you are going and as input to your PPT process.

Annually Set your top fi ve to ten annual “big” goals for your major areas of endeavor. Even if you are going to guide leadership groups in goal setting processes this will help you clarify your thinking about the

Heilfi tz on dangerous leadership and Failure of Nerve.Leadership on the Line - The danger of leadership, pg. 95-108.

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future. Th e group goal setting process is one way to gain perspective on and modify your own goals for whatever entity the leadership group leads.

Weekly and QuarterlyUse your weekly practice of PPT (Protected Planning Time) to set weekly “do’s” as goals. Once a quarter, take half a day to a day to think a bit further out. Always be aware of your annual goals and how they work into your weekly/quarterly PPT

We can overdo it by setting so many goals we might as well set none at all or by becoming so strident that every goal be met on time regardless of new opportunities or obstacles that we end up using goals to break the Circle of the Follower.

We can also underdo it by solely rolling from demand to demand and never stopping to think about what we want to see accomplished.

See the Readings for:Perspectives on Goal GettingDeveloping a Strategic Plan for Your Church

Sustaining Versus Advancing Goals

Did Jesus focus on repeating only what he had done before and or focus on advancing into new territories with new missional objectives?

What will you sustain in the next year and how will you advance with sustaining and advancing vision?

Are your e� orts, by in large, limited to the repetition of last year’s endeavor? Yes or no? If the answer is yes, then chances are your work is static and you are not seeking or using a vision for your work that is larger than the one that guided you a year ago.

A useful way to set goals for the next year is in the form of Sustaining and Advancing Goals. Sustaining Goals are those aspects of your current endeavors that you plan to continue next year. Advancing Goals are the areas of new endeavor you intend to accomplish.

Clearly he did both.

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An example:

Sustaining and Advancing W&W (What and When) Goals

Name of Ministry: _Th e Ice Cream Fellowship_ Date: 2-25-14

Sustaining Goals continue what is already happening while seeking greater excellence and results. Advancing Goals express new initiatives.

W&W Sustaining Goals – what we intend to continue with excellence

1. Weekly gatherings for Bible Study and ice cream from June 15 through August 15

2. Children’s activities during the Bible study June 15 through August 15

3. Monthly work teams for Habitat for Humanity Saturdays June 15 through August 15

4. Our ministry team Bill and Mary (leaders), Phil, Marianne, Jim, JoAnne.

W&W Advancing Goals – new ministry initiatives

1. An outreach ice cream social with one of the major ice cream stores to center a community happening over the July 4 weekend.

2. Th e Bible study will shift from 95% lecture to ½ lecture and 1/2 face groups for prayer August 31

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Th e place of ecclesiology in goal setting – having goals in each of the strategic domains of the vital church.

Goal setting and planning for adaptive (non-linear) goal challenges

Th ere are a variety of ways to navigate the adaptive (non-linear) challenge. Th ey include:

1. Trust God and stay the course2. Th e Role of Wisdom3. Mutual Invitation for Group Discernment4. Th e 3D Method5. Discerning God’s Will Together6. Action Learning

1. Trusting God

Consider the Second Missionary Journey of Paul and his companions: 6 “Th ey went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; 8 so, passing by Mysia,

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they went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them” (Acts 16:6-10).

As Paul and his companions traveled east he kept trying to travel in a northerly direction with the word of the good news about Jesus. When the Holy Spirit stopped him the fi rst time he just traveled east a bit more and tried going north again.

From Paul’s perspective, he must have felt like he kept bumping into Spirit-closed doors when trying to travel north but if you were to look at his actual line of travel you see it is a straight shot to Greece (Macedonia)!

He faced an adaptive challenge for which there was no obvious solution. He didn’t take a closed door to mean stop trying but to keep knocking! Adaptive challenges many not lend themselves to easy resolution. Th e will to endure, to stay the course, to be inventive on a sustained basis is essential.

Basic in addressing adaptive challenges is trust God and staying the course on the journey. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

2. Th e Role of Wisdom

“Wisdom is a tool for decision-making in light of uncertainty.” Stan Ott’s Purdue statistics professor, Charlie Hicks, defi ned statistics as “A tool for decision making in light of uncertainty. Th at is exactly what wisdom accomplishes as we face the adaptive challenge. We seek such wisdom from our Lord and from the wise people our Lord has given us to confer with.

James 1:5 “If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.

1 Kings 3:9 “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?”

Proverbs 2:3,6-7 “If you indeed cry out for insight, and raise your voice for understanding… For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come

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knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright”

Ecclesiastes 7:12 “For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to the one who possesses it.”

Th ere will likely come a point when you want more information and wisdom prior to a decision but none is forthcoming and a deadline approaches. At that point, trusting our Lord has been faithful to give you needed insight; it becomes a matter of the courage - the gumption (courage plus common sense) to make a decision. Call it.

Want to know how you are guided by the will of God in a decision? In such a case you will be able to say after the decision is made and not before. Th e truth is all decision making is done with insuffi cient information. No matter which way you go its back to trusting God and staying the course.

Worth knowing: there are a variety of books off ering guidelines on ways to make better decisions.

3. Mutual invitation for group discernment.2 • Invite each person to speak an agreed upon length of time such as

three minutes.• Each speaker chooses the next speaker. No repeats until all have

spoken.• General discussion.

4. Th e 3-D method of TAG Consulting • Dialogue – Each speaks in turn around circle – or use Mutual

Invitation• Discussion – Open discussion• Decision – By the group or the group leader

5. Discernment is a term in vogue for seeking to understand what the will of God is in a particular situation and to clarify what a person or a group is going to do – which may the lead to specifi c goals and plans.

Group discernment of the will of God. Ruth Haley Barton - Discerning God’s Will Together – uses the Ignatian process of group discernment based on practices of personal devotion (Examen: desolation and consolation) and indiff erence – each person announces their sincere indiff erence to all but the will of God.

2 Law, Eric H. F. Th e Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb a Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community. St. Louis, MO: Chalice, 1993. Print.

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6. Th e Cynefi n Framework

Adaptive Technical

Dave Snowden on the Cynefi n Framework: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7oz366X0-8

Th e Cynefi n Framework is useful in helping fi gure out what quadrant you are in and thus what kind of action is called for. Th is is another way of thinking in terms of “moments and movement” – in this moment what quadrant of the Cynefi n Framework am I or we in? What potential movement will I or we make as a result?

Consider moments in the life of Jesus in each of the four quadrants as viewed from the perspective of the disciples:• Simple: Jesus sat in a boat to teach crowds for crowd control.• Complicated: the situation leading up to the feeding of the 5000• Complex adaptive: the death of Lazarus• Chaotic: the Garden of Gethsemane

Th e role of character in navigating the four Cynefi n quadrants:

• How do you understand ways the Circle of the Leader infl uences the practice of the Circle of Vision

When navigating in a complex adaptive environment a person who is unable to see things from diff erent perspectives, who is not open to inquiry and experimentation may fi nd the going gets pretty tough.

7. Action learning

Action Learning is a problem-solving process used in organizations around the world to inspire fresh learning, decisive action, and team-

The Cynefi n Framework video and articles in the readings.

Discussion: What are the character qualities a leader needs to creatively lead others to navigate an adaptive environment?

Humility, Inquiry, Initiative, Gumption

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life development while contributing to the esprit de corps and vision of the entire organization.

While the process of action learning is used by all sorts of organizations around the world to address adaptive challenges, it certainly lends itself to use in the church, especially when undergirded with a spirit of humility and devotion to our Lord.

Action Learning is a process that “neutralizes advocacy and uplifts inquiry.” When addressing complex adaptive situations, what we already know is insuffi cient to solve or navigate the challenge. So when people advocate for solutions they already think will work, they are trying to solve an adaptive challenge with their technical expertise. What is needed is a spirit of inquiry and humility that asks questions and is willing to take the risk to try new things out – to probe for new answers., and overcoming obstacles.

Th ink about one of the major teaching methods of Jesus, the asking of questions. He used inquiry as a way of helping his disciples think in new says. Who do you say the Son of Man is? Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. For what will it profi t you if you gain the whole world but forfeit your own soul?

Action Learning has the capacity to generate truly fresh, original insight and the team spirit necessary to eff ect signifi cant movement. By means of its question-asking and refl ection process, Action Learning can open the discernment process to completely new ideas, insights, and directions.

See the Reading: Adaptive Challenges and Action Learning for an in-depth review of the process of action learning. Th ere are many excellent videos on the action learning process on Youtube.

An Action Learning exercise:

Get into groups of 5 to 6 with people from at least two other congregations if possible.

Th e Action Learning Coach will be the person whose birthday is nearest to today. Her/his role is to insure that people ask or reply to questions and to ask, “What has been learned?” every fi fteen minutes.

30 minutes plus 15 minutes to debrief.

Page number and show one Chuck Appleby video.

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Th e Project Question – choose from one of the following issues:

• What kind of a congregational Reach event will we employ to seize the avttention of the community?

• How will we involve half of our active members in small groups at least once a year?

• How will we connect with young adults (under 40)? Work to identify the issues and areas in which new knowledge would be helpful. If through the process of questioning and refl ection you discern a possible experimental action you would take, work out what would that action look like.

• Choose an adaptive challenge facing one of you (but choose quickly)

After 25 minutes, debrief. What about the process was rewarding, challenging? What did you learn?

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Planning Rhythms

Agree/Disagree In our manic day, planning is a spiritual discipline.

A vision, goal or objective without a plan is only a wish.

When life is coming at you, planning is easy to set aside in favor of other urgent and demanding items. It is why planning is a spiritual discipline for Christian leaders in our day, a deliberately scheduled practice for discerning and specifying goals, objectives along with their time lines.

For organizations that have a ponderous rate of change, an annual planning cycle is adequate for setting a future path although thinking out three to fi ve years can be useful as well. For organizations facing a much higher rate of change in the environment they serve, more appropriate planning cycles may be semi-annually, quarterly, monthly and even weekly if the rate of change requires “agile” leadership.

Do you have an annual or regular goal/objective setting routine?For your own life and work?For your organization or major area of responsibilities?

Are you practicing PPT – Protected Planning Time weekly – which is a way of sustaining the alignment of your goals and actual life.

What disrupts vision, goal-setting and planning rhythms?

An example of an annual planning cycle follows on the next page.

Ott observed about 2% do. Kouzes and Posner observed 3%.

Note from G1 The Pressure of Present DemandThe pressure of present demand relegates any non-pressing item to the bottom of the list. The routine of present demand convinces us that everything we are doing is necessary. The comfort of present demand lulls us into thinking that while we complain about the fact that we are surfi ng an uninterrupted fl ow of people and activities in our lives, we actually like it. We become accustomed to the demand and would not know what to do with our day without it.

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Annual Planning Process (August ___ to July __)

January Leader Planning

1. Review your defi ning vision and assess the needs of your organization and those they serve.

2. What are fi ve to ten major potential goals for the coming year? Some of us do this better alone and others need to do this in the community of a few trusted people of imagination and initiative helping us to dream but without imposing their agenda on us.

February/March Staff Member Planning

1. Review the defi ning vision and assess the needs of their areas of work and those they serve. Input off ered from supervisor level.

2. What are major potential goals for the coming year in the staff member’s area of responsibility?

March/April Team, Board, or Committee Level Planning

1. Assessment: Vision - What is our Defi ning Vision?

2. Assessment: Assess the needs of the people we are planning for.

3. Goals: Set goals - specifi c things we wish to see accomplished – and associated due dates or timelines. Input from supervisory leadership. Use dialogue processes such as Mutual Invitation.

4. Design: Design action steps to include organization - who will do what by when? Th is includes deadlines and check lists which put teeth into our plans and the personnel to be responsible. Use the Action Learning process to tackle adaptive challenges (whether possibilities or problems) for which current approaches are inadequate.

5. Evaluate: Plan to evaluate how it is going and modify plans as needed.

May Preliminary goals and plans received and commented on by governing level.

June Final Goals and Plans

At the Pleasant Hills Church Stan listed ten “dream big” goals every January to serve as input to the wider planning eff ort. A review of this ten years later revealed over 70% of them had been accomplished and was much of the reason for the growth in vitality there.

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Th e 10/90 Rule of Leadership

For setting goals and making plans – whether they address matters that are linear and straight-forward or adaptive in nature.

Whether the problem is simple or complicated– requiring a linear straight forward process to decide what to do – or the problem complex adaptive in nature requiring inquiry and experimentation (probe) to navigate, the 10-90 Rule of Leadership is a powerful way to reach your goals and keep your people with you.

