Learnings @ Leadership Network

Ideation Experience—How creative do you need to be?

Do you have an idea that can change the world? We believe that the best ideas don’t necessarily come from those with all the degrees and positions but from those with their boots on the ground. But people who are closest to the innovations rarely have the power to implement. We want to give you that ability. What kind of ideas are we looking for? Read through this list and ask yourself, what you wish were different… or better? What new wineskins are you thinking about?

• Evangelism
• Community Engagement
• Leadership Development
• Discipleship
• Global Missions
• Technology
• Media
• Multi-site
• Church Planting
• Living missionally
• Staffing
• Volunteers / Unpaid staff
• Facilities
• Stewardship / generosity
• Crossing barriers
• Business development
• The next big idea that has yet to be discovered

Register for the Ideation Experience, July 20-22 in

Dallas

at:

http://ideationexperience.leadnet.org/

Mergers and Acquisitions – LifeChurch.tv Style

Andrew Statezny from LifeChurch.tv is talking to a group of multi-site churches in Leadership Network’s multi-site church leadership community about their strategy for “mergers/acquisitions.”  Following are some nuggets:

• They call it United.
• They have done 7 so far.
• 99 times of 100, when approached about becoming a part of LifeChurch.tv, they say no
• Questions they ask when reviewing opportunities …
  • Is there a DNA match including ability to be flexible and move quickly, staffing, governance, programming, etc.?
  • Can we do this 8 or 9 or 10 times?  This is a question of sustainability.
  • What does the current staffing look like?  If there is a DNA match, they will keep some staff.
  • What are the financial issues – debt load, per capita giving, etc.?
  • What are the priorities and values?
  • What will be required from centralized operations and leadership in getting the new campus up to speed?
  • Are the facilities and location an asset or a liability?  Are they suited to the ministry needs? What will be required to bring the facility up to standard?
  • What is the church’s reputation in the community?
• Strategy is driven more from desire to partner with churches for greater synergistic kingdom impact than simply “rescuing” struggling churches.
• On at least one occasion, they have sold the building and put the church in a temporary facility and then come back later with a permanent facility better suited to the needs of that campus.

What about you?   What have you learned along the way?  Send your thoughts via a comment here, an email to greg.ligon@leadnet.org or tweet me @gregligon

Churches at Risk for Heresy?

I did a call with a reporter last week on the subject of the proliferation of non denominational churches. There is more to say on the topic than space here but one of his questions is a Frequently asked one – “Aren’t these churches without denominational moorings more likely to fall into heresy?”

This one always makes me laugh. Chuckle. Guffaw.

Sure. On the one hand a charismatic leader can always teach heresy, but in these churches, as with many other denominational churches, people are encouraged to read the scriptures for themselves. Then people vote with their feet.

But back to his primary point. My contention is that actually denominational churches and denominations with centralized systems are much more likely to fall into off kilter beliefs. Why?

1. Many of these set policies from the top and have high degrees of control over local pastors, buildings, endowments and the congregations. Once the leaders running the denomination move out on the heretical edge, they take lots of those things with them. Do I need to get specific about certain American groups that are like this? They are in the news a lot.

Once leaders in error are in control, they have the power to root out pastors and congregants that don’t believe the same way as they do and many of those systems can use the US legal system to accomplish that end.

2. Those that don’t have strong bishops have legislative systems that rely on democratic and parliamentary procedures. Nothing wrong with that. But those votes sometimes deal with “how we spend the money” and sometimes with “what local congregations should do and believe.” When they get into the latter, a small group of leaders, supposedly representing the whole, decide policy for all.

Again, my contention is that these systems can be just as prone to fall into heretical beliefs as one, independent, non denominational church.

Political systems often tend to follow “the path of least resistance” and a small group can lead the system through political means to vote for their agenda.

            Both of the above structural systems lead many more people than a single congregation.

            As has been said of the American religious marketplace, competition is good. People in most systems are encouraged to read and study for themselves and then go to church where they want. People vote with their feet either way. I don’t get worried about most of the “switchers” because in general they find God’s place for them.

More about “switchers” in a later blog post.

Dave Travis

Managing Director

Leadership Network

(Note: This is also cross-posted at www.davetravisnow.com)

Rapid Growth Risk Factors

We recently hosted 12 of the fastest growing churches in the United States for a Rapidly Growing Churches Leadership Community.  These churches have experienced 20% + growth for multiple years running and are showing no signs of slowing down.  The churches are on a fast track and having to call audibles along the way to lead through the growth.  One of the resources we brought to the conversation was a Leadership Network board member, Barry Davis.  Barry is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Crosstex Energy.  Under Barry’s leadership, Crosstex doubled in growth each year from 2000 to 2007 – rapid growth on steroids.   Barry shared some of the secrets to their success, key among which their involvement with Lee Colan of theLGroup.  Lee guided Barry and his team in managing the risk associated with rapid growth.  Following are the top 10 risk factors that must be addressed. 

