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When Should You Use A Participative Process?

Nothing brings a group of people together faster than using a participative process (i.e., making sure everybody in the room has a voice and gets to bring his or her best ideas, energy, and passion to a decision). And, in a time of rapid culture change, most organizations find that they really NEED every voice, every gift, every insight, everyone’s experience, and everyone’s participation to respond to the challenges they face. The most innovative and exciting organizations around the globe are learning to use participative processes today; they know that everyone really does have something to offer.

Of course, not every situation requires a participative process. In fact, in some cases, it can be silly - even dangerous - to use one. For example, it wouldn’t be a good idea to stop and take a vote on what to do if the house is on fire. Somebody just has to start getting everybody outside!

So, how do you know when to use a participative process? We presented this chart  to those who joined us for our webinar this week; it can help you decide:

Deciding When To Use A Participative Process

The Golden Nugget

Last night we hosted our first ever online seminar. We're pretty sure that one of the things we can do that will be the most helpful to our friends, partners, and clients is to figure out how to deliver online training. This will allow people to participate with us in the work of renewal in a way that is cost and time effective. Anyone, anywhere, can have access! But this is a whole new thing for us. And so we were really thankful to the 40+ people who volunteered to be our guinea pigs last night. Their feedback is going to be invaluable as we figure out how to work this new tool.

At the end of the session, we had about a dozen questions that we didn't have time to answer, and we promised that we would address them here in this space. The first unanswered question was this one: What's the golden nugget in Lutheran theology that is the most underutilized?

Now, the question sounds like it would only apply to church leaders and, then, only to Lutheran church leaders. But I think the answer goes way beyond both groups.

Getting right to it: I think the most underutilized nugget in Lutheran theology today is a priesthood of all believers. (Nevermind the argument some theologians make that this isn't really of Martin Luther; I'll have that conversation off line with you, if you like.) The idea of a priesthood of all believers is that every single person, once baptized, is given the freedom and the responsibility of ministry. We are all "priests," in other words, called to share the good news of God with others in word and deed. And each one is given gifts with which to do that job. Everyone has something to offer.

Embedded deep within the Lutheran soul is this golden nugget that provides all the inspiration we need to embrace what is quickly becoming a best practice in the most innovative and exciting organizations across the globe.

In his book, The Future of Work, MIT professor Tom Malone describes the four guiding principles of AES Corp (one of the world's largest supplier of electric power): fairness, integrity, social responsibility, and fun. They put special emphasis on that last one and, knowing that "one of the best ways for people to have fun is to have responsibility for things that truly matter in the world," they have worked to create a culture in which everyone truly has something to offer:

"AES has been built on the idea that every employee should be a businessperson - a well-rounded generalist, a mini-CEO - responsible for important decisions in the company."

Now, I can't report on how successful AES has been at accomplishing this goal. But, to be honest, I have seen more examples of people trying to create cultures that really and truly look like a "priesthood of all believers" (i.e., that take seriously the gifts each one has to offer and seeks to share responsibility for their common purpose) in secular organizations than I have in the church! But we have found that helping people learn to use participative processes is one of the fastest ways to begin turning that around.

Thanks for the question! We'll take up others that were asked at the end of last night's webinar in days to come.

Webinars: Bringing it Home

So, what's an online seminar (i.e., "webinar") for, anyway? You may be asking that question if this experience is new to you. But you may also be asking that question if it's not; in fact, you may be wondering "why a webinar and not a podcast?"

Well, the A.R.E. podcast is in development. We'll get there. In terms of delivering content that is portable and convenient to users, you can't beat a podcast. You can download a podcast like you download a song or a video clip or a file and listen to it on your computer whenever you want. You don't have to show up for the LIVE event. It's prerecorded. If you have an iPod or an mp3 player, you can even take the podcast with you wherever you go. Listen in the car or while you're exercising or whatever.

On the other hand, you have to actually show up at a certain time to be in on a webinar. You have to log on at the same time the presenters do. In other words, it's a LIVE event. This is a whole lot less convenient for people. So, why bother? Well, according to Ardeth Albee, a webinar can accomplish three main things:

• extend and develop conversations


• transfer knowledge


• grow a community of involvement around a topic

The key advantage of a webinar is that it has the potential of being INTERACTIVE. You can ask questions, make comments, suggest resources, learn from other participants, build on ideas, and be a part of a conversation. The number of people online with you at any given time determines, in a lot of ways, how much interactivity you can have and even how that interaction takes place. For example, in very large groups, you may have to write your thoughts; in smaller groups, you can actually talk to each other.