Th e 10/90 Rule of Leadership says that planning is 10% technical (what are we going to do) and 90% tactical (how are we going to do it and keep our people with us)? Most organization reverse the two and spend 90% of their time fi guring out what to do and only 10% how to do it without losing people – and no wonder people get annoyed!

The 10/90 Rule of Leadership(Leading People without Losing Them)

I was a part of the staff of a congregation in which we kept launching new initiatives and new ideas and often discovered people were not nearly as excited as we were. We engaged a management consultant, Dick Feiertag, to help us up our leadership game and he said, “You need to learn the 10/90 Rule.” Sound planning and leadership is ten percent technical and ninety-percent tactical. The ten percent technical is the time and effort it takes to decide your vision, aim, and goals This is often the sole or primary focus of goal setting efforts and planning. The ninety percent tactical is the planning time and effort it takes to ensure we accomplish our goals and to keep our people with us. Commonly, far more effort is put into goal setting than developing a plan of action that keeps people with you. We want to lead people without losing them!

In other words, the 10/90 Rule involves both the “what” of our goals and the “how” of our goals. The idea is that however much effort it takes to decide what we intend to do, what we want to accomplish then we will go on to spend nine times that amount of effort fi guring out how we are going to do it. This is in order to sustain the unity of the organization and the good will of those who will be involved.

Begin Day 2 with WSP: Gumption II. TRIADS

Discuss the role of gumption in setting vision. How does a lack or failure of godly gumption compromise one’s vision for oneself, one’s loved ones and one’s ministry and work?

Illustrations of the move to the Great Room or the Fir Tree

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Leaders frequently reverse the 10/90 Rule. They spend ninety-percent of their time fi guring out what to do and only ten percent throwing together an action plan – so no wonder people feel left out, disconnected, and at times resentful. Vital leadership is always an act of the mind.

We know the consequences of reversing the 10/90 Rule. I know of a Session that reversed the 10/90 Rule by voting to cancel their 8:30 worship service because they wanted more people to fi ll the sanctuary at 11:00 with no thought about how to interpret it to the congregation. A fi restorm began to brew. The Session and a worship committee of another congregation wanted to move their 11:00 blended worship service out of the sanctuary and into their gymnasium-sized social hall. They spent much more time fi guring out how to do it without losing people than in deciding to do it. Out of three hundred people who attended, they ended up with only two objecting! Take the time needed to be thorough in your tactics and strategy so that those you lead embrace your goals rather than resist them.

When Robert Mager subtitled his book Analyzing Performance Problems with the charming phrase, “You Really Oughta Wanna!” his point was that people often don’t “wanna do” what we want them to do. We need the 90% to be effective leaders!

Imagine two university development offi cers who separately approach a wealthy patron seeking gifts for their respective academic institutions. The 10% is easy: secure a gift for the university. The fi rst development offi cer calls the potential patron with little research into the patron’s interests and proceeds to extol the virtues of his school at length and asks for a gift to underwrite the costs of running the university. The conversation is over in twenty minutes with a modest gift given.

The second person learns about the patron and then visits the patron’s home taking considerable time to inquire about the health and family of the patron. Eventually she steers the conversation to the needs of the university students and connects their needs with the interests and passion of the patron. Guess who secures the larger gift? Both development offi cers have the same vision in mind which came from the 10% of the 10/90 Rule. The difference was in

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the use of the 90%.

The 10% without the 90% will get you a lot less than 100%. The 90% sustains relationships, affi rms the esprit-de-corps of those who are led and gets a lot closer to 100% cooperation in the accomplishment of the 10%.

Th e Work Review

One of the ways to help people – both staff and volunteers – to clarify their goals, adhere to them as the adjust and accomplish their plans is the ministry review. Th is is a one hour face-to-face conversation typically held monthly although it may also be accomplished through weekly “stand up” meetings.

Th e aim of a work review is to:1. Look backward in appreciation for what has been accomplished and to

address ways to improve performance. 2. Look forward to the work to be done and its alignment with vision

and goals.

With a capable, high-initiative, competent individual, minimum review is called for. Once they have the vision, those people do need to know they are valued yet don’t need a great deal of advice or supervision. With a less competent, equipped, experienced, or less self-directed person, a higher level of supervision and review is necessary to insure the work is satisfactorily accomplished.

At stake is the matter of accountability. Th e highly motivated person is intrinsically motivated and holds himself or herself accountable to himself or herself to accomplish the work. You may encourage people who are already motivated or off er some sort of motivation with additional compensation, but the fact is they will drive themselves harder than you can.

Th e lesser motivated, less capable individual or more extrinsically motivated may need some incentive outside of themselves to perform at an acceptable level whether words of praise, exhortation or compensation. Although various forms of affi rmation, compensation or penalties may be used for such incentives, the ministry review itself is also a useful means of incentive.

Th e function of the ministry review is to help people succeed. Perhaps you will also conduct some form of performance review for compensatory

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purposes. However, when it comes to a ministry review, the only issues are “are you accomplishing the work you were given to do?”, “what are your problems and needs?”, “what additional resources do you need?” and “how may I help you” ending with a “thank you, keep up the good work.”

Some review work is informal and brief. Whether you see a person to whom you have delegated work at, say, the water fountain, the informal review simply asks how it is going in relation to some task and off ers a word of counsel and encouragement. If there is a problem with the performance of the follower, do not save up your concerns and gripes for an offi cial performance review session. Follow up immediately and address your concern face-to-face or by phone if at all possible. If you continue to be concerned, then follow up with a written memo (not an email) and schedule a more formal review of the work.

A useful technique in leading those to whom you have delegated work is to schedule a regular (monthly or quarterly) ministry and planning review. Th is is not for performance review or evaluation but for the purpose of motivation, help, and leadership. It is helpful to meet personally with those people to whom you have directly delegated work. Th e frequency of such meetings depends on the initiative, wisdom and experience of the person you are reviewing and the magnitude of the task.

One Hour Work Review Steps

Build them up. Ask how they are doing. Communicate respect and interest.

Review their work. Focus on people (who is with you) and accomplishment (what has happened, what you have done).

Look ahead (what needs to happen, what you will do, with whom, and what support you need from me or from others to accomplish your work).

A few tips on the work review include the following:

1. Conduct a monthly ministry review (weekly if more supervision is needed, quarterly if less is appropriate).

2. Meet for one hour maximum (too much time over-loads).

3. Emphasize the positive – where do you go from here. If you realize something is amiss with a program or the actions of a person, do not save it up waiting for a work or performance review to confront the person – have such corrective conversation immediately. Th e person may need re-direction.

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It may also turn out you don’t understand the situation fully. Direct discussion cuts out the slow burn.

4. Ask for a one-page written report – short sentences with bullet points works well. In some environments, a written report will be inappropriate or unnecessarily burdensome. In such cases, ask for a verbal report.

Th e advantage of the written report is that it guarantees some thought and refl ection has gone into the discernment of “what happened since my last report” and “what will my next steps be?” Reports highlight: key events of the last month, key goals for the next month or period, who are the people with or under the person being reviewed (this is basic to helping them learn to transfer leadership to others) and what obstacles are in the way.

5. Start with the personal – genuine interest in “how you are.” Demonstrate that you truly value this person. Be alert to the follower circle.

6. Look back – look ahead. Look back to review the work. What was accomplished, what are the problems? Look ahead. What will be done next? How may I support you?

7. Talk less than half of the time.

8. Close in prayer together.

If you are the person in charge, conduct ministry reviews on yourself as a means of keeping yourself accountable to excellence in the work set before you.

RAP

Th e RAP model developed by ExecutiveForums.com off ers a useful pattern for the work review.

R - Review the last week/month. What was accomplished? What were the challenges?

A - Analyze. What do we learn that will guide us moving forward?

P - Plan. What are the goals for the next period of time?

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Sendings (Next Steps)

Moments and Movements in the Circle of Vision

1. Soul-Care: sustain your Rule of Life. Discipleship is unto Leadership. Th ere is not shortcut to growth as a disciple nor as a leader however there is a clear relationship between the two. Jesus, the ultimate leader, said, “a disciple is not about the teacher but when fully developed is like the teacher (Luke 6:40). Growing in your knowing of Jesus, growth in in his likeness and image is by grace to become more like Jesus and thus to grow as a leader.

2. Keep your Examen Journal at least one week before your triad meets.

Leadership Moments

Work at developing the “Art of Noticing” – noticing the presence of our Lord in the moments of your life and noticing the leadership moments. So include both your Spiritual Life Examen – noticing God’s presence in moments of encouragement and discouragement – and your Leadership Examen – noticing your leadership moments and ways your behavior were encouraging and discouraging to you.

During your Leadership Examen as you review the leadership moments of the day notice - pay special attention - to your vision – what goals you wanted to see accomplished.

During your Leadership Examen, notice - pay attention - to you and to the expressions of your own character the moments of your day have revealed.

For example, observe your behavior in the Circle of Vision: • Did you pray for wisdom ( James 1:5)?• Did you recognize if a situation is technical or adaptive?• Did you posit a situation as simple, complicated, complex adaptive

or chaotic (Cynefi n)?• In an adaptive situation, did you facilitate inquiry and

experimentation. • Were you open to trying something new or unfamiliar?• Were you open to modifi cations of your vision through interactions

with others?• What processes of mutual discernment did you use?• Did you short circuit a large or risky vision because of a lack of

gumption on your part or on the part of others?

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• Did the vision you pursued in any given situation safeguard the Circle of the Follower and ensure the people involved were valued?

• Were you clear about your vision in each ministry moment?• If you were not clear in what way, how could you clarify it?• Did you a group to clarify its vision and gain consensus around it?• Were you aware if the leadership moment addressed a simple,

complicated, complex adaptive or chaotic situation?• Did you consider vision in both the short and long term?• Did you ask God for wisdom?• Did you practice PPT – Protected Planning Time?

Leadership Movements

1. Move from Greek to Hebrew. Look for ways and have the gumption to move up your leadership practices as you become self aware of the leadership moments as you are in them.

2. Develop a set of your own goals and objectives – for your work or some other venue of life to share with your triad/quad and with a Barnabas Coach in the next six weeks. Send a copy to your Barnabas coach and your triad. Determine what regular goal setting rhythm you will establish for each of the groups you lead.

3. Continue the faithful practice of your weekly PPT. When will you do it weekly? Add to it the once a quarter PPT taking a half day or whole day to plan.

4. Meet with your Barnabas cluster monthly praying for them daily. Set your next meeting dates before leaving today.

PPT – Protected Planning Time

30 minutes of Protected Planning Time to consider specifi c next steps in your life using the concepts from this material.

Send a reminder in a month. Follow up in three months. This is moving from Greek to Hebrew in planning. Do the goals have due dates attached - without which they are actually wishes not goals or objectives.

PPT - Up to an hour for the participants to practice PPT and to consider their next steps in leadership focusing on the Circles of the Leader, the Follower and Vision

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My next steps:

CLOSING WORSHIP

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The Circle of Vision

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Vision: Setting Goals and Making PlansMove from roles to the combination of roles and goals.

Actually to align our personal lifestyle spiritual practices and our church programs with our vision necessitates specifi c ministry initiatives. Th is requires us to set some specifi c goals and follow through with plans and activities to accomplish them. Th ree major forces in the traditional practice of ministry today work against eff ective goals, plans and follow through. Th e Pressure of Present Demand. Th e role orientation of traditional ministry. Th e lack of a goal and timeline setting protocol.

In our manic over busy society, the pressure of present demand aff ects all of us. We tend to zip from commitment to commitment with hardly any breathing time and when we get a break instead of setting goals and making plans we tend to just vegetate trying to catch our breathe.

In his book, “Th e Identity Society,” William Glasser wrote of the role oriented and the goal-oriented approaches to life and work. For those involved in traditional church ministry whether pastors or church members there is a great tendency to identify with the role orientation. “I am a pastor, I am an elder, I am a teacher, I am an usher” and one’s sense of place and identity revolve around one’s roles, duties, and responsibilities. When we are neutralized by the Pressure of Present Demand we tend to fi nd ourselves consumed by the traditional practices of the roles we have assumed.

Th ere is a positive or upside to this as people fi nd comfort in their roles and can be very fruitful in them. Th ere is also a downside in that the roles can become so ingrained that even when their fruitfulness in making disciples and meeting human need is diminishing we may resist eff orts to change the behaviors the role expects.

To move into transformational ministry we see it is no longer adequate to mindlessly repeat last year’s programs over again or last year’s personal ministry activities again. We have to think through, “What are the dimensions of my present role or our present programs that are bearing fruit and that I intend to continue with as much excellence as our Lord enables me to do? What do I need to change, need to do?”

