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People NOT Programs

November 5, 2011 in Chrstianity, Church, Leadership, Ministry, Vision with 1 Comment

I read Fellowship One‘s ‘slogan’ a couple of weeks ago. I totally agree with them! This got me thinking about some of the things that get in the way the Church reaches and serves people.

You were called to serve people not software

The primary existence of the Church (this encompasses her arms) is to reach people. (Feel free to substitute “Church” with your specific ministry, team, organization etc) It’s been said that the Church is an organization that exists for the people not yet in it… That’s not entirely true. The Church exists for both people in it AND those not (yet) in. Over the hundreds of years, the way in which the Church has fulfilled her mandate, has changed. Sometimes the changes have been rapid and extreme, some subtle and slow. Despite all these changes one thing remains. The Church was instituted by God. Her purpose for His glory – reaching mankind (bottom line).

For the Church to be effective, though, she has no choice but to be relevant. However, in the quest for relevance, she cannot afford to overlook her purpose, as that purpose relates to people. With that said, it means that every undertaking of the Church must be a means to glorify God as it reaches and grows people into His purpose for their lives. This means whatever means or program used is a mere tool. Tools exist to serve purpose not the other way round. When your programs start running at the expense of people you’re missing the mark.

This occurs when:

Programs can be run at the expense of people by being more focused on having the program run or its mechanics instead of what it is supposed to accomplish i.e. serving them. I am not saying programs cannot or should not be tweaked so they are better able to serve people. But, what I am saying is that they should not take precedence over the people. Thus, we have to be careful that people are not being driven to fulfill programs needs but the program is driven to meeting people’s needs but not at their expense or detriment.
When those responsible for the program or the means of doing things, get so protective of the program from changes that could help the program better serve people. Before shooting down suggestions to change your program or methodologies, it is imperative that you examine whether you are just defending the program or protecting the people and the interests of the people to better serve them.
Programs also run at the expense of the people when those entrusted to run them are constantly being run down. I mean they are serving people through programs but not in a way that is healthy for them. This may include where programs take up so much time from those that are serving such that they do not get adequate time to rest, or spend with their families. When the Church gets to that point we step into the counterproductive zone. We cannot save others by “destroying” others. Sometimes this happens in environments where volunteers may not be sufficient. It is possible that the same program that should serve people can actually end up destroying them! You’re not going to win battles by destroying your army!

Though we need a systematic way to disciple, serve, reach etc people we must keep in perspective that it is people NOT programs that must be at the forethought of all our activities or planning.

How else do you think programs tend to come at the expense or instead of people?

Creativity Killers & Dealing With Them

October 24, 2011 in Ideas, Leadership, Life, Productivity, Vision with 0 Comments

Everyone goes through this every now and then. There are times you’re just a creativity bank and everyone gets ideas from you. Then there are those other times we all hate – when it seems we don’t even have an ounce of creativity. These are some of the things that I’ve seen kill my creativity… (Share some of your creativity killers and how you dealt with them in the comments)

illustration - laff4k
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Same Ol’: One of the things that I used to fight is getting bored easily. Now I rest in the wisdom that routine is just not my thing! My creativity tends to suffer when repeating the same thing over again. This is different from the A.D.D. that leaders have. I thrive when I can constantly create new things. To overcome monotony and guard my creativity, I juggle tasks. I also engage in activities that are not related. Every now and then I find it beneficial to go work in a restaurant, tea garden etc. (See also “Why Work Doesn’t Happen At Work”)
Aarggghhh!!: Stress is a big one! Unfortunately, there is only one way I’ve learned to address this one. The only way I know how to deal with this one is to address the cause. This may entail completely dropping something that was on my plate, requesting extensions on deadlines, delegating and simply dealing with the biggest issue first. I’ve also discovered that dealing with the bigger giants first tends to release great pressure off me. You may want to read “5 Reasons You Get Overwhelmed“
Interruptions: Sometimes I lose my flow when I’m constantly interrupted. One of the most critical stages for innovation is ideation. Failure to guard the ideation process by getting rid of distractions can be the nail in the coffin for innovation. Switch off your phone, notifications and put a do not disturb sign on your door. Over time, I’ve taken note of some of the interruptions that have stolen ideas and momentum. Now I anticipate them and deal with them before they’re interruption. Interruptions are best dealt with before they become interruptions. Take note of the things that steal from you and stop them before they stop you.
Tired!: I’m not the go to guy for ideas when I’m tired. At my worst, I slur when I’m extremely tired. My brain just doesn’t seem to want to work. What should be a two minute conversation can end up a ten minute one as it takes me longer to collect and articulate my thoughts. The remedy for this one is rather obvious – rest! However, I would add that you need at least one good break during your work day, a day in your week and one month in a year. Working with a rundown body is not how you will be more productive. You’ll be practicing self, team and vision destruction. And, subsequently you won’t be any good to your team or yourself! Rest! Guarding your times of rest is part of guarding your well being and vision.
People: All of us have ‘those people’ in our lives. You know the people that cannot have”blue sky” days with. These are people that cannot disconnect with circumstance and just dream “possibilities” with you. I’ve encountered people who do not hear, “let’s say everything was perfect & we had no restrictions”. Creativity feeds off creativity. One of the best ways to help creativity is getting around creative or “ideas people” as I call them. You also have the people that will give you a million ideas at your command. Get around them to help your creativity. The kind of people you cannot do without!

What kills your creativity? Have you found ways to deal with it? Additions?

