Insight: Identify and Overemphasize Your Most Catalytic Activities

I need to ask you two questions today:

1. Which of your activities (or outcomes) make the greatest difference in your area of ministry?
2. Which of your activities (or outcomes) have a disproportionate return…way bigger than the investment?

I want you to take an hour today and think about these two questions.  Don’t put this off.  If you can’t take an hour today, put this assignment in tomorrow’s calendar.  Fit it in wherever you can; as soon as you can.  It might be the most important thing you do this year.

Albert Einstein said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.”  I’m saying your clarity on the answers to these two questions is the difference between hearing “well done” and something else.

One of the most influential books I’ve read in the last 10 years is called Who: The A Method of Hiring by Geoff Smart and Randy Street.  There’s a ton of great ideas in Who but the part that had me riveted is the part about developing a scorecard.  Not a job description.  A scorecard.  A scorecard “describes the mission for the position, outcomes that must be accomplished, and competencies that fit with both the culture of the company and the role.”

• the mission for the position
• outcomes that must be accomplished (typically 3 to 8 outcomes)
• competencies that fit the culture of the company and the role

If I drill in just a little further into the idea of a scorecard, I find that it is a living document.  That is, it isn’t a set-in-stone document (like a job description usually is).  It changes, particularly as outcomes are accomplished.  Examples of outcomes might be:

• Identify, recruit and install 5 new coaches by June 30.
• Meet individually with every coach in the coaching structure at least once every two months.
• Increase the total number of adults in groups by 35% by October 15, 2014.

Can you see how identifying a set of outcomes might help steer the course for the members of a team?  Can you see how certain of the outcomes might benefit from greater attention or have a disproportionate return?

See also, 6 Keys to Accelerating Small Group Ministry Growth and Impact.

Back to today’s two questions:

1. Which of your activities (or outcomes) make the greatest difference in your area of ministry?
2. Which of your activities (or outcomes) have a disproportionate return…way bigger than the investment?

Let me suggest something to you.  Not everything you do, not everything you spend time on, has an equal return.  If you can figure out the answers to today’s questions…you’ll be ahead.  If you focus your time on the activities that have the greatest payoff…you’ll be way ahead.

And while I’m on the subject, Who: The A Method of Hiring is packed with lots of very good ideas that will have an impact on your ministry if you apply them.  Hope this helps you today!

What do you think?  Have a question?  Want to argue? You can click here to jump into the conversation.