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Jim Collins on "How the Mighty Fall" – Part 1

By Stephen Blandino on June 15, 2009 in Leadership, Organizations with 1 Comment

In his new book, How the Mighty Fall, bestselling author, Jim Collins articulates research-based evidence for the five stages of decline in organizations.  If you’ve ever read Built to Last or Good to Great, you know that Jim Collins is true to the research and has a great ability to draw powerful insights from organizational data.  The research for How the Mighty Fall is no less impressive.  Collins’s team took over 6,000 years of combined corporate history and focused on 60 major corporations dating back more than 70 years.  From their research, they identified eleven cases that “met rigorous rise-and-fall criteria at some point in their history.”  Those companies included:  A&P, Addressograph, Ames Department Stores, Bank of America (before it was acquired by NationsBank), Circuit City, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Merck, Motorola, Rubbermaid, Scott Paper, and Zenith.  Interestingly, Collins notes that organizational decline is largely self-inflicted with recovery largely in our control and that there are more ways for a company to fall than to become great.  Let me unpack the first of the five stages of decline:  Hubris Born of Success.


Hubris simply implies pride or arrogance.  Collins states, “Dating back to ancient Greece, the concept of hubris is defined as excessive pride that brings down a hero, or alternatively (to paraphrase classics professor J. Rufus Fears), outrageous arrogance that inflicts suffering upon the innocent.”  During this first stage of decline, leaders often become arrogant about their success and almost view it as an entitlement.  As a result, they lose sight of what caused their success in the first place.  You may recall from Good to Great that one of the keys to greatness was Level 5 Leaders–leaders that had an important blend of humility and will.  Collins says, “Like inquisitive scientists, the best corporate leaders we’ve researched remain students of their work, relentlessly asking questions–why, why, why?–and have an incurable compulsion to vacuum the brains of people they meet.”  

Collins contrasts Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, and his successor, David Glass, with the CEO of Ames Department Stores.  Walton was deeply humble and possessed a learning orientation.  ”Part of his answer for how to stave off hubris came in handing the company to an equally inquisitive, self-deprecating CEO, the quiet and low-profile David Glass.”  But Ames was led by a CEO that was more of a “knowing person” rather than a “learning person.”  

“Knowing people” drive their organizations to decline in two ways–they become dogmatic about their specific practices OR overreaching by “moving into sectors or growing to a scale at which the original success factors no longer apply.”  In other words, their pride and ego gets in the way of thinking clearly about their success, and as a result, they “fossilize around their practices” (focusing on what they do–current practices–rather than why they do it–the enduring principles of their success).  Furthermore, they try to do more than they are capable of doing, and lose focus on what they do best.  When leaders and organizations find themselves in this situation, Collins challenges them to ask two questions:  
1.  Does your primary flywheel (the thing that made you successful in the first place) face inevitable demise within the next five to ten years due to forces outside your control–will it become impossible for it to remain best in the world with a robust economic engine?

2.  Have you lost passion for your primary flywheel?

Collins summarizes the first stage of decline by identifying five markers:
  • Success entitlement, arrogance
  • Neglect of a primary flywheel
  • “What” replaces “why”
  • Decline in learning orientation
  • Discounting the role of luck
I find it interesting that hubris born of success is the first stage of decline.  Collins’s research reminds me of a Scripture that could serve as the theme for the beginning of decline:  ”Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).  

Question:  Has your ministry or organizational success created a sense of arrogance in you, your team, or your organization?  What would others that know you well say if they answered for you?

Jim Collins on "Overreaching"

By Stephen Blandino on June 10, 2009 in Leadership, Organizations with 2 Comments

I’m currently reading Jim Collins’ new book, How the Mighty Fall.  It provides some great insight into why and how companies fall from greatness.  I plan to do a more in depth blog post soon, but for now, check out this quote:


“When an organization grows beyond its ability to fill its key seats with the right people, it has set itself up for a fall.  Although complacency and resistance to change remain dangers to any successful enterprise, overreaching better captures how the might fall.”

Ponder that for a long time.  There’s tremendous insight in that statement.

Evaluations: Moving Beyond Beautiful Strategies

By Stephen Blandino on June 8, 2009 in Church, Leadership, Organizations with 0 Comments

Evaluation is an important, yet often neglected, part of organizational life.  When an infatuation with strategy blinds a leader’s ability to evaluate outcomes, the organization drifts to the edge of irrelevance.  British prime minister, Winston Churchill once said, “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” For leaders who thrive on activity, the time it takes to evaluate existing programs, products, systems, and strategies can feel like an emotional beating.  But without evaluation, how well can you steward the time, resources, and mission God has entrusted to you?  It’s during the evaluation gaps that our organizational results are less than stellar.