Rules, Policies & Culture

October 13, 2011 in Leadership, Productivity, Teamwork, Vision with 0 Comments

Rules, policies and organizational culture define organizations. They determine the environment within and the subsequent product or service delivery from them. Rules policies are often the result of efforts to govern people’s actions and systems. They are necessary. Organizational culture is developed over time. Not everything that ends up a part of an organization’s culture is intentional. At the same time, there are unwritten rules.

illustration by lumaxart, flickr (cc)

Rules and policies are used as means to get people in the organization to act a certain way. When you introduce a new rule or policy in your organization or team there is an important question you should ask: Are we introducing new rules and policy because we’ve failed to shape the culture? You know when parents have failed to instil values and try to get their children to behave how they want by use of rules? It works, only for a while. Because of rules, people on your team may act how you want them to but with negative attitudes. Rules and policies are generally regarded as the ‘fun police’ hence the tendency to treat them with contempt.

When an organization starts relying heavily on rules and policy to control people’s actions, it has failed to set a positive organizational culture. Constantly churning rules and policies results in drones and not a particularly motivated or passionate team. Instead of governing people why not inspire them by encouraging a positive culture. A positive organizational culture is core to purpose and innovation.

Culture embodies philosophy and principles while rules control the known. The former will help navigate the unknown while the latter is high maintenance and has to be constantly changed with circumstance. Rules and policies are necessary. But, ensure that you are not using them to accomplish what a positive organizational culture should be doing.

My Conference Attendance Manifesto

October 7, 2011 in Leadership, Life, Ministry, Productivity, Self Leadership, time management with 0 Comments

I’ve attended so many conferences I’ve lost count. I don’t even want to count the number of notebooks I’ve accumulated over the years. A couple of days ago I attended a 3 day conference. I admit with every conference I attend, there’s a subconscious me that think through the theme and actual content delivered. I contemplate the relevance of the conference to my felt needs or the felt needs of my team. There really is no point, besides bad time wasting, to attending something that will not benefit you in the future or present! As a result, I’ve drawn up a personal “conference attendance manifesto”:

kerolic, flickr

I will not attend a conference unless it is relevant to my progression, as an individual and on behalf of the organization I serve. It is pointless for me to attend a conference or workshops on problems in the mining industry, for example (funny but you get the picture)! The fact that a conference is accessible to you doesn’t mean you have to attend. I will make sure that my intentions for attending are clear to myself. Nothing worse than getting there and asking yourself, “why am I here?”… The reason I’ll attend a conference is so that I can learn in order to grow.
Related to my first point… I will find out as much as I can about the content in terms of the programming as I can. If there are going to be labs or smaller group workshops I can already start contemplating which to attend well in advance rather than on the spur of the moment. Doing my homework before the conference means I’ll be better equipped to draw from the conference as much as I can. If I know that someone with particular expertise will be facilitating any sessions, I’ll be able to prepare my questions more intelligently and pitch them appropriately.
Because I attend conferences to learn and grow, I will shut up and listen more. Some people are not growing and are not any better because they’re not intentional about it! I will only speak up if it is going to help my learning. I will not speak just for the sake of it! Am sure you’ve met that guy who just has to “say something” to be heard and by so doing wastes time! (And yes! irritates the living daylight out of me!). Another reason not to have unnecessary interjections.
There is no conference I go to without visiting the resource area. I find that with good conference planners give careful thought to specialized resources in relation to their conference. Hence, I’ve discovered that there are resources that I may have been aware of, or not come across online or in the resource centers I frequent. These resources centers also prove to have the latest resources, some of which could be books that are about to be launched etc.
In the past I’ve tried to take as much notes as I can and attend as many electives as possible. I’ve changed my approach. I will only attend as many electives as i deem relevant. Also, even if an elective is relevant I will not go to if it constitutes “biting more than I can chew”. I’ve resolved to get ‘doses’ of information in smaller amounts. Instead of looking to walk away with twenty things which, I may feel overwhelmed with, I’ve resorted to condensing my conference take-away to not more than five things. This makes it less overwhelming. Imagine your growth if you applied 10% of what you’ve learnt from the last three conferences you attended!
I started using Evernote after learning of it from Jon Acuff on a Backstage Leadership session with him. Jon highlighted the power of Evernote as being ‘indexable’. With notebooks or moleskins you cannot always easily go back to search for a specific thing in your notes. Since then I’ve been capturing my notes and ideas from conferences or workshops (and other areas) in a way you can index. (Evernote is a great app!). Whatever ideas I capture, I want to capture them in a way that will be easy to access and locate. The first step to using your great idea is to protect it by capturing it in a way you’ll easily recall it!
Sharing what I learn with others is a must! This reinforces the lessons in my mind and helps me build accountability with those I share with. Sharing what I learn also helps me check my understanding, while enriching others as well. I wrote more about the importance of sharing what you learn here. Telling people about great conferences is one of the things I also do. I see no point in keeping it to myself; I want to help people however I can and see them succeed.
Interacting with people on the conference is also something that I think is important. I’ve had experiences where my learning has been enhanced by interacting with fellow attendees… Don’t underestimate the importance of introductions!

This is my conference attending manifesto!

What would you add or subtract? Why? Your thoughts…

How Great Leaders Inspire Action

September 28, 2011 in Leadership, Passion, Vision with 0 Comments

Ever wondered how leaders inspire people to action? How do people build a great following for their cause? Simon Sinek offered some challenging thoughts on a talk at TED. (sound is not the best in the first few minutes, but worth the watch)