Planning your Strategy

The Strategic Master Planning Process

The Strategic Master Planning Process – Clarity in the Process of Growth

by Don Emmitte, DMin

Albert Einstein once said that if you gave him an hour to solve a problem, and his life depended on getting the right answer, he would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and figuring out what questions to ask. “For if I knew the proper questions,” he said, “I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”

This is the challenge for every church as they approach solutions for either anticipated growth or present overcrowding. We can accurately summarize the challenge of turning vision into reality into one seven-letter word: clarity. By identifying this as the real challenge, I mean that it is both more fundamental and logical prior to other discussions just as drawing a blueprint is more fundamental and logical prior to buying two-by-fours when building a house. It is certainly at the base of Jesus’ illustration in reference to the cost of discipleship:

Jesus said, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him.” (Luke 14:28-29b).

This is where I believe that the process of Strategic Master Planning (SMP) is the best means for the achievement of clarity. With that in mind, let’s think about this seven-letter word a little more. Our vernacular applies “clarity” in a many ways. We speak of clearing our throat, clearing the football field and clearing the air. We shop on the clearance rack, hope to be legally clear of charge, receive security clearances and clear the narrow bridge with our car. We long for clear days, clearer colors on our laptop and clearer sound with noise-canceling headphones. Teenagers long for clear faces.

So, what is clarity really about? A synthesis of definitions brings clarity to the concept of clarity: It means being free from anything that obscures, blocks, pollutes or darkens. As a leader, it means being simple, understandable and exact. The leader helps others better see and understand reality. Leaders constantly bring the most important things to light: current reality and future possibility, what God says about these and what we need to do about them. A leader’s clarity is the sun in the vision-to-reality solar system.

We might say that clarity is the fuel that runs the twin engines of vision and action. Think about it for a minute – aren’t communicating vision and taking action only as good as they are first, clear? Clarity is the golden thread that links the two. Let’s consider further the benefits of clarity.

First, Clarity Makes Direction Unquestionable

Followers cannot travel an unmarked path. The leader’s compass can’t be broken; the trumpet blast can’t be uncertain. SMG brings clarity to the mission of the church in relation to any project. It answers questions like:

Does your church have many missions or just one?
Does your ministry team exist for a purpose?
Is your vision focused within the gifting of your church?

When you can state these things clearly, the articulation of them will generate a gravitational pull. In order to make the way obvious, you must first have clarity.

Second, Clarity Makes Enthusiasm Transferable

When a leader leads, there is always an exchange of enthusiasm. Many times, this comes with clarity – the moment when a follower gets it. In every instance of the ministry of Jesus, the moment a person experienced the clarity of His ministry, they could not contain their enthusiasm. When the woman at the well understood the “living water” Jesus offered, she ran into the town to bring all of the others to Him (cf.: John 4:39). The very experience of capturing a clear idea or mission makes people want to share it. But the ease of sharing it is directly proportional to clarity. When passion and a clear idea are wed, the passion can more easily spread. Momentum is built with clarity!

Third, Clarity Makes Work Meaningful

Tasks easily become routine – dull, hollow and void of signiﬁcance. The role of the leader is to make sure that brick-making churchgoers always see the great cathedral their bricks are ultimately building. Clarity can lift the mind’s eye to a greater reality. There can be no cultivation of meaning without clarity first.

Fourth, Clarity Makes Synergy Possible

Collaboration and consensus are lost to sideways energy every day in the local church. The three reasons I see most are mistrust, personal egos and lack of strategic clarity. I have observed that lack of strategic clarity is the most prevalent of the three. Leaders rarely clarify what working together really looks like. A common goal and purpose clearly articulated and drawn will bring produce the strongest of bonds. Solomon’s wisdom declares:

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:12 NIV).

Fifth, Clarity Makes Success Definable

Everyone wants to be a winner. But in too many churches, people don’t know how to win. The Apostle Paul certainly understood this:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NIV).

While I am not a good golfer, I enjoy the game. As I play a round I keep track of each hole on a scorecard. It gives me a quick look at the amount of “success” that I am having in that round. As we achieve clarity in our process of growth we paint the picture of victory and unleash people’s drive for achievement. We allow them to run the race with us knowing and seeing the finish line.