We also need to think through specifi c ways to align our practices and programs with the accomplishment of our Defi ning Vision. Ways to see a growing number of actual disciples developing and to see specifi c human needs being eff ectively addressed.

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Th e Value of Goals

Suppose you decided to row across a lake to visit a home on the other side. And suppose further that you step into your boat and just begin to row and row and row but never turn around to see where you are going. If someone was watching you from the sky, what would direction would they see you go?

Since the muscles in your arms are not exactly of the same strength, if you row without turning around to check the direction you are going in, any observer will see you rowing in a circle! A powerful function of goals is to set and to re-set the direction in which we are going.

You might wonder what the diff erence between “vision” and “goals.” It’s just a matter of scale. If vision is our overarching aim, then goals are specifi c steps in the direction of the fulfi llment of our vision. If vision is getting to the house on the other side of the lake, then a goal is rowing the next ten yards toward the house. You can even break goals down into objectives, which is useful for complicated or large goals. So our fi rst objective is to row fi ve yards, our second is to row the second fi ve yards fulfi lling our ten-yard goal on the way to accomplishing our vision of getting to the house across the lake.

A good goal has two major qualities. It is specifi c and it has a timeline – the what and when – a W&W goal. If our goal is, “teach the children” it would be too general. You would have no clear way of knowing if the children had been taught or taught adequately and there is no time frame. If the goal is “teach the children the Apostle’s Creed during the month of May,” now you have a specifi c aim and a clear timeline. If you add the “Who,” you specify who is responsible to accomplish the goal.

When a pastor leads a congregation she or he moves out of strictly role orientation dominated by the Pressure of Present Demand when she or he has a set of goals that are both specifi c and with timelines. Some of these goals may be private to the pastor, others may be known by the Vision Team and by the Session.

Leadership teams move in the direction of transformational ministry when they set goals for their ministries – specifi c things to do and a timeline specifying when they are to be done. Th e team increases its eff ectiveness when it is clear who is responsible to fulfi ll each goal.

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Perspectives on Goal SettingAre goals the key to ministry? No, but they are very helpful in focusing our thoughts in a day when the Pressure of Present Demand and our present roles easily neutralize real initiative. We always remember that transformational ministry is Spirit-driven. “Did we in our own strength confi de, our striving would be losing,” wrote Martin Luther. We set goals and work toward them. We remain fl exible knowing that the situation we are in may change and so we must adjust and change our goals.

Former Chaplain of the U.S. Senate Richard C. Halverson wrote: “� e trouble with goals is that they so easily, so imperceptibly, so subtly, so irresistibly ... become gods! � en they become possessive, demanding, and dictatorial. Instead of motivating, they compel. Require allegiance. Brook no interference. Override all other interests and values. When the goal becomes god, process becomes less and less important. Any means is justi� ed in pursuit of the end. � e goal is achieved at too great a price. Loved ones sacri� ced. Families abandoned. Principles and morals forsaken.”1

Goal setting is a very eff ective means of planning. Goals translate general vision into specifi c aims. Halverson’s warning does not call for the end of goal setting but to remind us that in vision we never forget that the people who are with us and the people we serve are more signifi cant than the goals we set. If our goals become more important to us than the well-being of the people we lead then we are allowing the Circle of Vision to crush the Circle of the Follower. Shepherds are called to care for the sheep!

Plans become the hinge between vision and reality as they turn “vision” into the “action steps” by which the vision is actually accomplished. Use a planning process that will help you defi ne your destination, map out how you intend to get there, and attach a time line. Such a process may be very simple or quite complex.

Goals help us move intentionally into a new future. We make goals with faith and the commitment to accomplish them. We have a “holy fl exibility” that permits us to adjust our goals as new opportunities and obstacles arise. (Although if such fl exibility means we never get around to the goals because “something always comes up” then perhaps the goals are unrealistic or we are in avoidance).

Goal setting is a useful process for the pastor, for the congregational vision team, for the Session and the various ministries of the congregation.

1 Halverson, Richard C. No Greater Power. Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1986, p.147.

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Th e Pastor

Two useful goal-setting rhythms for pastors (and the leaders of any organization) are monthly and yearly. Yearly the pastor in prayerful refl ection and in consultation with others thinks about major goals for the coming year. Th ey can simply be expressed in the format of “the top ten things I would like to see happen in the coming year.” Th ese goals may or may not be known to a wider audience but they help the pastor set direction in ministry. If the Session and congregation are involved in an annual goal-setting process, the pastor will use some of these major goals in helping lead the course of the congregation’s work in the coming year.

Monthly the pastor considers what needs to be and what could be accomplished in the coming weeks. W&W goal thinking helps the pastor be specifi c, aim high, be realistic and establish a time line for what is to happen by when. Such monthly goals may be as simple as “Call Betty Major next week and ask her lead next summer’s Haiti Mission Team.” If the pastor is in a pastor cluster, these goals may be shared for two reasons: fi rst to respond to questions from the cluster seeking to help the pastor think “outside the box” concerning the goal or issues related to his or her ministry. Second as a means of establishing a voluntary accountability actually to accomplish the goals expressed.

Th e Session and Congregational Ministries

One of the most helpful means of helping a congregation move forward in the transformational and missional ministry is an annual planning process. In such a process the pastor, staff and Session work to express a set of annual W&W (or S.M.A.R.T.) goals for the congregation. With the goals set by the Session as a frame of reference, every program, ministry and activity in the congregation is encouraged to develop a set of SMART goals for its ministry for the coming year.

It is helpful to express these goals as “sustaining goals” and “advancing goals.” Sustaining goals aim to sustain with growing excellence what we are already doing that is of value. Advancing goals aim to advance the depth or scope or impact of what we are doing. For example, a sustaining goal could say, “To introduce the practices of Word-Share-Prayer to our two PW Circles this fall.” An advancing goal might be, “To develop a ministry to mothers of young children by September 1.” Th e Power of PPT

In our day of manic busyness the discipline of planning has become a spiritual discipline. Without goal setting and planning we fi nd our default

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activity is simply to repeat what we did last year over again and to do those things consistent with our traditional “role” in life. Th ere are pressures that lean against goal setting such as “the pressure of present demand” (I’m too busy) and our anxieties.

A very useful spiritual discipline is “PPT” – Protected Planning Time.It is Protected in our weekly and monthly schedule as we put into our calendars an hour a week and anywhere from two to four hours a month to think about goals and plans. It is PPT in that the focus of this discipline is to plan - to set goals (for one’s ministry and one’s own life) and to commit to the steps necessary to fulfi ll them. It is not a time for email and the Internet. It is time to prayerfully plan and take the adventure the Lord has for you.

A Planning Process

Planning is the hinge between vision and action. Why talk about planning? It sounds so ordinary and not particularly exciting. Planning is the formal practice of ministry design, it is essential to a signifi cant work.

Just as the word “muse” means “think” so the word a-muse, from which we have the word amusement, means “not-think!” Ours is an amusement age. We fi ll our lives with busyness we believe to be important and if we have a little time we tend not to think but to be amused with television or in other activities. Indeed, even with all of our labor-saving devices, we seem busier than ever, further reducing what time to think we do have. Yet, vital and eff ective leadership demands that you think and think clearly about vision, where you are going, where your people are now, and the process of calling people to join you in carrying out vision.

When several audiences of mainline church members were asked to raise their hand if their congregation has an annual planning process in which every ministry is asked to set goals and plans for the coming year in light of the congregation’s vision, less than fi ve percent (and typically less than two percent) raised their hands. Planning as a routine part of church life has pretty much gone out the window. We plan for the next coming worship service or major event to be sure, but that is mostly reactive last minute work and rarely addresses how to accomplish the congregation’s Defi ning Vision and Defi ning Practices.

Our culture is living in manic mode - full tilt all the time - and we in the church are also members of our manic age. It means we go-go-go, thinking and planning on the fl y for whatever is pressing us. From the fall season kick-off to Advent to Lent to spring and into the summer, the basic church calendar drives us (which is normal) as well as all of the other

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stuff we have committed ourselves to. Th is leads to the Law of Present Demand – what we are already doing consumes all of our time, energy and emotion. Th ere is nothing inherently wrong with these activities but our zeal for busy-ness has squeezed out what used to be the ordinary practice of thinking and planning.

Furthermore, the necessity for refl ection and sound thinking increases with the complexity of the vision to be accomplished. Yet, thinking ahead is easily sidestepped in our activity-driven culture. America’s fi rst novelist, Washington Irving once said, “Great people think, others have wishes.” We understand that a vision without a plan is only a wish. Planning converts vision into action, turns Visions into reality. Planning is a spiritual discipline because on a consistent and ongoing basis we are deliberately and prayerfully asking God’s guidance concerning the work of our team.

Planning puts wheels on our vision, attaches action steps, timelines and deadlines, becomes the hinge between our Visions and our reality. Vision defi nes where we are going, the ends or results of our endeavor. Planning gives us a systematic ordered way of moving toward the accomplishment of our vision.

Two planning extremes are simply under-planning and over-planning. When the ministry team under-plans, it acts and reacts without much forethought. Th is is increasingly typical in our over busy age. On the other hand, some of us devote too much time to planning. We try to discern all of the issues in exhaustive detail, set complex goals, and devise intricate solutions fi lling a lot of paper but all too frequently take no action. If you over-plan, you spend too much time hammering out every detail forgetting that some “as we go” adjustments have to be made in every endeavor in life. We seek to plan adequately, to be ready to face some uncertainty. Plan and be prepared, yet, stay fl exible as the situation changes.

Perhaps in a highly pressured environment, your team may not be able to take much time out solely for planning. In such a case, fi nd a way to practice “planning on the run” building the planning right into your regular meetings. Whatever you do, do not give up planning. Th e old adage, if you fail to plan you plan to fail is still quite true for any vision of complexity, signifi cance and diffi culty. Frankly, planning is work and feels like it is being inserted, even jammed, into an already full life. Th e only reason to do it is that the fruit of the endeavor can be signifi cant.

Th e team leader may lead the planning process the team engages in, but this is not a requirement of the leader, especially if there are others on the team with a facility for leading group thought processes. What is essential is that the leader and leadership core ensure that planning is as much of

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the overall life of the team as its small group life and the activities of its ministry.

One useful spiritual discipline is PPT - Protected Planning Time. Th is is time you block out in your calendar - jotted right onto your paper or computer scheduling. It might be two hours a week or a half a day a month but whenever it is, you protect it from all but truly crucial interruptions. Do your planning alone and/or with others depending on what works best for you. See the booklet � e Tyranny of the Urgent by Charles E. Hummel.

Begin the Planning by Setting W&W Goals or S.M.A.R.T. Goals

For most of us in the world of congregational ministry, W&W goals are suffi cient for our needs. However, for a fuller more robust approach to goal setting, a useful approach is the use of the SMART goal process. It is a well-known process developed by Kenneth Blanchard and others with a great many websites referring to it.2

ü S – Specifi c: State what you aim to do with enough specifi city that you can tell if you have accomplished it. “Expand our ministry to women” is too general. “Begin a ministry to mothers of young children in September” or “Begin three Bible studies for women in January” is specifi c.

ü M – Measurable: Th e measurable nature of a good goal gives you another way to be specifi c about your aims. It gives you a way to evaluate whether or not the goal is being achieved. “Conduct three men’s outreach events this year” is measurable. It helps us know what to look for in evaluating what we do.

ü A – Aim high trusting God: It is easy to set goals that are too easy. Set goals that stretch you and that expand the present scope of accomplishment. On the other hand, if we “aim high and trust God” to work in and through us, then we set goals that stretch us and require us to rely on our Lord for their fruition. Such a goal stretches us to think “outside the box” and to consider ways of achieving the goal that we have not thought of or considered previously.

ü R – Realistic: While we aim high, if the goal is very unlikely with our level of energy and resource it is actually a “fake” goal. Begin a new worship service Sunday night” may be possible but overly taxing on

2 Typically the letter “A” in the SMART goal setting process stands for “attainable” http://ezinearticles.com/?Smart-Goals&id=275313 http://www.topachievement.com/smart.html http://www.eduhound.com/site_sets/SMART_Goals.cfm http://www.colleenspeaks.com/audio.htm

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the current leadership structure and so unrealistic unless we do some creative thinking. Realistic does not mean without risk. Much can happen if you are willing to set realistic goals that stretch you with the freedom to fail until you accomplish the goal.

