Gathering 3 Notebook pdf

©
2013, 2015 E. Stanley Ott, Ph.D.
Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are
taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible
© 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States
of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
August 2015
The Barnabas Leadership Group®
Gathering3-ClarifyingVision

2
© 2014 E. Stanley Ott:TheVital Churches Institute | 901 Allegheny Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15233 | 412.246.4847 | www.vitalchurchesinstitute.com

3
3
Table of Contents - Gathering 3
Barnabas Group Gathering 3 p. 5-6
Word-Share-Prayer p. 7 - 9
Seven Circles of Leadership p. 10
Leadership Examen p. 11
Leadership Journal p. 12
Companion Coaching Experience p. 13
ClarifyingVision p. 15-39
Circle ofVision p. 17
Planning Rhythms p. 30
10/90 Rule of Leadership p. 32
TheWork Review p. 34
Sendings p. 37
Circle ofVision
Vision: Setting Goals and Making Plans p. 43-52
Develop a Strategic Plan forYour Church p. 53
Adaptive Change
The Cynefin Framework p. 57-60
Adaptive Challenges and Action Learning p. 61-76
Principles of Effective Leadership
Leading PeopleWithout LosingThem p. 79-88
Principles of Effective Leadership p. 89-100

4
4

5
5
Barnabas Gathering 3 - Day One
12:00 Gather for lunch
1:00 Welcome and Introductions - brief sharing around the table
1:30 Word-Share-Prayer (triads)
1:45 Overview the Notebook sections.
Our Aim, Framework and Process,
Review: Moments and Movements and the Art of Noticing,
A quick summary of our work so far
2:15 Reflection in small groups
What have you learned about yourself over the last months as a leader?
Where do you see your leadership growing edge?
What aspects of the coaching pairs worked or did not work for you?
3:00 Small Groups Debrief
3:15 Break
3:30 (or so) Orientation to the Circle of Vision
4:00 Goal Setting and planning for technical (linear) Leadership Moments
4:30 Goal Setting and planning for adaptive (non-linear) goal challenges
5:30 Break
6:00 Supper
7:00 The setting of and/or discernment of vision, goals, and plans
8:20 Evening worship and Dismiss
BarnabasGroupGathering3-ClarifyingVision

6
6
Barnabas Gathering 2 - Day 2
7:30 Breakfast
8:30 Gather - Word-Share-Prayer
9:00 The 10/90 Rule of Leadership
The Ministry Review
10:00 Break
10:15 Sendings
11:00 Individual PPT
12:00 Lunch

7
7
Word-Share-Prayer:
READ:(NRSV) 1Samuel 17:4 - Gumption II
4
There came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named
Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5
He had a
helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the
weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6
He had greaves
of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders.
7
The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam… “Am I not a Philistine,
and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him
come down to me”11
When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the
Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
2 Samuel 21:19 Then there was another battle with the Philistines at Gob;
and Elhanan son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, killed Goliath the
Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 20
There was
again war at Gath, where there was a man of great size, who had six fingers
on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; he too
was descended from the giants. 21
When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of
David’s brother Shimei, killed him. 22
These four were descended from the
giants in Gath; they fell by the hands of David and his servants
REFLECT:
All of Israel was afraid to take on Goliath one-on-one. Yet, we discover
in the months after David’s encounter with Goliath that Hebrews, who
had avoided combat with Goliath, stood tall in facing others just as
intimidating. Why?
Gumption is the interesting combination of courage and common sense.
The godly gumption is that which acknowledges fear and anxiety, sets it
aside, puts one’s literal trust in almighty God and gets the job done.
Name an situation in your life in the last month requiring gumption.
RESPOND: When you face a situation that requires godly gumption,
how may you be mighty in spirit when you may feel exactly the
opposite?
REQUEST: Jot down some blessings and prayer requests that you and
others may have.

8

9
9
Word-Share-Prayer:
READ: (NRSV) Matthew 4:18-19 - Jesus calls his disciples
18
As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is
called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they
were fishermen. 19
And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you
fish for people.”
REFLECT:
Notice key phrases that strike you in this passage. What vision does Jesus
offer?
What do you notice about Peter and Andrew that fit them to be witnesses
of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection?
What new insights does this passage offer you about leadership?
RESPOND: In what ways will you apply this text to your own life and
ministry?
REQUEST: Jot down prayer requests that you and others may have.

10
The Seven Circles of Leadership

11
11
Leadership Examen
A very useful practice of Christian spirituality is known as the Examen. Examen, “a
weighing” out from the Latin, is an examination of one’s life in which we think through
our moments of joy and sadness (often referred to as “consolation and desolation”) and
our reflections on God’s presence in each moment. It’s a way of discerning God’s work in
our lives.
For example, for the evening Examen one takes a few minutes at end of the day to reflect
on two questions. As Adele Ahlberg Calhoun writes, there are many ways to ask these
two questions:
• For what moment today am I most grateful? For what moment today am I least
grateful?
• When did I give and receive the most love today – and the least love? When
today did I have the deepest sense of connection with God, others and myself?
When today did I have the least sense of connection?
• When did I experience desolation?” Where did I find consolation?
• How has God been doing in my life in the past six months? Themes
developing?1
The “Leadership Examen” follows a similar process. In essence the process of journaling
and engaging reciprocal peer coaching is all about reflecting on the observations of one
another’s Leadership Examen.To practice a nightly Leadership Examen in a spirit of
humility simply ask a few more questions of your day and jot down your answers.
Basic questions:
• In each leadership moment of the day, what did I do that encourages me and
what discourages me? What will I do to grow from this as a leader?
For greater detail using the Seven Circles of Leadership:
• When did I behave in a manner worthy or unworthy of my Lord? (Circle of the
Leader)
• How did I treat people today? With love, dignity, and respect or in de-valuing
ways? (Circle of the Follower)
• Was I clear about vision or the process of discerning vision with others? Did I
seek my Lord’s wisdom? Was I open to the new idea? (Circle of Vision)
• Did I invite others to join me or us? Was I direct, winsome, of godly gumption?
Did I side step this or leave it to others? (Circle of the Call to Action)
• Did I develop the teams/groups of which I am a part – their esprit de corps,
their interpersonal relationships, their individual members fruitfulness? (Circle
of Team)
• Did I give others ways to serve and to carry some appropriate load by
transferring responsibility to them along with the tools and encouragement to
enable their success? (Circle of Delegation)
• Did I develop others as leaders, inspiring their capacity to create or see vision
and to practice the rest of the seven circles? (Circle of Development)
1
Calhoun, Adele Ahlberg. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press 2005. pp. 53-55.

12
My Leadership Examen Journal
Contexts for
Leadership
What encouraged me as I led today? What discouraged me as I led today?
Personal life
Rule of Life
Home life
Social life
Community life
June 7
I re-established my daily devotional time. I wrestled
with the “when” of this. Settled on 6:30 – 7:00 a.m.
but know this will be tough. Leading myself not
easy. Circle of the Leader
June 8 Jack and I talked about updating our wills.
I offered a written list of possible items for our
will that moved us off our inclination to squabble
a bit about this and into a good conversation.This
process of “anchoring” by offering a paper proposal
as a “straw man” helped establish a general direction.
Circle of Vision.
June 12 Michelle Smith called to say everyone could
meet Thursday morning. I said I had a commitment
Thursday morning but the afternoon was wide-
open, suggesting 1:30. She preferred the morning
but was all right with it.
June 13 I talked with Phyllis, our Treasurer, about
getting statements out on time. I sat down with her,
reviewed the necessity and looked her in the eye and
smiled saying, “This needs to be done on time.” She
smiled back. I think it will happen. Yay!
June 14 I met with Scott Green and Mary Lawson
to resolve the issues surrounding what, if anything,
we should charge for use of our community center
large room. Marty was uneasy with this but knows
it’s become a problem. I think I handled this pretty
well. Circle of Team
June 7
I asked Jack where the boxes of our family tax
files are because they aren’t where we usually keep
them. He was immediately defensive saying he had
no idea where they were. I said, “Honey it’s not
about you. I just need the files from 2008. Would
you see if perhaps the boxes were moved when we
prepared the extra guest bedroom for company
last Christmas? Sure enough he found them in the
garage! I suggested this is not the best place for
such material and it didn’t end well. Wish I’d left it
with a, “Thanks for finding the boxes.”
June 9
My community center microphone has failed for
two weeks in a row. I asked Bill, who maintains our
equipment, to check it out after the first problem
and am bothered it wasn’t taken care off. I fired
off a blunt email. Bill called me to say he’d ordered
a key component that hadn’t arrived and forgot
to tell me. He wasn’t very happy with the tone of
my email.Too late I remembered the wisdom that
email is best for affirmation and information but
not for confrontation.
June 9 I invited Mary Jones and Jenny Stephens
into a triad with me to study Discipleship
Essentials. Mary a yes. Jenny a no. I know I didn’t
give Jenny enough information and rushed to a
“You wouldn’t want to do this would you?” I realize
my invitation was actually a negative. I need to ask
people straight out, “Will you do X?” Circle of the
Call to Action

