Drive is another great book I read in the book store across the road from my workplace. OK, I admit it, I broke down and bought this one.
The overall premis of the book is to answer the question, "What are the ingredients that motivate people most effectively?" That's how I would put it. Pink traces several shifts in corporate America's mentality of motivation through out the last few hundred years. Then, he challenges us toward a new shift.
He suggest that the most motivated organizational cultures have three ingredients:
1) Autonomy
2) Development
3) Purpose.
1. Autonomy. We should create organizations that let team members do their thing their way. Sure everyone may need some guidance, but the less you can get by with the better. Give people a simple measurable job description and let them accomplish how ever they want. Let them work 12 hours a week if that is best. Let them work 80. 9-5? cool. 2am to 12pm? If that works. Supervise less. Produce more.
Two ways a church could add this principle into their organizations. 1) With church staff, take the time to craft clear expectations. Then, let them try to accomplish those expectations any way they want to. Let them work any schedule they need. Leaders can simply meet weekly or monthly and discuss progress, help overcome obstacles, etc. What if they fail to meet the expectations? Help them figure out why and how. Move them to another area of responsibility if necessary. Fire them if you have to. Just don't manage them to death. If you have to manage someone more than an hour or two a week to accomplish their expectations then you either need to change how you act in that hour or change the person over the task,
2) The second thing churches can do with this info is to take their hands off of volunteers. State clear expectations. Give them parameters. Then, let people create ministry. Priesthood of the believers stuff.
2. Development. Organizations that are the filled with the most motivated workforces help their teams develop and grow in areas of their own passions and strengths. Simply put, people need to be helped to discover their strengths and unique contributions and then we need to help them perform in those areas of passion at the highest level possible.
Shouldn't have to make the connection to ministry on this one. But, I will quickly. Let people do what they a) love and b) what they are successful at when they do it. Don't ask them to do a bunch of other crap. "But then we won't have someone to run the children's ministry!" Then stop doing it. Don't do anything that doesn't have a corresponding gifted leader. Church's operate according to flesh and outside the provision of God when they do a ministry "just because we are supposed to" even thought no one is passion about doing it. That's why you have burn out. That's why you can't get enough volunteers.
3. Purpose. People have to see and feel that their efforts are worth something to the world, that they are making a significant contribution. Shouldn't have to make the connection to ministry on this one either. So I won't!
Showing posts with label leadership. Show all posts
Showing posts with label leadership. Show all posts
Friday, September 10, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Reflections from ReWork by 37signals.com
During my lunch hour at work I wander over to the book store and read. Saves money. Inspires my brain. Recently I picked up ReWork, a book by the guys who started 37signals.com. It is basically their attempt to share the wisdom they've learned from developing a successful company. Though, it might be better to call their advice unwisdom. Most of the book basically shoots down much what we are told are the principles to organizational success... and most of the time you come way agreeing with them.
Here are a few thoughts the book inspired in me related to church planting.
1) Break the rules. Why? Because there are no rules. The rules are a facade. Just do your thing. Do it the way you feel comfortable. Work hard. Sweat. Bleed. But, do it your way. I doubt these guys sat down and wrote out a hundred principles of unwisdom before they began their company. It seems they just let their business come out of them, out of who they are.
2) Several sections of the book talk about action. Just do something. Move. That made me think about my brilliant church model. The one that I like to draw on napkins. The one that I share when someone asks me about my dreams. Until I read this book, I think the church model was only in my head and on my computer and on scrap papers wadded up in trash cans. I asked myself a hard question. "Can I DO this thing on the napkin right now? Thankfully, the answer was yes. I can do it today. I can do with a handful of people or a busload of people or a shipload. My challenge for any church planting types out there reading my blog (yes you do exist in my imagination) is to run your strategy/model through the "do it now" filter. Can you? is the first question. Are you? is the best question.
3) Related to the previous idea. Get what you need to do your dream and do it. But, only worry about getting what you need. Do you need a projector to have a small group? No. Do you need a band to help people encounter God? No. You probably already have what you need. If you don't then you're strategy is probably too... too.... clunky. How will people who follow you do the things you are asking them to do if it takes you $100,000 dollars of equipment to do it? It goes back to number two (not that number two, the one above). You're vision for the change you hope to affect in people's lives needs to be simple enough to do now. Then, when you ask them to do it they can do it too. That should help with fund raising.
4) Essence. These guys started a business by creating product that they liked do do things they needed done. It came from their essence. That sounds cheesy. Point? Build your church out of your own essence. It must reflect you. Your values. Your passions.