At A.R.E., one of our guiding principles is "Using Participative Processes." And a lot of what we do is to help our friends, partners, and clients put that principle into practice. So webinars, with all the potential they have for interaction, seem like a natural fit for us. We plan to explore the possibility during these next weeks and months. And we're looking forward to what you have to say about it. What do you like? What don't you like? What do you need? What would be most helpful for the people in your organization? It's not too late to register for tonight's webinar. CLICK HERE to go right to the registration page.

In the meantime, think about this: Instead of insisting that people physically come to you to get whatever it is you're offering, podcasting and webinars, each in their own way, take your message to people...wherever they live, work, and play. It helps you literally bring your message home to people. Is this something your organization could - and maybe should - be doing? What kind of impact could this technology help you have in the lives of the people you are serving? How could it help you begin to think "beyond the walls" of your organization?

Webinar Tomorrow - Don’t Be Chicken!

We know that an "online seminar" (also called "webinars") is a whole new experience for a lot of you - it's new for us, too! But we are committed to figuring out how to use this new technology because we know that it's the best, fastest way we can deliver training to many of our friends, partners, and clients. A lot of people who want to experience an A.R.E. training event just won't be able to do that "live" due to distance, cost, etc. This is the next best thing! We also know that even people who DO attend a live event want the benefit of ongoing, regular training. This is a cost-effective way for us to deliver that to you.

So...if you're at all curious about how this online thing might work for you and/or the people in your organization, be sure to be online with us tomorrow night. Once you register, you'll get information about how to join the seminar. Specifically, you'll get:

• a website address and a password


• a phone number to call

Tomorrow night at 7 p.m. CST/8 p.m. EST you'll go to the website, type in the password....and call the phone number you're given. At that point, you'll SEE our presentation on your computer screen and you'll HEAR us talking on your phone.
Pretty awesome, huh?!

And all it'll cost you is the cost of your phone call. Registration for this event is FREE!

We'll be talking about four missional practices, why we think they're so important, and how they can make a difference in the way you work. You'll be able to ask us questions and make comments. And we'll be asking for your feedback about how the experience went for you.

I really hope you'll join us!

There are a few "system requirements: If you have a PC (any computer except an Apple), you'll need Windows(R) 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, or Vista. If you have an Apple computer, you'll need Mac OS(R) X 10.3.9 (Panther(R)) or newer. If you don't know WHAT kind of system you have, try getting online with us, anyway. But if you run into a problem, it might mean that it's time to update your computer!!

Click HERE to register.

Change Is In The Air

It seems like everywhere you look these days you see something about change. In the political arena we are hearing it nightly. It is in the paper everyday, on the news each night. It seems like light speed on the Internet. Our climate is changing. The economy is changing; we are suddenly part of a global marketplace. Even the style of our clothes seems to be constantly changing, what our jeans look like, for example - boot cut, flare, straight leg, low waist, high waist. You can hardly keep up.

Change is everywhere but most often people say they hate it. They don't like it at work. They don't like it in the places they worship. We hardly like it at home, even when we are responsible for it! But change is as natural as nature. The leaves change colors, the snow falls, the rains come, the earth begins to bloom, the sun shines and, don'tcha know, we get older each and every day. Some change happens to us and some change we can create it. Either way changes happens. If fact, if we weren't changing, we'd be dead!

That's why I say that one of the most important jobs a leader has in any organization is learning how to create positive change. So, what do we need to know as we embrace, leverage, navigate, and create change in the places we work, live and play? There are hundreds of books written about how to create positive change. I have found this formula to be particularly helpful:

Dissatisfaction + Vision + Action Steps > Cost of Change

This formula can help you evaluate where your organization is right now: What is it that people are dissatisfied with? Do they have a vision for what things might look like if changes happens? What steps do you need to take together to reach that vision? Have you counted the cost and determined that these things, together, are greater than what you will lose if the change occurs?