13
13
The Companion Coaching Experience
The Barnabas process combines three significant elements that contribute
to growth in leadership capacity: learning, leading, and reflecting (or Read-
Lead-Heed).The companion coaching conversations offer us
the opportunity to be peer coaches for one another. Our role is to ask
questions of one another to enhance the process of reflecting on our
leadership practices.These questions are not an exam and have no
judgmental component to them.Their only aim is to help one another
think more originally and reflectively about our own selves and specifically
how we have led.
The primary goal of the mutual coach is therefore not to give advice but
to ask questions designed to help the peer be self-reflective. At times the
peer coach may offer counsel but the main task is questions and the minor
task is guidance. Help each other think through, “What did I do right and
well? Where was I off the mark? How may I do this more effectively in the
future? What Circles of Leadership were involved?”
One goal of the companion peer coaching experience is to help you get in
touch with your current leadership habits, the ways you react to people in
good moments and in difficult moments, and how you may develop new
habits that will foster a growing leadership capacity.The questions your
peer asks of you and your reflective replies can open a window into your
actual habits and behaviors and ways to improve. Seeing ourselves as we
really are has been one of humanity’s challenges for a long time, yet it is a
key to our growth into new practices.

15
15
• The elements of the Circle of Vision
• The difference between technical (linear) challenges
and adaptive (non-linear) challenges.
• Goal setting for technical (linear) challenges
• Goal setting for adaptive (non-linear) challenges
• The 10/90 Rule
• The Ministry Review
Pre-Gathering Preparation
1. Read “The Circle of Vision”
2. The Leadership Challenge Chapters 2 and 4 Kouzes and Posner
3. Leadership on the Line Heifetz and Linsky
Beginnings
Word-Share-Prayer (triads)
“We must be the people of God before we do the work of the
people of God.”
Our Aim, Framework and Process
1. Our aim is for each of us to grow in our capacity as leaders.
2. To grow leadership capacity, Barnabas employs two triple helixes
framework and a process.
The framework: discipleship, leadership and context
Barnabas Group Gathering 3 – ClarifyingVision
Objectives:To Learn and Apply - (from Greek to Hebrew):
Brief re-introduction
of the coaches and
participants.

16
16
The process: learning, doing, reflecting.
A quick summary of our work so far:
Barbara Kellerman – a changing leader-follower relationship.
Jim Kouzes and Bary Posner The Leadership Challenge – five
practices
The Seven Circles of Leadership
The Circle of the Leader
The Circle of the Follower
Greek vs Hebrew Education
Reflection in triads
1. What have you learned about yourself over the last months as a leader?
2. Where do you see your leadership growing edge?
3. What aspects of Leadership Examen, PPT, your companion cluster,
and ways to value people worked for you?
Whole Group Debrief
What have we learned?
How is your Leadership
Examen going? Move from
a purely Leadership Examen
to keeping an Examen
Journal daily at least one
week before your triad meets.
Include both your Spiritual
Life Examen – noticing God’s
presence in your moments
of encouragement and
discouragement – and your
Leadership Examen – noticing
your leadership moments
and ways your behavior were
encouraging and discouraging
to you.
How did your peer-coaching
experience go?
Divide into triads. Over lunch
set your monthly meetings.
Include a Barnabas Coach in
one of them.

17
17
The Circle of Vision
Vision = Goals, objectives and plans (because a vision or a goal without a
plan is only a wish).
The Leadership Challenge
New book: Making Vision
Stick by Andy Stanley
See Readings:
Circle Three: The Circle of
Vision
Vision: Setting Goals and
Making Plans
Develop a Strategic Plan
for Your Church

18
18
As we discuss vision the nature of vision, the Spirit of God is almost
certainly going to place some ideas – both large and small – on your heart.
Please attend to the spark of the Spirit and take the time to write down
what comes to your heart to do. (Nehemiah 2:12b: what my God had put
into my heart to do for Jerusalem.)
Vision is a complex subject that is both broad and specific
The Philosophy of the Circle of Vision: To lead you must “see” where you are
going and have a plan to get there.
The Practice of the Circle: Discern vision. Plan action by yourself and with
others.
Vision is the capacity to see possibilities – the ability to see what could
or what should happen. Vision is any desired outcome. It helps us see our
destination and our plans help us see the route by which we will either get
there or navigate in that direction.
“Vision Pairs” express the central elements of the Circle of Vision.
Strategic (or Defining) Vision and Tactical Vision
Sustaining and Advancing Vision
Vision In and Vision Out (Leading in and leading out)
Technical and Adaptive Vision
Goals focus our efforts and formalize desired results.They are the big
picture expression of what your vision seeks to accomplish.
Goals and objectives are similar concepts. A goal is generally a higher-
level aim that often un-measurable and has a long horizon to accomplish.
Objectives are lower-level aims that include measurable outcomes and a
time line.
While they do have someone different meanings in the general culture,
the main thing is that you know what they mean for you and for your
organization.
Did Jesus have goals? Objectives? Can you give examples?
1.
2.
3.
Be the Leader Who Leads -
Circle of Vision
The diﬀerence between
Role Orientation and Goal
Orientation - Glasser
Let us go somewhere
else—to the nearby
villages—so I can preach
there also. That is why I
have come.” Mark 1:38
Here we have the goal” to
p“reach and an objective
“go to the nearby villages”
Goal: The calling and
development of the Twelve.
Objective: Matthew follow
me. Goal: To preach the
good news of the Kingdom
of God. Objective: go to
Samaria. Goal: To lay his
life down on our behalf.
Objective: not to resist his
arrest when it occurs.

19
19
Setting annual goals is appropriate for the person and organization that
has a fairly routine approach to ordering its life. While they will face both
technical and adaptive challenges, they do have time to think though what
their goals are and to work on accomplishing them.
Sometimes life is moving so rapidly that setting a goal that takes a year
to accomplish is actually just a great fiction and the best you can do
is generate new understandings of what needs to be on the fly – agile
leadership – with new goals every two weeks - and work to address them
even as new matters to deal with surface.This is especially true in complex
adaptive and in chaotic situations.
Stephen Covey: Goal! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPwrfa7oY-M
In our manic day with its heavy pressure of present demand,
planning is a spiritual discipline.
Nygren and Ukeritis (1993) distinguished outstanding leaders from typical
leaders based on the competencies of achievement motivation, long-term
initiative or strategy, ability to focus on group goals over individual goals,
use of power through consensus building, ability to persuade members to
support group goals, and deep grounding in spirituality and humanitarian
values.1
Technical (linear) and an adaptive (non-linear) Leadership Moments
Technical or linear environments are reasonably straight-forward and
predictable. You (you personally or a leadership team) know how things
work and how to get things done. Whether you are planning a large dinner
social dinner or a concert you can discern what needs to be done by using
the “W” Questions – What is to be done, by Whom, by When, Where
and Why?
1 Cited in Rosemarie A. Ong, Ph.D, “Leadership Development Experiences of Exemplary
Roman Catholic Parish Priests: An Exploratory Study,” George Washington University,
2013.

20
20
However, adaptive environments are neither predictable nor linear. While
you may be able to fulfill your vision answering the “W” Questions, its
likely that in an adaptive environment you will have to be light on your
feet, be open to experimenting and willing to modify what you are doing
as you go along.
Examples of Adaptive Challenges:
1. How will we win participation of those who are under forty years of age.
2. How will we grow true adult disciples (moving from involvement to
discipleship) and handle the transitional issues in relation to our
current Christian Education efforts?
3. How do we create a sustainable children’s ministry given the busyness
of our volunteers and the less regular attendance of children in Sunday
school.
4. How to properly equip people to serve in our ministry when the people
are already harried and overextended?
5. How can we accomplish five adult baptisms per year for
three consecutive years?
What are some adaptive challenges facing you today?
Common terminology for adaptive leadership is “Agile” leadership and
“Nimble” leadership. You can tell from the very terminology that we
are speaking of ways to navigate uncertainty rather than simply “solve a
problem.”
For example in agile leadership thinking the horizon of the goals may be
only two weeks away, you assume they aren’t quite right, and the issue is
velocity – how much you accomplish more than how successful you are.
The idea is when things are really flying you have to throw a lot of mud at
the wall to see what sticks and move on from there with more mud!
Ask for group input. It is
not necessary for everyone
to speak.
Leadership on the Line -
The danger of leadership,
pg. 95-108.
Ask the group you give
some examples of adaptive
challenges you are facing
right now? You may
illustrate with one or two of
your own.