10. Betting against the law.

(legally required activities on the back burner)

9. Operational infrastructure is underdeveloped.

8. Product and service quality are declining.

(customer needs are obscured by growth needs)

7. Inability to quickly capture key data.

6. The “diligence” in due diligence is missing.

(hasty acquisitions cause organizational indigestion)

5. Planning horizon is too short.

(“images in the mirror are closer than they appear”)

4. Loyalty to employees who “got us here”.

3. Organizational focus is blurred.

2. Management capabilities fit yesterday’s requirements.

1. Sense of invincibility.

(Titanic syndrome)

For additional background check out Lee’s website at thelgroup. 

What are the risks that you have had to manage as your church has grown?

Give us your feedback by posting a comment here, sending an email to greg.ligon@leadnet.org or sending tweet @gregligon

Leading through Chaos of Growth

Scott Wilson (tweet @scottwilson7), senior pastor from The Oaks Fellowship brought the devotional this morning at Leadership Network’s Multi-site Church Leadership Community – Group 6.  It was powerful as he encouraged the leaders room and shared some principles for leading through the chaos of growth.  The principles that followed were set up with the truth – you can’t grow without changing!

1. Corporate Prayer – not just on-going prayers of the people, but focused, intentional prayer for God’s direction regarding what’s next

2. Relational Touch – people need connection

3. Fix Problems – it is as important for people to know that you know what the problems are as it is that they are all fixed (they won’t be …by the way!)

4. Seize Opportunities – don’t hunker down when in a season of change, it is often the most important time to take advantage of opportunities

5. Celebrate Short Term Wins – this keeps people engaged and excited about the ultimate direction and target

6. Cast Vision – keeps people from confusing vision with vehicle for ministry

7.  DIRT – don’t ignore the relational tensions; one call now can save 20 later!

How do you lead through chaos?  Send feedback via comments on this blog, an email to me at greg.ligon@leadnet.org or a tweet @gregligon

Launch Size

We are hanging out with 12 leading multi-site churches this week in one of Leadership Network’s Multi-site Churches Leadership Communities.  Each of these churches has at least four campuses and have a vision for rapid growth. 

Yesterday as they were giving updates on their progress from the last six months, the question was posed – What is the typical size of your campuses at launch?  We took a quick poll of the churches and with exception of a couple of outliers, in each case the launch size was 10% of the size of regular weekend worship attendance at the original campus.  The outlier with a smaller percentage has a regular weekend attendance of 18,000 plus.

Couple of questions that we would love your feedback on:

1.  What is the percentage in your context?

2.  Any ideas on why the consistency of the percentage?

Provide feedback through comments here, sending an email to greg.ligon@leadnet.org or via tweets @gregligon #mscr

Why churches must innovate

Innovation in ministry is any new change of practice that improves performance.[1] To say it another way, church innovation is doing something new that results in more impact.

While digging through the Leadership Network archives, I came across this NetFax article, Jumping the Sigmoid Curve, and I think it clearly explains why churches must innovate:

One of the most useful tools in understanding the natural life cycle of a product, an organization, a church or even a relationship is the sigmoid or S curve. The secret to constant growth is to start a new S curve before the first one ends and the right place to start the second curve is at point A when there is the time, energy and resources to get the new curve through its initial stages before the first curve plateaus and declines.

Why do we not recognize the obvious principle of beginning the new curve at point A? At point A all the messages received by the individual or organization indicate that everything is fine... there is no need to change. Why tinker with success?

The second curve, whether it is a new product, a new strategy, or new program, is going to be different from the old. It has to be and so are the people leading the new curve. Those who lead the second curve are often not the people who led the first curve. For a time, new ideas and new people have to co-exist with the old until the second curve is established and the first begins to wane. The shaded area thus becomes a time of great confusion. Two, or more, groups of people and two sets of ideas are competing for the future.

In the 1990's, the first curve is now peaking for thousands of institutions and organizations... and yes, churches and denominations. Where is your church or organization on the S curve? And where are you personally on the S curve of your career or ministry?

A church natural life cycle of 60 or 70 years (just a guess; cf. chart). It's normal for a church to survive for a certain duration of time. And, if that church doesn't innovate when things are running well and plateauing, then it will naturally decline and close its doors one day. It's just a matter of time.

This Rev Magazine article, Innovate or Die: How to FIGHT THE FORCES OF STAGNATION AND fuel the fires of innovation IN YOUR CHURCH, adds this idea about the theology of innovation: Innovation is one of the trademarks of God’s nature. Humans, made in the image of God, are also endowed with creative abilities...

