What is the next level for your organization?  Do you have a vision to get you there? 

As we approach our third anniversary as a church, I’m in a deep brainstorming time about where God would want us to lead the church in the coming years.  God has blessed us with three wonderful years, but what’s next?  I have always believed and taught that a healthy church is a growing church, so what is our role in producing that growth.  Of course our overall vision remains the same. We want to make growing followers of Jesus Christ.  I know that God ultimately is the One who grows the church and people, but I also know that He uses people to carry out His will.  Will what worked to accomplish our growth the first three years work the same way in the next three years?  As fast as the world is changing, and since we are a culture invading church, reaching people who are very entrenched in the culture, it would make sense that we would need to be ready to make changes quickly to maintain our growth.   

So, here are some of the tough questions I’m asking myself.  While at this point these are personal questions I am processing, yesterday I shared these with our staff for their input and to spur their thoughts in similar directions.  I welcome your input if you have questions or thoughts that would be good for us to consider or if you have insight for a church at our stage of its life-cycle.    

Where do we want to go?  What specific goals in each area of ministry do we have for the next three years in regards to numbers of people engaged and numbers of people volunteering?  What changes need to be made to our current structured programs in order to better disciple people?  Do we need to alter our service times, tweak our style of music or add new services to reach new people? 

How are we going to get there?  Once we know where we want to go, what steps need to be in place to accomplish each of the goals?  How much will it cost?  Will our current facilities be enough to sustain our new growth goals? 

Who is going to lead the way?  Are the right people in place to take us to the next level?  Do we need to add staff or alter responsibilities in order to achieve maximum results from everyone on the team?  How many new volunteers will be needed to meet our goals? 

These are just a few of my questions. Again, I welcome your input in this process. 

Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. Proverbs 15:22 NIV

News that Wal Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is giving itself a new image via its logo fascinates me.  From what I’ve been able to tell online the new logo isn’t much different than the last, but to logo experts, I guess it’s a pretty big deal.  The bigger deal for me is that they are changing it at all.  They remain Wal Mart.  The giant, mega-sized corporation that no one seems to be able to fully compete with doesn’t appear to need the help of a more modern symbol to represent its supremacy.  Or does it? 

The king of retail has faced challenges on numerous fronts in recent years from employee lawsuits and threats of unionizing to more challenges than ever to locating in certain areas.  Some don’t want the giant retailer in their neighborhood, and, not accustomed to being told no, Wal Mart is now losing the battle in some communities they have tried to enter.  Reports also indicate that Wal Mart hired an outside public relations firm several years ago to look at ways to improve their image among workers and consumers.  Perhaps this new logo is a product of their work. 

As a church leader, I think this teaches me more than just to be looking for a new symbol when I need bargain toilet paper (or whatever else I need).  I think it reminds me that if Wal Mart must continually evaluate things as simple as logos (really not so simple), then surely we do in the church. 

So, consider these questions: What does your organizations current logo say about you? Is it still saying what you intend it to say?  Does it adequately communicate your vision?  Is it warm, inviting and reflective of the organization you are today?  Is it time for a change?  More importantly, what about the image of your organization that your logo represents?  Could it use an overhaul?  Finally, and this is a hard question, if a fancy PR firm, the kind only Wal Mart could afford, told you that people think you stink, do you believe in success enough to humble yourself and change?   

Starbucks Howard Schultz is back in charge at Starbucks.  He tried to leave and came back earlier this year to attempt to reverse the suffering the company is experiencing.  Dell’s Michael recently returned to help steer Dell back to health.  Other companies, who have founder with lesser known names, have recently seen their founding fathers return to the helm of leadership.  Take a look at companies like Sun Microsystems, Novell, and Vonage who have seen their founders return. 

Bill Gates, who needs no introduction to the world, spent his last day as CEO of Microsoft yesterday.  His teary departure to lead the Gates Foundation has been much anticipated and is noble considering the difference he hopes to now make in the world. The question is will he be able to enjoy “retirement” or will he be needed again at Microsoft’s top spot?   The answer to that question remains to be seen.

I have a theory that companies today will face this dilemma more than companies founded in years past.  Could it be that because companies today begin with such an imprint of their founder in their DNA that it is becoming more difficult to pass the reigns of the top spot to another person?   Study Starbucks and you have to study Howard Schultz. (He even wrote a book about it.)  Look at Dell computers and you see Michael Dell all over the company philosophy. (Even in the name!)  Companies today are very much an impression of their founders.  Google’s corporate “fun” environment IS Larry Page.  Every time I’ve heard Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, interviewed he describes the social network with a passion that only a founder could exhibit.  

Companies are launching into their niche faster than ever before.  The information age and technology allows for growth at a pace unknown in previous generations.  Much of that growth is a direct reflection on the personality and passions of the founder who is seen in the public as the chief representative of the company.  I’m not sure this has always been the case. 

As we consider this phenomenon within corporate America, I can’t help but wonder if there are implications here for churches as well.  Doesn’t Northpoint have the personality of Andy Stanley?  Lifepoint certainlyembodies the imprint of Craig Groeschel.  The same is true for Fellowship’s Ed Young, Jr.  You can add your own to this list.  What will happen when these leaders attempt to retire?  Will we see them return as corporate founders have had to do?  Again, the answer to that question remains to be seen.