This formula can also help you strategize for what you need to do next in order to help create positive change in your organization: You may need to clarify your vision...really see what life will be like if the change you're working toward happens. Maybe you can already totally see what the change would produce, but you don't know what steps to take to get there...focus on putting together a plan. Maybe people just aren't dissatisfied enough. In that case, your job might be to be a "pain!" Ask purposeful questions that agitate people and poke a little at their comfortableness. Maybe you need to spend time counting the cost; ask whether the price of change is more than you are willing to pay.

In our public life these days, the dissatisfaction with how things are seem to be pretty great. We even seem to think that, this time around, a vote cast will be a step worth taking. And the cost of change seems to be pretty low. The biggest question I have is whether or not we as a people have a vision for what a new day would look like.

What's going on in the organization you care about?

Google This

Each year around this time, I look forward to this issue of Fast Company magazine arriving in my mail box: "The World's 50 Most Innovative companies." This year the company in the #1 spot is Google. On the cover is a quote from Google's Chief Information Officer:

Innovation is super fragile. It's very easy to kill. We need a stubborn, rebellious attitude.

This is great news for those of us who have been fired a time or two (ok, or three, as in my case!) for insubordination. But it is very, very bad news for a lot of organizations - including most churches I know. Rebels, especially stubborn ones, are hardly embraced. They rock our boats, asking questions we'd rather not hear and making suggestions we'd rather not consider. Sometimes they even dare to DO things differently.

What would it look like if, instead of trying to shut them down, we asked them for their help? What would it look like if we gave them permission to help us dream big dreams...and step OUT of the boats we're clinging to? It might look like this description of this year's #1 most innovative company:

Talk to more than a dozen Googlers at various levels and departments, and one powerful theme emerges: Whether they're designing search for the blind or preparing meals for their colleagues, these people feel that their work can change the world. That sense is nonexistent at most companies...

But isn't that what we all want to be a part of? Work that matters? Lives that mean something? Isn't that what those of us who are part of faith-based organizations, especially, are supposed to be doing?

The marvel of Google is its ability, after 10 years, to continue to instill a sense of creative fearlessness and ambition, even as it has grown to more than 16,000 employees. Prospective hires are often asked, "If you could change the world using Google's resources, what would you build?"

Good question for any company to ask of its prospective hires. Imagine if churches asked this question of potential new members, of pastors they're interviewing for call, or of those who are running for leadership positions!

In the end, the resources and liberty Google entrusts to its workers infuse them with a rare sense of possibility - and obligation: "Are we taking advantage of what we've got here?" they ask. "Are we doing enough? Are we doing everything we can?"

I know a lot of nonprofit leaders, including those who lead faith-based organizations, who are very skeptical of taking their cues from for profit companies. "We have a different bottom-line," they tell me. "We have a different value system." Sure, that might be true, in one sense. But, from where I'm sitting, there are a whole ton of things to be learned from the kind of people who are leading an organization like Google. Check out their list of Ten Things Google Has Found To Be True, for example. But we could just start with learning how to keep asking ourselves questions like these: "Are we doing enough? Are we doing everything we can?"

I'm picturing a world in which every nonprofit, every faith-based organization, every synagogue, every church was asking itself those questions...and then daring to act with creative fearlessness...setting their people free to try stuff, build things, learn from their mistakes, work playfully, and keep dreaming new dreams.

Can you see it, too?

All quotes are from this month's Fast Company cover article called Google: The Faces and Voices of the World's Most Innovative Company written by Chuck Salter. Click here to read it online.

How To Plan When The Future Is Anyone’s Guess

Missional planning begins with articulating (or reclaiming!) your organization's guiding principles, purpose, vision, and "missional directions" (i.e., the areas you're going to focus your resources for a period of time). Without this kind of intentional planning, most organizations wander around aimlessly, wasting valuable resources and burning out their members. Missional planning is critical to the life, health, and success of organizations of every size and every type.

Missional planning is typically sparked by an event or a series of events, in which people from throughout the organization take the time to come together for the sake of asking purposeful questions like: Who are we? What do we value? What are we doing here? Where IS here?! Where should we focus our resources? The organization's leaders then use the answers to these questions to put together a plan for the year (or longer).

