Bad Business

Church boards and councils do not suffer from too much business talk.

They suffer from too much talk about bad business. Thriving companies do not spend large portions of meetings nitpicking line items of large (or small) budgets, making decorating decisions, micro-managing, complaining about how the customers just don't get it. For that matter, they don't spend large portions of time in meetings.

Thriving businesses have a clear vision. They focus on two things: high-quality products and excellent customer service. Everything else is at the service of these two things. If staffing inhibits these, staffing changes. If the institutional structures inhibit these, structures change. If marketing and branding inhibit these, they change. All of these changes and all efforts are at the service of the clear vision for product and customer. Boards give direction to this end. Staff carries it out.

Thriving businesses do these things. Businesses that don't die or are dying.

These changes might happen slowly, they might cause pain, they will certainly cause anxiety. Even slow incremental change in the right direction is a sign of life. More clarity and more nerve can bring more speed. It will likely bring more anxiety, but it will be worth it. That is one thing about being dead: no anxiety.

For now, I prefer the alternative. I don't like anxiety, but I believe possibilities are more powerful. Whether it's doing church really well or running a business really well, a clear, compelling vision makes all the difference. Spend time on that. Forget everything else. Everything else won't matter if the vision isn't right. Once that's in place, find the right people to run the race, then go. Change the world.