What type of evaluations should you conduct to move beyond beautiful strategies?  I would encourage you to practice three organizational evaluations.

1.  Mission Evaluations – If your mission defines the reason your church or company exists, it would be missional suicide to never evaluate your progress.  When mission fulfillment isn’t evaluated, the mission begins to creep toward muddied complexity.  The company’s abundance of activity dilutes the potency of its mission.  Mission evaluations serve as a tool to drive constant organizational focus.  What measurable progress has been made in the fulfillment of your mission?

2.  Program Evaluations Based on Original Intent – Why we create programs and why we continue programs are often not the same. Consequently, organizations find themselves misaligned.  If the original intent for the program is no longer being fulfilled by the program, why does the program still exist?  Are your programs accomplishing the purpose for which they were created in the first place?  What evidence would support your answer? How effectively and efficiently is the purpose being achieved?  When programs depart their original intent, the organization’s purpose becomes the protection of its programs rather than the fulfillment of its mission.

3.  Systematic Staff Evaluations – Staff should be evaluated on a systematic basis.  In other words, staff reviews should be built into the organizational calendar as a normal expectation for all team members.  We conduct quarterly reviews with our staff to measure personal growth, organizational goal performance, and to measure key leadership competencies.  In addition, we conduct annual reviews to evaluate overall performance, job satisfaction, work environment, and to conduct 360 degree evaluations.

Question:  What do you evaluate?  How?  How often?

Developing Your Ministry or Organizational Model

By Stephen Blandino on June 3, 2009 in Church, Leadership, Organizations with 1 Comment

Many leaders today are working hard to identify and create a ministry or organizational model that will produce meaningful impact.  Bookshelves are loaded with the latest strategies, ideas, and models for building a thriving church or business.  Books like Simple Church by Thom Rainer, 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, and Lane Jones, and Missional Renaissance by Reggie McNeal are great tools for helping you think about your model.  Every model on the planet is unique and each model has its strengths, as well as its weaknesses.  So how do you create a model that’s right for you?  Do you simply replicate the model that’s most in step with your values and organizational culture?  While there’s nothing wrong with studying the models of other churches and organizations (which I encourage you to do), ultimately your model needs to address three key components–Mission, Methods, and Measurements (as illustrated below):

Mission – The development of a model must begin with the organization’s mission.  Failure to do so results in the tail wagging the dog.  The mission is the organizational trump card to all strategies, ideas, and opportunities.  Without mission, the core of organizational identity does not exist.  What is your mission (why do you exist)?

Methods – Once the mission is clear, appropriate methods should be developed that will drive progress toward the mission.  When methods are adopted that do not align themselves with the mission, organizational drift occurs.  The tendency of many churches and organizations is to create methods (programs, strategies, etc.) without considering the mission.  It tends to happen most in two scenarios:  First, when an organization views itself as invincible (because of current and former success) and therefore engages in the mindless pursuit of “more.”  Or, second, when the organization has stopped growing, and out of a sense of panic, irrationally pursues “the next big thing.”  This “organizational attention deficit disorder” embraces opportunity without any sort of filter.  However, great leaders understand that methods detached from mission are nothing more than black holes for time, money, and resources. What are your methods and do they fulfill your mission?

Measurements – This is the real test–the one that gets overlooked too often.  You must ask, “How do we measure the effectiveness of our methods to fulfill our mission?”  This is not easy.  In church world we tend to measure the ABCs (Attendance, Buildings, and Cash).  While it’s okay to measure these, they reveal very little about your effectiveness in fulfilling your mission–unless your mission is to attract large crowds, build lots of buildings, and make a bunch of money.  Our mission is more about life-change, which is not as easy to measure.  And just because people are showing up does not mean they are growing.  Willowcreek is making some progress in this area through their “Reveal” research (www.willowcreek.com) and Reggie McNeal’s book, Missional Renaissance provides some good insight on developing a new scorecard for the church.  The key is to determine what to measure and how to measure it (which will likely look different for each church and organization) and then turn your measurements into specific questions.  The questions you ask reveal what’s most important to you, and, ultimately, what you’re measuring.  What are you measuring?  Are there gaps in your measurements?  What questions have you developed that are tied to your measurements?