Please note, however, I am not encouraging the development of the traditional "five year plan" many of us are familiar with from years past. You know the kind: It either strangles you or becomes quickly irrelevant and spends five years sitting on a shelf gathering dust in your office. Rather, the missional plan I'm talking about points you in a clear direction while, at the same time, encourages your leaders to engage in an ongoing process of discernment.

In fact, the best missional planning doesn't stop with a single event or even a series of them. In healthy organizations, missional planning is an ongoing process, in which those in leadership learn to ask these kinds of purposeful questions at every key moment, whenever important decisions are being made, all year long. This frees up the organization to respond quickly to its environment, taking advantage of unexpected opportunities and meeting unforeseen challenges.

Michael Lynton, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures, explains why it's important for organizations in this changing context to have that kind of flexibility: Because the future is "anyone's guess." He describes, for example, the situation the entertainment industry is in today. No one knows what the next new technology will bring. And so, he says, leaders in this industry need to be trying all kinds of things. They've tried putting movies on cell phones, teaming up with web-based companies like AOL and Netflix, etc. There pretty much isn't anything they'll try and, he says:

At the end of the day, you see what works, and whatever works you drill down and you do more of it. That's not to say it's a complete shotgun. I mean, there's a lot of things we say "no" to; but by the same token it's not a rifle shot either because you don't actually know what's going to work. The trick is to make sure that, when you see something that isn't working, you stop it; and when you see something that is working, you accelerate that. (Entertainment Industry's Future Is Anyone's Guess, Morning Edition, National Public Radio, February 15, 2008)

I got a good laugh out of this interview when I heard it. About a decade ago, when I was the pastor of a congregation in "redevelopment" (meaning that, when I got there it was on the verge of closing and my job was to help restart it), one disgruntled member accused me of "just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks."

"Yes!" I told him. "That's exactly what we're doing!"

He wanted to see one of those one hundred page, nicely bound, "five year plans." He wanted us to set goals and objectives and STICK to those, by golly, no matter WHAT might try to knock us off course. I had a hunch then that this was a bad idea. Today, I'm sure of it.

Good missional planning doesn't box you in with a bunch of goals and objectives that may or may not make sense five years - or even five months - from now. Rather, it embraces the inevitability of change. Good missional planning gives your organization a clear sense of direction and a sort of road map to follow, as your leaders navigate their way through an uncertain future, trying new things, responding to new challenges, stopping what doesn't seem to be working and accelerating what does. It expects your leaders to ask purposeful questions on an ongoing basis.

In this day and age, few things they do will be more important than that.

The Expert In The Room

I don't know about you, but I have spent a lot of time and effort trying to be the expert at something. I have multiple degrees, various years - decades even - of experience to back up my academic training, and travels across the continent leading groups of people through days of training to help them do what they do more effectively. But I know the truth is that this "expert thing" is highly overrated. And, in this rapidly changing, it seems impossible to achieve. So I was struck the other day as I read an article about James McBrides' new book Song Yet Sung.

McBride is a jazz saxophonist who, to his delight, has a photo of himself with one of his idols, the renowned musician, James Moody. Mc Bride met Mr. Moody when he was 15 at a New York bus stop. McBride had the presence of mind, when he saw him, to ask, "Is that you, Mr. Moody?"

"That's me kid," Moody replied.

McBride then went on to ask Mr. Moody what it felt like to be "master of an instrument." McBride writes: "He looked at me like I was crazy. He tried to explain that he wasn't the master of anything."

This encounter left a profound mark on McBride's life. Today, this accomplished musician, author, and screenplay writer of a soon to be released movie based on his new book (which is being directed by Spike Lee), says he doesn't feel like the master of anything, either. "I'm just a student," he says.

Just a student: These are profound words for people who lead in today's world. If we come together as students we can more easily learn from each other. We can build on one another's strengths. We can lead, knowing we are not alone but, rather, one of many.

I think there is a reason Jesus sent people out to do ministry in twos. You can learn from each other. No one person has to have all the answers.

At A.R.E. we believe in the power of participative processes, knowing that we are never the only experts in the room and trusting that, no matter where we find ourselves, there will be thoughts that we have never envisioned; dreams yet to be dreamt; gifts yet to be put to use; songs yet to be sung.

Dare to be a student. And no matter how much you might already know or how many degrees you have or how much of an "expert" you are, expect to learn something from and with those you are called to lead.

