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Strategic planning: in some congregations it’s the “go-to” solution whenever leaders feel stuck. We need to grow. We want more families with young children. We don’t know what to do next. Let’s plan! But strategic planning is usually a poor choice for getting unstuck. It takes a lot of time and energy—and in many cases […]
Read MoreThe church needs innovation, experimentation and risk taking. The church has bureaucracy; inactivity in the name of good order and process. Senseless bureaucracy keeps us endlessly mired in reporting, approval seeking and communication. We end up with repetitive meetings, multiple levels of approval, over-reliance on procedure, and postponed decision making until everyone is informed and […]
Read MoreIn the world of congregations we are good at planning and doing. We enjoy thinking great thoughts and crafting lofty ministry ideals. We are fair at experimenting with our ideas, and taking tentative steps in the direction of our plans. We are great at running programs, running programs, and running more programs. However, we are […]
Read MoreThe problem with most planning is that people simply don’t do what they have declared they want to do. There is a goal setting technique that claims a 300% increase in the likelihood of goal attainment. It is called the if-then plan. Heidi Grant Halvorson, the associate director of Columbia Business School’s Motivation Science Center, […]
Read MoreOur unstated and unexamined assumptions about supervision prevent us from being more effective in the role of supervisor. Myth #1: If I could just get the right people on my team, I wouldn’t have to spend so much time supervising them. The Truth: If you lead a congregation with more than 400 people in average […]
Read More“When we become utterly obsessed with outcomes and results, we keep taking on smaller and smaller tasks, because they are the only ones we can get [measurable] results with.”-Parker Palmer (on Effectiveness vs. Faithfulness) I worked this week with a group of 75 United Methodist leaders in Kansas. At one point our conversation turned towards […]
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