This thought process does make me consider a few things organizations may want to consider in their beginning years:     

1.      Organizations must be thinking transition from the founding of the organization.

2.      Organizations must be careful not to elevate people or personalities over vision.

3.      Organization may want consider easing a leader out gradually, rather than allowing a fast exit of the founder.

Have you ever read something and wish you hadn’t?  That just happened to me.  While researching for message prep I stumbled on this blog post.  It’s not “new” information, just compiled in a way I haven’t seen; all in one neat, tidy, sobering place.  What to make of it?  Not sure yet.  I’m still processing it all. 

Check out what stirred my thoughts this morning at: http://faithwalk.wordpress.com/startling-statistics/

I like these quotes and observations from Fortune Magazine’s article on America’s Most Admired Companies: (March 17, 2008) My question in reading these snipets about each company is what can the church learn from corporate America, especially successful corporate America?  You make your own conclusions, but to me some of the applications are very obvious.

Berkshire Hathaway

Said of Warren Buffet’s success: His key to turning today’s problems into tomorrow’s profits: “An absence of any regard for short-term results”

Google

Google’s philosophy:  Google believes “what’s good for the web has always proven to be very good for Google.”

(That sounds like a Kingdom principle many churches should learn.)

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson responded to the uncertainty in the health-care markets by “narrowing their focus”.

Goldman Sachs

The company posted record profits in 2007, in a year when Wall Street was struggling to hold their own.  Reason: “Its results are a testament to its culture, and impossible-to-replicate mix of extreme aggression, deep paranoia, individual ambition, and robot-like teamwork.”

Target

In a year when retail sales were in a slump, including at this retailer, they continued their tradition of giving away $3 million a week back to the community.

UPS

The company may be 100 years old (I had no idea), but they act much younger. They are known for their “ability to combine cutting-edge technology with its own brand of ‘human engineering’ to great effect.”

3M

Known for being a mega-sized company ($24 billion a year), but still managing to generate new ideas each year.  William McKnight, Chairman, says, “Management that is destructively critical when mistakes are made kills initiative.  And it’s essential that we have many people with initiative if we are to continue to grow.” The moral, according to Fortune, “Don’t tell employees how to do their jobs — let them innovate. “

I don’t know about you, but there are lessons here for me.  Thanks Fortune for a great article.

Which comment jumps out at you most from this list?

Can you tell me what product goes with these slogans? 

• M’m, M’m, Good!
• It’s the Real Thing…
• It takes a licking, and keeps on ticking. 
• Plop plop, fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is!
• The best part of waking up is ______ in your cup.
• The milk chocolate melts in your mouth-not in your hand…
• You’re in good hands with _______.
• Don’t leave home without it.
• Let your fingers do the walking.

How did you do?  Could you name them all?  I suspect you were pretty close. Most of these slogans have been around a large part of my life, but even my teenage boys know them.  They are “sticky” slogans.  These slogans helped brand their products. 

My question, and the reason for this post, is what has happened to all the good slogans? Have we run out of good ideas?   I’m trying to determine what the modern day slogans are that my kids will still remember 20 years from now.  Are there still marketing phrases ”sticky” enough to make a product stay in our minds; so much so that we can’t get the words, or the product, out of our mind?  Are we still branding things for life?  My hope is that we haven’t lost the art of branding. 

If you know of current, recently introduced ”sticky” slogans I may be missing I’d love to hear from you. 

(BTW, We have one slogan at Grace Community Church that I hope never goes away; or at least the principle behind it. Our slogan: Everyone needs a place to start over….that place is Grace.) 

I have the Nashville Business Journal on my Google Reader.  I love their concise stories and wide coverage. I get a good overview of the business world.  This morning, glancing over which stories I wanted to open and read, I saw two headlines which seemed to contradict each other.  I opened and read them and saw that they do indeed seem to be opposing views. 

The two stories:

http://tinyurl.com/6g2unv

Headline: CFO study: Recession could be worst in 30 years

and

http://tinyurl.com/5radqr

Headline: Survey: Most CEOs expect sales to increase or stay flat this year

So, the CFO’s of the business world think the economy is still tanking.  The CEO’s think sales will increase or at least stay flat this year.   So on one end of the corporate hall the glass is half full and down the hall we find the other half of the glass…the empty part. 

The CEO’s who are charged with leading the vision and setting the pace of the organization are feeling positive, while the chief number crunchers aren’t quite so sure.  It’s all a matter of perspective.  Being the CEO type myself, I enjoyed their article more.  Being married to the CFO type (she’s an accountant), I understand (and greatly appreciate sweety) the balance of two opinions. 

I just hope the CEO’s are right! 

A local theater closed near my home recently. It had been a thriving business, but when the newer theaters opened with stadium seating, including one by this same company, it just couldn’t continue to compete.

Today I was driving by the theater and on the marquis is written “Closed For Business”. That strikes me as funny. Shouldn’t it say simply “Closed” or “Permanently Closed” or something like that? ? You could be closed “from (doing) business, but not closed “for” business. Dictionary.com says the word “for” means: “with the object or purpose of”, such as in the phrase “to run for exercise.” You don’t close for business; you close from business.

Well, enough of that, but it did make me think. How many times are we in our churches (or businesses) closed FROM business? We know what we need to do; we have the right goals, strategies and visions, but we never really accomplish what we set out to do. We are, for all practical purposes, at least in that area of ministry, closed. We blame it on a lack of something. “If I had more volunteers…”… “If I had more time or more money…” There’s always an excuse for not growing or completing our vision. We are essentially, for all practical purposes, “Closed For Business”.

Maybe we need to re-open. Perhaps we need to push through the moment that seems impossible, work on the hindrances to achievement, and stay with it until we are once again “Open For Business”. I think many of the challenges we face may be overcome if we just come at them with the positive mindset that we must find a solution, because we are “open” for business.