 |
 |
What the Church Could Learn from Microsoft
Orginally published on Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 6:22 AM
by Todd Rhoades
Oh boy... I can just read the comments now. Just from the title, many people will go directly to the comments section and type something like, "The church is NOT a business" or "The church is already too much like business" or "We just need to preach the Bible and not ever bring 'business' into the church."
Well, before you go off on me, please hear me out. I saw this list over at Casual Mondays, and thought that here are a few 'business' practices that many churches would be wise to adopt. Don't call them 'business' principles, if you like. Call them whatever you like... but wouldn't more churches be healthier and accomplish more for the Kingdom if they adhered to some or all of the things on this list. (Also, please don't over-spiritualize this list... it's not a theological underguirding of a church... just a list of helpful practices). All those disclaimers out of the way, see what you think I'll put some of my comments in red):
This is how Microsoft keeps going and growing into the world leader in computers...
1). Hire the Best People (how many churches hire poorly and then really pay for it? Hire the best people the first time by doing your homework and searching high and low for your next staff member)
2). Bet the Company's (church's) Future On Big Opportunities (that's called 'risk'... something many churches NEVER do!)
3). Expect People To fail & Learn from Their Mistakes (many times, we don't allow people to make mistakes; many times we don't allow people enough authority and ownership to make mistakes. I think it has something to do with #2 (our aversion to risk))
4). Insure that Managers Can Do the Work of the People That Report To Them (this goes to 'competence'... again, hire well; hire competence... ministry should be a team effort; not a 'that's his area and I know nothing about it' thing)
5). Evaluate People Only On Their Recent Performance (boy, I see this often... when a staff person fails (see #3), he/she is doomed. Forgive and give another chance. Restore and encourage. Allow for growth and encouragement. You may be suprised what people can pull off!)
6). Spend Money Frugally (Many churches are frugal because they have to be. Others spend money like it's going out of style. Make sure your spending match's your vision and purpose... otherwise you might as well throw it out into the street)
7). Manage A Large Company (church) Like A Collection of Small, Independent Companies (churches) (I think we're starting to see this happen more these days)
8). Know What Is Actually Going On In the Company (again, ministry is a team thing... be sure you know what's happening in other areas, not just your own.)
9). Establish an "esprit de cour" (a spirit of cooperation) to motivate People To Superior Performance (isn't this biblical?)
10). Never Make Your Employees Put Up with Stupid Rules (ok... be honest... does your church have any stupid rules? Why?)
11). Create an Office Atmosphere That's Like a Home Away from Home. (people always work best when they're comfortable)
12). (a rule specific to Microsoft's environment): Focus On Total World Domination (OK... 'world domination' sounds a little strong; but in our 'business' it would be a great think, wouldn't it? To see the church and Christ's impact on the world increase would be awesome.)
OK... that's the end of my Microsoft rant; and now I'm ready to hear from you. And, in all fairness, if someone wants to write something on "What the Church Could Learn from Mac"... go for it... if it's good, I'll be happy to publish it hear under our 'equal time' requirements! 
Have a great day, everyone. Minister in a way today that would make Jesus proud!
Todd
This post has been viewed 97 times so far.
TRACKBACKS: (1)
There are 11 Comments:
Hi... I'm Todd Rhoades. I'm a Christ-follower, husband, father and I love to connect leaders with other leaders. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step on Twitter.
MondayMorningInsight.com | PO Box 446 | Bryan, OH 43506 |
-
Posted by
Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 8:27 AM
-
Posted by
Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 8:42 AM
-
Posted by Phil Hoover-Chicago
Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 8:50 AM
-
Posted by
Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 9:07 AM
-
Posted by
Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 9:44 AM
-
Posted by
Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 12:08 PM
-
Posted by Randy Ehle
Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 12:44 PM
-
Posted by
Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 2:10 PM
-
Posted by
Friday, April 28, 2006 at 1:45 AM
-
Posted by
Friday, April 28, 2006 at 11:11 AM
-
Posted by Phil Hoover-Chicago
Friday, April 28, 2006 at 12:33 PM
Post Your Comments:8). Know What Is Actually Going on in the Company (again, ministry is a team thing… be sure you know what’s happening in other areas, not just your own.)
Personal opinion, observation and research here:
I think this is where we must take a vested interest in what is happening in every “department”. Too often burn-out happens because no one took the time to find out what was going on with the “other” guy/woman. By this I do not mean the numbers they are reporting or the finance report; how are they doing in their own personal lives.. Own personal walk with the Lord.
