STRATEGY CENTRAL

I continue to think about how huge the learnings from 7 Practices of Effective Ministry are.  Absolutely huge.  There’s enough here to keep me busy for a long time.  Think again about the first practice, Clarify the Win…

Clarifying the win is something beyond a mission statement.  It’s being very specific about what outcome you’re looking for.  And I love the four steps in this practice:  (1) sum up the win in a simple phrase, (2) keep the win as specific as possible, (3) restate the win frequently and creatively, and (4) meet to clarify the win at every level.

I was thinking about the importance of those four steps in my own role here at Lake.  As the small groups guy, what is a win for my area of ministry?  How would I say it in a simple phrase?  It’s more specific than "when we launch more groups" or "when we get more people in groups."  It’s gotta be more like, "a win happens when a group has a discussion that leads to life-change."  And that sets up a whole list of good conversations on my team about our leader training environments, the way we keep score, etc.

And that gives me lots to think about and a road map for the summer.  What about you?

Over the weekend I read a fabulous book!  The 7 Practices of Effective Ministry"   Really, really helpful.  Think about the simplicity of Practice #1:  Clarify the win.  Here’s a definition:  "communicating to your team what is really important and what really matters.  Asking certain questions, rewarding an individual’s performance, celebrating significant outcomes–these are all part of clarifying the win.  Practicing this principle means that you are intentional about defining a win so that you don’t accidentally communicate the wrong win or keep your team guessing about what is really important."

See, that’s big.  The metaphor used throughout the book is a baseball game.  And in baseball everyone knows what the objective is.  Get on base.  Move to second.  Move to third.  Score.  There’s no debate about what it means to win in baseball.

What about your church or organization?  Does your team know what it means to win?  Or are you leaving that up to each person to define it for themselves?   

There are things that you just know when you see them.  Hard to describe sometimes.  A really good movie.  A great meal.  A really wonderful book.  And I have to say, I’ve stumbled on a really good book. 7 Practices of Effective Ministry is very helpful.  If you haven’t picked it up yet, you’re going to want to add this to your reading list.

The second practice, Think Steps, Not Programs is a great example of how helpful the book is.  Think about this quote from Alice in Wonderland found in the chapter on the second practice:  "If a step is not strategic, then it’s not really a step to somewhere.  When Alice is lost in Wonderland she asks the Cheshire Cat, ‘Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?’  ‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ the Cat answers.  When Alice replies that it really doesn’t matter, the grinning feline says, ‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.’"

Exactly. 

Out.

Yesterday we talked about the fact that "operational effectiveness is necessary, but not sufficient."  And today maybe you’re asking, "but what does that have to do with me?  After all, we’re a church!"  Yes.  Now you’re getting part of it.  But maybe not all of it.

For many of us the best way to understand operational effectiveness will be to think about the process of designing and implementing a worship service (believer focused or seeker sensitive, etc.) that really helps people connect with God.  Doing the best you can with what you have might be operational effectiveness.  But it’s the next step, connecting OE with strategy (the intentional choice of certain activities over others) that will produce the greatest results.  Why?  Because even the most well thought out worship service needs people in it!  And they come from somewhere!  So the question of strategy might come into play as you think through the steps that will deliver people to what you’re producing.

So, let’s talk about the intentional choice of certain activities over others.  Most of us are sitting in places where we’re looking at a church or a ministry or a project that is already running.  And you’ve already got programs in place.  As Yamashita and Spataro put it in UNSTUCK most of us are not dealing with a blank slate, but instead are working with the hand we’ve been dealt.

And that is where push comes to shove.  Because "the essence of strategy is choosing what not to do."  And we’re all, everyone of us, locked in the doing of things that not only don’t contribute to the mission…but in some cases keep us from having the kind of impact that we long to have.

More tomorrow.

Out.

I just read a great article by Michael E. Porter, "What is Strategy?" It was referred to in The Strategy-Focused Organization, a very helpful book that I’ve been working my way through.  The Porter article is very insightful, tremendously helpful for any organization attempting to determine what next steps to take.

Maybe you’re like the team that I’m part of and you’ve spent months (I actually think our team spent several years) developing a new purpose/mission statement.  Now we’re taking the same, somewhat languid, approach to dream up a compelling statement that will capture the essence of our vision.  Cool.  Wish it was more front-burner.  But still good.

But, the question that I have is this: once we articulate that vision will we have the guts to focus on the things that will actually get us to that place we’re dreaming of?  And that is where strategy fits in.  And that is where many attempts to actually DO SOMETHING fail.

Porter makes several really helpful points.  Over the next few days I’ll focus on a few of them, and here’s the first: Operational effectiveness is necessary, but not sufficient.  Here’s his point…every management tool or technique that has been developed (Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, reengineering, change management, etc.), while designed to produce greater operational effectiveness, do not replace strategy.  It is the combination of operational effectiveness (doing the best job possible with the resources that you have) and strategy (the intentional choice of certain activities over others) that will produce the greatest results.

Here’s the question for today: once you know where you’d like to go are you willing to choose to do only those activities that will get you there?

Out.

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

What if you have a well developed mission statement or purpose statement, and what if you have the beginnings of a vision statement, but what if what you’re doing now will not lead to where you’d love to go?  In other words, what if the way you’re operating right now will not land you anywhere near your dream?  Then you need to begin to think about how you will reach your destination.  And that’s where strategy comes in.

A good example of the concept is Willow Creek Community Church’s well known combination of mission, vision, and strategy.  Willow’s mission is "to make fully devoted followers of Christ out of irreligious people."  Their vision is to become a biblically functioning community.  And their "7 step strategy" is a great example of strategy is developed to help you move from where you are to where you want to be.  More on the strategy later.

Monday, June 13, 2005

Later the same day.  The question about the customer really is central.  We all ought to be asking ourselves whether we’re actually succeeding at what we’re setting out to do.  But to ask that question…we need to know what the target is!  No business can truly succeed in the attempt to satisfy the interests of everyone.  And neither can a church.

In the same way that McDonald’s has identified their target customer and Outback has identified their target customer…churches can do the same.

Maybe you’re an idealist.  And in your heart of heart you hope for the day when you can reach EVERYONE with your message and include EVERYONE in what you’re doing.  Get real.  Businesses succeed by identifying their customer and developing a strategy to meet THAT customer’s needs.  Churches can do the same thing.

Out.

mark

Monday, June 13, 2005

Ok, here’s the thing.  I know I need to do this.  But I don’t yet know how it will work.  Let’s try it and find out.

I do know I need to start the conversation by talking about where things are right now.  And that has to do with strategy.  But it seems that it begins before that.  It begins with the question, "who is our customer?"  Or maybe, "who do we want as our customer?"

Who is that for us at Lake?  Good question!  And is our customer who we wish it was?  That is another good question!

So far…only questions.  Stay tuned, not for answers, but for ideas.

Out.

mark