Heck, if I had any readers, this would probably get a little backlash, but build a church for yourself. I don't mean that as bad as it sounds. Build the kind of church you would want to go to. It's the artist principle. The best artists, musicians, and writers, create their art for themselves. Not in a selfish way. They want other people to experience their creations too, but they are the first audience. Of course for churches, God is our first audience. And, there are some ground rules we have to follow. But, if you don't like or even love your church what's the point? Steve Jobs says that is the way Apple designs technology. They don't design according to a customer panel. They design stuff that they want to use.
Honestly, that is integrity. It's also sanity. Chasing anything else will make you crazy.
Here are a few thoughts the book inspired in me related to church planting.
1) Break the rules. Why? Because there are no rules. The rules are a facade. Just do your thing. Do it the way you feel comfortable. Work hard. Sweat. Bleed. But, do it your way. I doubt these guys sat down and wrote out a hundred principles of unwisdom before they began their company. It seems they just let their business come out of them, out of who they are.
2) Several sections of the book talk about action. Just do something. Move. That made me think about my brilliant church model. The one that I like to draw on napkins. The one that I share when someone asks me about my dreams. Until I read this book, I think the church model was only in my head and on my computer and on scrap papers wadded up in trash cans. I asked myself a hard question. "Can I DO this thing on the napkin right now? Thankfully, the answer was yes. I can do it today. I can do with a handful of people or a busload of people or a shipload. My challenge for any church planting types out there reading my blog (yes you do exist in my imagination) is to run your strategy/model through the "do it now" filter. Can you? is the first question. Are you? is the best question.
3) Related to the previous idea. Get what you need to do your dream and do it. But, only worry about getting what you need. Do you need a projector to have a small group? No. Do you need a band to help people encounter God? No. You probably already have what you need. If you don't then you're strategy is probably too... too.... clunky. How will people who follow you do the things you are asking them to do if it takes you $100,000 dollars of equipment to do it? It goes back to number two (not that number two, the one above). You're vision for the change you hope to affect in people's lives needs to be simple enough to do now. Then, when you ask them to do it they can do it too. That should help with fund raising.
4) Essence. These guys started a business by creating product that they liked do do things they needed done. It came from their essence. That sounds cheesy. Point? Build your church out of your own essence. It must reflect you. Your values. Your passions.
Heck, if I had any readers, this would probably get a little backlash, but build a church for yourself. I don't mean that as bad as it sounds. Build the kind of church you would want to go to. It's the artist principle. The best artists, musicians, and writers, create their art for themselves. Not in a selfish way. They want other people to experience their creations too, but they are the first audience. Of course for churches, God is our first audience. And, there are some ground rules we have to follow. But, if you don't like or even love your church what's the point? Steve Jobs says that is the way Apple designs technology. They don't design according to a customer panel. They design stuff that they want to use.
Honestly, that is integrity. It's also sanity. Chasing anything else will make you crazy.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Moving from the What to How and the Why
I recently watched a great TED talk (click here) by Simon Sinek about how the best companies and leaders inspire others. I thought his insights would be helpful as we think about developing a vision. To review quickly from the last post, a vision is where we are going (the what/where), how we are going to get there (the how/the strategy) and why we are bothering to go there in the first place(the why, the who, the problem that must be solved, etc.).
Sinek's TED talk reveals that the best companies tell people the why before they tell them the how or the what. He gives the example of Apple, a company that reinvented itself with their "Think Different" campaign (best commercial ever by the way) that communicated who they were, what they were about, and, because of who they were and what they were for, why they did what they did. He also mentions Martin Luther King, who never talked about the how or the what of racial cultural change. He only talked about the why, the dream. He pounded his beliefs to his audience over and over.
People connect to us over the why -the who we we are and what we are about pieces- before they care about what we are doing or how we are doing it. Most people, once they believe in your why, don't care about the why or the how.
For a church planter, I think there is great wisdom in this insight. We talk to people all the time about our visions for planting. We share before church staffs, large audiences, over lunch, through blogs. What do we share most often? What do we share first? If Sinek is right, we should spend most of our time talking about the why.
So...
1. The "what" is where are going. It should be framed by by asking the question "What can we do better than 10,000 other churches?"
2. The "how" is the things we are going to do to get to the what. It is the strategy piece. The unique practices or experiences we are going to create to make the what happen.
3. The "why" is... well, what's the point? "What" we are doing and our "how" will probably not be easy at times. Why should I buy in? What motivated you to do this in the first place? Who are you? What are you about? What makes you do this thing the way you are doing it? The more honest, unique, and real the answer to the question better it will connect to people who agree with you. The more generic it is the less it will weigh. (The more you spread weight over a multitude of people the less weight they feel).
A few more thoughts on "why." The more specific you are the more narrow audience you will attract. The more people you might offend. This is a good thing. Apple's launch into being the most successful company of this decade was the result of alienating some people as much as it was the result of opening their arms to others.