Just last night one of our former staff members testified to the fact that he had left the ministry swearing to never come back because he was burned-out. Sad to say, it was a shock to most in the room who were listening. This unfortunately seems to be more the norm than the exception any longer. We must stop being so focused on just our own corner of ministry that we do not even notice that a brother or sister in Christ is struggling to keep their head above water. We must be willing to truly care about the individual persons.
Praying for all,
Camey
I like the list, actually, although I am not sure Microsoft hires the best people, at least in programming.
Here’s a few things the church could learn from Apple.
1. Small can be great. So you have a 5% market share. That doesn’t mean that you can’t make the absolute best product anyway.
2. Create a culture that everybody wants to be a part of. “Be cool.” Face it, if you don’t have an iPod, you probably want one. Jesus used to just say “Follow Me” and he was “so cool” that people dropped what they were doing, left their jobs and families, and followed…
3. Create a product that is so compelling that everybody talks about it. “Did you hear what they’re doing up at that church? I gotta check it out...” (You CAN do this and still preach the whole gospel folks...)
4. Focus on the design so much that your products end up in museums, not because they’re obsolete, but because their design is so darn good. (This is part of numbeer 3.) Do NOT do something half-speed… Excellence honors God and inspires people.
5. Make your product work better than everybody elses. Windows has come a long way, but I work with both, and the Mac still smokes it. The Powerbook I’m writing this on has crashed exactly one time in a year! ONE TIME! And I’m pretty sure it’s my fault (running word processing, internet, imaging, and video editing applications at the same time.
6. Keep the vision white hot! When you do something boneheaded, like when Apple opened up the Mac to “clones”, and it doesn’t work for whatever reason (in this case it was for financial reasons) just fix it and move on!
7. Ignore Microsoft… (Sorry… I just had to put that last bit in...)
Your humble and affectionate Mac fan,
Peter
Todd,
Those items about Microsoft are actually very good.
HOWEVER, and I say this as one who is seminary-trained, and have been “in the church” all my life:
The local church needs SHEPHERDS far more than they need “Chief Executive Officers.”
Both are needed, but if a person is called into the pastorate, or to be a pastor, then being a “CEO” is a step down for that person.
Good post, otherwise.
I like this list and made a copy for myself for my business and our church.
1. Hire the best people- I see this alot. Thre are many Pastor’s and Youth Ministers who have been hired because the way they looked, who they knew, and how much education they have. But they end up not doing anything at all, or leading the youth astray.
2. Bet the company’s future on big oppurtunities- I really like this one Todd… Man this is good… I am not critizing but I would use the word “FAITH”. I have seen so many churches around here that just will not step out on faith and just trust God to work it out for us instead of trying to do it in our own power.
3. Expect People to fail & learn from their mistakes- This is really big. I don’t know why, it is but when someone makes a mistake in church we are always the first one’s to turn our backs on them, snub them, and treat them like they have a plague… What happended to what Jesus Said, “I say that if your brother sins against you not 7 times but 70X7.... So what happended… Was we keep strikes against them and it’s like well that was it, they had 489 strikes against them and now they are out.
5. Evaluate People on they’re recent performance- this is a real good one. For get about the past. Look at they’re strong points and weak points. Set down and talk to them, put it down on paper. Go over they’re weak points and allow them to give you feed back on how to correct them. They will never grow if you are always pointing them out to them.
6.&7;I will restrain from speaking on. That is a sticky whicky....
8. Team effort would be nice… But the thing I see taking place is what I call “CLICKS”.... You can’t be a team when there is individuality or “CLICKS”.
9.I DON’T KNOW ABOUT THE REST OF YOU… THIS SHOULD BE DONE A WHOLE FOR THE WHOLE CHURCH, JUST NOT SELECTED FEW PEOPLE OR THE STAFF.
10. WE HAVE A RULE AT CHURCH THAT NO ONE IS TO BE A SECRETARY OR JANITOR AT OUR CHURCH IF THEY ARE A MEMBER. BUT OUR SECRETARY LEFT THE JOB BECAUSE THEY WOULD NOT PAY HER MORE MONEY OR GET HER AN ASSISSTANT TO HELP BECAUSE THE JOB IS GROWING. BUT THEY TURN AROUND AND HIRE SOMEONE WHO USE TO BE THE SECRETARY AND IS A MEMBER. THEY ARE NOT FAIR.