21
21
Character qualities for navigating the adaptive challenge include:
1. Humility “In times of rapid change, what you know can mislead you”
Robert Dilworth. Without a humble “teachability” and willingness to
learn, we are closed to new ideas and fresh approaches. Such humility
allows a “holy flexibility” to respond to situations as they arise.
2. Inquiry – the willingness to ask questions
3. Initiative – the heart to start – to move beyond chewing ideas
4. Gumption – to be strong, be of good courage and do it! 1 Chronicles
28:20
Goal setting and planning for technical (linear) Leadership Moments.
Some goal-setting and planning pointers:
Set WW (What When) goals or S.M.A.R.T. goals - linear plans.
The value of goals in the process of leading is their capacity to clarify what
you are seeking to accomplish.The key is to hold them in a “loose-tight”
manner - loose to the degree that you remain open to changing goals
as situations and conditions change and tight to the degree you want
something actually accomplished by a given date.
While SMART Goals are widely used (Specific, Measurable, Attainable,
Realistic and Time-based), the simply W & W goal is easy to develop and
easy to modify.
W – the What you aim to accomplish
W – the When it is to be accomplished.
Develop a master plan for generosity development by August 15, 2015
• Invite three others to form a Discipleship Essentials group by May
1, 2015
• Recruit the team and develop the plan with them to launch a
ministry to professional women to commence September 1, 2015
• Work out our/my will and estate decisions by June 15, 2015
As you begin to practice the Circle of the Follower - while also attending
to the ministry of soul care with a few others, matters relevant to your
home and those close to you and to matters of church and work, use W &
W goals to pattern where you are going and as input to your PPT process.
Annually
Set your top five to ten annual “big” goals for your major areas of
endeavor. Even if you are going to guide leadership groups in goal
setting processes this will help you clarify your thinking about the
Heilﬁtz on dangerous
leadership and Failure of
Nerve.
Leadership on the Line -
The danger of leadership,
pg. 95-108.

22
22
future.The group goal setting process is one way to gain perspective on
and modify your own goals for whatever entity the leadership group
leads.
Weekly and Quarterly
Use your weekly practice of PPT (Protected Planning Time) to set
weekly “do’s” as goals. Once a quarter, take half a day to a day to think
a bit further out. Always be aware of your annual goals and how they
work into your weekly/quarterly PPT
We can overdo it by setting so many goals we might as well set none at
all or by becoming so strident that every goal be met on time regardless
of new opportunities or obstacles that we end up using goals to break the
Circle of the Follower.
We can also underdo it by solely rolling from demand to demand and
never stopping to think about what we want to see accomplished.
See the Readings for:
Perspectives on Goal Getting
Developing a Strategic Plan for Your Church
Sustaining Versus Advancing Goals
Did Jesus focus on repeating only what he had done before and or focus
on advancing into new territories with new missional objectives?
What will you sustain in the next year and how will you
advance with sustaining and advancing vision?
Are your efforts, by in large, limited to the repetition of last
year’s endeavor? Yes or no? If the answer is yes, then
chances are your work is static and you are not seeking
or using a vision for your work that is larger than the one
that guided you a year ago.
A useful way to set goals for the next year is in the form
of Sustaining and Advancing Goals. Sustaining Goals are
those aspects of your current endeavors that you plan to
continue next year. Advancing Goals are the areas of new
endeavor you intend to accomplish.
Clearly he did both.

23
23
An example:
Sustaining and Advancing W&W (What and When) Goals
Name of Ministry: _The Ice Cream Fellowship_ Date: 2-25-14
Sustaining Goals continue what is already happening while seeking
greater excellence and results. Advancing Goals express new initiatives.
W&W Sustaining Goals – what we intend to continue with
excellence
1. Weekly gatherings for Bible Study and ice cream from June 15
through August 15
2. Children’s activities during the Bible study June 15 through August
15
3. Monthly work teams for Habitat for Humanity Saturdays June 15
through August 15
4. Our ministry team Bill and Mary (leaders), Phil, Marianne, Jim,
JoAnne.
W&W Advancing Goals – new ministry initiatives
1. An outreach ice cream social with one of the major ice cream stores to
center a community happening over the July 4 weekend.
2.The Bible study will shift from 95% lecture to ½ lecture and 1/2 face
groups for prayer August 31

24
24
The place of ecclesiology in goal setting – having goals in each of the
strategic domains of the vital church.
Goal setting and planning for adaptive (non-linear) goal challenges
There are a variety of ways to navigate the adaptive (non-linear) challenge.
They include:
1.Trust God and stay the course
2.The Role of Wisdom
3. Mutual Invitation for Group Discernment
4.The 3D Method
5. Discerning God’s Will Together
6. Action Learning
1.Trusting God
Consider the Second Missionary Journey of Paul and his companions:
6 “They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been
forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When
they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia,
but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; 8 so, passing by Mysia,

25
25
they went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision: there
stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come
over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen the vision, we
immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that
God had called us to proclaim the good news to them” (Acts 16:6-10).
As Paul and his companions traveled east he kept trying to travel in
a northerly direction with the word of the good news about Jesus.
When the Holy Spirit stopped him the first time he just traveled east a
bit more and tried going north again.
From Paul’s perspective, he must have felt like he kept bumping into
Spirit-closed doors when trying to travel north but if you were to
look at his actual line of travel you see it is a straight shot to Greece
(Macedonia)!
He faced an adaptive challenge for which there was no obvious
solution. He didn’t take a closed door to mean stop trying but to keep
knocking! Adaptive challenges many not lend themselves to easy
resolution.The will to endure, to stay the course, to be inventive on a
sustained basis is essential.
Basic in addressing adaptive challenges is trust God and staying the
course on the journey. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do
not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he
will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
2.The Role of Wisdom
“Wisdom is a tool for decision-making in light of uncertainty.” Stan
Ott’s Purdue statistics professor, Charlie Hicks, defined statistics as “A
tool for decision making in light of uncertainty.That is exactly what
wisdom accomplishes as we face the adaptive challenge. We seek such
wisdom from our Lord and from the wise people our Lord has given
us to confer with.
James 1:5 “If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all
generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.
1 Kings 3:9 “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to
govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can
govern this your great people?”
Proverbs 2:3,6-7 “If you indeed cry out for insight, and raise your voice
for understanding… For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come

26
26
knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the
upright”
Ecclesiastes 7:12 “For the protection of wisdom is like the protection
of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to
the one who possesses it.”
There will likely come a point when you want more information and
wisdom prior to a decision but none is forthcoming and a deadline
approaches. At that point, trusting our Lord has been faithful to give
you needed insight; it becomes a matter of the courage - the gumption
(courage plus common sense) to make a decision. Call it.
Want to know how you are guided by the will of God in a decision?
In such a case you will be able to say after the decision is made and
not before.The truth is all decision making is done with insufficient
information. No matter which way you go its back to trusting God and
staying the course.
Worth knowing: there are a variety of books offering guidelines on
ways to make better decisions.
3. Mutual invitation for group discernment.2
• Invite each person to speak an agreed upon length of time such as
three minutes.
• Each speaker chooses the next speaker. No repeats until all have
spoken.
• General discussion.
4. The 3-D method of TAG Consulting
• Dialogue – Each speaks in turn around circle – or use Mutual
Invitation
• Discussion – Open discussion
• Decision – By the group or the group leader
5. Discernment is a term in vogue for seeking to understand what the
will of God is in a particular situation and to clarify what a person or a
group is going to do – which may the lead to specific goals and plans.
Group discernment of the will of God. Ruth Haley Barton -
Discerning God’s Will Together – uses the Ignatian process of group
discernment based on practices of personal devotion (Examen:
desolation and consolation) and indifference – each person
announces their sincere indifference to all but the will of God.
2 Law, Eric H. F. The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb a Spirituality for Leadership in a
Multicultural Community. St. Louis, MO: Chalice, 1993. Print.

