CULTURE,

INNOVATION, AND RISK

“Culture—not vision or strategy—is the most powerful factor in any organization. It determines the receptivity of staff and volunteers to new ideas, unleashes or dampens creativity, builds or erodes enthusiasm, and creates a sense of pride or deep discouragement about working or being involved there. Ultimately, the culture of a church shapes individual morale, teamwork, effectiveness, and outcomes.” —Samuel R. Chand1

Vision and strategy often focus on achievement and accomplishment. They identify the direction we are moving as an organization, and how we hope to attain a God-given dream or call. Culture focuses on the people that make up the organization and on how we live and journey together as we accomplish our shared goals.

Culture is a combination of an organization’s level of trust toward one another, the way communication is carried out, the way leadership listens and receives input from all levels of the organization, the joy that comes from being a part of the community, and the positive impact that results from the efforts of all.

Maria Guidice and Christopher Ireland have defined corporate culture this way:

“Culture is the unique collection of beliefs and practices that communicates a company’s values, whether or not they’ve been formalized or articulated. A well- designed culture unites stakeholders in a shared understanding of ‘the right thing to do.’ It becomes the unseen but firmly rooted infrastructure that coaches new hires and comforts old-timers. It’s the force that attracts like-minded talent and repels those with different attitudes or behaviors. A positive company culture can boost growth, while a negative or mediocre one can speed failure.”2

How would you describe the corporate culture of your organization?

1 Samuel R. Chand, Cracking Your Church’s Culture (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011). 2 Maria Guidice and Christopher Ireland, Rise of the DEO: Leadership by Design (San Francisco: New Riders, 2014), 86. Culture can run across the spectrum, from toxic to inspiring. Where on this grid would you put your organization? ______

Toxic Discouraging Encouraging Inspiring

What are the most significant contributors to this kind of culture in your organization?

ENCOUNTER

In Luke 10:1-12 (MSG), Jesus sends out his disciples into a new and challenging experience. It is a disciplemaking, as well as a culture-producing experience.

“Later the Master selected seventy and sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he intended to go. He gave them this charge:

‘What a huge harvest! And how few the harvest hands. So on your knees; ask the God of the Harvest to send harvest hands.

‘On your way! But be careful—this is hazardous work. You’re like lambs in a wolf pack.

‘Travel light. Comb and toothbrush and no extra luggage.

‘Don’t loiter and make small talk with everyone you meet along the way.

‘When you enter a home, greet the family, “Peace.” If your greeting is received, then it’s a good place to stay. But if it’s not received, take it back and get out. Don’t impose yourself.

‘Stay at one home, taking your meals there, for a worker deserves three square meals. Don’t move from house to house, looking for the best cook in town.

‘When you enter a town and are received, eat what they set before you, heal anyone who is sick, and tell them, “God’s kingdom is right on your doorstep!”

‘When you enter a town and are not received, go out in the street and say, “The only thing we got from you is the dirt on our feet, and we’re giving it back. Did you have any idea that God’s kingdom was right on your doorstep?” Sodom will have it better on Judgment Day than the town that rejects you.” What are some of the ways Jesus is changing the culture of his team as they are sent out and as they engage in this significant experience?

What learnings and takeaways can you apply in your own situation from this example that Jesus provides?

EXPRESSION

Richard Clark, former CEO of pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck, talks about the relationship between corporate culture and strategy:

“The fact is, culture eats strategy for lunch. You can have a good strategy in place, but if you don’t have the culture and the enabling systems…the culture of the organization will defeat the strategy.”3

Culture, more than good strategy, will set the pace of your ministry or organization. Things that are much harder to control, like morale, teamwork, innovation, service, and relationships, will shape the overall impact and effectiveness of your efforts.

What steps are you taking to cultivate your organization’s corporate culture?

How effective are these actions? What one or two things can you do to bring immediate impact and significant change into your current reality?

According to Philip Atkinson, 80 percent of companies do not intentionally craft their company culture.4

What do you think that figure might be in the church world?

What keeps churches and ministries from greater intentionality?

With our RCA staff, we have been working on redefining and reestablishing our corporate culture. We are focusing on these ten characteristics to shape our culture:

1. Authority is decentralized

2. Leaders give clear direction

3. The input of others is valued in decision-making

3 Richard Clark, quoted in “Corporate Culture Is the Game,” Executive Leadership (November 2008), 3. 4 Philip Atkinson, Creating Cultural Change, quoted in Guidice and Ireland, Rise of the DEO: Leadership by Design, 87. 4. An environment of trust is cultivated

5. Each staff person has a sense of purpose and believes what they do is significant and part of a cause bigger than themselves

6. Creativity and innovation are rewarded

7. Failure is not fatal

8. Communication flows freely

9. Equipping opportunities are valued and available

10. Teamwork is enjoyed and cultivated

We are doing some of these things better than others. The process of culture change is slow and laborious. As we have brought on new staff, we have shared these values and asked our staff to help us see the values become a reality.