ü T – Timeline: A good goal needs a time frame. “A goal without a date is fake.” A timeline with deadlines puts teeth into your goals. “Begin a ministry to immigrants in our community” may be a lofty goal but unless it says, “by September 30” with intermediate deadlines along the way it is quite possible if not probable that September 30 will come and go with no new ministry to immigrants.

Th e Annual Planning Cycle

An annual planning process helps keep ministry fresh by sustaining what is eff ective and advancing new areas of endeavor. Systematic planning gives overall guidance to a ministry. At the same time, the fl exibility to take advantage of new ministry opportunities or deal with problems that surface will open unanticipated fi elds of ministry.

Determine a segment of the year to be used as the time for yearly planning. February - May works well since the planning can focus on the following September to September year.

In an annual planning process ask each area of ministry to address the following:

1. Vision: Review the Defi ning Vision of the congregation and the particular ministry.

2. Assessment: Perform a needs assessment on the people to whom they are in ministry and to review current programs. Vision about new areas of need-responsive discipleship-directed ministry. Who do you want to reach that you are not reaching now?

3. Goals: Formulate specifi c things to accomplish using W & W goals – What do you want to accomplish (specifi cally) and by when?

4. Design: Design action steps to include timelines, deadlines, personnel and projected costs. Use the Action Learning process to tackle adaptive challenges (whether possibilities or problems) for which current approaches are inadequate.

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5. Evaluate: Periodically evaluate how well the plans are being accomplished and make adjustments as needed.

Th e following is a sample schedule for an annual planning cycle.

Annual Planning Process (August ____ to July ___ )

January Pastor Planning

1. Defi ning Vision and assessment of congregational and community needs.

2. What are major potential goals for the coming year? Your list may have as many as ten goals.

February/March Staff Member Planning

1. Defi ning Vision and assessment of needs and concerns of congregation and program areas. Input from the pastor.

2. What are major potential goals for the coming year in the staff member’s area of ministry? Th e majority of the goals will be “sustaining goals” – sustaining with greater excellence what is fulfi lling our congregation’s vision now.” - Perhaps 10 to 20 percent will be advancing goals launching new ministries or making other signifi cant changes.

In order to avoid burnout, the only way to sustain each year the fruitful goals of the last year and to add advancing goals is to pull more people into the activities involved. Delegation is in order to Advance.

March/April Ministry Team, Board, or Committee Level Planning

1. Vision: What is our Defi ning Vision?

2. Assessment: Assess the needs of the people we are planning for.

3. Goals: Set goals - specifi c things we wish to see accomplished. Input from staff leadership. Keep the number of goals, both sustaining and advancing, to a believable number. Perhaps four sustaining goals and one advancing goal.

4. Review: Review the Defi ning Practices such as “Reach-Grow-Send.”

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5. Design: Design Action Steps to include organization - who will do what by when. Th is includes deadlines and checklists which put teeth into our plans and the personnel to be responsible.

6. Use the Action Learning process to tackle adaptive challenges (whether possibilities or problems) for which current approaches are inadequate.

7. Evaluate: Plan to evaluate how it is going and modify our plans as needed.

May Preliminary Goals and Plans received by Session Th e word “received” is the technical use of the word meaning the Session acknowledges it has been formally made aware of the goals. Th is is diff erent than a vote to approve the goals (which in some situations may be wise to do). While the Session may choose to “approve” the goals, it does not have to formally do so if it has already given permission to its ministries to plan and initiate ministry as long as their work is consistent with the Defi ning Vision of the congregation and keeps the Session informed.

June Final Goals and Plans received by Session

53Developing a Strategic Plan for Your Church: What to Do and What Not to DoStephen A. Macchia

Published in BuildingChurchLeaders.com (Christianity Today, Inc.), July 2004

What To Do

Some church leaders find planning a formidable exercise. In reality, the planning process is simple - conceptually. It can be described as answering seven key questions:

1. Spiritual Needs Assessment: What are the greatest spiritual needs of our church and community?2. Strengths and Weaknesses: What are the greatest strengths and weaknesses of our church?3. Opportunities and Threats or Barriers: What are the most significant ministry opportunities for and poten-

tial threats (or barriers) to our church, given the answers to the first two questions?4. Ministry Options: What appear to be the most viable options for strengthening the ministry of our church?5. Ministry Platform: What is the primary ministry platform on which our specific ministries should be built?

Included in the ministry platform are our statement of faith, vision statement, mission statement, philosophy of ministry, and listing of ministries.

6. Ministry Goals: What goals are the Holy Spirit leading us to strive for to enhance our church’s ministry over the next year? The next two to three years?

Action Steps: What action steps must we accomplish to achieve these goals?Getting your team to agree on the answers to these questions (under the guidance of the Holy Spirit) may or may not be simple, depending on the circumstances and the relationships of leaders in your church.

What Not To Do

In New England, where I live, potholes are in abundance on most side roads. Some can be avoided, while others come upon you so quickly they are difficult to miss. On the avenue called planning, it’s important to know the potholes to avoid:

1. Making Planning Too Complex: There are usually two or three key issues that will be discovered, and, if acted on, will lead to enhanced health and vitality. One church in Boston narrowed their planning to: (1) revising the organization chart, (2) enhancing community life, and (3) streamlining priorities. When these three issues were named, each ministry team could set goals for day-to-day ministry, based on them.

2. Not Reaching Conclusions and Making an Action Plan: Tie up loose ends along the way, and outline ap-propriate action steps.

3. Not Keeping the Action Plan Simple: One church I worked with had such a long document, with dozens of goals and action steps, that it felt overwhelming and didn’t win approval. The objective is to create a plan that every member can articulate without having to refer to any documentation.

4. Not Revisiting the Plan: Your plan should be adjustable along the way, revised and renewed according to the needs and resources available to you. Keep your planning documents alive. Don’t shelve them, file them, or formalize them in pretty documents. At Leadership Transformations (www.LeadershipTransformations.org), we hold our plans loosely, in a “white paper” format, with lots of room for give and take each step of the way.

5. Taking Too Long: Don’t let your planning team tire and begin to complain about the value of doing this. Keep the group moving forward toward conclusion and celebration.

6. Trusting Your Instincts apart from Prayer: As a team, lean fully in God’s direction to hear his voice, feel his heart, understand his will, and trust his empowering presence to lead you. Strategic planning in a local church is a process that God through his Holy Spirit must direct. Become a people of prayer as you trust him for his design for your church!

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Adaptive Change

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Th e Cynefi n FrameworkTh ere is another framework for thinking through complex adaptive challenges that goes by an old Welsh word, cynevin (sun-nev-in). It talks about four kinds of challenges. Simple challenges are challenges where you know cause and eff ect. I learned this week that a dear forty-something friend of mine has learned his brain tumor has come back with a vengeance. While his disease and its implications for his young family are very complex, what I must do is very simple. Be there. Show up. Love him and love them. Some ministry challenges are simple.

Th en there are complicated challenges. Complicated challenges are still cause and eff ect but there may be many ways to solve them. Th ere isn’t a best practice or a best solution. Th ere are many good solutions and sometimes we need an expert to help us choose one. When I arrived in Pittsburgh in 1988 to pastor a congregation there smoking was still common in public buildings everywhere. In the fellowship hall between worship services you could hardly see across the room for all the smoke. We discovered there were allergic people among us who couldn’t participate if smoke was present. Since there were no non-smoking laws at the time and since the church members had smoked there for ages we had a complicated problem – how to eliminate smoking there with our ticking a lot of people off . I fi nally called a wise pastor in Pittsburgh nearing retirement and said, “Help!” He helped us discern a good way to move forward.

Simple and complicated problems are actually reasonably straight-forward. But then there are the complex and chaotic situations, both of which are what Heifi tz calls adaptive. Chaos is when your high school youth group leader is discovered to have been abusing young girls. Chaos is the phone call I received from a pastor who said, “Half my people are leaving the church because of denominational decisions and half are staying. I am pastor to all of them and love them all. What do I do?” No simple answer can touch those chaotic situations.

It’s the quadrant called “complex” or complex-adaptive I fi nd most interesting. Th ese are challenges for which we don’t know what to do but our future vitality depends on some resolution. We don’t solve complex challenges, we navigate them. Th is week I heard someone refer to that adage that insanity is doing the same thing over and hoping for a diff erent result. If it’s a complex challenge, then if you do the same thing over you will get two diff erent results. It’s not cause and eff ect. It’s a new day. As Doug Pagitt told a Foundation breakfast, it’s the inventive age – we have to be willing to invent – to probe – to be willing to fail. Take the concept

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of missional. Do our men’s groups, women’s PW groups, our Sunday School classes, our youth groups know how to missionally engage men, women, children and youth who are outside the church and win them to faith and into community with us? Obviously not.

Th e only way to navigate complex adaptive problems is to be light on your feet – that’s mobility – a lightness on one’s feet – to try things – to experiment – knowing that you may try fi ve diff erent solutions, fi ve diff erent experiments in a row before success. Our entire system of preparation for ministry assumes we are technical, that pastoral leadership solves simple and complicated problems, that all we need is an expert in the person of the pastor, an expert in Bible, theology, pastoral care, and running the programs that have been in place and we will be fi ne. Frankly this is a time to be very energized by these unknowns or scared into inaction. Scared people default to simple solutions and today that leads to chaos. Mobile people are open to the adventure our Lord has for them.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cynefi n /�k�n�v�n/ is a Welsh word, which is commonly translated into English as ‘habitat’ or ‘place’, although this fails to convey its full meaning. Th e term was chosen by the Welsh scholar Dave Snowden to describe a perspective on the evolutionary nature

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of complex systems, including their inherent uncertainty (“Th e Cynefi n framework”). Th e name serves as a reminder that all human interactions are strongly infl uenced and frequently determined by our experiences, both through the direct infl uence of personal experience, as well as through collective experience, such as stories or music.Th e framework provides a typology of contexts that guides what sort of explanations or solutions might apply. It draws on research into complex adaptive systems theory, cognitive science, anthropology, and narrative patterns, as well as evolutionary psychology, to describe problems, situations, and systems. It “explores the relationship between man, experience, and context”[1] and proposes new approaches to communication, decision-making, policy-making, and knowledge management in complex social environments.

• 1 Meaning of the word• 2 History• 3 Description of the framework• 4 Applications• 5 See also• 6 References• 7 Bibliography

HistoryTh e Cynefi n framework was originally developed in 1999 in the context of knowledge management and organisational strategy by Dave Snowden.[6] It was originally a modifi cation of Max Boisot’s I-Space[7] combined with the study of actual, as opposed to stated, management practice in IBM. By 2002, it had developed to include complex adaptive systems theory and had started to become a general strategy model.[8] It was then further developed and elaborated with Cynthia Kurtz as a part of their work with the IBM Institute of Knowledge Management (IKM).[9] Kurtz had worked with Snowden as a part of an IBM special interest group on narrative from 1999 before joining the IKM in 2001.[10] Kurtz and others continued this work at Cognitive Edge, which had been formed by Snowden when he left IBM in 2005.[11] Th is period included work to extend the model to Leadership with Mary E Boone, which culminated in the HBR article referenced below.

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Description of the frameworkTh e Cynefi n framework has fi ve domains.[12] Th e fi rst four domains are:• Simple, in which the relationship between cause and eff ect is

obvious to all, the approach is to Sense - Categorize - Respond and we can apply best practice.

• Complicated, in which the relationship between cause and eff ect requires analysis or some other form of investigation and/or the application of expert knowledge, the approach is to Sense - Analyze - Respond and we can apply good practice.

• Complex, in which the relationship between cause and eff ect can only be perceived in retrospect, but not in advance, the approach is to Probe - Sense - Respond and we can sense emergent practice.

• Chaotic, in which there is no relationship between cause and eff ect at systems level, the approach is to Act - Sense - Respond and we can discover novel practice.

Th e fi fth domain is Disorder, which is the state of not knowing what type of causality exists, in which state people will revert to their own comfort zone in making a decision. In full use, the Cynefi n framework has sub-domains, and the boundary between simple and chaotic is seen as a catastrophic one: complacency leads to failure.

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Goal: a congregation that knows how to continually innovate transformational ministry and mission

Ministry in a Time of Turbulent ChangeOur culture is in a time of rapid, turbulent change. Such turbulence makes it diffi cult for us to know what the ministry environment will be like in fi ve years, much less in ten. It also means that the ministry solutions and programs that served the church well during the last half of the twentieth century are often considerably out of sync with the needs and behavior patterns of our culture today.

In order to reach people, really Reach them, and in order to Grow with them as true disciples we must learn some new ways of doing ministry.

Given the tremendous changes going on in our culture and the new quest for spiritual authenticity that we see everywhere, “standard” congregational programs are not necessarily the keys to growing discipleship and involvement that they once were.