Also, whenever you are done crafting your vision and strategy, determine how you will measure it's success. This is where the what becomes more helpful. Why's are harder to measure. That's all for now. Thanks for listening.
Sinek's TED talk reveals that the best companies tell people the why before they tell them the how or the what. He gives the example of Apple, a company that reinvented itself with their "Think Different" campaign (best commercial ever by the way) that communicated who they were, what they were about, and, because of who they were and what they were for, why they did what they did. He also mentions Martin Luther King, who never talked about the how or the what of racial cultural change. He only talked about the why, the dream. He pounded his beliefs to his audience over and over.
People connect to us over the why -the who we we are and what we are about pieces- before they care about what we are doing or how we are doing it. Most people, once they believe in your why, don't care about the why or the how.
For a church planter, I think there is great wisdom in this insight. We talk to people all the time about our visions for planting. We share before church staffs, large audiences, over lunch, through blogs. What do we share most often? What do we share first? If Sinek is right, we should spend most of our time talking about the why.
So...
1. The "what" is where are going. It should be framed by by asking the question "What can we do better than 10,000 other churches?"
2. The "how" is the things we are going to do to get to the what. It is the strategy piece. The unique practices or experiences we are going to create to make the what happen.
3. The "why" is... well, what's the point? "What" we are doing and our "how" will probably not be easy at times. Why should I buy in? What motivated you to do this in the first place? Who are you? What are you about? What makes you do this thing the way you are doing it? The more honest, unique, and real the answer to the question better it will connect to people who agree with you. The more generic it is the less it will weigh. (The more you spread weight over a multitude of people the less weight they feel).
A few more thoughts on "why." The more specific you are the more narrow audience you will attract. The more people you might offend. This is a good thing. Apple's launch into being the most successful company of this decade was the result of alienating some people as much as it was the result of opening their arms to others.
Also, whenever you are done crafting your vision and strategy, determine how you will measure it's success. This is where the what becomes more helpful. Why's are harder to measure. That's all for now. Thanks for listening.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Creating a Vision
During the previous blog I talked about the four steps to successful leadership. The first step that we talked about was "Creating a Vision." Humor me for a little while as a share a few thoughts on creating a vision.
What is a vision? A vision is simply an idea of where you want to be in the future. For the author it is the finished book. For the runner it is the goal at the end of the race. For an NFL team it might be the Vince Lombardi Trophy for winning a SuperBowl. A vision is not complicated. But, it is very important.
If it is so simple why do some organizations struggle with it? Sometimes a team struggles with vision because their destination is really hard to put into words or pictures. Maybe they're going somewhere they have never been before. Sometimes a group struggles with a vision because it isn't weighty enough. The why question isn't answered. Why should I make this business profitable? What's the big deal?
Some questions to ask yourself about vision: What do we want to accomplish? What imprint do we want to leave on the world? Why do we want to do this? Can we do this? It might be difficult for me to get buy in from a church start team if my vision is to "Win the Super Bowl."
I'm probably getting a little ahead of myself. So much of a successful vision comes in the next steps of leadership, communicating and transferring vision. Creating a vision is often the easy part. But, there are some important things to consider to make sure your vision is clear. Clear for you. Clear for others.
Recently I read this blog where Tony Morgan interviewed Will Mancini, the founder and Clarity Evangelist of Auxano about having a clear vision. I think the most salient piece of information I got from this interview was his "vision framing question." The question is "What can your church do better than 10,000 churches?" I think that is a great place to start. It helps you really think about your organizational strengths and passions. It is clarifying too. It keeps you from just photocopying someone else's brilliant vision. Maybe what they do doesn't fit your team. A great idea for one may not be for everyone. So, vision may start with a little self discovery huh?
Another helpful resource is Andy Stanley's Visioneering. He reminds us that vision is at it's heart a solution to a problem that must to be solved. What problem does your vision solve? Does anyone else care about this problem?
Both of these questions start with the "what." So, vision is the summary of several questions.
Where do we want to end up?
Who are we? (Our vision has to fit)
What are we going to do
But I think the most important question's are how and why. That will probably be a good blog for next time. "Moving from the what to the how and the why."
What is a vision? A vision is simply an idea of where you want to be in the future. For the author it is the finished book. For the runner it is the goal at the end of the race. For an NFL team it might be the Vince Lombardi Trophy for winning a SuperBowl. A vision is not complicated. But, it is very important.
If it is so simple why do some organizations struggle with it? Sometimes a team struggles with vision because their destination is really hard to put into words or pictures. Maybe they're going somewhere they have never been before. Sometimes a group struggles with a vision because it isn't weighty enough. The why question isn't answered. Why should I make this business profitable? What's the big deal?