Mission, methods, and measurements are essential to identifying and developing a ministry or organizational model. Once that model becomes clear, work carefully to find a creative yet simple way to communicate it.  

Successful Succession

By Stephen Blandino on June 1, 2009 in Leadership, Organizations with 0 Comments

I recently read Marshall Goldsmith’s book, Succession: Are You Ready? Goldsmith makes a great observation when he writes, “It is easy to fall in love with the baton of leadership. Whenever this happens, it is almost impossible to let it go.” He further asserts that, “Passing the baton is the final challenge of great leadership.”

Leaders that have trouble letting go typically spend an immense amount of time leading their organizations right up to the very end, a marginal amount of time developing their successor, and a very small slice of time creating a “great rest of your life.” However, Goldsmith notes that healthy leaders navigating a healthy transition move carefully through the “letting go” process. They identify and spend increasing amounts of time developing their successor and handing off organizational responsibilities while at the same time giving increasing thought to their life after leaving the organization. Unfortunately many leaders leave and then suffer a conflicting identity crisis.

When a CEO leaves a company it results in a loss–money, perks, status, power, relationships, happiness, meaning, and contribution. Those last three–contribution, meaning, and happiness–are essential to having a great “rest of my life.” Here’s a quick bullet-point list of recommendations from Goldsmith regarding successful succession:

  • Slow down – Slowing down enables you to pass the baton effectively. In the same way runners slow down to hand off the baton, you must slow down by decreasing your responsibilities, increasing the responsibilities of your successor, and setting them up for success. The “slow down” process usually begins by coming to grips with the reality that succession must come into focus.
  • Give considerable time and focus to what you will do with your life after leaving the organization – Leaders must “look for another track and another race. Planning for contribution, meaning, and happiness in your next life will not only help you, it will be good for your successor!”
  • Create a leadership pipeline by developing talent - Some of the most successful transitions involve internal succession. When you are intentional about developing talent, you increase your pool of options and set the organization up to win. “What message is sent to your leaders when you, as a CEO, cannot develop your own successor?”
  • Make an appropriate stakeholder assessment of your potential candidate – Your job is to build a relational bridge between the potential successor and the board and to ask, “Will this candidate be given a fair chance, not only by me, but also by the key stakeholders who are critical to her future success?”
  • Provide or secure executive coaching for your successor – Coaching will help address gaps, behavioral issues, strengths, and weaknesses. Stakeholders should also be involved in this process since they will be around after you leave–such as board members, peers, and direct reports. To facilitate a meaningful coaching process, secure 360-degree reviews to help identify areas that require coaching.
  • Avoid the comparison game – “The more successful we become, the more we can fall into the superstition trap, which, simply stated, is, ‘I behave this way. I am a successful CEO. Therefore, I must be a successful CEO because I behave this way!’” It is essential that you don’t ask, “Why doesn’t she act like me?”, “Why doesn’t she think like me?”, or “Why doesn’t he love my friends?”
  • Make a great exit – Show some class when you leave and “don’t return from the grave.” And if your successor experiences any failures, “don’t fall into the trap of babbling on about ‘what I would have done.’”

Some great insight from Marshall Goldsmith on succession. Regardless of where you are in your organization, what are you doing to prepare for succession? At the least, you can start investing in leaders and developing your talent pool. What else do you need to do?

 

Dave Ramsey’s Organizational Culture

By Stephen Blandino on May 24, 2009 in Leadership, Organizations with 6 Comments

I just returned from 2 1/2 days in Nashville, Tennessee with Dave Ramsey’s organization, The Lampo Group.  Myself, along with our Business Administrator and a lay leader from our church, participated in Ramsey’s Momentum Workshop. While we received some great training and thorough preparation for the Momentum campaign, our team, without a doubt, was most impressed with the organizational culture Dave Ramsey has created.

With approximately 260 employees, Ramsey has created a culture that has earned The Lampo Group, Nashville Business Journal’s “Best Places to Work” in 2006, 2007, and 2008. One of the ingredients to creating a great work environment is clear core values embraced through an entire organization. While The Lampo Group has several core values, let me highlight four of them.

1.  I Am Responsible – Ramsey has created an environment that expects every team member to be accountable for their work and performance. Every staff member that comes to work at The Lampo Group is required to read John Miller’s book, QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life. The premise of Miller’s book is that rather than asking questions that shift the blame (“why”, “when”, or “who” questions), ask questions that begin with “what” or “how”, contain an “I”, and focus on action.