Such typical ministries as a Men’s Breakfast, Women’s Circles, and Sunday school may in fact be eff ectively growing participants as disciples and reaching new people for your congregation. However, when such ministries are using essentially the same program and organization today that was used forty years ago, it also should not be surprising to you if they are no longer the people-magnets they once were.

Th e defi ning patterns of vital ministry such as mission (witness), worship (prayer), fellowship (care), discipleship (Word), leadership (with-me), ministry (send), and generosity (give) haven’t changed since the earthly ministry of Jesus. Yet, how we practice those patterns must change with the changes in our culture or we will fi nd ourselves increasingly out of sync with the people we want to reach, grow, and send. We have to become a learning people in the way we do ministry. Repeating the old and familiar simply won’t do the job.

Adaptive Challenges and Action LearningMoving from Opinion-based Planning to Inquiry, Imagination, and Experimentation

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Technical and Adaptive Challenges

Technical challenges are challenges for which you have adequate knowledge and an acceptable solution. Replacing a burned-out light bulb; weeding a garden; planning a potluck meal, a funeral, or a committee meeting are technical challenges. Much of what we do in ministry presents us with technical challenges. Although some eff ort is required, we do have a clue as to what to do. We know how to organize Sunday schools, and potluck suppers, and women’s circles, and men’s breakfasts. It’s just a matter of doing what you know.

You know how to solve such challenges. Simple straightforward planning and action are all you need to do.1 If all our challenges were technical we would be in good shape, because we do have some idea of what to do.

Adaptive challenges are challenges for which you do not have an adequate or eff ective solution.

• How to actually grow true disciples.• How to break our worship service out of its attendance plateau.• How to attract, keep, and challenge the under forty-year old.• How to make an eff ective missional impact on our immediate

community.

Adaptive challenges are issues for which no satisfactory response is known and technical know-how is inadequate. Adaptive challenges are matters we have not confronted before; and while we may think we know what we are doing, the game has actually changed. We think we know how to do women’s ministries or youth ministry or grow disciples of men, but actually we “knew” what to do.

Th e best initial response to an adaptive challenge is, “I don’t know.”

Th at is why we say in a time of rapid change, our present knowledge tends to misdirect us. We need a way to get at new solutions and fresh ideas. We need a way to move from advocacy - defending what we think and “my way is the best way,” - to inquiry and curiosity in which we begin to ask new questions and seek new insights.

What we need is a way to approach adaptive challenges. Ministry Consultant Alan Roxburgh says we need to be able to continually innovate ministry. Such ability allows us to take the unchanging good news about Jesus to a people with continually changing needs. Th is is not change

1 Heifetz, Ronald and Donald Laurie. “Th e Work of Leadership.” Harvard Business Review. January-February 1997.

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for its own sake. Th is is learning how to communicate eternal truths and to use the Defi ning Practices of Christian ministry in our present reality in order to grow people as disciples of Jesus Christ and minister to their human needs.

Th e Learning CongregationWith the advent of the concept of a “learning organization,” best described by Peter Senge in � e Fifth Discipline2, those of us in congregational ministry have realized that, by and large, established, mainline congregations have not been learning organizations. We tend to repeat last year’s programs over and over again, relying on the same basic approach to ministry despite massive changes going on in the world around us.

Michael Marquardt, Ed.D., Professor of Human Resources Development at George Washington University says:

… we are entering a new era in the evolution of organizational life and structure… Organizations must learn faster and adapt to the rapid change in the new environment or they will not survive. As in any transitional period, there currently exist, side by side, the dominant, dying species (i.e., the non-learning organization) and the emerging, more adaptive species (i.e., the learning organization). Within the next ten years, only learning organizations will survive. Companies [Congregations] that do not become learning organizations will soon go the way of the dinosaurs, unable to adjust to the changing environment around them.3

Today’s turbulent world forces us to learn faster and better in order to survive. Problems are ever more diffi cult for us to decipher, much less to understand and resolve. Dilworth (1998) has remarked that change “now tends to outdistance our ability to learn.” Existing knowledge tends to misdirect rather than facilitate problem resolution. People and organizations need to learn new ways of coping with problems. Only by improving the learning capacity of individuals and organizations can we deal with the dynamics of change.3

Th is is a way of saying, “In times of rapid change, what you know can mis-lead you.”

2 Senge, Peter M. � e Fifth Discipline. New York: Doubleday,:1990.3 Marquardt, Michael. Action Learning in Action: Transforming Problems and People for World-Class Organizational Learning. Palo Alto: Davies-Black Publishing, 1999.

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Th is is true also for leaders. Th e learning leader is positioned to lead most eff ectively in a time of great change. When asked how the pastors of Pittsburgh Presbytery were doing a few years ago, a then associate executive presbyter replied, “Th ey are numb!”

Upon asking his meaning, he replied, “Th ey are trying to lead 1950 in 1990… it’s not their fault. It is what they were taught to do. It is what their congregations expect. Th e issue is this: it is no longer the 1950’s.”

A learning congregation shapes leaders to lead in a time of turbulent change. Learning congregations foster new approaches of ministry to the congregation’s own people and missional engagement with its community. Th at is - they Reach-Grow-Send. Th e learning congregation faces its adaptive challenges, those for which it has no solution, and courageously seeks adaptive, learning solutions.

Th omas R. Hawkins contends:

A focus on God’s people as a learning community is not some recent trend or passing fad. It is neither a pragmatic response to a changing social context nor simply another version of the self-absorbed narcissism so prevalent in modern society. It is central to a discipleship that seeks to clarify and understand God’s revelation that seeks in all things to remain open to the transformation the Holy Spirit can work in personal and communal life. Learning is therefore an essential element in sanctifi cation.4

Th ese issues are true for every congregation whether they are large, medium, small, urban, suburban, or rural. Th e Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Defi ning Vision and Defi ning Practices we discover in Scripture are unchanging. However, our culture is in a time of rapid change. All of us have much to learn in order to be the ambassadors for Christ to which we have been called.

We know that there is no transformation without action since transformation means “change of essence.” Th us, an ideal approach to transformational ministry will combine action and learning.

Action Learning for Adaptive Challenges

One of the most useful approaches to learning and leadership developed in the last sixty years is known as “Action Learning.” Action Learning is a process that combines a commitment to action with a commitment

4 Hawkins, Th omas R. � e Learning Congregation. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press: 1997. pp. 14-15.

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to inquiry and learning. Action Learning is a practice that can lead a congregation to become a learning organization – an organization committed to showing honor to its past while embracing the new ideas and practices that will enable it to remain at the cutting edge of reaching, growing, and sending people.

Th e power of the Action Learning concept is that it permits teams of 4 to 8 people within your congregation to become contagiously excited about addressing some aspect of the congregation’s Defi ning Vision or tackling a major opportunity or obstacle/problem in your congregation. Action Learning helps the team to think originally about challenges, learn new ways to address issues, and conclude with very concrete action (which itself contributes to learning).

If you face a technical challenge and know what to do, then the process you need is basic planning and action. It’s just a matter of discerning what needs to happen, the steps to take to accomplish it, the people to do it, and the timelines to establish deadlines.

Action Learning addresses an adaptive challenge for which you have no clear solution. Its focus is on inquiry and discovery well before any solution planning and action may take place.

Th e Action Learning Process

What is Action Learning?

Action Learning is a problem-solving process used in organizations around the world to inspire fresh learning, decisive action, and team-life development while contributing to the esprit de corps and vision of the entire organization.

Action Learning is a means by which we may discover how to missionally engage the changing culture around us and address the matters central to the growth of our fellowship and discipleship. Th is process gives us a powerful means of fulfi lling our objectives, pursuing opportunities, and overcoming obstacles.

Action Learning has the capacity to generate truly fresh, original insight and the team spirit necessary to eff ect signifi cant movement. By means of its question-asking and refl ection process, Action Learning can open the learning process to completely new ideas, insights, and directions.

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Six Elements of the Action Learning Process5

1. Th e Project Question -• Objective – solving an adaptive challenge to achieve a goal or meet

a target when the solution is not clear. • Opportunity – solving an adaptive challenge to explore a new

prospect for ministry such as: a new ministry to working men, working women, 30-somethings, or singles.

• Obstacle – solving a problem such as: inadequate parking, declining attendance, or inadequate fi nances.

2. Th e Action Learning Team (ALT) – a diverse group of four to eight very capable persons who embrace the project and are committed to seeing it through. Th e Action Learning Team (ALT) is a powerful way to develop a learning organization that designs creative ministry solutions in fulfi llment of the congregation’s Defi ning Vision. Th e Action Learning Team also addresses major opportunities and obstacles in ministry.

3. Th e Questioning and Refl ection Process – the stage of inquiry, focusing on right questions rather than right answers. First, the questions clarify the nature of the problem, and then the refl ection identifi es possible solutions in a non-defensive environment.

4. Th e Resolution to Take Action – real learning comes with action. Th e Action Learning Team takes action with the support of the governing body.

5. Th e Commitment to Learning – the learning is as important as the action. Action Learning places equal emphasis on both problem-solving and organizational/personal development.

6. Th e Learning Coach – keeps the focus on learning as well as action while guiding the team to refl ect on both its learning and its problem-solving. A Learning Coach keeps the process moving; yet, slows the process down enough so that adequate refl ection occurs before action is taken.

Th e Project Question

Action Learning addresses a major adaptive question of signifi cance:• How to implement a facet of your Defi ning Vision.• How to implement the Defi ning Practices (witness, prayer, etc...)

5 Adapted from Marquardt, Michael. Action Learning in Action: Transforming Problems and People for World-Class Organizational Learning. Palo Alto: Davies-Black Publishing, 1999, p. 6-8.

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• How to tackle a ministry objective, an opportunity, or an obstacle.• How to pursue a possibility. • How to solve a problem.

Th e Action Learning Project should:• address a real issue of consequence, which if solved will make a

signifi cant diff erence in the life of people in the community and/or church.• represent a real problem, task, or issue.• be feasible and within the competence of the group.• either be within the group’s sphere of responsibility or the group

must be given the authority to do something about the problem.

An Action Learning Project is fi lled with energy. People pull together with the mindset of “We need to solve this.” Th erefore use this valuable cohesive energy to address things that will really make a diff erence for people of your church/community.

Michael Marquardt states that “Th e more important and complex the problem, and the more leverage gained as a result of its resolution, the better the problem is for the Action Learning group to tackle.”6

Examples of Action Learning Projects for a congregation:

• How to use the Internet and email eff ectively.• Winning participation of those who are under forty years of age.• Growing true disciples (moving from involvement to discipleship).• Modifying our worship style to encourage the present member and

attract the newcomer.• How do we learn to practice Reach through our ministry to

women?• Enabling our leaders to know and use the Defi ning Practices

(witness, prayer, care, Word, with-me, send, give).• Adding a contemporary worship service.• How do we meet the needs of the many who come by the church

looking for fi nancial assistance?• How do we create a sustainable children’s ministry that provides

life for our volunteers?• How to properly equip people to serve in our ministry when the

people are already harried and overextended?• How can we accomplish fi ve adult baptisms per year for three

consecutive years?• What sort of outreach event would access the many apartment

complexes in our proximity?

6 Marquardt, Michael. Action Learning in Action: Transforming Problems and People for World-Class Organizational Learning. Palo Alto: Davies-Black Publishing, 1999. p. 196.

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• How to respond to new patterns of Sunday school attendance?• Developing a ministry to mothers of preschoolers or to working

women.

Th e Action Learning Team (ALT)

Four to eight members is the appropriate size for a productive and fruitful team. Fewer than four members does not generate enough diversity, creativity, or dynamics. More than eight to ten members and the group becomes too complex with limited “airtime” for the participants.

Qualifi cations for team members:• Faith: a heart for God• Hope: a heart and passion for the project question• Love: a heart for people• Capable leaders with imagination, initiative, and drive• Team players who will respect one another and who will guard the

well-being of the congregation and the pastor/staff • People who do not bring an “agenda” to the group

Diversity• Diversity of experience with the Project Question to bring varying

perspectives to the Action Learning Process• Diversity of viewpoint helps us see outside of mindsets and

opinions that limit our imagination• Questions asked from diverse angles will challenge everyone

Th e Questioning and Refl ection Process

Michael Marquardt contends new knowledge grows from three sources:• Present knowledge (knowledge you have from books, seminars, and

your own experience and refl ection, etc.)• Questioning (pursuing the unknown)• Refl ection (thinking and working to understand)

Present knowledge What you know now and the opinions you have now are actually

embedded in the past and may not address the unique needs of a new problem or situation.