Making Room For Everybody

Are you making the best use of the talents, energy, and passion of the people in your organization? According to the #1 entry level job site, at least 18% of all recent college grads are underemployed. And, while the data compiled by researchers at The Career Key shows the number one thing people look for in a job is "the kind of work that makes the best use of one's abilities and gives one a feeling of accomplishment," Wayne Hochwarter, a professor of management at Florida State University, reports "it is clear that employee-employer relations are at one of the lowest points in history." But for-profit companies are not the only organizations filled with too many people whose gifts are taken for granted.

Writing in a recent USA Today article, D Michael Lindsay reports that more than half - 60% - of the high profile Evangelicals he interviewed over a five year period (including 100 CEOs and business executives, hollywood types and sports stars, and 2 U.S. presidents) are not connected to a local congregation. Instead, they are connected to each other through elite Bible study & fellowship groups and exercise service & stewardship through large, faith-based nonprofit organizations. Although this trend is especially evident among Evangelicals, Lindsay adds that mainline and liberal denominations are experiencing the same phenomenon, which has been growing since the 1950's. 

Why are these powerful, well-connected, highly-capable people abandoning their local churches and denominations? According to Lindsay's research:

Executives and politicians are often distressed by the way churches are run. James Unruh, who served as the chief executive of Unisys, was also at one time an elder at his Presbyterian church in California. He has since decided he will never serve again. He couldn't stand the inefficiency of church meetings, a common refrain among those I interviewed.               

"It's very frustrating to be patient and not to try to run things because that's what you're doing all day in your business," Unruh told me. Others described local congregations as "inefficient," "unproductive" and "focused on the wrong things." 

Now I am going to ask the obvious question: Why wouldn't we ask them to "run things?" Why wouldn't we expect them to share their expertise, their perspective, their skill, their energy, and their wisdom for the sake of getting things done?

The fact is that if we're not making room for these people, we're not making room for anybody. 

I'll never forget the woman - who had a PhD in counseling and years of leadership experience in a variety of nonprofit & education institutions - but who told me that, even after having volunteered to do whatever she could to be helpful in the congregation she had recently joined, was never asked to do more than bring cookies to the Sunday morning coffee hour.

I have long argued that nothing is killing our churches faster than our unhealthy and seemingly unshakable addiction to clericalism. In other words, in too many places, too many of us keep acting like the pastor (or the bishop or the seminary professor or whoever is holding the highest "office") is the smartest person in the room and the only one whose work really matters.

When we do this, our collective "work" suffers. And we chase off those whose gifts could really make a difference. 

Are you making room in your organization for the gifts that everyone brings? If not, what's stopping you? 

(Thanks to my friend, Debbie Terry, of The Nash Group, for pointing out this USA Today article!)

First Things First (It’s All About Love)

According to Tim Sanders, best selling author and former Yahoo exec who has become an irrepressible advocate for good values in the workplace, love is the killer app. Those of us who work within faith-based organizations probably shouldn't need to be reminded of this. But we do.

Within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, for example, we have been using a lot of data from research and surveys done with Natural Church Development in our congregations. We are starting to see clear patterns about where congregations consistently need to pay more attention. These patterns are not unique to the ELCA. Similar patterns can be seen in most mainline denominations.

After the first 100 congregations' data was in we began to track these patterns and noticed that passionate spirituality, need oriented evenagelism, and holistic small groups were the most common points needing attention. Further work showed us that the common ingredient in each of these was intentional relationships (with God, with neighbors, with our selves). In other words, we are not fulfilling the Great Commission.

For the past several years, I've been running all over the country doing workshops and giving presentations about church renewal. But there is nothing that I (or anyone) can share to help renew the church if we don't first deal with the Great Commandment. The point is: Mainline churches do not have an evangelism problem - that would be easy to deal with. Mainline churches have a love problem. Collectively we show few signs that we still love God. Together, we have shown almost no real effort to love our neighbors. And the evidence shows that we have stopped being very good at loving even our selves any more.

If we want to get back to effective ministry, it will not come from techniques to get people to come to us. It will come from leaders who are willing to love and help others love as well. When that happens, finding companions for the journey will be a lot easier. This is true no matter what business you're in. And if Yahoo gets that, it ought to be a no brainer for those whose business is serving Yahweh.