27
27
6.The Cynefin Framework
Adaptive Technical
Dave Snowden on the Cynefin Framework: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=N7oz366X0-8
The Cynefin Framework is useful in helping figure out what quadrant
you are in and thus what kind of action is called for.This is another
way of thinking in terms of “moments and movement” – in this
moment what quadrant of the Cynefin Framework am I or we in?
What potential movement will I or we make as a result?
Consider moments in the life of Jesus in each of the four quadrants as
viewed from the perspective of the disciples:
• Simple: Jesus sat in a boat to teach crowds for crowd control.
• Complicated: the situation leading up to the feeding of the 5000
• Complex adaptive: the death of Lazarus
• Chaotic: the Garden of Gethsemane
The role of character in navigating the four Cynefin quadrants:
• How do you understand ways the Circle of the Leader influences
the practice of the Circle of Vision
When navigating in a complex adaptive environment a person who
is unable to see things from different perspectives, who is not open to
inquiry and experimentation may find the going gets pretty tough.
7. Action learning
Action Learning is a problem-solving process used in organizations
around the world to inspire fresh learning, decisive action, and team-
The Cyneﬁn Framework
video and articles in the
readings.
Discussion: What are
the character qualities a
leader needs to creatively
lead others to navigate an
adaptive environment?
Humility, Inquiry, Initiative,
Gumption

28
28
life development while contributing to the esprit de corps and vision of
the entire organization.
While the process of action learning is used by all sorts of
organizations around the world to address adaptive challenges, it
certainly lends itself to use in the church, especially when undergirded
with a spirit of humility and devotion to our Lord.
Action Learning is a process that “neutralizes advocacy and uplifts
inquiry.”When addressing complex adaptive situations, what we
already know is insufficient to solve or navigate the challenge. So when
people advocate for solutions they already think will work, they are
trying to solve an adaptive challenge with their technical expertise.
What is needed is a spirit of inquiry and humility that asks questions
and is willing to take the risk to try new things out – to probe for new
answers., and overcoming obstacles.
Think about one of the major teaching methods of Jesus, the asking of
questions. He used inquiry as a way of helping his disciples think in
new says. Who do you say the Son of Man is? Who is greatest in the
kingdom of heaven. For what will it profit you if you gain the whole
world but forfeit your own soul?
Action Learning has the capacity to generate truly fresh, original
insight and the team spirit necessary to effect significant movement.
By means of its question-asking and reflection process, Action
Learning can open the discernment process to completely new ideas,
insights, and directions.
See the Reading: Adaptive Challenges and Action Learning for an in-
depth review of the process of action learning.There are many excellent
videos on the action learning process on Youtube.
An Action Learning exercise:
Get into groups of 5 to 6 with people from at least two other
congregations if possible.
The Action Learning Coach will be the person whose birthday is
nearest to today. Her/his role is to insure that people ask or reply to
questions and to ask, “What has been learned?” every fifteen minutes.
30 minutes plus 15 minutes
to debrief.
Page number and show
one Chuck Appleby video.

29
29
The Project Question – choose from one of the following issues:
• What kind of a congregational Reach event will we employ to seize
the avttention of the community?
• How will we involve half of our active members in small groups at
least once a year?
• How will we connect with young adults (under 40)? Work to
identify the issues and areas in which new knowledge would be
helpful. If through the process of questioning and reflection you
discern a possible experimental action you would take, work out
what would that action look like.
• Choose an adaptive challenge facing one of you (but choose
quickly)
After 25 minutes,
debrief. What about the
process was rewarding,
challenging? What did you
learn?

30
30
Planning Rhythms
Agree/Disagree In our manic day, planning is a spiritual discipline.
A vision, goal or objective without a plan is only a wish.
When life is coming at you, planning is easy to set aside in favor of other
urgent and demanding items. It is why planning is a spiritual discipline
for Christian leaders in our day, a deliberately scheduled practice for
discerning and specifying goals, objectives along with their time lines.
For organizations that have a ponderous rate of change, an annual
planning cycle is adequate for setting a future path although thinking out
three to five years can be useful as well. For organizations facing a much
higher rate of change in the environment they serve, more appropriate
planning cycles may be semi-annually, quarterly, monthly and even weekly
if the rate of change requires “agile” leadership.
Do you have an annual or regular goal/objective setting routine?
For your own life and work?
For your organization or major area of responsibilities?
Are you practicing PPT – Protected Planning Time weekly – which is
a way of sustaining the alignment of your goals and actual life.
What disrupts vision, goal-setting and planning rhythms?
An example of an annual planning cycle follows on the next page.
Ott observed about 2%
do. Kouzes and Posner
observed 3%.
Note from G1 The
Pressure of Present
Demand
The pressure of present
demand relegates any non-
pressing item to the bottom
of the list. The routine of
present demand convinces
us that everything we are
doing is necessary. The
comfort of present demand
lulls us into thinking that
while we complain about
the fact that we are surﬁng
an uninterrupted ﬂow of
people and activities in our
lives, we actually like it. We
become accustomed to
the demand and would not
know what to do with our
day without it.

31
31
Annual Planning Process (August ___ to July __)
January Leader Planning
1. Review your defining vision and assess the needs of your
organization and those they serve.
2. What are five to ten major potential goals for the coming year?
Some of us do this better alone and others need to do this in the
community of a few trusted people of imagination and initiative
helping us to dream but without imposing their agenda on us.
February/March Staff Member Planning
1. Review the defining vision and assess the needs of their areas of
work and those they serve. Input offered from supervisor level.
2. What are major potential goals for the coming year in the staff
member’s area of responsibility?
March/April Team, Board, or Committee Level Planning
1. Assessment: Vision - What is our Defining Vision?
2. Assessment: Assess the needs of the people we are planning for.
3. Goals: Set goals - specific things we wish to see accomplished
– and associated due dates or timelines. Input from supervisory
leadership. Use dialogue processes such as Mutual Invitation.
4. Design: Design action steps to include organization - who will do
what by when? This includes deadlines and check lists which put
teeth into our plans and the personnel to be responsible. Use the
Action Learning process to tackle adaptive challenges (whether
possibilities or problems) for which current approaches are
inadequate.
5. Evaluate: Plan to evaluate how it is going and modify plans as
needed.
May Preliminary goals and plans received and commented on by
governing level.
June Final Goals and Plans
At the Pleasant Hills
Church Stan listed ten
“dream big” goals every
January to serve as input
to the wider planning
eﬀort. A review of this ten
years later revealed over
70% of them had been
accomplished and was
much of the reason for the
growth in vitality there.

32
32
The 10/90 Rule of Leadership
For setting goals and making plans – whether they address matters that are
linear and straight-forward or adaptive in nature.
Whether the problem is simple or complicated– requiring a linear straight
forward process to decide what to do – or the problem complex adaptive in
nature requiring inquiry and experimentation (probe) to navigate, the 10-
90 Rule of Leadership is a powerful way to reach your goals and keep your
people with you.
The 10/90 Rule of Leadership says that planning is 10% technical (what
are we going to do) and 90% tactical (how are we going to do it and keep
our people with us)? Most organization reverse the two and spend 90%
of their time figuring out what to do and only 10% how to do it without
losing people – and no wonder people get annoyed!
The 10/90 Rule of Leadership
(Leading People without Losing Them)
I was a part of the staff of a congregation in which we kept
launching new initiatives and new ideas and often discovered
people were not nearly as excited as we were. We engaged
a management consultant, Dick Feiertag, to help us up our
leadership game and he said, “You need to learn the 10/90
Rule.” Sound planning and leadership is ten percent technical
and ninety-percent tactical. The ten percent technical is the
time and effort it takes to decide your vision, aim, and goals
This is often the sole or primary focus of goal setting efforts
and planning. The ninety percent tactical is the planning
time and effort it takes to ensure we accomplish our goals
and to keep our people with us. Commonly, far more effort
is put into goal setting than developing a plan of action that
keeps people with you. We want to lead people without
losing them!
In other words, the 10/90 Rule involves both the “what”
of our goals and the “how” of our goals. The idea is that
however much effort it takes to decide what we intend to
do, what we want to accomplish then we will go on to spend
nine times that amount of effort ﬁguring out how we are
going to do it. This is in order to sustain the unity of the
organization and the good will of those who will be involved.
Begin Day 2 with WSP:
Gumption II. TRIADS
Discuss the role of
gumption in setting vision.
How does a lack or
failure of godly gumption
compromise one’s vision
for oneself, one’s loved
ones and one’s ministry
and work?
Illustrations of the move to
the Great Room or the Fir
Tree