Most planning eff orts rely on present knowledge leading to incremental learning but not the quantum leaps in understandingnecessary for today’s changing environment.

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Questioning Th is can lead to the “ah-ha” moments in which knowledge and

understanding grow, signifi cant insights for action arise, and the individual and team experience tremendous reinforcing motivation. Th e more questions your team asks concerning its project and the better the questions, the more the learning and ah-ha moments will grow.

Re� ection Th is time permits the team to stand back, unfreeze from old ways of

thinking, step away from daily problems and anxieties, and to seek fresh insight.

At the heart of Action Learning is the process of refl ection. Th e seventh sign of vital ministry is “refl ective practice” (praxis) – not just action, but refl ective action, considered action.

Two Ground Rules:1. Statements should be made only in response to questions. (Th is helps the group move from advocacy and opinions to inquiry).2. Th e Action Learning Coach has the power to intervene. (Marty, your remarks are interesting, but you are making a speech that is neither a question or a response to a question).

Action Learning requires a graceful challenging and questioning of one another’s thoughts and assumptions. When persons of power within the organization (pastors, elders, other leaders) are present in the ALT group, the role of the Learning Coach is to insure such persons are equals among equals so that deference to such persons does not prevent the team from pursuing all helpful avenues of learning.

Th is requires the pastor, elders, and other leaders to be “secure” within themselves. Tendencies toward over-defensiveness or over-control on the part of anyone on the Action Learning Team will short-circuit the Action Learning Process.

“If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you” ( James 1:5).

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Th e Commitment to Taking Action

Commitment to Taking Action by the ALT

Th e Action Learning Team (ALT) expects to act and is empowered to carry out its ideas. It is not a planning committee that writes a report and considers its job done. It is an Action Learning Team. Th erefore its aim is not discussion for its own sake. Committees today often function with the “ready, aim” of ready, aim, fi re. Th ey “ready-aim, ready-aim, ready-aim,” as they talk, talk, talk, but never “fi re,” never act. Th e ALT’s aim is Action.

“We Presbyterians are so good at talking about problems that after awhile we think that we have actually done something,” says Morgan Murray, Pastor, Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church.

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them [action] will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. - Matthew 7:24

If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them [action]. - John 13:17

Action is a key to learning. We learn by doing. Th us action is not the end point of the Action Learning process but one of the elements of it. As N. M. Nixon points out, the most signifi cant learning occurs when the participants, “refl ect on their action, not just their planning.”7

Action Learning is a cyclical process: learning→ questioning & refl ection → action→questioning & refl ecting → learning → questioning & refl ecting → action →

Th erefore, Action Learning lends itself to imagination and experimentation. Th e team doesn’t have to wait until fully developed, settled plans are prepared before moving to action. Indeed, action is part of the learning process.

Th is gives the team the freedom to experiment and learn from what happens. Th e team moves from a Ready-Aim, Ready-Aim process to Ready – FIRE – Aim process.

Action Learning is a cyclical spiral in which the team builds on its initial learning as it refl ects on its initial experimental action. Action Learning is not a planning process that results in a fi nished document to be handed off to others to implement. However, if these initial actions do not bear fruit, 7 Nixon, N. M. “1998 Action Learning: More Th an Just a Task Force.” Performance Improvement Quarterly December (1998): 44-58.

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the team has not failed. It has succeeded in learning a great deal that will apply to its next actions.

Permission-Giving Governance and ALT Graciousness

Before proceeding with an ALT, vision teams should gain the approval of the Session or appropriate governing committee, team, or body. Since the members of such groups will likely not be familiar with Action Learning, take the time to explain the process. Explain how it diff ers from ordinary planning, why adaptive challenges require a diff erent process, and ask for their blessing to experiment and try some new things to address a particular project.

Action Learning only succeeds when the team knows it has the permission to imagine and to experiment. Th e process may well come up with approaches that are neither “standard” nor comfortable to some people. Th is can present a challenge to leaders of an organization, such as the pastor and elders, or the Presbyterian Women’s Board, or a committee such as the Christian Education Committee. Th e leaders have to be willing to trust the ALT to be wise in its endeavors.

At the same time the ALT needs to be gracious towards congregational leaders, the pastor, elders, and others. If they know an idea they have will make people uneasy, they must take the time to assure they have permission to move forward. It would be unwise and unfavorable for all future ALTs to pursue ideas that are simply unpalatable to leaders.Sometimes this means leaders have to “gulp” a bit and let the ALT try something a bit out of their comfort zone and sometimes the ALT may need to give up an approach being considered because their leaders are uncomfortable.

Th e Commitment to Learning

Action Learning places a premium on learning, creating new solutions to situations in a time of turbulent change that are also new.

Our inclination is to “get into it, get through it, get out of it.” We resist taking the time to refl ect. Our tendency is to jump in with solutions, yet what we know tends to misdirect us in a period of turbulent change. Th is is tough for those of us who are action-oriented and who pride ourselves on already knowing “how to do church.”

In a culture that is moving toward 24/7/365 – busyness twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year - our overwhelming

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tendency is to want “to do” rather than “to think.” Yet, vital and eff ective leadership thinks. It thinks clearly about vision - where you are now, where you are going, and what you are going to do to get there.

Th e word amuse combines two words “a” meaning “not” and “muse” meaning “think” - to not think! We dwell in an age of amusement, a “not-thinking” age in which we are more interested in “experiences” than in thinking and learning from what we are doing.

Refl ection, thinking ahead, and simple planning are not common practices in ministry today (or in much of our lives). Many of us are under intense time pressures and tend to roll from event to event without much forethought.

In Action Learning, “thinking and refl ecting” – is a spiritual discipline. Without it, you cannot discern the new and diff erent approaches of Reach-Grow-Send necessary to accomplish any major goal in our changing times.

“Great minds have purposes, others have wishes,” said Washington Irving. A vision without a plan is only a wish. Th e necessity for refl ection and sound thinking increases with the complexity of the vision to be accomplished. Unfortunately, thinking ahead is easily sidestepped in our activity-driven culture.

Th e Learning Coach Th e Learning Coach oversees the Action Learning Process but is not engaged in the problem-solving work of the team.

Th e Learning Coach:• Ensures we don’t “skip steps” by rushing past questioning and

refl ecting in order to get to action. • Keeps both learning and the action in constant focus.• Provides linkage to leadership outside of the team ensuring

understanding and support.• Moves the problem defi nition, questioning, and refl ecting process

forward.• Guides group process without bringing “an agenda” to the team.• Ensures everyone has adequate talk time, moderates tendencies to

over-control or over-defend. • Observes and comments on group process, watching that the

group adheres to its covenantal commitments to each other and its ground rules.

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Questions that a Learning Coach may use:8

Problem-solving questions:

• What is the team trying to accomplish?• What is preventing us from accomplishing our goal?• What can we do about those barriers?• What alternatives are there?• Who can help us? • Who is doing what we want to do?• Who cares about what we are trying to accomplish?

Questions to facilitate learning:

• What questions were the most helpful?• How can we make this group more eff ective?• How are we doing thus far?• What ideas from this meeting appear to be the most important?• What made it easy or diffi cult for you to learn?• What actions do you plan to take?

Group process questions:

• How helpful was that comment/question?• Could we turn that statement into a question?• Why did team members ignore that point?• What does that really mean?• Does that fi t in with our ground rules?

9 Marquardt, Michael. Action Learning in Action: Transforming Problems and People for World-Class

Organizational Learning. Palo Alto: Davies-Black Publishing, 1999, p. 202.

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Two Kinds of Action Learning Teams9

Th e Single Project Action Learning Team

Th e single project ALT focuses on one specifi c project (an objective, opportunity, or obstacle). All members of the team focus on that one project. It may be appointed by the Session to address a congregational project, or it may be appointed by another governing group such as the Board of Presbyterian Women, the Missions Committee, or so on to address an issue before them.

Th e Open-Group Action Learning Team

Th e open-group ALT consists of 4 to 8 participants from diff erent organizations who bring to the group his or her own specifi c project/task/problem/question. Th e participants could represent diff erent ministries of the congregation or perhaps be pastors representing diff erent congregations.

Participants support and assist one another as each engages in his or her separate Action Learning Project. Each person is a client of the other group members and a coach to the other members. Th e group allocates equal or requested time to each participant.

During the fi rst meeting, each person describes the project that he or she wishes to tackle. Such projects may be tentative and unformed at this stage. Th e role of the ALT is not to solve a person’s project. Th e role of the ALT members is to ask questions to help each person in the group think more originally about his or her project.

During successive meetings of the open-group ALT each person reports on his or her project, the work done since the last meeting, the results, the diffi culties, and the next intended action. Each person reports even when progress is uncertain and issues are confusing. At the end of his or her allotted time, each participant makes a commitment to what action will be taken prior to the next meeting.

9 Marquardt, Michael. Action Learning in Action: Transforming Problems and People for World-Class

Organizational Learning. Palo Alto: Davies-Black Publishing, 1999, p. 43.

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An Exercise in Action Learning Allot 20-30 minutes per person. For example:

8:30-9:00 Word-Share-Prayer 9:00-9:25 Presenter 1 (group appointed Learning

Coach watches time) 9:25-9:50 Presenter 2 9:50-10:00 Break 10:00-10:25 Presenter 3 10:25-10:50 Presenter 4 10:50-11:00 Break 11:00-11:25 Presenter 5 11:25-11:50 Presenter 6 11:50 Review date for next meeting. Dismiss or eat lunch.

Get into groups of 5 to 6 with people from at least two other congregations if possible.

Select an Action Learning Coach - choose the person whose birthday is nearest to today. Th eir role is to insure that people ask or reply to questions and to ask, “What has been learned?” every fi fteen minutes.

� e Project Question – choose from one of the following issues:• What Reach event can we design to connect with women (or men)

outside the church?• What kind of a congregational Reach event will we employ to seize the

attention of the community?• How will we involve half of our active members in small groups at least

once a year?• How will we connect with young adults (under 40)?

Work to identify the issues and areas in which new knowledge would be helpful. If through the process of questioning and refl ection you discern a possible experimental action you would take, work out what would that action look like.

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Building One Another A Letter of Encouragement - I Th essalonians 5:11

THE TRUST TEST Vol 10 No 23August 30, 2011

Dear Friend,When you face a challenging situation for which no resolution is apparent, what goes through your mind and emotion? Do you “get on the balcony” and think through new alternatives and try to solve it yourself (or yourselves)? Do you wrestle with feelings of hopelessness?

A large crowd gathered around Jesus who asked Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” John 6:5b* Th e apostle John makes this interesting observation about Jesus, “He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.” John 6:6

For Jesus the resolution of the situation was never in doubt. He wasn’t anxious, nervous, uptight, confused, or upset. In fact, John reports that Jesus used the situation as an opportunity to test Philip.

Philip has no clue what to do! “Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’” John 6:7 Neither did Andrew, “But what are they (fi ve barley loaves and two fi sh) among so many people?” John 6:8b And neither looked to Jesus!

Sometimes you and I have no clue what to do either!

At this point in the story, Jesus takes over, has the people sit down, breaks the fi sh and the loaves into enough to feed everyone.

In whatever situation you face, be alert to the equivalent of the fi ve loaves and two fi sh our Lord has given you and trust him.

Facing a huge enemy army, Jehoshaphat prayed, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” 2 Chronicles 20:12b. He passed the trust test!

With joy - E. Stanley OttCopyright 2011 E. Stanley Ott*Scripture from the NRSV

Principles of Effective Leadership

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Leading People Without Losing Th emBe alert to the issues of transition and the tactics of change.

While transition is all about “change,” the very word “change” can be a loaded word for some people. We tend to dislike change if we are already satisfi ed with some aspect of our lives. Church members of congregations are there because for various reasons they like or are comfortable with what is happening, whether the congregation is growing in vitality or is losing members and momentum. So, change for its own sake and even the use of the very word “change” isn’t always wise.

Giving people new vision and ideas while affi rming who they are now and the things they appreciate begins the process not merely of “change” but of genuine transition to new possibilities. Th is is the essence of “bless and add,” showing blessing and honor to “what is” while affi rming our Lord has a new future for us, “add.”