What does church innovation look like today? Look at this list of characteristics of highly innovative churches.

Where is your church along this organizational sigmoid curve?

// DJ Chuang, Director at Leadership Network

Attention Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama!

And any other Southeastern US folks!

Sticky Church

in

Atlanta

– May 11 – One powerful day.

Now buy one and bring a friend for free! (They are going to post this on Monday PLUS everyone who is registered will be encourage to bring a friend for free)

The Sticky Church Book and principles are hot right now and Larry Osborne and his team from

North Coast are partnering in Atlanta with Mountain Lakes AND Seacoast for a regional Sticky Church Conference.

 

Larry + Greg+ Shawn – Unbelievable content and a great price.

Basic Thrust: You will hear and understand how multiple churches are using the ideas to “stick” those you are reaching to your church in order to more effectively develop them as believers.

AND IT’S NOT JUST FOR SMALL GROUP CHURCHES – The principles work for Sunday School based churches as well.

Many of our Next Generation pastors have used these principles to dramatically improve their participation by new people in their church.

There are lots of conferences on Leadership. Lots on Communication. But few on this critical idea of keeping those you are reaching.

Here’s the link to the site: http://stickychurch.com/conference

Innovation Exchange in Southern California, Texas, and Northern California

Leadership Network’s Innovation Exchange is Coming to a City Near You!

• May 5-7 in Southern California (Carlsbad, Fullerton, Irvine)
• June 2-4 in Texas (Houston, San Antonio, Austin)
• June 23-25 in Northern California (Los Gatos, Danville, Elk Grove)
  

What is Innovation Exchange? 
Leadership Network feels strongly that connecting innovative leaders with each other accelerates growth and creates synergy. And to help diffuse innovation rapidly among church leaders, we're setting up a series of one-day forums all across the country to help make this innovation and collaborative learning happen.

Innovation Exchange is an exciting day of collaborative learning among some of the brightest church leaders across the country. During your day at Innovation Exchange, your team will:

• Have opportunities to teach others what you are learning
• Learn from other church leaders what they are learning
• Hear from Leadership Network about the ideas and innovations we are discovering from churches all across the country.

Who's invited?
We are inviting select churches all over the country to attend their choice of our Innovation Exchange dates. We are encouraging Senior Pastors to come and bring 3-4 of their key leaders with them.  

Who are the facilitators of this gathering?
Leadership Network will provide facilitators for the Exchange. There will be no speakers or outside experts... and no set agenda. Our goal is to learn from each other and take home valuable ministry insights that will help us in our own ministry setting. 

The day will consist of a few collaborative exercises where you will work in your own church teams and as mixed church teams. We will work hard to surface the best contributions of all the leaders in the room and to help people benefit from their innovative strategies and innovations. 

For more info and how to register, go to the Innovation Exchange website at http://innovationexchange.leadnet.org

Ideation Experience--Top 30 Innovations of the past 30 years

Recently PBS’s program “Nightly Business Report,” reported they had partnered with Wharton School of Business to ask people to submit ideas on what they felt were the best innovations of the past 30 years. Submissions ended in September 2008 and since that time a panel, made up of Wharton faculty, has been evaluating the innovations, not based on cleverness but on the following criteria.

1.      Did it have a direct and/or material effect on quality of life?

2.      Did it address a compelling need?  Did it solve a compelling problem?

3.      Was it a fresh, new breakthrough?   Was there a “WOW” factor?

4.      Did it change the way business is conducted?

5.      Did it increase the efficiency of how resources are used?

6.      Did it spark an ongoing stream of new innovations on top of the original innovation?

7.      Did it lead to the creation of a vast, new industry?

They concluded that the top technological innovations of the past 30 years are:

1. Internet (www. / broadband / HTML) 
2. PC/Laptop computers
3. Mobile phones
4. Email
5. DNA testing and sequencing/Human genome mapping

Here’s the question: How innovative are we as the church? Is there room for innovation in a 2000 year-old institution? Do we foster an environment of innovation? Could we name 30 innovations in the church in the past 30 years that meet the dynamic equivalent of the 7 criteria (moving from overhead projectors to LCD projectors don’t count)? Could we name ten innovations? On July 20-22 Leadership Network will be hosting its first “Ideation Experience” to find out how innovative the church can be. Led by Dave Travis, Chris Willard and Eric Swanson, we are inviting you to bring your innovation ideas to

Dallas

for these ideas to incubate into action. John Handy (former senior VP with Mattel Toys) will be facilitating this time. Go to

http://ideationexperience.leadnet.org/  for more details.