This document provides an overview of becoming a connected congregation. It discusses demographic trends affecting different generations and the characteristics of each. It defines a connected congregation as one that prioritizes relationships, shared values, and aligns all aspects to serve the community. Key lessons include living your organizational values, deeply understanding community and designing for it, building trust through transparency, and being adaptive to challenges through leadership. The presentation emphasizes investing in individual relationships and collective responsibility to strengthen the synagogue community.

1. Becoming a
Connected Congregation
Presented by Lisa Colton
lisa@see3.com @lisacolton
#connectedcongs
April 9, 2015
Adapted from work with Connected Congregations:
A UJA-Federation of New York Initiative with Darim Online

2. The Game Plan
1. Demographic Trends
2. What is a Connected Congregation?
3. Attributes & Examples

3. Who Are You Designing For?

4. Generational Characteristics
BOOMERS GENX MILLENNIALS PLURALS
1946-1964
78 million
1965-1980
48 million
1981-1995
80 million
1996-2009
57 million
• Directive,
command &
control
leadership.
• Raised to pursue
the American
Dream.
• Appreciate
meetings
• Loyalty pays off.
• Focus on money
and savings.
• Independent,
consensual
leadership.
• Pay your dues to
advance.
• Time is precious,
value flexibility.
• Focus on getting
it done.
• Loyalty to people
not necessarily
organizations.
• Creating
meaningful work
and life.
• Flatter mgmt
based on skill, not
seniority.
• Moves jobs and
location.
• Focus on
fulfillment.
• Wary of
institutions and
bureaucracy
• Hyper global and
hyper local focus.
• Multi-faceted
identity as
normative.
• Realistic and
creative.
• Focus on skills
more than
information or
tools.
• Their careers
likely do not exist
yet today.
• Influence family
purchasing.

5. Jewish Community: Pew Report

6. Traditional Mindset: Hub & Spokes
“Institution as organizer and mediator” “Command and control leadership”

7. Connected Mindset: Social & Networked
Hubs are focus on
influence, not the
center. Currency
are relationships
and social capital.
Strength of network
is the shape and
maturity of the
network, not #
tushes in seats

8. I ndividual Relationships
Small Group I dentity
Community
Congregation
Synagogue
SYNAGOGUE STRENGTH & SUSTAI NABI LI TY
To strengthen the synagogue, we must invest in individual relationships, support
collective identity and responsibility, grounded in Jewish values and action.
The foundation of this is designing for social engagement with each other.
Congregation Beth Israel, San Diego
Lisa Colton, August 2014
We need to matter to each other, and the collective.

9. MATTERNESS
Turn to the person next to you
Share a time when you felt like you really
mattered.

10. What is a Connected Congregation?
A connected congregation is one that deeply understands the
meaning of community, and works explicitly to build a strong,
meaningful and engaged Jewish community.
Connected congregations prioritize relationships and shared
values, and align all aspects of institutional management in
service of the community.
Those within connected congregations feel a sense of shared
ownership and responsibility for each other and the
collective, and are empowered to contribute their ideas,
energy and resources.

11. I ndividual Relationships
Small Group I dentity
Community
Congregation
Synagogue
SYNAGOGUE STRENGTH & SUSTAI NABI LI TY
To strengthen the synagogue, we must invest in individual relationships, support
collective identity and responsibility, grounded in Jewish values and action.
The foundation of this is designing for social engagement with each other.
Congregation Beth Israel, San Diego
Lisa Colton, August 2014

12. 4 LESSONS
1. Values are your DNA. Live them.
2. Define community and design for it.
3. Transparency builds trust.
4. Be adaptive and agile.

13. #1. VALUES
ARE YOUR
CONGREGATIONAL
DNA
They are
expressed
everywhere

14. VALUES ARE YOUR DNA
THEY INFORM EVERY DECISION
Temple Beth Abraham, Tarrytown, NY:
“Our board had to discuss our approach to financial relief. The question
posed was this: When families ask for special relief are we having a
conversation about the pain that family is in or the state of their
finances? In other words, are we acting as agents of Acts of Loving
Kindness or the IRS?”
-From “Tilling the Soil”, a case study on the Darim Online blog
By Allison Fine, Immediate Synagogue Past President

15. Where are you now, and where do you want to be?
Complete on your own, then you might want to compare later with
others from your congregation.
You can download the blank worksheet for your own use at
http://connectedcongregations.org/organizational-values-worksheet/
Organizational Values Worksheet

17. 2. DEEP UNDERSTANDING
OF “COMMUNITY”
A connected congregation is one that deeply
understands the meaning of community, and
works explicitly to build a strong, meaningful
and engaged Jewish community.

18. What does your
Community
Look Like?
How can you use data
differently?
What impact does a program
like Shabbat Connections
have on this map?

20. Mike Moxness with Debbie Echt-Moxness
On Living On After a Diagnosis of Cancer

21. • Values based
• Nuanced protocols
• Personal touch
• Infused the DNA
• Paying it forward
CARING
COMMUNITY

22. At each step of design and decision making,
we can ask ourselves
“is this in service of the community or the institution?”

23. #3. TRANSPARENCY
“Like authenticity, transparency is not
defined by you as a leaders, but by the
people you want to trust you and your
organization. How much information do they
need in order to follow you, trust you with
their money or business?”
- Charlene Li
Open Leadership (pg. 193)

24. Organizational Transparency
What is today’s version
of an annual report,
congregational meeting,
or a state of the union?
What kind of
transparency, in what
formats, helps
stakeholders feel like
insiders?

25. #4. Adaptive Challenges & Leadership
25
TECHNICAL CHALLENGES ADAPTIVE CHALLENGES
• Clear cut need
• Can be fixed or addressed
• Can apply current experience or
skills (or find it)
• Developmental change
e.g. building a new website
• Complex issues, dilemmas
• No set procedures or policies
• No analogous past experience
• No expertise
• Issue is transitional or
transformational for the
organization.
e.g. move to a new revenue/
membership model, hiring a new
rabbi
Biggest mistake: approaching adaptive
challenges as if they were technical

26. Adaptive
Leadership
Self
Assessment

27. WALK THE WALK
Culture
Process
Program
Measurement
Resource Allocation

28. Q&A