While the following passage was written to describe issues surrounding the change to a team-based ministry, the issues are the same for any transition from one form of ministry to a diff erent vision-based initiative. As you begin the transition, have the image of team-based ministry the defi ning practices essential to its success clearly in mind. And be prepared for the impact the transition will have. As William Bridges puts it, “Th e single biggest reason organizational changes fail is that no one thought about endings or planned to manage their impact on people. Naturally concerned about the future, planners and implementers usually forget that people have to let go of the present fi rst. Th ey forget that while the fi rst task of change management is to understand the destination and how to get there, the fi rst task of transition management is to convince people to leave home. You’ll save yourself a lot of grief if you remember that.”1 So begin by knowing where you are going before you begin to convince them to “leave home.”

Many of the attitudes that tend to hinder new ministry team [or vision-based] initiatives are centered in control issues. Remember that older congregational structures tend to focus on boundaries. Congregations that want their members to conceive, launch, and participate in ministry teams [or vision-based ministries] must more readily grant the freedom to initiate when it comes to program and activity, while requesting that those ministries be centered in the defi ning vision and practices of the congregation.

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Adults handle change in a variety of ways. Some, seeing the opportunities, welcome change or at least don’t mind it. Others see all change as loss and react the way any of us do when losing something we value - by grieving or getting angry. If the change is diffi cult in your particular situation, be present, affi rm, and don’t argue – listen. And use a strategic transition process such as the “Th e Eight-Stage Process of Creating Major Change” introduced by John Kotter:

1. Establish a sense of urgency2. Create the guiding coalition3. Develop a vision and strategy4. Communicate the change vision5. Empower broad-based action6. Generate short-term wins7. Consolidate gains and produce more change8. Anchor new approaches in the culture2

Th e transition team working to lead the congregation to a team-based [or vision-based] ministry has to start with the matter of urgency. Established churches have typically run a board-centered, committee-based ministry for a long time in which the only people considered responsible for interpersonal ministry are pastor, staff , and specially trained members.

As Kotter explains, “Establishing a sense of urgency is crucial to gaining needed cooperation. With complacency high, transformations usually go nowhere because few people are even interested in working on the change problem. With urgency low, it’s diffi cult to put together a group with enough power and credibility to guide the eff ort or to convince key individuals to spend the time necessary to create and communicate a change vision.”3 It’s been said that change happens in response to “a burning ship or a compelling vision.” Essential to transition to a team-based ministry is that congregational leadership become so convinced of the value of the team concept that they communicate it and continue to communicate it with the passion that a compelling vision demands.

It takes time to move a more traditionally organized congregation to a team-based ministry in which the majority of teams are led by members of the ministry and not solely by elders, deacons and pastors. It also takes time to instill the vision among the congregational members that ministry initiative is not the sole responsibility of pastor and offi cers. During the period of time that the church is a “transitional” church, a mix of old and new attitudes and structures will simultaneously exist. Committees and ministry teams will work side by side. Some leaders may lead committees. Others will encourage entire families of ministry teams. Use the “bless and add” philosophy. Bless existing ministries that choose to remain in

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their current organizational approach. And add new ministries. Require them to be team-based, of course, but off er them all the support and encouragement they need to succeed.4

In every case in which Jesus Christ lead people, leading the people meant winning their commitment to Him, to what He was teaching and to where He was going.

Basic to transition is to have the courage and humility to win people to be with you. As you lead them, keep the attitude of John the Baptist in mind whose followers he directed to become followers of Jesus Christ. “Follow me insofar as you see me following Christ.” Winning people to be with you... with you not only in physical proximity, but with you in purpose, intent, and in attitude is the very essence of the “with-me” principle.

Other useful resources for leading change is Spencer Johnson’s wonderful Who Moved My Cheese? (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1998) and John Kotter’s Our Iceberg is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions.

Introducing New Ideas

Introduce new ideas with wisdom. Th e greater the change the greater the need for “touch” – being present to people, listening to them and affi rming them.

Bless and Add

We don’t make changes for their own sake. Rather, while off ering clarity of purpose and vision with enthusiasm and passion we also show honor, dignity and respect to the people and programs/ministries that have long been in place in our congregation. Where a change in a long-standing program is in order, we take the time to help the opinion-makers in that ministry understand the “why.” If the leadership of any given program area are simply uninterested in new vision or unwilling to make changes, it is often more fruitful in the life of the overall congregation to bless them and leave them alone while moving forward with those who are open to a new future. Th e core issue is treating people with respect while working to lead them in new directions.

“Nemawashi”

Nemawashi is the practice of leading people personally and individually before bringing a new vision to a board, committee, or team. It is an

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especially useful practice for leading when the vision is new, risky, or large. Start with individuals fi rst and explain the vision and address their concerns before bringing it to the group or board as a whole. Th is is consistent with the idea of leading in concentric circles. “Nemawashi in Japanese culture is an informal process of quietly laying the foundation for some proposed change or project, by talking to the people concerned, gathering support and feedback.” – Wikipedia

Lead Outward in Concentric Circles

When a leader/ministry team has a new vision that will require signifi cant investment of energy and resources or that carries some risk, begin by sharing the vision with a few others - the “inner” circle – both present leaders and opinion makers whether they hold an “offi cial” position or not. As they “come on board” – perhaps shaping the vision as they chew it over with the leader/ministry team – the leader/ministry team continues to share the vision with others in widening circles – private conversations and smaller groups, until the vision is being cast publicly to the entire congregation/ ministry.

Begin with key leaders and opinion-makers in the congregation and widen the circle to embrace larger and larger groups. In essence this is the nemawashi concept. It treats leaders with respect by including them personally in new vision and it allows you the opportunity to help them “own” the vision, addressing concerns directly, and giving them the knowledge that they have been heard.

1. Cast purpose/vision and your expectation and passion – in every setting – private and public – speaking out loud about it.

2. Move progressively from the private to the public setting.

3. Begin with many one-on-one (or on two or three – i.e. face-to-face) conversations and in smaller groupings.

4. Begin with those who have a spirit of expectation and enthusiasm, who are inclined to support big ideas while also off ering wisdom and counsel.

5. Include both key decision-makers and opinion makers (congregational participants who may not hold offi cial offi ce but whose opinion carries signifi cant weight in the life of the congregation).

6. Widen the circle to worship services and large group gatherings.

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Vision-Casting

When church people are familiar with the term “vision-casting” they usually think fi rst of the pulpit. Th e point of the Nemawashi and concentric circle concepts is to propose that you interact personally with board members and with opinion-makers in the congregation fi rst. Show them the dignity of interacting with them and use those interactions as your opportunity to win them, to lead them to embrace the vision. As key people connect with the vision, it is time to off er the vision from the pulpit and in casual conversations with just about anyone anywhere – and not just in an annual “vision sermon.” Make it one of the essential messages that you work into many sermons, newsletters and conversations on a never-ending basis. You may think at some point that people know the vision but in our day it is very easy to hear things without really connecting with them and of course new people won’t necessarily know your vision as they begin to connect with the fellowship of your church.

Lead Out Loud

Speaking enthusiastically and constantly of the vision in small settings and larger ones, answering question, giving perspective. Vision casting is a 24/7 proposition – often most eff ectively communicated in personal conversations in grocery stores and living rooms and fellowship halls – wherever you are.

Speak words of expectation -- out loud --- with passion.

Vision-casting words: Th en I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fi re. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace” (Nehemiah 2:17).

Words of expectation and faith: “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fi ght for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes” (Nehemiah 4:14).

“Th ere is a new spirit in this place.” “God is up to something new” (Isaiah 43:19). “I believe God is about to do a new thing among us.” “We are about to take a new adventure.”

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Th e 10-90 Rule

Good ministry design is ten percent technical (what we are going to do, our purpose and our goals?) and ninety percent tactical (how are we going to do it and keep our people with us?). Commonly, far more eff ort is put into goal setting than developing a plan of action that keeps people with you as you move forward. Obviously both are essential for transition.Learn to “call it good.”

Congregational members can easily react to changes and new ideas with a “Huh?” or “Now what?” sort of response, which is neither negative nor positive. Th ey will take on the attitude of those who off er an opinion. Be positive – even when you yourself privately are thinking “Huh? Now what?”

Introduce the concept of “makrothumia.” Th is Greek word made up of two words: makro, meaning “long” and thumia, meaning “temper” often translated “patience.” Patience, long temper, is the opposite of short temper.

As long as people only see the church in terms of what it should do for them and how it pleases or displeases them, there will be little makrothumia. We are willing to put up with things we don’t particularly appreciate or approve of when we have a greater commitment to an overriding mission.

“You want me to give up my favorite parking place? No way!!” “Oh, you want me to give up my favorite parking place and park farther from the building so that visitors and people with young children and those with walking diffi culty can park closer and have easier access. It’s a small sacrifi ce. I am with you.”

Th is is mutual forbearance. Makrothumia may be understood as, “the grace of getting along” when things are not always to your liking. Makrothumia grows as we talk about it and as we work to win commitment to a shared purpose.

Refuse to “grumble in your tent.” Deuteronomy 1:27 (If something is unethical or beyond the boundaries of the congregation’s defi ning vision and practices then address your concern in an appropriate manner with those directly involved.)

Use the “Good Report Principle” (Ron Rand): speak well of others in private and public conversation.

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Building One Another A Letter of Encouragement 1 Th essalonians 5:11

February 7, 2006 e-Volume 5, No. 6 Th ink!

Dear Friend,

Washington Irving once said, “Great people think, others have wishes.”

I love the story of Nehemiah to whom God gives the great vision of rebuilding the walls and the city of Jerusalem. After his fi rst three days in the city, does he say, “Okay everybody, it’s time to rebuild the wall! Let’s accomplish my vision!”? No!

Instead, he and a few others go out quietly at night to scope out the job.

Obviously, Nehemiah was doing some serious planning.

Nehemiah was not a person of wishes. He knew that a vision without a plan is only a wish. He was a thinker before he was a doer - a person of vision, plans, and prayers before he was a person of action.

In our manic, busy lives today, it is typical for us to substitute activity for serious thought, prayer, and planning. Yet, our visions without plans are only wishes.

Planning, much like the devotional life, is easily ignored in our activity-driven culture and as such is well considered a spiritual discipline – something deliberately inserted into life so that we may fulfi ll the visions our Lord puts into our hearts.

Our wonderfully creative, dynamic God puts many visions into your mind, big ones and small ones. It is something our Lord loves to do. So be a visionary. Be a thinker. Be a planner. Determine the steps needed to turn your visions into reality and trust God for the wisdom and the resources and the courage to follow through.

“Great people think, others have wishes.” Th ink!

With joy - E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2006 E. Stanley Ott*Scripture from the KJV

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May 22, 2007 e-Volume 6, No. 20 Planning

Dear Friend,

I love the story of Nehemiah who has the great vision of rebuilding the walls and the city of Jerusalem seventy years after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it.

He traveled to Jerusalem, a city he has never personally seen, and I imagine he spends the fi rst three days there getting his living arrangements worked out and that of the soldiers who came with him. Th en, does he say, “Okay everybody, its time to rebuild the wall, let’s accomplish the vision?” No!

Instead he goes out by night and scopes out the job taking a few others with him. Obviously he is doing some serious planning to determine exactly what required repair, what materials would be needed and what sort of labor would be needed.

Nehemiah was not a person of wishes. He was a person of vision and a person of plans.

What visions do you have for your walk with Christ, your home, your work, your church? Washington Irving once said, “Great people think, others have wishes.”

A vision without a plan is only a wish. Yet, in our manic lives we often ignore planning.

Our creative dynamic God will put many visions into your mind, big ones and small ones, visions for your family, your congregation, your place of work, your community. Make planning – the thinking that turns visions into reality – a spiritual discipline!

With joy - E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2007 E. Stanley Ott *Scripture from the NIV

To view archived issues and to subscribe: www.buildingoneanother.org

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July 17, 2007 Volume 6, No. 28 A Word of Encouragement

Dear Friend,

With all that is going on in your life at this very moment, how would you feel if someone you value were to say to you, “I rejoice because I have complete confi dence in you!”? My guess is that you would feel refreshed and very grateful.

Th e apostle Paul said those words. What surprises me is to whom he says them. I would have thought he would address them to Barnabas or Lydia or Timothy or Priscilla – people whose service to Christ was signifi cant and fruitful. Yet, we discover that Paul wrote these words to the Corinthian church: “I rejoice, because I have complete confi dence in you” 2 Corinthians 7:16*.

Th at church had every problem you can imagine a church having. People treated each other poorly, they squabbled amongst themselves, some of them behaved badly, and at times they were particularly unkind to Paul.

Nevertheless, Paul wrote, “I rejoice” and the reason for his joy was his expression of confi dence in them. While Paul knew they were not a perfect people he also knew there was a reservoir of deep faith in Jesus among them and a heart to serve their Lord. So he off ers them a profound word of encouragement – by affi rming his joy in them and his confi dence, his assurance, of the future of their endeavor.