Sixth, Clarity Makes Focus Sustainable

Henry Ford said that the great weakness of all human beings is trying to do too many things at once. How does a leader or organization learn to say “no” to the good things that are the enemy to the best things? Where will they get the best missional returns, given limited resources? They must have a conviction forged from clarity about what matters most. If the secret to concentration is elimination, you can’t do it without clarity first. SMP takes the leadership team through an intensive time of defining the mission of the church and how to best achieve it. It prevents “running aimlessly” or “beating the air” as Paul warns.

Seventh, Clarity Makes Leadership Credible

The silver bullet syndrome has left many leaders impotent. All of us who have been in church leadership for anytime have seen, or perhaps experienced the “silver bullet syndrome.” This is the firing of one disconnected idea after the next, year after year. It is chasing the next newest technique for growth. It leaves church members cautious at best and disillusioned at worst. Real visionary leadership is not about just having a bunch of creative ideas; it is about having a clear, creative message that builds momentum through time. From this clarity, the consistency and passion of a leader are more credible because followers are able to internalize what matters most in the church. Leaders earn more credibility with clarity first.

Eighth, Clarity Makes Uniqueness Undeniable

Many church leaders get stuck photocopying vision from other churches. But the leader’s role requires stewarding what God has uniquely given and being in tune with what God is uniquely doing. The first step for a leader is to draw attention to this uniqueness, to make it obvious, make it attractive and show how remarkable it is. Only then can the leader leverage the uniqueness, playing to the collective strength of his or her church. The danger often faced in this step of achieving clarity is appearing to be heavy-handed or dictatorial. In the SMP process, there is a total team involvement that produces a common commitment based in the clarity of vision and mission. Out of this is born a sense of uniqueness in the call and mission within the kingdom of God.

Ninth, Clarity Makes Uncertainty Approachable

I have developed and lived by a personal proverb: Never let past failures or future fears rob me of present joy. Yet I find both individuals and communities of faith often fall into the trap of past failures or future fears. Of course, to fear the future is to be human, however it is an effective tool of the enemy to paralyze people and deter them from living with courage and investing in Kingdom initiatives. Even though the biblical leader can talk about ultimate certainties, he cannot talk about intermediate certainties. Answers to questions such as, “What will happen to my children?” or “How many people will the church plant reach next year?” remain uncertain. The leader can combat uncertainty with a clarity that inspires hope and expectation. Marcus Buckingham comments, “By far, the most effective way to turn fear into confidence is to be clear – to define the future in such vivid terms through your actions, words, images, pictures, heroes and scores, that we can all see where you – and thus we – are headed.” To lead by rallying people around a better future, albeit unknown, requires clarity first.

I hope that as you read through the benefits of clarity, you have caught some of what I have discovered over the last four decades of ministry – that much of what happens in the name of vision and planning does not necessarily bring clarity. I grieve when I watch teams try to find solutions to their challenges without clarity first, whether it be hiring staff, launching a new service time, selecting a curriculum, recruiting volunteers, turning around a situation in decline, or building new facilities. More, I am grieved at the devastation caused and delays experienced in the kingdom work of these communities of faith. Understandably you can see why my commitment to Strategic Master Planning is so deeply rooted.

So, since clarity is so crucial, let me suggest a simple five-point test. Leading with clarity is evidenced when people can enthusiastically answer five irreducible questions:

What are we doing?
Why are we doing it?
How are we doing it?
When are we successful?
Where is God taking us?

Do immediate answers come to your mind when faced with these questions? Would immediate answers come to the minds of your followers? While much could be written on each of these questions, I want to conclude with a final observation: These clarity questions remain unanswered in most church leadership contexts. In such instances, there will be hundreds of topics and ideas floating around about turning vision into reality. But if these five questions cannot be answered quickly and passionately, then none of these other topics or ideas as ministry solutions will make a difference. Therefore, the secret to turning vision to reality is less about tactics and more about a fundamentally better way to articulate a clear vision.

A Note about the Author: Don Emmitte, Church Navigator with Trinity Design Group, is a new “old hand” in church growth, facility design, and management. After serving for over thirty years as a pastor of churches with over two thousand resident members, founder of Grace Restoration Ministries, and author of Morning Devotionals, he joined the team at TDG in 2009 to expand his passion: helping churches reach their God-given goals by making the most of their resources. For more information, contact Don at demmitte@trinitydesigngroup.com, or visit the web site at www.GraceRestoration.org.

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