33
33
Leaders frequently reverse the 10/90 Rule. They spend
ninety-percent of their time figuring out what to do and only
ten percent throwing together an action plan – so no wonder
people feel left out, disconnected, and at times resentful.
Vital leadership is always an act of the mind.
We know the consequences of reversing the 10/90 Rule. I
know of a Session that reversed the 10/90 Rule by voting to
cancel their 8:30 worship service because they wanted more
people to fill the sanctuary at 11:00 with no thought about
how to interpret it to the congregation. A firestorm began
to brew. The Session and a worship committee of another
congregation wanted to move their 11:00 blended worship
service out of the sanctuary and into their gymnasium-sized
social hall. They spent much more time figuring out how to
do it without losing people than in deciding to do it. Out of
three hundred people who attended, they ended up with
only two objecting! Take the time needed to be thorough
in your tactics and strategy so that those you lead embrace
your goals rather than resist them.
When Robert Mager subtitled his book Analyzing
Performance Problems with the charming phrase, “You
Really Oughta Wanna!” his point was that people often don’t
“wanna do” what we want them to do. We need the 90% to
be effective leaders!
Imagine two university development officers who separately
approach a wealthy patron seeking gifts for their respective
academic institutions. The 10% is easy: secure a gift for the
university. The first development officer calls the potential
patron with little research into the patron’s interests and
proceeds to extol the virtues of his school at length and asks
for a gift to underwrite the costs of running the university.
The conversation is over in twenty minutes with a modest
gift given.
The second person learns about the patron and then visits
the patron’s home taking considerable time to inquire about
the health and family of the patron. Eventually she steers
the conversation to the needs of the university students
and connects their needs with the interests and passion
of the patron. Guess who secures the larger gift? Both
development officers have the same vision in mind which
came from the 10% of the 10/90 Rule. The difference was in

34
34
the use of the 90%.
The 10% without the 90% will get you a lot less than
100%. The 90% sustains relationships, afﬁrms the esprit-
de-corps of those who are led and gets a lot closer to 100%
cooperation in the accomplishment of the 10%.
The Work Review
One of the ways to help people – both staff and volunteers – to clarify
their goals, adhere to them as the adjust and accomplish their plans
is the ministry review.This is a one hour face-to-face conversation
typically held monthly although it may also be accomplished through
weekly “stand up” meetings.
The aim of a work review is to:
1. Look backward in appreciation for what has been accomplished and to
address ways to improve performance.
2. Look forward to the work to be done and its alignment with vision
and goals.
With a capable, high-initiative, competent individual, minimum review
is called for. Once they have the vision, those people do need to know
they are valued yet don’t need a great deal of advice or supervision. With
a less competent, equipped, experienced, or less self-directed person, a
higher level of supervision and review is necessary to insure the work is
satisfactorily accomplished.
At stake is the matter of accountability.The highly motivated person
is intrinsically motivated and holds himself or herself accountable to
himself or herself to accomplish the work. You may encourage people who
are already motivated or offer some sort of motivation with additional
compensation, but the fact is they will drive themselves harder than you
can.
The lesser motivated, less capable individual or more extrinsically
motivated may need some incentive outside of themselves to perform at
an acceptable level whether words of praise, exhortation or compensation.
Although various forms of affirmation, compensation or penalties may be
used for such incentives, the ministry review itself is also a useful means of
incentive.
The function of the ministry review is to help people succeed. Perhaps
you will also conduct some form of performance review for compensatory

35
35
purposes. However, when it comes to a ministry review, the only issues are
“are you accomplishing the work you were given to do?”, “what are your
problems and needs?”, “what additional resources do you need?” and “how
may I help you” ending with a “thank you, keep up the good work.”
Some review work is informal and brief. Whether you see a person to
whom you have delegated work at, say, the water fountain, the informal
review simply asks how it is going in relation to some task and offers
a word of counsel and encouragement. If there is a problem with the
performance of the follower, do not save up your concerns and gripes for
an official performance review session. Follow up immediately and address
your concern face-to-face or by phone if at all possible. If you continue
to be concerned, then follow up with a written memo (not an email) and
schedule a more formal review of the work.
A useful technique in leading those to whom you have delegated work is
to schedule a regular (monthly or quarterly) ministry and planning review.
This is not for performance review or evaluation but for the purpose of
motivation, help, and leadership. It is helpful to meet personally with those
people to whom you have directly delegated work.The frequency of such
meetings depends on the initiative, wisdom and experience of the person
you are reviewing and the magnitude of the task.
One Hour Work Review Steps
Build them up. Ask how they are doing. Communicate respect and interest.
Review their work. Focus on people (who is with you) and accomplishment
(what has happened, what you have done).
Look ahead (what needs to happen, what you will do, with whom, and what
support you need from me or from others to accomplish your work).
A few tips on the work review include the following:
1. Conduct a monthly ministry review (weekly if more
supervision is needed, quarterly if less is appropriate).
2. Meet for one hour maximum (too much time over-loads).
3. Emphasize the positive – where do you go from here. If you
realize something is amiss with a program or the actions of
a person, do not save it up waiting for a work or performance
review to confront the person – have such corrective
conversation immediately.The person may need re-direction.

36
36
It may also turn out you don’t understand the situation fully.
Direct discussion cuts out the slow burn.
4. Ask for a one-page written report – short sentences with bullet
points works well. In some environments, a written report will
be inappropriate or unnecessarily burdensome. In such cases,
ask for a verbal report.
The advantage of the written report is that it guarantees some
thought and reflection has gone into the discernment of “what
happened since my last report” and “what will my next steps
be?” Reports highlight: key events of the last month, key goals
for the next month or period, who are the people with or under
the person being reviewed (this is basic to helping them learn
to transfer leadership to others) and what obstacles are in the
way.
5. Start with the personal – genuine interest in “how you are.”
Demonstrate that you truly value this person. Be alert to the
follower circle.
6. Look back – look ahead. Look back to review the work. What
was accomplished, what are the problems? Look ahead. What
will be done next? How may I support you?
7. Talk less than half of the time.
8. Close in prayer together.
If you are the person in charge, conduct ministry reviews on yourself as a
means of keeping yourself accountable to excellence in the work set before
you.
RAP
The RAP model developed by ExecutiveForums.com offers a useful
pattern for the work review.
R - Review the last week/month. What was accomplished? What were
the challenges?
A - Analyze. What do we learn that will guide us moving forward?
P - Plan. What are the goals for the next period of time?

37
37
Sendings (Next Steps)
Moments and Movements in the Circle of Vision
1. Soul-Care: sustain your Rule of Life.
Discipleship is unto Leadership.There is not shortcut to growth as a
disciple nor as a leader however there is a clear relationship between
the two. Jesus, the ultimate leader, said, “a disciple is not about the
teacher but when fully developed is like the teacher (Luke 6:40).
Growing in your knowing of Jesus, growth in in his likeness and image
is by grace to become more like Jesus and thus to grow as a leader.
2. Keep your Examen Journal at least one week before your triad meets.
Leadership Moments
Work at developing the “Art of Noticing” – noticing the presence
of our Lord in the moments of your life and noticing the leadership
moments. So include both your Spiritual Life Examen – noticing
God’s presence in moments of encouragement and discouragement –
and your Leadership Examen – noticing your leadership moments and
ways your behavior were encouraging and discouraging to you.
During your Leadership Examen as you review the leadership
moments of the day notice - pay special attention - to your vision –
what goals you wanted to see accomplished.
During your Leadership Examen, notice - pay attention - to you and
to the expressions of your own character the moments of your day have
revealed.
For example, observe your behavior in the Circle of Vision:
• Did you pray for wisdom (James 1:5)?
• Did you recognize if a situation is technical or adaptive?
• Did you posit a situation as simple, complicated, complex adaptive
or chaotic (Cynefin)?
• In an adaptive situation, did you facilitate inquiry and
experimentation.
• Were you open to trying something new or unfamiliar?
• Were you open to modifications of your vision through interactions
with others?
• What processes of mutual discernment did you use?
• Did you short circuit a large or risky vision because of a lack of
gumption on your part or on the part of others?

38
38
• Did the vision you pursued in any given situation safeguard the
Circle of the Follower and ensure the people involved were valued?
• Were you clear about your vision in each ministry moment?
• If you were not clear in what way, how could you clarify it?
• Did you a group to clarify its vision and gain consensus around it?
• Were you aware if the leadership moment addressed a simple,
complicated, complex adaptive or chaotic situation?
• Did you consider vision in both the short and long term?
• Did you ask God for wisdom?
• Did you practice PPT – Protected Planning Time?
Leadership Movements
1. Move from Greek to Hebrew. Look for ways and have the gumption
to move up your leadership practices as you become self aware of
the leadership moments as you are in them.
2. Develop a set of your own goals and objectives – for your work or
some other venue of life to share with your triad/quad and with
a Barnabas Coach in the next six weeks. Send a copy to your
Barnabas coach and your triad. Determine what regular goal
setting rhythm you will establish for each of the groups you lead.
3. Continue the faithful practice of your weekly PPT. When will you
do it weekly? Add to it the once a quarter PPT taking a half day or
whole day to plan.
4. Meet with your Barnabas cluster monthly praying for them daily. Set
your next meeting dates before leaving today.
PPT – Protected Planning Time
30 minutes of Protected Planning Time to consider specific next
steps in your life using the concepts from this material.
Send a reminder in a
month. Follow up in three
months. This is moving
from Greek to Hebrew in
planning. Do the goals
have due dates attached
- without which they are
actually wishes not goals or
objectives.
PPT - Up to an hour for
the participants to practice
PPT and to consider their
next steps in leadership
focusing on the Circles of
the Leader, the Follower
and Vision