11.VERY IMPORTANT I BELIEVE. I KNOW THIS FROM WORKING PUBLIC WORK AND BOY DOES IT HELP CUT DOWN ON THE COMPLAINING. ONLY THING IS YOU DON’T WANT TO GET TO COMFY… IT WILL COME BACK TO HAUNT YOU. EVERYONE WHO WORKS FOR ME ENJOYS IT BECAUSE IT IS LOW STRESS BUT HARD WORK. BUT WE GET THE JOB DONE IN FOUR HOURS LESS THAN EXPECTED.
12.TODD, THIS IS WHAT I CALL “DREAM BIG DREAMS.” MY MOM ALWAYS TOLD ME TO DREAM BIG AND TO NEVER SETTLE FOR SECOND BEST. IF YOU DON’T MAKE IT TO WHERE YOU WANTED TO BE DOES NOT MEAN YOU FAILED. THE FACT IS YOU TRIED AND IT IS BETTER TO HAD TRIED THAN TO NEVER TRIED AT ALL. MYSELF GOD IS NOT IN A BOX, AND I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING GOD MOVE IN THE LIVES OF HOMOSEXUALITY, PORN WILL BE ABOLISHED, AND THESE ADULT CLUBS WILL CLOSE DOWN. WHY? BECAUSE ALL OF THESE PEOPLE ARE BEING SAVED. I PRAY HARD ABOUT THIS AND I AM EXPECTING GOD TO MOVE.
I hope I made some sense on these things.
The one that struck me was the first rule. We have hired people because they had a financial need. Oh brother - what a mistake. It proves the old adage that no good deed goes unpunished.
The rest just make sense.
Peter, I loved your additions to the list, and I think that even the original list seems to be more true of Apple’s environment than Microsoft’s (if recent articles and product problems are any indication). Either way though, we have a lot to learn from all kinds of sources rather than sitting back and saying, “well, that’s just how the church does it.”
Both the Microsoft list and Peter’s Mac list are great. (Except for Peter’s #7, “ignore Microsoft”, with which I strongly disagree. We can and should learn a lot not only from our direct competitors, but also from other businesses, churches, etc. That’s why so many businesses are using training videos from the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle - not because they want to sell fish, but because they want to learn transferable principles.)
A comment on Microsoft’s #7, too: “Manage A Large Company (church) Like A Collection of Small, Independent Companies” Employ this with great caution and balance. Whether a company or a church, recognize that you are NOT SIMPLY a collection of independent companies (churches, departments, etc.). This can lead to the “silo” effect, where those “independent” groups begin to function on their own, by their own rules. In a business, that eventually leads to spin-offs (which isn’t always a bad thing). In a church, it leads to division (which is usually a bad thing).
When is that independent thing okay? If you have multiple services of different styles, it may be okay to eventually plant a new church with one of those services. (Flood church here in San Diego is a case in point. http://floodsandiego.com/ ).
When is it not okay? When the youth department and the music department and the adult department operate in “silos”. These need to work in tandem - INTERdependently, not INdependently. All need to operate with the same vision, under the same banner. The basic operating procedures and policies need to be the same, while recognizing the unique aspects of each ministry. (Eg., it may be appropriate to require “business casual” attire in the office for those areas that serve adults, but allow “casual” attire for the youth areas.)
I’m all for #12. Total World Domination! That’s what I call thinking BIG.
We’ve held services where the only people there were all involved in putting on the service. We didn’t let it stop us that there was no one there in the pews (folding chairs). Practice makes perfect, or at least better rehearsed. And we practice for the day when there will be 10,000 or 1,000 or 100 or even 10 of God’s children there.
You gotta think BIG!
As a new church planter and business man, I must say that Microsoft’s philosophy is based on doing what is right for all who are concerned. It is a good list to inculcate into our ministries (with adjustments), and I may use it to preach some “start-up” messages to show the kind of vision we are supposed to have toward the world we live in today. Continue to pray for me and the church; we are getting organized for the first services soon.
Jay,
Your attitude shows that you might be VERY successful! Doing right for all concerned… I love that! Great core value!
The New Testament Church was alive and active while MICROSOFT was still in the mind of Bill Gates, who was, in turn, still in the mind of God.
We might want to turn the pages to the Book of Acts and see how the “New Testament believers” were the “Church.”
What a novel concept!
Anyone preach from ACTS lately?
Page 1 of 1 pages