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April 2012

Knowing-is-half-the-battle

What’s the Problem?

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I recently read a fantastic article at the Alban Institute by Susan Beaumont. Her article begins by telling a fable about a church with a “traditional worship problem.” Before I write anything else, let me ask you: given that description of the problem, what comes to mind?

The “traditional worship problem” could be the color of the carpet, or declining attendance, or not enough seats because of the growing attendance, or the organ needing repair, or almost anything in between.

To look at it from another angle, how much help could you give me if I asked you to help me with my “marriage problem?” Now what if I asked you to help me with “not having enough energy to plan weekly date nights?”

Without knowing anything about me or my wife, you could probably give me a few helpful pointers to address “not having enough energy to plan weekly date nights.” That, my friends, is the power of a problem that is defined, articulated, and agreed upon. Or in the words of John Dewey:

“A problem well stated is a problem half-solved.”

Leadership Lesson: unless you’ve agreed upon the problem, everyone is trying to solve something different

I think Jesus ran into this about fourteen million times in his ministry (according to back-of-the-napkin mathematics). It seems like everyone around Jesus is missing the point. For example, Mark 3:1-6 (NRSV):

1Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” 4Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

Pharisees: “the problem is that people aren’t following our interpretation of God’s Law”

Jesus: “the problem is that people are separated from God”

This *minor* difference in defining the problem led the Pharisees to seek Jesus’ death even while Jesus is making us all children of God.

Do you have a problem? Before trying to solve it, state it well. Then you’ll at least be half-way there.

As G.I. Joe used to say, “Knowing is Half the Battle!”

Putting it into Practice

  • Have I stated the problem well enough that a random stranger could understand what’s going on?
  • Has my team of problem-solvers agreed on the definition of the problem together?
  • Could I use this insight in my family, not just my work?
jumping in a field

How Many Heads Do We Need…and When Do We Need Them?

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How many artists do you know who rely on committees, consumer research, and group brainstorming to stoke the flames of their creativity?

I come from the Presbyterian tradition, and for some reason we believe that committees are the answer to everything. Now don’t get me wrong, here, because meetings can be very productive and separation of powers can save you from many evils. But a hammer is only useful in the right situations; sometimes you need a screwdriver or a drill.

I recently read a New York Times article by Susan Cain that challenges the notion that two heads are always better than one.

For example, one study found that productivity at different organizations was primarily driven by how much privacy their employees had. The least productive organizations, by contrast, listed constant interruptions as a staple of their day. Even the physical space had an impact:

Studies show that open-plan offices make workers hostile, insecure and distracted. They’re also more likely to suffer from high blood pressure, stress, the flu and exhaustion. And people whose work is interrupted make 50 percent more mistakes and take twice as long to finish it

We even learn better when we’re alone. I never participated in study groups in school because I could make the same grade in 20% of the time it took to study in a group. According to the NYT article:

Solitude can even help us learn. According to research on expert performance by the psychologist Anders Ericsson, the best way to master a field is to work on the task that’s most demanding for you personally. And often the best way to do this is alone. Only then, Mr. Ericsson told me, can you “go directly to the part that’s challenging to you. If you want to improve, you have to be the one who generates the move. Imagine a group class — you’re the one generating the move only a small percentage of the time.

Leadership Lesson: use group discussion to progress incrementally; let individuals think on their own before coordinating to progress creatively

Now there is one huge exception to this rule of creative solitude. When people are coordinating their ideas through the Internet, productivity and creativity usually increase with bigger groups, and the bigger the group the bigger the increase. The physical distance and non-verbal communication mean each individual must work on their own before trying to coordinate with the group. It allows us to be “alone together.”

Jesus was a very relational guy, but he made a habit of spending alone time with God. For example, Luke 5:15-16 (NRSV) says “15But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. 16But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.”

There are times when we need to be together, and there are times when we need to be alone. It takes wisdom to know what is needed when.

Putting it into Practice

  • Do I need to coordinate, tweak, or improve incrementally? I should use a team.
  • Do I need to be creative, think outside the box, or move quickly? I should let individuals think on their own before coordinating.
  • Can I use the “alone together” idea by having everyone submit individual written thoughts/proposals before we meet together?