39
39
My next steps:
CLOSING WORSHIP

40

43
43
Vision: Setting Goals and Making Plans
Move from roles to the combination of roles and goals.
Actually to align our personal lifestyle spiritual practices and our church
programs with our vision necessitates specific ministry initiatives.This
requires us to set some specific goals and follow through with plans and
activities to accomplish them.Three major forces in the traditional practice
of ministry today work against effective goals, plans and follow through.
The Pressure of Present Demand.The role orientation of traditional
ministry.The lack of a goal and timeline setting protocol.
In our manic over busy society, the pressure of present demand affects
all of us. We tend to zip from commitment to commitment with hardly
any breathing time and when we get a break instead of setting goals and
making plans we tend to just vegetate trying to catch our breathe.
In his book, “The Identity Society,”William Glasser wrote of the role
oriented and the goal-oriented approaches to life and work. For those
involved in traditional church ministry whether pastors or church
members there is a great tendency to identify with the role orientation. “I
am a pastor, I am an elder, I am a teacher, I am an usher” and one’s sense
of place and identity revolve around one’s roles, duties, and responsibilities.
When we are neutralized by the Pressure of Present Demand we tend to
find ourselves consumed by the traditional practices of the roles we have
assumed.
There is a positive or upside to this as people find comfort in their roles
and can be very fruitful in them.There is also a downside in that the roles
can become so ingrained that even when their fruitfulness in making
disciples and meeting human need is diminishing we may resist efforts to
change the behaviors the role expects.
To move into transformational ministry we see it is no longer adequate
to mindlessly repeat last year’s programs over again or last year’s personal
ministry activities again. We have to think through, “What are the
dimensions of my present role or our present programs that are bearing
fruit and that I intend to continue with as much excellence as our Lord
enables me to do? What do I need to change, need to do?”
We also need to think through specific ways to align our practices and
programs with the accomplishment of our Defining Vision. Ways to see a
growing number of actual disciples developing and to see specific human
needs being effectively addressed.

44
44
The Value of Goals
Suppose you decided to row across a lake to visit a home on the other side.
And suppose further that you step into your boat and just begin to row and
row and row but never turn around to see where you are going. If someone
was watching you from the sky, what would direction would they see you
go?
Since the muscles in your arms are not exactly of the same strength, if you
row without turning around to check the direction you are going in, any
observer will see you rowing in a circle! A powerful function of goals is to
set and to re-set the direction in which we are going.
You might wonder what the difference between “vision” and “goals.” It’s
just a matter of scale. If vision is our overarching aim, then goals are
specific steps in the direction of the fulfillment of our vision. If vision is
getting to the house on the other side of the lake, then a goal is rowing
the next ten yards toward the house. You can even break goals down into
objectives, which is useful for complicated or large goals. So our first
objective is to row five yards, our second is to row the second five yards
fulfilling our ten-yard goal on the way to accomplishing our vision of
getting to the house across the lake.
A good goal has two major qualities. It is specific and it has a timeline
– the what and when – a W&W goal. If our goal is, “teach the children”
it would be too general. You would have no clear way of knowing if the
children had been taught or taught adequately and there is no time frame.
If the goal is “teach the children the Apostle’s Creed during the month
of May,” now you have a specific aim and a clear timeline. If you add the
“Who,” you specify who is responsible to accomplish the goal.
When a pastor leads a congregation she or he moves out of strictly role
orientation dominated by the Pressure of Present Demand when she or he
has a set of goals that are both specific and with timelines. Some of these
goals may be private to the pastor, others may be known by the Vision
Team and by the Session.
Leadership teams move in the direction of transformational ministry when
they set goals for their ministries – specific things to do and a timeline
specifying when they are to be done.The team increases its effectiveness
when it is clear who is responsible to fulfill each goal.

45
45
Perspectives on Goal Setting
Are goals the key to ministry? No, but they are very helpful in focusing
our thoughts in a day when the Pressure of Present Demand and our
present roles easily neutralize real initiative. We always remember that
transformational ministry is Spirit-driven. “Did we in our own strength
confide, our striving would be losing,” wrote Martin Luther. We set goals
and work toward them. We remain flexible knowing that the situation we
are in may change and so we must adjust and change our goals.
Former Chaplain of the U.S. Senate Richard C. Halverson wrote: “The
trouble with goals is that they so easily, so imperceptibly, so subtly, so irresistibly
... become gods! Then they become possessive, demanding, and dictatorial.
Instead of motivating, they compel. Require allegiance. Brook no interference.
Override all other interests and values. When the goal becomes god, process
becomes less and less important. Any means is justified in pursuit of the end. The
goal is achieved at too great a price. Loved ones sacrificed. Families abandoned.
Principles and morals forsaken.”1
Goal setting is a very effective means of planning. Goals translate general
vision into specific aims. Halverson’s warning does not call for the end
of goal setting but to remind us that in vision we never forget that the
people who are with us and the people we serve are more significant than
the goals we set. If our goals become more important to us than the well-
being of the people we lead then we are allowing the Circle of Vision to
crush the Circle of the Follower. Shepherds are called to care for the sheep!
Plans become the hinge between vision and reality as they turn “vision”
into the “action steps” by which the vision is actually accomplished. Use a
planning process that will help you define your destination, map out how
you intend to get there, and attach a time line. Such a process may be very
simple or quite complex.
Goals help us move intentionally into a new future. We make goals with
faith and the commitment to accomplish them. We have a “holy flexibility”
that permits us to adjust our goals as new opportunities and obstacles
arise. (Although if such flexibility means we never get around to the goals
because “something always comes up” then perhaps the goals are unrealistic
or we are in avoidance).
Goal setting is a useful process for the pastor, for the congregational vision
team, for the Session and the various ministries of the congregation.
1 Halverson,
Richard C. No Greater Power. Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1986, p.147.

46
46
The Pastor
Two useful goal-setting rhythms for pastors (and the leaders of any
organization) are monthly and yearly. Yearly the pastor in prayerful
reflection and in consultation with others thinks about major goals for the
coming year.They can simply be expressed in the format of “the top ten
things I would like to see happen in the coming year.”These goals may
or may not be known to a wider audience but they help the pastor set
direction in ministry. If the Session and congregation are involved in an
annual goal-setting process, the pastor will use some of these major goals
in helping lead the course of the congregation’s work in the coming year.
Monthly the pastor considers what needs to be and what could be
accomplished in the coming weeks. W&W goal thinking helps the pastor
be specific, aim high, be realistic and establish a time line for what is to
happen by when. Such monthly goals may be as simple as “Call Betty
Major next week and ask her lead next summer’s Haiti Mission Team.”
If the pastor is in a pastor cluster, these goals may be shared for two
reasons: first to respond to questions from the cluster seeking to help
the pastor think “outside the box” concerning the goal or issues related
to his or her ministry. Second as a means of establishing a voluntary
accountability actually to accomplish the goals expressed.
The Session and Congregational Ministries
One of the most helpful means of helping a congregation move forward
in the transformational and missional ministry is an annual planning
process. In such a process the pastor, staff and Session work to express a
set of annual W&W (or S.M.A.R.T.) goals for the congregation. With the
goals set by the Session as a frame of reference, every program, ministry
and activity in the congregation is encouraged to develop a set of SMART
goals for its ministry for the coming year.
It is helpful to express these goals as “sustaining goals” and “advancing
goals.” Sustaining goals aim to sustain with growing excellence what we
are already doing that is of value. Advancing goals aim to advance the
depth or scope or impact of what we are doing. For example, a sustaining
goal could say, “To introduce the practices of Word-Share-Prayer to our
two PW Circles this fall.” An advancing goal might be, “To develop a
ministry to mothers of young children by September 1.”
The Power of PPT
In our day of manic busyness the discipline of planning has become a
spiritual discipline. Without goal setting and planning we find our default

