Will Mancini

Today I met with an elder board in a church of 1800 that’s been navigating transition over the last five years. They were asking the classic questions about the rate of change in the organization, like how fast is too fast, etc. As a whole, they were tired of “fighting fires” and they talked with degree of desperation about wanting to get on with the vision. 

In Church Unique, I remind leaders that challenges with change  are always vision problems first and people problems second. Most change is being driven, by new methods, new tactics, and new ideas that are actually divorced from compelling vision. If you can’t appeal to shared vision for the change, then you deserve push-back from the people you are leading. 

So here’s my new approach. Maybe you are putting out too many fires because you are not starting them. That’s right – maybe you need to fight fire with fire. Have you considered how many fires in your church are a result of:

• False urgency being created by people’s agendas
  
• An atmosphere of distraction
• Lack of prioritization and preparation
• Unresolved conflict that is swept under the carpet
• Indecisiveness that propagates lingering questions
• Bottlenecked decision-making with little empowerment

Just maybe, the fires we are constantly chasing need to be replaced by a fiery, white-hot vision planted deeply in the minds and heart of our leaders and people.

Just imagine if starting the right fire in each individual:

• Aligned people’s attention
• Increase everyone’s passion  
• Created more capacity for fewer initiatives
• Catalyzed better communication and collaboration
• Clarified values for better decisiveness
• Gave people more problem solving authority

Realistically, great leadership will always have fires to put out.  That work is never completely done. But as I watched this particular elder team, I literally thought, “These guys are fireFIGHTers, in part, because the’re not fireSTARTers. They are letting other people start fires and they tend to keep there firefighting gear on. The system needs more vision. The system needs the right fires planted in more people. 

So, what do you think of this “new approach?”

Seven days ago I took I ride you never want to take. Wrapped like a new-born baby, starring up at the sky, I was rushed down the mountain slope in a Ski Patrol toboggan, painfully shaking all the way.

 Within the hour a doctor was looking at an x-ray of damaged shoulder parts. His diagnosis was enough for a temporary solution plus a new directive. “When you get home, you will need a better picture of your shoulder.” He concluded that my humerous fracture (that’s not very funny) had a 3mm discplacement and would not require surgery. 

 Three days later I was staring at a much higher definition x-ray of my shoulder. Using computer equipment, the doc quickly drew a line revealing an unmistakable 12mm displacement. With the need for surgery a high probability, he sent me to get a CT scan. While his picture was much clearer it was still only one dimension. My case required a 3D snapshot.  The next day, a magic machine with camera’s whirling around a 360 ring, made the exact position of my large bone fragment clear. Surgery next week!

We constantly seek clarity in every dimension of our lives. From windshields to teen-age faces to sunny days and diamond rings. In the case of my shoulder, each clearer snapshot proved not only helpful but necessary for the right solution. My doctor trip diary reveals once again one of my fundamental mantras: Clarity isn’t everything but it changes everything. The rest of my life would be adversely affected if I had only the first x-ray.

Yet for leaders in general and with ministry in particular our appetite for clarity process and conversation is way too faint. Like anorexic teenage girls our whole life is adversely affected because every decision is made from a vantage point that’s not whole, not robust, not complete. 

What level of clarity are you operating from?

1X CLARITY:  You know “what” but not much more. You think most activity is on mission, but really, many decisions miss the mark. Practically you don’t have much more equity with mission, vision or strategy than to “make disciples.” (You correctly know that you have a fracture but don’t think you need surgery – wrong diagnosis)

 2X CLARITY: You have been intentional to articulate your identity and direction to a degree. You have confidence that many of your decisions and much of your activity is on mission. But at the end of the day the picture, while clear, is one-dimensional. Practically, a sense of mission defines your people and there is some awareness of cultural uniqueness. As good as this is there is still much value to be gained from more clarity work. (You have a fracture and probably need surgery- get a CT scan)

 3X CLARITY: You know that you know that you know. Practically speaking, people are attuned and ministry activity is well aligned. You can answer in a clear, concise and compelling way, the what, the why, the how of the mission. You know when you’re successful (as God defines it) and you know where God is taking you. (You need surgery next week with “this kind” of metal plate.)

 Jane McGonigal has spent the last 10 years designing games. Now she wants to use games to change the world. This fascinating TED talk struck me because her audacious vision inspired by the world of online gaming contains interesting parallels with the vision of the Gospel. 