If you have not taken the time to dream about the environment you want your organization to have, what are some of the values and qualities it could contain?

If you have taken the time to develop and define your organizational environment, share the ways you are working to cultivate your culture, and provide insight into how well it is or is not going.

IMPACT

In John 6:1-15 (MSG), Jesus creates space for innovative thinking. The story is probably familiar to you:

“After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (some call it Tiberias). A huge crowd followed him, attracted by the miracles they had seen him do among the sick. When he got to the other side, he climbed a hill and sat down, surrounded by his disciples. It was nearly time for the Feast of Passover, kept annually by the Jews.

When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, ‘Where can we buy bread to feed these people?’ He said this to stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what he was going to do.

Philip answered, ‘Two hundred silver pieces wouldn’t be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece.’ One of the disciples—it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter—said, ‘There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that’s a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this.’

Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ There was a nice carpet of green grass in this place. They sat down, about five thousand of them. Then Jesus took the bread and, having given thanks, gave it to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. All ate as much as they wanted.

When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted.’ They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves.

The people realized that God was at work among them in what Jesus had just done. They said, ‘This is the Prophet for sure, God’s Prophet right here in Galilee!’ Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm, they were about to grab him and make him king, so he slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself.”

In this story, what were some of the environmental or cultural factors necessary for increasing innovation?

How did Jesus help the disciples to begin to think outside the box?

What kind of spaces do you need to cultivate in your culture to increase innovation and creativity for greater impact?

A 2009 study in The Journal of Marketing surveyed 759 companies in 17 countries. The results of their study showed that internal corporate culture is an important driver for innovation.5

The link between culture and innovation is significant. In an MIT Sloan Management Review article, How Innovative is Your Company’s Culture?, Jay Rao and Joseph Weintraub describe it this way:

“An innovative climate cultivates engagement and enthusiasm, challenges people to take risks within a safe environment, fosters learning, and encourages independent thinking.”6

As you read through that description, what speaks to you as helpful? What do you push back against?

5 Gerard Tellis, Jaideep Prabhu, and Rajesh Chandy, “Radical Innovation Across Nations: The Preeminence of Corporate Culture,” The Journal of Marketing 73 (January 2009), 3–23, faculty.london.edu/rchandy/innovationnations.pdf. 6 Jay Rao and Joseph Weintraub, “How Innovative Is Your Company’s Culture?” MIT Sloan Management Review (Spring 2013), sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-innovative-is-your- companys-culture. REFLECT

Joshua 6:1-9 (MSG) “Jericho was shut up tight as a drum because of the People of Israel: no one going in, no one coming out.

God spoke to Joshua, ‘Look sharp now. I’ve already given Jericho to you, along with its king and its crack troops. Here’s what you are to do: March around the city, all your soldiers. Circle the city once. Repeat this for six days. Have seven priests carry seven ram’s horn trumpets in front of the Chest. On the seventh day march around the city seven times, the priests blowing away on the trumpets. And then, a long blast on the ram’s horn—when you hear that, all the people are to shout at the top of their lungs. The city wall will collapse at once. All the people are to enter, every man straight on in.’

So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and told them, ‘Take up the Chest of the Covenant. Seven priests are to carry seven ram’s horn trumpets leading God’s Chest.’

Then he told the people, ‘Set out! March around the city. Have the armed guard march before the Chest of God.

And it happened. Joshua spoke, the people moved: Seven priests with their seven ram’s horn trumpets set out before God. They blew the trumpets, leading God’s Chest of the Covenant. The armed guard marched ahead of the trumpet- blowing priests; the rear guard was marching after the Chest, marching and blowing their trumpets.”

Hebrews 11:30 (MSG) “By faith, the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for seven days, and the walls fell flat.”

What are the top three things keeping you from cultivating creativity, increasing innovation, and taking more risks in your organization?

Where in your life recently did you take a risk that helped you take a greater step of faith?

As you reflect on culture, innovation, and risk, where is the blockage preventing your organization from moving to the next level?

“People who don’t take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.” —Peter Drucker7

7 “Peter Drucker Quotes,” Brainy Quote, accessed September 15, 2015, www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/peterdruck121838.html