47
47
activity is simply to repeat what we did last year over again and to do those
things consistent with our traditional “role” in life.There are pressures that
lean against goal setting such as “the pressure of present demand” (I’m too
busy) and our anxieties.
A very useful spiritual discipline is “PPT” – Protected Planning Time.
It is Protected in our weekly and monthly schedule as we put into our
calendars an hour a week and anywhere from two to four hours a month to
think about goals and plans. It is PPT in that the focus of this discipline is
to plan - to set goals (for one’s ministry and one’s own life) and to commit
to the steps necessary to fulfill them. It is not a time for email and the
Internet. It is time to prayerfully plan and take the adventure the Lord has
for you.
A Planning Process
Planning is the hinge between vision and action. Why talk about
planning? It sounds so ordinary and not particularly exciting. Planning is
the formal practice of ministry design, it is essential to a significant work.
Just as the word “muse” means “think” so the word a-muse, from which we
have the word amusement, means “not-think!” Ours is an amusement age.
We fill our lives with busyness we believe to be important and if we have
a little time we tend not to think but to be amused with television or in
other activities. Indeed, even with all of our labor-saving devices, we seem
busier than ever, further reducing what time to think we do have. Yet, vital
and effective leadership demands that you think and think clearly about
vision, where you are going, where your people are now, and the process of
calling people to join you in carrying out vision.
When several audiences of mainline church members were asked to raise
their hand if their congregation has an annual planning process in which
every ministry is asked to set goals and plans for the coming year in light
of the congregation’s vision, less than five percent (and typically less than
two percent) raised their hands. Planning as a routine part of church
life has pretty much gone out the window. We plan for the next coming
worship service or major event to be sure, but that is mostly reactive last
minute work and rarely addresses how to accomplish the congregation’s
Defining Vision and Defining Practices.
Our culture is living in manic mode - full tilt all the time - and we in
the church are also members of our manic age. It means we go-go-go,
thinking and planning on the fly for whatever is pressing us. From the
fall season kick-off to Advent to Lent to spring and into the summer, the
basic church calendar drives us (which is normal) as well as all of the other

48
48
stuff we have committed ourselves to. This leads to the Law of Present
Demand – what we are already doing consumes all of our time, energy and
emotion.There is nothing inherently wrong with these activities but our
zeal for busy-ness has squeezed out what used to be the ordinary practice
of thinking and planning.
Furthermore, the necessity for reflection and sound thinking increases
with the complexity of the vision to be accomplished. Yet, thinking ahead
is easily sidestepped in our activity-driven culture. America’s first novelist,
Washington Irving once said, “Great people think, others have wishes.”
We understand that a vision without a plan is only a wish. Planning
converts vision into action, turns Visions into reality. Planning is a spiritual
discipline because on a consistent and ongoing basis we are deliberately
and prayerfully asking God’s guidance concerning the work of our team.
Planning puts wheels on our vision, attaches action steps, timelines and
deadlines, becomes the hinge between our Visions and our reality. Vision
defines where we are going, the ends or results of our endeavor. Planning
gives us a systematic ordered way of moving toward the accomplishment
of our vision.
Two planning extremes are simply under-planning and over-planning.
When the ministry team under-plans, it acts and reacts without much
forethought.This is increasingly typical in our over busy age. On the other
hand, some of us devote too much time to planning. We try to discern all
of the issues in exhaustive detail, set complex goals, and devise intricate
solutions filling a lot of paper but all too frequently take no action. If you
over-plan, you spend too much time hammering out every detail forgetting
that some “as we go” adjustments have to be made in every endeavor in life.
We seek to plan adequately, to be ready to face some uncertainty. Plan and
be prepared, yet, stay flexible as the situation changes.
Perhaps in a highly pressured environment, your team may not be able
to take much time out solely for planning. In such a case, find a way to
practice “planning on the run” building the planning right into your regular
meetings. Whatever you do, do not give up planning.The old adage, if you
fail to plan you plan to fail is still quite true for any vision of complexity,
significance and difficulty. Frankly, planning is work and feels like it is
being inserted, even jammed, into an already full life.The only reason to do
it is that the fruit of the endeavor can be significant.
The team leader may lead the planning process the team engages in, but
this is not a requirement of the leader, especially if there are others on the
team with a facility for leading group thought processes. What is essential
is that the leader and leadership core ensure that planning is as much of

49
49
the overall life of the team as its small group life and the activities of its
ministry.
One useful spiritual discipline is PPT - Protected Planning Time.This
is time you block out in your calendar - jotted right onto your paper
or computer scheduling. It might be two hours a week or a half a day
a month but whenever it is, you protect it from all but truly crucial
interruptions. Do your planning alone and/or with others depending on
what works best for you. See the booklet The Tyranny of the Urgent by
Charles E. Hummel.
Begin the Planning by Setting W&W Goals or S.M.A.R.T. Goals
For most of us in the world of congregational ministry, W&W goals are
sufficient for our needs. However, for a fuller more robust approach to goal
setting, a useful approach is the use of the SMART goal process. It is a
well-known process developed by Kenneth Blanchard and others with a
great many websites referring to it.2
ü S – Specific: State what you aim to do with enough specificity that
you can tell if you have accomplished it. “Expand our ministry to
women” is too general. “Begin a ministry to mothers of young children
in September” or “Begin three Bible studies for women in January” is
specific.
ü M – Measurable: The measurable nature of a good goal gives you
another way to be specific about your aims. It gives you a way to
evaluate whether or not the goal is being achieved. “Conduct three
men’s outreach events this year” is measurable. It helps us know what to
look for in evaluating what we do.
ü A – Aim high trusting God: It is easy to set goals that are too easy.
Set goals that stretch you and that expand the present scope of
accomplishment. On the other hand, if we “aim high and trust God”
to work in and through us, then we set goals that stretch us and require
us to rely on our Lord for their fruition. Such a goal stretches us to
think “outside the box” and to consider ways of achieving the goal that
we have not thought of or considered previously.
ü R – Realistic: While we aim high, if the goal is very unlikely with our
level of energy and resource it is actually a “fake” goal. Begin a new
worship service Sunday night” may be possible but overly taxing on
2 Typically the letter “A” in the SMART goal setting process stands for “attainable” http://
ezinearticles.com/?Smart-Goals&id=275313
http://www.topachievement.com/smart.html
http://www.eduhound.com/site_sets/SMART_Goals.cfm
http://www.colleenspeaks.com/audio.htm

50
50
the current leadership structure and so unrealistic unless we do some
creative thinking. Realistic does not mean without risk. Much can
happen if you are willing to set realistic goals that stretch you with the
freedom to fail until you accomplish the goal.
ü T – Timeline: A good goal needs a time frame. “A goal without a date
is fake.” A timeline with deadlines puts teeth into your goals. “Begin
a ministry to immigrants in our community” may be a lofty goal but
unless it says, “by September 30” with intermediate deadlines along the
way it is quite possible if not probable that September 30 will come
and go with no new ministry to immigrants.
The Annual Planning Cycle
An annual planning process helps keep ministry fresh by sustaining what
is effective and advancing new areas of endeavor. Systematic planning
gives overall guidance to a ministry. At the same time, the flexibility to
take advantage of new ministry opportunities or deal with problems that
surface will open unanticipated fields of ministry.
Determine a segment of the year to be used as the time for yearly
planning. February - May works well since the planning can focus on the
following September to September year.
In an annual planning process ask each area of ministry to
address the following:
1. Vision: Review the Defining Vision of the congregation and the
particular ministry.
2. Assessment: Perform a needs assessment on the people to whom
they are in ministry and to review current programs. Vision about
new areas of need-responsive discipleship-directed ministry. Who
do you want to reach that you are not reaching now?
3. Goals: Formulate specific things to accomplish using W & W
goals – What do you want to accomplish (specifically) and by
when?
4. Design: Design action steps to include timelines, deadlines,
personnel and projected costs. Use the Action Learning process
to tackle adaptive challenges (whether possibilities or problems) for
which current approaches are inadequate.

51
51
5. Evaluate: Periodically evaluate how well the plans are being
accomplished and make adjustments as needed.
The following is a sample schedule for an annual planning cycle.
Annual Planning Process (August ____ to July ___ )
January Pastor Planning
1. Defining Vision and assessment of congregational and community
needs.
2. What are major potential goals for the coming year? Your list may
have as many as ten goals.
February/March Staff Member Planning
1. Defining Vision and assessment of needs and concerns of
congregation and program areas. Input from the pastor.
2. What are major potential goals for the coming year in the staff
member’s area of ministry? The majority of the goals will be
“sustaining goals” – sustaining with greater excellence what is
fulfilling our congregation’s vision now.” - Perhaps 10 to 20 percent
will be advancing goals launching new ministries or making other
significant changes.
In order to avoid burnout, the only way to sustain each year the
fruitful goals of the last year and to add advancing goals is to pull
more people into the activities involved. Delegation is in order to
Advance.
March/April Ministry Team, Board, or Committee Level Planning
1. Vision: What is our Defining Vision?
2. Assessment: Assess the needs of the people we are planning for.
3. Goals: Set goals - specific things we wish to see accomplished.
Input from staff leadership. Keep the number of goals, both
sustaining and advancing, to a believable number. Perhaps four
sustaining goals and one advancing goal.
4. Review: Review the Defining Practices such as “Reach-Grow-
Send.”