Some questions to ask yourself about vision: What do we want to accomplish? What imprint do we want to leave on the world? Why do we want to do this? Can we do this? It might be difficult for me to get buy in from a church start team if my vision is to "Win the Super Bowl."
I'm probably getting a little ahead of myself. So much of a successful vision comes in the next steps of leadership, communicating and transferring vision. Creating a vision is often the easy part. But, there are some important things to consider to make sure your vision is clear. Clear for you. Clear for others.
Recently I read this blog where Tony Morgan interviewed Will Mancini, the founder and Clarity Evangelist of Auxano about having a clear vision. I think the most salient piece of information I got from this interview was his "vision framing question." The question is "What can your church do better than 10,000 churches?" I think that is a great place to start. It helps you really think about your organizational strengths and passions. It is clarifying too. It keeps you from just photocopying someone else's brilliant vision. Maybe what they do doesn't fit your team. A great idea for one may not be for everyone. So, vision may start with a little self discovery huh?
Another helpful resource is Andy Stanley's Visioneering. He reminds us that vision is at it's heart a solution to a problem that must to be solved. What problem does your vision solve? Does anyone else care about this problem?
Both of these questions start with the "what." So, vision is the summary of several questions.
Where do we want to end up?
Who are we? (Our vision has to fit)
What are we going to do
But I think the most important question's are how and why. That will probably be a good blog for next time. "Moving from the what to the how and the why."
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Leadership Cycle
I was asked a few months ago to explain my philosophy of leadership. Funny, I really hadn't thought about leadership that critically before. I just sought to have impact with people. After a lot of reflection, I developed what for me has been a helpful tool when it comes to consistent leadership. I thought it would be fun to talk about this "Leadership Cycle" on the blog as a way to get started thinking through a few deeper ideas -deeper for me any way.
For today, I will just give a basic overview. Later I will go a little deeper on each part of the process. So here it goes:
The Leadership Cycle is basically four steps which come to think of it might mean it is not a cycle. Nomenclature will come later I guess.
Step 1. Develop a Vision. You can't help people arrive at a destination unless you know where that destination lies.
Step 2. Communicate the Vision. This is a very important step in the process. I would say that most leaders do not spend enough time carefully considering the effects of clearly communicating a vision. A simple test will determine if you are communicating it successfully. Can your team repeat it and explain it at a moments notice? You will not be able to move to the next step until the answer is yes.
Step 3. Transfer the Vision. After your team knows the vision well and can repeat it, do they buy in? Do they take personal ownership of accomplishing the vision? This step is the most important step in the process. It is where real leadership is brought to play.
Step 4. Perform the Vision. Each piece of this process is useless if it is all theoretical. The leader has to help the team accomplish the tasks and actions necessary to make the vision a reality. The leader, at this point, becomes a coach. He develops his team members to make sure they are performing well. He is the constant motivator, teacher, and servant.
So, the leader is a dreamer, a communicator, a leader, and a coach. Over the next few blogs I will attempt to unpack these ideas a little more and provide some resources to help fulfill them at a high level. Until then, one final thought. The leader must involve his team in each step of this process as much as possible. The more the team is a part of each step of the process the more efficiently they will accomplish the vision.
For today, I will just give a basic overview. Later I will go a little deeper on each part of the process. So here it goes:
The Leadership Cycle is basically four steps which come to think of it might mean it is not a cycle. Nomenclature will come later I guess.
Step 1. Develop a Vision. You can't help people arrive at a destination unless you know where that destination lies.
Step 2. Communicate the Vision. This is a very important step in the process. I would say that most leaders do not spend enough time carefully considering the effects of clearly communicating a vision. A simple test will determine if you are communicating it successfully. Can your team repeat it and explain it at a moments notice? You will not be able to move to the next step until the answer is yes.
Step 3. Transfer the Vision. After your team knows the vision well and can repeat it, do they buy in? Do they take personal ownership of accomplishing the vision? This step is the most important step in the process. It is where real leadership is brought to play.
Step 4. Perform the Vision. Each piece of this process is useless if it is all theoretical. The leader has to help the team accomplish the tasks and actions necessary to make the vision a reality. The leader, at this point, becomes a coach. He develops his team members to make sure they are performing well. He is the constant motivator, teacher, and servant.
So, the leader is a dreamer, a communicator, a leader, and a coach. Over the next few blogs I will attempt to unpack these ideas a little more and provide some resources to help fulfill them at a high level. Until then, one final thought. The leader must involve his team in each step of this process as much as possible. The more the team is a part of each step of the process the more efficiently they will accomplish the vision.
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