For example, rather than asking, “Whose going to solve the problem?”, ask, “How can I become part of the solution?” Instead of asking, “When is somebody going to train me?”, ask, “What can I do to develop myself?” The Lampo Group does not allow victim thinking or blaming others. Responsibility and accountability is embraced at every level.

2.  No Gossip – Dave Ramsey takes this very seriously. If a staff member gossips, they receive a warning. If it happens again, they lose their job. Gossip is forbidden. Lampo’s policy is, “Negatives go up and positives go all around.” In other words, if you are talking to somebody who cannot fix the problem, then you are gossiping. Negatives go up–that is, they must be shared with your leader. Only the leader can address the negative issues. Positives on the other hand go all around. On Mondays during staff meetings, positive testimonies are often shared with the entire team. The organization has learned to celebrate victories.

3.  Share the Wealth – Dave Ramsey is committed to sharing the profits of his company. When staff members perform, they are rewarded for their efforts. And the longer they perform with excellence, the greater those profits are. One staff member told me that when she was hired, the person interviewing her didn’t make a big deal about the profit sharing benefit. However, she was pleasantly surprised after her first month on the job. Dave Ramsey believes in taking care of his employees. If you perform, you will benefit. If you don’t, you will be held accountable.

4.  Passion/Attitude/Customer Service – Every team member (and I mean EVERY team member) demonstrated passion, a positive attitude, and outstanding customer service while our team was on their campus. Each day we were greeted with smiles and enthusiasm. When we returned to our hotel rooms and when we headed to the conference each morning, books, chocolates, and gifts were awaiting us. The meals were great, the service was authentic, and the environment was very positive. And when we toured the organization’s building, we received nothing but warm reception, homemade sweets at the cafe, and humility and a positive attitude from each staff member we met. And when Dave Ramsey spoke to the group, it was obvious why the team possessed these qualities. Their leader is modeling the way.

Core values are much more than neat ideas hanging on the wall. They are shaping the behavior of Ramsey’s team. That’s how you know a value is the real deal–when it actually affects attitudes, behaviors, and practices. And at the center of the organizational culture at The Lampo Group is genuine servant-leadership.

Dave Ramsey has modeled servant-leadership and his team has embraced this value at every level. As we were leaving, we met the head of HR. One gentleman, from another church, was so impressed with the organizational culture that he asked for the man’s business card because he was considering applying for a job.

What are your core values? Are they penetrating your church or organization? What needs to change about your organizational culture? Are you leading the way?

 

Four People Needed on Every Team

By Stephen Blandino on May 10, 2009 in Church, Leadership, Organizations with 0 Comments

Effective teams are united by a common goal.  But reaching that goal is the real test of the team.  Unless a team, as Jim Collins asserts, has the right people sitting in the right seats on the bus, the ministry or organization will likely fall short of its vision.  So that raises an important questions–who should be on your team?  While a team needs people with unique talents, skill sets, and passions to fulfill its vision, few teams will succeed without the following four people:


1.  Innovators – Innovators are rich in idea capital.  They bring to the team innovative strategies, creative ideas, and fresh thinking.  Innovators keep teams focused on the possibilities and help the organization dream boldly.  They color outside the lines, help leaders challenge assumptions, and enable organization’s to break out of ruts of irrelevance.  

2.  Influencers – While innovators come up with great ideas, they often need somebody else to sell the ideas for them.  That’s where influencers come in–they are the leaders.  Because leadership is influence, it always takes a leader to influence a group or an entire organization in new directions.  And because innovators are usually associated with “change,” it takes a good leader to help others embrace the change that comes with new ideas.  Leaders are rich in influence capital.

3.  Initiators – Innovating and influencing can only get you so far–somebody has to do the work.  Initiators possess a strong work ethic and are not afraid to get their hands dirty.  These team members have the extraordinary ability to execute.  They can take an idea that an innovator has dreamed and an influencer has sold and turn it into action.  Without initiators, every dream would remain nothing more than a dream.  

4.  Investors – Ideas might be free but implementing them is not.  While initiators are the doers, investors are the funders.  They provide the finances necessary to make organizational initiatives come true.

These four team members work beautifully together.  Innovators come up with ideas.  Influencers assess the “sell-a-bility” of those ideas and serve as the leaders that help ideas get traction.  That’s when the initiators and investors step up to the plate.  They make those ideas become a reality by serving as the work force and the funding source.  So who is missing from your team?  Some teams have multiple innovators, influencers, initiators, and investors.  And many team members fulfill more than one role.  The key is to insure each role is well-represented.  