52
52
5. Design: Design Action Steps to include organization - who will
do what by when. This includes deadlines and checklists which put
teeth into our plans and the personnel to be responsible.
6. Use the Action Learning process to tackle adaptive challenges
(whether possibilities or problems) for which current approaches
are inadequate.
7. Evaluate: Plan to evaluate how it is going and modify our plans as
needed.
May Preliminary Goals and Plans received by Session The word
“received” is the technical use of the word meaning the Session
acknowledges it has been formally made aware of the goals. This is
different than a vote to approve the goals (which in some situations
may be wise to do). While the Session may choose to “approve”
the goals, it does not have to formally do so if it has already
given permission to its ministries to plan and initiate ministry as
long as their work is consistent with the Defining Vision of the
congregation and keeps the Session informed.
June Final Goals and Plans received by Session

53Developing a Strategic Plan for Your Church: What to Do and What Not to Do
Stephen A. Macchia
Published in BuildingChurchLeaders.com (Christianity Today, Inc.), July 2004
What To Do
Some church leaders find planning a formidable exercise. In reality, the planning process is simple - conceptually.
It can be described as answering seven key questions:
1. Spiritual Needs Assessment: What are the greatest spiritual needs of our church and community?
2. Strengths and Weaknesses: What are the greatest strengths and weaknesses of our church?
3. Opportunities and Threats or Barriers: What are the most significant ministry opportunities for and poten-
tial threats (or barriers) to our church, given the answers to the first two questions?
4. Ministry Options: What appear to be the most viable options for strengthening the ministry of our church?
5. Ministry Platform: What is the primary ministry platform on which our specific ministries should be built?
Included in the ministry platform are our statement of faith, vision statement, mission statement, philosophy
of ministry, and listing of ministries.
6. Ministry Goals: What goals are the Holy Spirit leading us to strive for to enhance our church’s ministry over
the next year? The next two to three years?
Action Steps: What action steps must we accomplish to achieve these goals?
Getting your team to agree on the answers to these questions (under the guidance of the Holy Spirit) may or may
not be simple, depending on the circumstances and the relationships of leaders in your church.
What Not To Do
In New England, where I live, potholes are in abundance on most side roads. Some can be avoided, while others
come upon you so quickly they are difficult to miss. On the avenue called planning, it’s important to know the
potholes to avoid:
1. Making Planning Too Complex: There are usually two or three key issues that will be discovered, and, if
acted on, will lead to enhanced health and vitality. One church in Boston narrowed their planning to: (1)
revising the organization chart, (2) enhancing community life, and (3) streamlining priorities. When these
three issues were named, each ministry team could set goals for day-to-day ministry, based on them.
2. Not Reaching Conclusions and Making an Action Plan: Tie up loose ends along the way, and outline ap-
propriate action steps.
3. Not Keeping the Action Plan Simple: One church I worked with had such a long document, with dozens of
goals and action steps, that it felt overwhelming and didn’t win approval. The objective is to create a plan that
every member can articulate without having to refer to any documentation.
4. Not Revisiting the Plan: Your plan should be adjustable along the way, revised and renewed according to the
needs and resources avail- able to you. Keep your planning documents alive. Don’t shelve them, file them, or
formalize them in pretty documents. At Leadership Transformations (www.LeadershipTransformations.org),
we hold our plans loosely, in a “white paper” format, with lots of room for give and take each step of the way.
5. Taking Too Long: Don’t let your planning team tire and begin to complain about the value of doing this.
Keep the group moving forward toward conclusion and celebration.
6. Trusting Your Instincts apart from Prayer: As a team, lean fully in God’s direction to hear his voice, feel
his heart, understand his will, and trust his empowering presence to lead you. Strategic planning in a local
church is a process that God through his Holy Spirit must direct. Become a people of prayer as you trust him
for his design for your church!

54

55
Adaptive Change

56

57
57
TheCynefinFramework
There is another framework for thinking through complex adaptive
challenges that goes by an old Welsh word, cynevin (sun-nev-in). It
talks about four kinds of challenges. Simple challenges are challenges
where you know cause and effect. I learned this week that a dear forty-
something friend of mine has learned his brain tumor has come back with
a vengeance. While his disease and its implications for his young family
are very complex, what I must do is very simple. Be there. Show up. Love
him and love them. Some ministry challenges are simple.
Then there are complicated challenges. Complicated challenges are still
cause and effect but there may be many ways to solve them.There isn’t
a best practice or a best solution.There are many good solutions and
sometimes we need an expert to help us choose one. When I arrived
in Pittsburgh in 1988 to pastor a congregation there smoking was still
common in public buildings everywhere. In the fellowship hall between
worship services you could hardly see across the room for all the smoke.
We discovered there were allergic people among us who couldn’t
participate if smoke was present. Since there were no non-smoking laws at
the time and since the church members had smoked there for ages we had
a complicated problem – how to eliminate smoking there with our ticking
a lot of people off. I finally called a wise pastor in Pittsburgh nearing
retirement and said, “Help!” He helped us discern a good way to move
forward.
Simple and complicated problems are actually reasonably straight-forward.
But then there are the complex and chaotic situations, both of which are
what Heifitz calls adaptive. Chaos is when your high school youth group
leader is discovered to have been abusing young girls. Chaos is the phone
call I received from a pastor who said, “Half my people are leaving the
church because of denominational decisions and half are staying. I am
pastor to all of them and love them all. What do I do?” No simple answer
can touch those chaotic situations.
It’s the quadrant called “complex” or complex-adaptive I find most
interesting.These are challenges for which we don’t know what to do but
our future vitality depends on some resolution. We don’t solve complex
challenges, we navigate them.This week I heard someone refer to that
adage that insanity is doing the same thing over and hoping for a different
result. If it’s a complex challenge, then if you do the same thing over you
will get two different results. It’s not cause and effect. It’s a new day. As
Doug Pagitt told a Foundation breakfast, it’s the inventive age – we have
to be willing to invent – to probe – to be willing to fail.Take the concept

58
58
of missional. Do our men’s groups, women’s PW groups, our Sunday
School classes, our youth groups know how to missionally engage men,
women, children and youth who are outside the church and win them to
faith and into community with us? Obviously not.
The only way to navigate complex adaptive problems is to be light on
your feet – that’s mobility – a lightness on one’s feet – to try things – to
experiment – knowing that you may try five different solutions, five
different experiments in a row before success. Our entire system of
preparation for ministry assumes we are technical, that pastoral leadership
solves simple and complicated problems, that all we need is an expert in
the person of the pastor, an expert in Bible, theology, pastoral care, and
running the programs that have been in place and we will be fine. Frankly
this is a time to be very energized by these unknowns or scared into
inaction. Scared people default to simple solutions and today that leads to
chaos. Mobile people are open to the adventure our Lord has for them.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cynefin /�k�n�v�n/ is a Welsh word, which is commonly translated
into English as ‘habitat’ or ‘place’, although this fails to convey its
full meaning.The term was chosen by the Welsh scholar Dave
Snowden to describe a perspective on the evolutionary nature

59
59
of complex systems, including their inherent uncertainty (“The
Cynefin framework”).The name serves as a reminder that all human
interactions are strongly influenced and frequently determined by our
experiences, both through the direct influence of personal experience,
as well as through collective experience, such as stories or music.
The framework provides a typology of contexts that guides what sort
of explanations or solutions might apply. It draws on research into
complex adaptive systems theory, cognitive science, anthropology,
and narrative patterns, as well as evolutionary psychology, to describe
problems, situations, and systems. It “explores the relationship
between man, experience, and context”[1] and proposes new
approaches to communication, decision-making, policy-making, and
knowledge management in complex social environments.
• 1 Meaning of the word
• 2 History
• 3 Description of the framework
• 4 Applications
• 5 See also
• 6 References
• 7 Bibliography
History
The Cynefin framework was originally developed in 1999 in the
context of knowledge management and organisational strategy by
Dave Snowden.[6] It was originally a modification of Max Boisot’s
I-Space[7] combined with the study of actual, as opposed to stated,
management practice in IBM. By 2002, it had developed to include
complex adaptive systems theory and had started to become a
general strategy model.[8] It was then further developed and
elaborated with Cynthia Kurtz as a part of their work with the IBM
Institute of Knowledge Management (IKM).[9] Kurtz had worked
with Snowden as a part of an IBM special interest group on narrative
from 1999 before joining the IKM in 2001.[10] Kurtz and others
continued this work at Cognitive Edge, which had been formed
by Snowden when he left IBM in 2005.[11] This period included
work to extend the model to Leadership with Mary E Boone, which
culminated in the HBR article referenced below.

Gathering 3 Notebook pdf

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Gathering 3 Notebook pdf

Similar to Gathering 3 Notebook pdf (20)

More from vitalchurches

More from vitalchurches (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Gathering 3 Notebook pdf