Your success or failure is likely due to the system you’re in.

A few years ago I heard a revolutionary talk from Andy Stanley about systems. He properly diagnosed what I experienced in my work and professional life. Diagnosis? That when there is a recurring problem or breakdown in an organization we jump to the conclusion that it’s a personel problem – someone didn’t do his job. Stanley advocated that more likely it’s a system problem. That is the structure of the organization allowed, permitted or rewarded certain behaviors and therefore  infected the blood stream.

A great example of systems is the recent insanity about New York Knicks point-guard, Jeremy Lin.

If you don’t follow professional basketball, Lin burst on the scene last week leading the Knicks to a 5-game winning streak. 5 games is typically no big deal, but Lin graduated from Harvard – not a bastion of NBA level talent. He was previously cut by the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets (two towns where I have most recently lived). Yet while people goo-goo over Lin, the question of how he could have possibly been cut by two teams and is now a contender for Rookie of The Year has arisen. The answer? The system.

Lin is now in New York, with offensive minded coach Mike D’Antoni. What’s more, the Knickerbockers run  the point-guard oriented pick-n-roll, the same system wherein dirty and undersized John Stockton thrived. It’s the perfect offense for Lin. The Warriors and Rockets didn’t make a mistake, Lin just wasn’t right for their system. The same can be said of many college QB’s that thrive in college, but struggle in the NFL. And the same is true for your organization. Whether you believe it or not, every behavior inside your organization is rewarded or resisted by the system. The problems or successes aren’t the products of one or two people, but the system as a whole.

This is especially true for churches, which are described in the scriptures as a body. Bodies experience everything together.

I get very bad migraine and sinus headaches. During the worst of these, my entire body shuts down. My fingers have more trouble writing, my feet have more trouble walking. You’ve likely heard the analogy before. Like with us, the severe dysfunction in one part of the organization effects the remainder. When the body is healthy, obviously, the entire body functions.

So what steps can a local church take to better care for and create healthy systems?

Continue Reading…