8 Ideas for Creating an Effective Hiring Process

By Stephen Blandino on May 6, 2009 in Church, Leadership, Organizations with 2 Comments

Have you ever made a poor hiring choice? Most leaders have and it can prove to be a great organizational setback. By the time you realize your new hire is not working out, retrain them, get them coaching, work through the process of firing them, and then hire a replacement, it’s not uncommon to lose at least two years of progress. The old saying goes, “hire slow and fire quick.” And leadership consultant, Dr. Sam Chand, asserts that the best time to fire someone is the first time you think of it.

Regardless of how you view hiring and firing, the truth is we all want to make the best hiring decisions. So how do you do that?    The following eight keys are a great place to begin:

1.  Know Why You’re Hiring and What You Need - Our tendency is to hire staff to fill roles that we’ve always had. But when hiring, it is always smart to ask, “Do we still need someone in this role?” “Does the role need to change?” “Can a volunteer or part-time employee fill the role?” “Is there a different role that would add greater value to the organization?” And whatever you do, don’t hire people to fill positions, hire them to fulfill responsibilities. Get clear about what you’re trying to accomplish and then staff around those responsibilities and your growth objectives.

2.  Develop a Multi-Stage Hiring Process – A single-stage hiring process is very prone to mistakes. I would encourage you to consider a multi-stage process with at least four interviews.  Here’s our detailed hiring process at Christ Church.  The four interviews should include:

  • The Character & Competence Interview – This is the first interview and focuses on a candidate’s character, integrity, work ethic, spiritual history, relationship with God, beliefs, abilities, gifts, passions, skills, and experience. The interview gives you an immediate gauge on whether the individual has the ability to do the job and the character and spirituality to start and finish well.
  • The Chemistry Interview – This interview focuses on whether or not the individual “fits” the chemistry of the staff as well as the candidates emotional and relational health. Think this is unnecessary? I once had a pastor tell me he fired someone because they were just plain weird–nobody on the staff liked them. Chemistry is essential to a healthy staff environment.  The chemistry interview should include a focus on core values, ministry philosophy, emotional stability, relational health, emotional intelligence, people skills, and family health.
  • The Compensation Interview – The compensation interview focuses on the financial health of the candidate as well as the financial package of the role being filled. While general financial issues should be addressed in the first interview to ensure you can afford the hire, the compensation interview provides a much more detailed analysis.
  • The Final Interview – The final interview should, if not already conducted, include an on-site visit. If the role is a key position in the organization, it’s best to have more than one on-site visit. This interview allows key leaders, staff, and board members to meet and interact with the candidate face-to-face.

Not every candidate will make it through all four interviews. Frequently it only takes the first interview to realize there is no need to move forward.

3.  Involve Different Leaders in the Interview Process – This is one of the biggest mistakes leaders make. Too often the interview process is limited to the human resource director, the leader of the nonprofit, or the senior pastor of the church. The problem with limiting the interview process to one individual is that it often leads to emotional or “mercy” hires. Each of the four interviews should be conducted by different people. This will help you consider the candidate objectively and will help you catch any red flags. It also saves the senior leader an enormous amount of time because they only interview candidates that are considered the very best.

4.  Reserve the Senior Leader’s Interview for the End – If you are the key leader in the organization, your interview should be the last. This will keep you from influencing others involved in the interview process and, again, will keep you from making a hire because you “like” the person. Emotional hires or mercy hires rarely work out. I can still remember one candidate that went through all four interviews at Christ Church before we pulled the plug. So what was the problem? While we all really liked this candidate, there were some red flags during the process. One of our staff nailed it when he said, “We’re all trying too hard to find a reason to hire this candidate.” We liked him so much that we were tempted to overlook the red flags. That settled it and we moved on. Emotional hires are often made when the likability of an individual gets in the way of their character or competence. Incorporating multiple interviews and saving the senior leader’s interview for the end will help guard against this.

5.  Make Reference Checks – This is a no-brainer but is still necessary to point out. Make multiple reference checks and if at all possible contact people not listed as references on their resume. Always ask, “Would you hire this individual if you were in my shoes? Why or why not? If not, who would you hire?” And if they have worked for the reference, ask, “Would you hire them all over again if the role was open on your staff?” Push for honest answers.

