Theory of Constraints Handbook - James Cox Iii [705]
After the Jonah 2-week workshop, Ezra Earl said that his next goal would be to introduce the TOC concepts to several Bishops and other leaders in the church. The opportunity presented itself in January 1996 when I spent four days at a retreat with several Bishops and other leaders at “The Grove” near Ashville, NC, which is the mountain retreat owned by the Billy Graham organization. There were several speakers for the retreat, Dr. Margaret Wheatley, author of Leadership and the New Science, spoke one day, Peter Block, famous author and consultant, spoke one day, I spoke one day and then I facilitated the last day where we tried to pull the three days of knowledge transfer together. It was a great session; it motivated some of the leaders to consider more study and analysis.
One thing you are going to learn in this example is that some complex systems take years and perhaps decades to begin to shift their thinking and behavior. One key lesson is not to give up. Many times an outside disrupter does not control when a shift in thinking occurs. The best we can do for the complex system is to be persistent and ready.
After this program, Ezra Earl said that his next goal would be to get a team of Bishops and other church leaders to dedicate time to do a complete analysis of the UMC and to develop a solution. He accomplished his goal and Chesapeake facilitated the workshop. Lisa Scheinkopf, who worked for Chesapeake at the time, and I would conduct the sessions. We met 12 days over several months with sessions in Atlanta, Chicago, and Nashville. While in Chicago, we stayed at a Catholic convent. Lisa, who is Jewish, said that she was way outside her comfort zone sleeping under a cross. As you might imagine, we had a lot of laughs.
The Analysis
Here are some of the UDEs the team surfaced during their TP analysis that blocked them from improving:
1. UMC lacked clarity of purpose/vision.
2. UMC is doing a poor job in spiritual formation (making Disciples).
3. Generally, the church is doing a poor job of transforming people.
4. There is no process for preparing leaders.
5. The UMC lacks a climate for innovation.
6. Spiritual malaise is prevalent throughout the church.
Lisa and I facilitated the UMC leadership through a full TP analysis with the core problem being that spiritual leaders were not fulfilling their specific roles as spiritual leaders. We came to that core issue from two directions: the TP analysis and a simpler analysis of the process required to achieve their purpose.
FIGURE 37-4 Church can cause world to become brighter according to Bishop Christopher.
Early on, we got the team to discuss the purpose of the UMC. Their stated purpose was “Make Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the World.” Lisa and I broke them into groups and had them draw a picture of their system.
Bishop Sharon Brown Christopher headed one group. Bishop Christopher and her group drew a picture of the Earth as viewed from outer space. The picture is provided in Fig. 37-4. They represented the Church by a box and had dimly lit souls going into the box and bright souls coming out (some of these are my words, not hers). The flow into the box pulled other souls into the box and all were recycled back into the box (they did not stay lit but needed recharging). The group said if the Church were doing its job, then the world would get brighter and brighter.
Holy Mackerel. . . what a cool depiction of an overall system; it was very simple and easy to understand. This group had been exposed to a lot of TOC training so Lisa and I pressed them—“What is in the box and where is the physical constraint?”
Ezra Earl and his team had already done some work in that area and said that the four steps in the box (the Church) were:
1. Invite people into the box.
2. The people develop a relationship with God and with each other.
3. That relationship is nurtured by Bible study, prayer, etc.
4. People are sent out into the world to engage in God’s work concerning injustice, mercy, and sharing the good news.