Wow! When we receive such a word of encouragement there is no implication that we have it all together. To off er such a word to another person makes no such assumption that that person has it all together either – but it does say, “I am with you! I trust you and trust what you are doing and that brings me joy!”

Our gracious Lord who says this to you today, “I rejoice because I have complete confi dence in you!” is the Lord who is with you! Say these words to another today!

With joy - E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2007 E. Stanley Ott *Scripture from the NRSV

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(Footnotes)1 William Bridges, Managing Transitions, (Reading: Perseus Books, 1991) p. 32.2 John P. Kotter, Leading Change, (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1996) p.21.3 John P. Kotter, Leading Change, (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1996) p.36.4 E. Stanley Ott, Transform Your Church with Ministry Teams (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004) p. 40-41.

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Principles of Effective LeadershipThe following guidelines may be used to help you and your leadership teams grow in the effectiveness of their planning and leadership.

While these pages may be used as worksheets for various groups as they plan, just the process of reading through them can refresh some of the key facets of effective planning and leadership.

Building One Another A Letter of Encouragement I Thessalonians 5:11 Dear Friend, Initiative

Initiative! Initiative is an exceedingly powerful concept. To have initiative is to get going, to take a step, to start. Initiative is “action that starts with me.”

Initiative begins with vision. You “see” something to be accomplished. You “see”a person with a need you can meet or who you can encourage in Christ. Initiative sees a need or a task and acts.

Initiative killers abound. Busy-ness and over-commitment make it difficult to “see” a need and to initiate a new endeavor. Fear of failure or rejection can freeze initiative. Lack of planning can block initiative because we will not see where to go.

Initiative lies at the heart of leadership. Initiative lies at the heart of ministry. Initiative lies at the heart of building people.

Failure in leadership, failure in ministry, failure in building people is often the simple failure to initiate!

Is there a step you need to take, an initiative you have withheld?

Initiative is intrinsic motivation - It comes from within - It starts with you.

It started with God. Jesus Christ is the Incarnate Initiative of God. Speaking of His own life, He said, “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay down on my own initiative” ( John 10:18a).*

Reflect on the initiative of God in your own life. Rejoice that God sent His own Son to build us in His image. Then take the initiative yourself, take a step toward the fulfillment of a vision or a plan you have for building others.

With joy - E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2002 E. Stanley Ott *Scripture from the NASB

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Principles of Effective Leadership: Developing RelationshipsRemember relationships come before the realization of vision. This is the “Circle of the Follower” – that we are to value the people we lead. People who know you and trust you are far more likely to follow you and join with you in the fulfillment of vision.

Balancing people and task in the practices of ministry is always a challenge for leaders of a transformational ministry. If we over-focus on task by developing vision, designing ministries, and implementing plans it is easy to neglect the very people we are serving. If we just focus on people to the exclusion of a planning and implementation process our programs tend to just repeat year after year and diminish in fruitfulness.

There are a variety of ways to develop relationships.

• Real relationships take time. Join or begin a small group. This is a small group separate from the Vision Team, boards, committees, and so on. Take the time with the other groups to do Word-Share-Prayer and to bond personally before doing the work of those teams.

• Be intentional about breaking bread – sharing meals - with people who are not just those in your “buddy circle.”

• Create “listening contexts.” For example you could use some form of focus groups to allow people to express themselves.

A focus group is a meeting of a dozen or so people whose ideas you want to hear. Such focus groups could include parents of teenagers, teenagers, mothers of pre-schoolers, visitors, new and/or long time members and so on.A “single focus” group gathers people of similar background to talk about their needs. For example, a group of teens talking about the needs of teens would be a single focus group. A “multiple focus” group pulls people from different situations together to talk about some ministry area. A multiple focus group zeroing in on the needs of teens might include a combination of teens, parents, teachers, and coaches.Invite the focus group for a two-hour meeting to share their thoughts. Have a simple snack available. Begin the meeting with a welcome and introductions. Explain you have some questions to ask and that everyone’s views are wanted.

1. What needs do you and your peers have that the church’s ministry [or a specific ministry or idea] might address?2. How can our congregation [or ministry or idea] improve its ministry to you and your peers?

Take notes so they know their input is being heard. If they express something that is critical of the congregation, resist the impulse to be defensive. Listen! Encourage interaction among the focus group members.

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Principles of Eff ective Leadership: Team and Vision

Do you have people with you in this endeavor? Yes or no? If yes, who are they?

______________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _______________________________

Do you know the De� ning Vision of your congregation? Yes or no? If yes, what is it?

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Do you have a clear De� ning Vision for your ministry? Yes or no? What is it?

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

To accomplish a vision by yourself is not leadership. To have others with you but to have no vision or purpose is not leadership either.

Th e essence of leadership is moving a people toward a goal. Th is requires clarity of thought: knowing what you want to see accomplished. It means engaging others to reach for the goal: enabling them to accomplish the goal with you.

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Principles of Eff ective Leadership: Systematic PlanningDo you regularly use a formal planning process to modify or expand your work? Yes or no? If yes, what process do you use?

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

If the answer is no, then chances are work you do is not being adjusted to changing needs and/or opportunities.

Do you have a scheduled planning time weekly, monthly, and yearly? Such a times may be alone or with others? If so, when? ______________________

Without a regular planning cycle your work will most likely be in response to the immediate pressures of the moment. Use a yearly planning cycle to set broad goals and monthly (or quarterly) and weekly to plan specifi c steps to accomplish the goals.

Do you link plans and checklist steps to your date book? __________

Without this step, plans are usually fi led away and are never connected to our daily “to do lists.”

Prescription for Systematic Planning:• A defi ned planning process• A defi ned planning cycle [weekly, monthly, yearly]• A defi ned evaluation of plan execution and eff ectiveness• A routine that systematically links plans with personal calendar

and schedule.

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Principles of Eff ective Leadership: Sustaining and Advancing VisionAre your e� orts, by in large, limited to the repetition of last year’s endeavor? Yes or no? If the answer is yes, then chances are your work is becoming static and you are not seeking or using a vision for your work that is larger than the one that guided you a year ago.

How much of your work is sustaining what is and how much is developing the new?

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Prescription for Sustaining Vision• Defi ning Vision - what is our aim?• Assessment of the needs of people. Consider how to sustain current

program with attention to personnel, creativity, and excellence in light of current needs.

• Goals - what specifi c things are we already doing that we want to sustain with excellence and in what ways?

Prescription for Advancing Vision• Defi ning Vision - what is our aim?• Assessment of the needs of people with an eye to what our present

ministry is not addressing or not addressing as fruitfully as we desire.

• Goals - what new things will we do in light of our vision and the needs.

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Principles of Eff ective Leadership: RoutinizationIs this ministry routine? Are planning, recruitment, organization, publicity, and other details handled yearly, monthly, weekly on a timely basis or are you constantly playing catch up remembering things that needed to be done or forgetting things that should be done? Yes or no? Explain.

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Do you have a checklist for this ministry detailing what is to be done each month, each week, or to prepare for a particular event or do you simply remember when to do what?

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Routinization builds due dates and reminders into a schedule insuring the eff ective completion of repeating events or projects.

Th ere is a down side to the concept of routinization - that you merely run last year’s programs over again and slowly drift out of touch with where the people in your congregation and community are. Th at is why the ongoing use of a planning process that revisits the vision of the ministry activity and assesses the needs of people before planning - and routinization - is essential.

Checklists insure all bases are covered and make it easier to delegate responsibility to others. Th ey help in the process of routinization. Th ey enable the systematic sustaining of ministry. Th ey help prevent:

Ministry by impulse “I think we’ll call a committee meeting tomorrow night”, giving people too little warning.

Procrastination, “Whoops, my newsletter article is overdue,” leaving others

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dangling because you are late delivering on your responsibilities.

Prescription for Routinization: 1. Regular planning in light of purpose and philosophy.2. Regular motivational meetings with those persons and

ministry teams or committees reporting directly to you.3. Checklists.

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Principles of Eff ective Leadership: DelegationAre you an e� ective delegator? Of what this program or endeavor requires, what must be done that only you can do, what can be passed on to others?

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________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Delegation multiplies your eff ectiveness. Delegation is permission-giving and responsibility-transferring.

Why are there so few excellent delegators?

1. We often think of ourselves as do-ers and not as motivators of others to be do-ers of the work.

2. Delegation means assigning or recruiting a person to a responsibility, equipping them to do it, and holding them accountable for it. We often fail to do it because these steps require work and we think it is easier to do it ourselves.

3. We like the limelight. Delegation means letting go of some things others have praised you for.

4. We fear of the loss of control.

How to delegate:

1. Decide who is qualifi ed: “Lord, who would You have me recruit and send to this work?”

2. “Call” them -- recruit them -- win them to the task. Be completely honest about what will be required. Give them a responsibility checklist. Don’t be afraid to ask for signifi cant commitment.

3. Equip them -- see they have the skills and resources to accomplish the work.

4. Send them -- give them as much freedom to work as their initiative, ability, and responsibility permit.

5. Review them -- check on how they are doing. Major on encouragement, minor on criticism.

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Principles of Eff ective Leadership: Adequate Lead TimeWhen you undertake a major project or program, how far ahead [realistically] do you begin to recruit people, organize, develop material and generally set things in motion?

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Do projects unfold in a timely straightforward manner, or does procrastination due to over-busyness or laziness create a constant state of “last minute” crisis? Yes or no and why?

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Lead time is a matter of planning and self discipline, a basic fruit of the Spirit. Lead time is a discipline of scheduling. Procrastination, understandable in a young person, has no place in a mature ministry. Robert Schuller once said, “You control your calendar and your calendar will control you.”

Speci� cally, how will you become the master of the deadline?

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Prescription for Adequate Lead Time: Schedule preparation and study time.

Schedule material duplication deadline.

Schedule marketing and registration deadlines.

Schedule recruiting deadline.

Schedule the work time needed to meet a deadline as well as the deadline itself.

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Principles of Eff ective Leadership: Expect ExcellenceIs your work as excellent as you are capable of producing? If not, why not?

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We pursue excellence as a way to honor God, and to place our best eff ort before our Lord.

We know we are not perfect, that we sin and make mistakes, and that God is a God of mercy and grace. We so not seek excellence because God will love us less if we fail or out of a sense of driven-ness and perfectionism.

We do seek excellence as a way of worshipping and pleasing God and growing in the image of God’s Son Jesus, of whom was said, “He has done all things well [Mark 7:37].”

Prescription for Excellence: In preparation In presentation (on paper, on the platform) In timeliness In concept and implementation In attention to detail In relationships

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Principles of Eff ective Leadership: Set DeadlinesWhen you plan, do you set deadlines for the accomplishment of speci� c steps? Yes? No?

When you plan, do you schedule the doing of action items needed to meet a deadline in your calendar or schedule? Yes? No?

When deadlines are set, who is responsible for seeing they are met and seeing the appropriate resources, encouragement, and accountability is o� ered?

Deadlines help us shape our schedule in order accomplish given tasks in a timely manner.

Consider two types of deadlines: self-imposed and other-imposed.

A self-imposed deadline is the time you set for yourself in the accomplishment of a task.

An other-imposed deadline is the time frame for task completion that other people or situations require of you.

Deadlines are a way to help keep the development of an eff ort movingforward. Good deadlines are neither too rigid nor too loose. A “too rigid”deadline does not allow for suffi cient fl exibility to handle genuine problems and unanticipated concerns that might delay the completion of a task. A deadline that is “too loose” delivers no motivational power to get the job done.

Ideally, a deadline represents a deadline window during the beginning ofwhich is the earliest you might expect a task to be accomplished and the end of which is the latest time of completion. Grace and help off ered at thebeginning of the window may shift to concern and penalty at the end of the window.

Used in conjunction with checklists, the simple process of setting deadlinesand deadline windows is an eff ective way to help people and work teamsprioritize their time and resources and accomplish their assigned tasks in atimely manner.

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Principles of Eff ective Leadership: Succession

If you walked away from your ministry/program and no one was brought in from the outside to replace you, would the ministry continue with the same excellence? Yes or no, and why?

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Would the activity/congregation/ministry progress to new levels of accomplishment without you and without a replacement for you from the outside [be honest]?

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

If the answers to either of these questions is “no”, then begin to think at a higher level about leadership. Leaders are not merely recruited, they are also developed. Who is with you as assistant, apprentice or team member who has a heart for your ministry and who can grow into a leader? To grow new leaders, delegate to them matters of increasing responsibility with the training and encouragement that is appropriate to the task.