6.  Utilize Assessment Tools – Quality assessments usually don’t lie. Consider using a strengths assessment, personality assessment, spiritual gifts assessment, emotional intelligence assessment, and leadership style assessment. The results of the assessments will help you determine if the individual is a fit for the job and if their values connect well with the organization’s values.

7.  Include Appropriate Orientations – When a new hire is made, be sure appropriate orientations are made to cover issues such as policy and procedures, equipment usage, goals, personal growth planning, forms, financial issues, insurance, insider language, etc.

8.  Put Your Hiring Process in Writing – Having the process in writing will help you systematically follow it. You might even turn your process into a checklist.

These are just a few suggestions to get you pointed in the right direction.  Again, Here’s our detailed hiring process at Christ Church for additional ideas.

 

Six Questions to Ask Before Launching a New Initiative

By Stephen Blandino on April 27, 2009 in Leadership, Organizations with 0 Comments

Launching new initiatives in a ministry or organization can be exciting. So how do you determine what to start? Because there will always be more opportunities than time, energy, and resources, focus is absolutely essential. To help you find focus when navigating the idea jungle, consider six filtering questions when choosing new initiatives to launch:

1.  Does it advance God’s Kingdom? This is the end all question. If the new work does not contribute positively to the advancement of God’s Kingdom, it should be a “no go.” Unfortunately, many initiatives advance personal kingdoms rather than walking in step with the work God is up to in the world.

2.  Is it in alignment with our vision and mission? Strategies without alignment are nothing more than black holes for time, money, and talent. You must be able to clearly connect the dots between a new initiative and the organization’s vision and mission. You will undoubtedly be tempted to stretch or force it to make it fit. It’s amazing how we can convince ourselves that a good idea is a God idea when, in fact, it may be nothing more than a great idea for somebody else’s church. Remember, vision and mission are the big rocks in the jar. Don’t fill the jar of your leadership with the pebbles of neat ideas and fail to leave room for the God ideas that will help you fulfill God-inspired vision.

3.  Do we have, or can we acquire, the leadership to drive it?  When we fail to answer this question, guess who ends up driving the new initiative–YOU. That’s why creating a leadership pipeline is so important.  

4.  How will we get the resources to effectively launch it? Notice I didn’t say, “Do you have the resources to launch it?” You will never feel you have enough money and volunteers to start something new. The resource challenge, as Bill Hybels observes, is where a leader’s mettle is tested. One of the greatest keys to the resource challenge is to prioritize your initiatives.  

5.  Will the initiative compete with existing ministry or create sideways energy? The tendency is to launch many ministries a mile wide and an inch deep rather than honing in on a handful of initiatives that will make the deepest impact. Launching too much too soon tends to create not only a resource drain on the organization, but an emotional drain as well. Andy Stanley warns of the dangers of sideways energy. Sideways energy occurs when ministries compete with one another or we manufacture enthusiasm about programs that we’re really not all that excited about. In other words, we tell everybody to get involved, but deep down on the inside we wish we didn’t have to get involved ourselves. I’m sure you can think of a few ministries or initiatives in your church or organization where you manufacture energy.

6.  Is it sustainable? Many leaders are great starters but horrible finishers. That’s why it is so important to press pause on your excitement about new programs and ask yourself, and those you lead, “Is this new initiative sustainable?” Launching without finishing never does much long-term good for the Kingdom.  

Think about a new ministry, program, or initiative you would like to launch and use the six questions to filter whether or not it’s the right initiative to launch. Because leaders are typically emotionally tied to their ideas, it’s usually best to answer these questions with a core team that will shoot straight with you. 

Creating Events or Solving Problems

By Stephen Blandino on March 22, 2009 in Church, Leadership, Organizations with 0 Comments

Albert Einstein once said, “You cannot solve a problem using the same mindset that created it.”  When leaders attempt to solve problems without changing their thinking, they typically do nothing more than create events.  In their book, Business Think, authors Dave Marcum, Steve Smith, and Mahan Khalsa assert that solutions are nothing more than events unless and until they prevent a problem or invent a solution the organization needs (p. 81).  Too often organizations launch initiatives that drain resources but ultimately do not solve problems or move the organization strategically toward it’s mission.  In essence, they become nothing more than events.  To prevent this, leaders must first define the real problem and get to the root cause by asking two questions: “Is there a problem behind the problem?” and “What hard data (facts and reality) and soft data (feedback and opinions) have we obtained to show evidence of the real problem?”  Events are nothing more than pre-mature solutions and are usually black holes for time, money, and energy.  Are you creating events or solving real problems?  

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