process essentials: dismanteling the power of …...christians cherish a mythology that, along with...
TRANSCRIPT
Process Essentials:
Dismanteling the Power of Paradigms
Segment 6
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Segment 5 Process Essentials: Are you ready for this?
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On the Appalachian Trail Point – you can’t just decide to walk the Appalachian Trail – you have to be prepared and in shape for the journey
Examine your prevailing paradigms.
(boundaries and behavior)
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First, Examine Your Prevailing Paradigms Just what is a paradigm? A paradigm is a set of rules and regulations (written or unwritten) that does two things: It establishes or defines boundaries It tells you how to behave inside the boundaries in order to be successful. Joel Barker The Business of Paradigms Defn of paradigms – we all operate within our own paradigm – must examine our paradigms
1. Ministry Mentality (Theology)
2. Fear and Fatigue3. Professional Practices4. Organizational Silos5. Organizational Inertia6. Lack of Trust7. A Culture of Crisis
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Some disabling PARADIgms Ministry Mentality (Theology) Fear and Fatigue Professional Practices Organizational Silos Organizational Inertia Lack of Trust A Culture of Crisis Types of disabling paradigms common in Christian schools
Paradigm #1:Ministry Mentality
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Ministry Mentality There is big difference between a ministry heart and ministry mentality. Values people more than competence Serviceable is enough Lacks awareness of true costs Fails to understand the difference between cost and investment Difficulty in linking excellence with success Does not appreciate the power of perception (the lesser laws) “God will take care of us.” Can remove bullet points – need main point – first paradigm
Paradigm #2:Fear and Fatigue
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A formula for fear (Nehemiah 4) Opposition Fatigue Debris Second paradigm – fear – will quote Nehemiah 4 – image of someone in fear
Paradigm #3:Professional Practices
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Professional Practices “People have a tendency to fall in love with their tools. Those “tools” may be a favorite hammer, preferred piece of software, or a long-established way of doing things. We return to them time and again preferring their familiarity to the uncertainty of ‘things different’. Our love affair with our tools often skews how we define a problem.” Mark Eppler The Wright Way Can remove quote – paradigm 3 – entrenched in our practices of how we do things
Paradigm #4:Organizational Silos
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ORGANIZATIONAL SILOS “Organizations evolve around people – the skills they bring, their relationships with significant power brokers and their institutional memories. A look at any organizational chart will yield numerous staffing and reporting anomalies resulting in a large measure from the personal relationship incumbents have established and maintained with those in power. This power aura limits the capacity of an organization to be flexible and change.” Alseste T. Pappas Re-engineering the Non-Profit Paradigm 4 – silos within the orgnanization – can remove quote to notes – possibly leave first part of quote – “orgs evolve around people…”
Paradigm #5:Organizational Inertia
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Organizational Inertia We’re good! Sources of inertia – Adapted from Leading Change, by John Kotter The absence of a major and visible crisis Too many visible resources Low overall performance standards Organizational structures that focus employees on narrow functional goals More sources of inertia A lack of sufficient performance feedback from external sources A kill-the-messenger-of-bad-news, low candor, low confrontation culture Human nature with it’s capacity for denial Too much happy talk from senior leadership Paradigm 5 – organizational inertia – attitude of org that everything is good.
Paradigm #6:Lack of Trust
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Lack of Trust “Trust lies at the heart of a functioning, cohesive team. Without it, teamwork is all but impossible.” Patrick Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team LACK OF TRUST In leadership Current performance Past decisions In one another To keep confidences To honor promises To speak truthfully In the process This is unnecessary This is silly “Just let go and let God.” Paradigm 6 – lack of trust – keep this quote
Paradigm #7:Culture of Crisis
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A CULTURE OF CRISIS “Here we go again.” “You’ve got to be kidding me.” “Is anyone paying attention to real – right now – problems?” “I can’t even imagine . . . .” “The last time we tried this . . . .” “This is such a waste of time.” Depict culture of crisis – can remove quotes
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symptoms of ill health Frequent leadership/staff turnover Poor staff morale Poor student morale Disengaged/Inappropriately engaged board Disengaged parents Weak retention numbers Too much debt Over dependence on fund raising Reduction/Elimination of funding for Maintenance Marketing/Resource development Professional development Program enhancement Symptoms of ill health – visually depict
Are You Willing?
“Scared cows make the best hamburger, but the meat can be hard to swallow.”
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1. Sacred cows make the best hamburger, but the meat can be hard to swallow. Christians cherish a mythology that, along with their theology, shapes and directs their lives. Perhaps no myth more strongly influences us than our understanding of how to know the will of God. We want to make right decisions for we realize that the decisions we make turn around and make us. As we choose one end of the road we chose the other.” Haddon Robinson.
So, what do we do?• Identify and acknowledge your paradigms• Ask
– Is this truly biblical or is this really a personal prefernce?– Is this wise?– How did we come to embrace this paradigm?– Are we willing to appropriately challenge this paradigm?– Are we willing to go where our research leads us, or . . .– Are we willing to remain “mired in mediocrity?”