Leaders of any organization—church or otherwise—cannot fall prey to the “always-up-and-to-the-right” chart, regardless of how success or effectiveness is measured.
There are simply seasons where the growth line is flat, or in Biblical parlance, the land lies fallow every seven years and no crops are produced. In those seasons, we feel the loss of momentum.
The obvious danger, though, is that the plateaued times become the norm and leaders fall into a “maintenance mode” of functioning. Flatlining is normalized and the organization slips into a settled, comfortable operation existing within its limits and resources. The guiding mantra becomes: “It is what it is.”
Author and organizational guru Ichak Adizes described this state as Stable and places it at the top of a bell curve that stretches from an organization’s birth to its death. Stable is not the ultimate goal for any organization, rather it’s the beginning of the downward slope toward dissolution. He describes the ultimate organizational state as Prime, the balance between organizational self-control and organizational flexibility. Recognizing when one needs to be amped up becomes a critical discernment exercise for any leadership team.
Or imagine a teeter-totter...
Sometimes maintenance needs to be de-emphasized in order for momentum to lift the organization toward greater effectiveness and health and the achievement of its stated mission. At other times, the organization needs to slow down and catch its breath, taking time to establish systems and processes to handle the new territory gained in seasons of momentum.
Again, leadership must recognize these times and either apply the brakes or step on the gas, to mix the metaphors. But you get the challenge.
And this ultimately is the leadership challenge. If you’re a pastor or leader of a faith-based nonprofit, I’m sure you can contextualize any of this “corporate-speak” to your current needs.
What season is your church or organization in? Has a general comfortableness or even malaise settled in? Does a sense of achievement or momentum feel compromised? Or is there chaotic energy and activity combined with a confusion of ends? Whether your organization is on the spectrum of couch potato to adrenalized junkie, it’s the leadership’s responsibility to make the critical changes needed to make things right.
The buck stops with you.
Dave Workman | The Elemental Group
How self-aware is your organization? The Elemental Churches Inventory guides your leadership team through a multi-faceted review of strengths and opportunities in four vital elements of your church’s life: Integrity (systems, processes, infrastructure), Passion (commitment to the mission), Servanthood (outward-focus), and Imagination (innovation, openness to change). And because of its unique web-based and curriculum approach, it’s a third of the cost of typical consulting!
Comments