According to McGonigal:

• People spend 3 billion hours a week playing online games
• 500 million people, spend 1 hour a day gaming online 
• In the next decade, the number will increase to 1 billion 
• The average kid will spend 10,000 hours gaming by age 21
• 10,000 hours is equivalent to an education between 5th – 12th grade

The question is “why?” Why do people invest massive chunks of their lives into online gaming? What is the “good news” of gaming for the human heart?

McGonigal cites four super-empowering realities of gaming that enable people to experience a better version of themselves. 

1. Urgent Optimism: She calls it extreme self motivation. Urgent optimism is the desire to act immediately to tackle an obstacle, combined with the belief that there is a reasonable hope of success. 
2. Tight Social Fabric: Games foster trust and cooperation based on an unbelievably clear, common mission.
3. Blissful Productivity: Games take a lot of work, but people eagerly engage it. We are happier working hard in the right work, than just lying around.
4. Epic Meaning:  Games are always cast in a larger story line; a greater backdrop of good and evil. Every aspect of the game is tied into the greater story. 

Can these insights from world of  gaming help you design ministry in your church? Here is a challenge: In your next staff meeting place these four attributes of the gaming experience on the whiteboard and ask the following questions:

• Would we want our people to experience these realities more in our church than an online game? 
• How do we currently help people experience these realities in our church?
• Which ministry exhibits them the best?
• What are we doing that prevents these realties in our different ministries?
• Would we be willing to listen to a focus group of gamers to help us rethink some of our ministries?
• How did the disciples experience these realities with Jesus?

Tim Schraeder is the director of communications of Park Community Church and he knocked it out of the park on a recent post entitled REWORKING Church Communications. The post was inspired by the book REWORK by the founders of 37signals. Among many bullets that you will want to read, he mentions the cardinal sin of church communications- “copy + paste.” Listen to what he says…

The cardinal sin of church communications is our use of copy + paste. I’m not going to do the original vs recycled argument, but will say this much: STOP IT!  Churches are notorious for copying. For some reason we feel we have permission and entitlement to copy, steal or imitate what’s not ours. Open source is great, learning from others is invaluable, but every church has a unique audience and importing what worked somewhere else might not translate in your context. You learn the most by doing things yourself. And, God is the author of creativity [Genesis 1:1], maybe if we spend some time with Him some if it can rub off on us.

But why is copying harmful? Again this quote is helpful:

The problem [with copying] is it skips understanding – and understanding is how you grow. You just repurpose the last layer instead of understanding the all the layers underneath. So much of the work an original creator puts into something is invisible. Be influenced, but don’t steal.

These last words are profound. I had to reread them several times. So much of my ministry is defined by the problem that people want to skip understanding in the vision process. As I like to say, people are addicted to product, but it’s the process that provides meaning. 

Here are some of the other bullets in this post:

• Stop Being a Communicator, Start Being a Curator
• Stop Sounding So Profeshional.
• Marketing isn’t a line in your budget
• Forget writing Press Releases.
• Say No by Default
• Good Enough is Fine
• Don’t Commit the Sin of Copy + Paste

There is actually a biblical reference for this superman speak. In Psalm 18:29, David writes, “For by You I can run upon a troop; And by my God I can leap over a wall.”

Every leader hits walls and runs into obstacles. If you are leading well, the most important question is not when, but what. What barrier are you facing now, or what roadblock is just around the corner?

For a decade, I have studied the walls that church leaders encounter.  Without question, the need to find the right staff is one of them.  That’s why I am delighted to announce the beginning of a new ministry, started by my friend and colleague William Vanderbloemen.  The Vanderbloemen Search Group (VSG) specializes in creating connections between the right people and the right ministries.

I don’t often refer other organizations or programs out of concern for diluting or eclipsing the importance of clarity on behalf of the ministries I serve. But William and his team are one of the exceptions. I met William in years ago, when he brought in Auxano to navigate the Vision Pathway for the church he was serving. I have watched William lead in many contexts. Here are a few things I know:

• If he is in the room, he is most likely the smartest person in the room, but you won’t know it right away
• The team at VSG is a culture-savvy machine; they are gifted at discernment and will appreciate your ministry’s unique vision
• These guys know a ton of people, period
• I have watched the process work up-close for several of my friends and ministry clients

If your next staff hire is important to your mission, consider giving William a call.  Creating the  right connection can make a world of difference, and might catapult you over the next wall. 

If you like the new Vanderbloemen Search Group logo, check out the story behind it at Cheryl Marting’s blog. Cheryl leads Auxano Creative.