Theory of Constraints Handbook - James Cox Iii [706]
These four steps combine to make the process for forming a Disciple; just like specific manufacturing equipment combines to form a process that produces a car part. Although each of the four steps is an “operation” in the overall process, each step can be quite complex on its own.
“Okay, where is the constraint?” we asked. I thought that would be a hard question for them. The team did not even hesitate—“Step 2, developing a relationship with God.” I was taken aback with the speed and certainty of their answer. They even mentioned that this is the case in 9 out of 10 churches. However, that inspired another question: “So how does that happen? How does one establish a relationship with God?” I think it is important to note that we have now made this extremely complex system a bit less complex by focusing in on one of the four overall operational steps. This group of Bishops is now immersed in describing Step 2—the people develop a relationship with God and with each other.
The group discussed and pondered that question for a while. In all of their discussions on how one establishes a relationship with God, this thing called a “spiritual leader” kept coming up. These leaders of the church agreed that the thing they called a spiritual leader was the key to helping create an environment in which an individual and God could better connect; therefore, “spiritual leadership” is the constraint of the UMC. We now need to look at “spiritual leadership” as we would any other skill set or piece of equipment, especially since it is our precious and most valuable resource (the constraint). We first needed to identify what it looks like.
“So if I walked through your factory (the Church) and tripped over a spiritual leader, what would he or she look like?” I asked.
I sensed that was an uncomfortable question. The participants came up with a description of a spiritual leader as one who is:
1. Humble and worships the Lord with joy.
2. Involved in daily prayer, Bible study, and devotionals.
3. Involved with others on a routine basis to discuss how God is working in their lives and to hold one another accountable.
4. Participating in acts of mercy and addressing injustice.
5. Telling others their faith story.
What they had described was a Disciple and had discovered that “Disciples make Disciples.” Another thing that they discovered is that they were paying a whole lot of folks to be spiritual leaders who did not meet that description. That particular issue was a problem but not one that the group was ready to address. There was enough work and progress to be made in focusing on the spiritual leaders they did have.
If spiritual leadership is the system’s constraint, then how do you “exploit” the system’s constraint? If you have 40 hours per week of operating time for a spiritual leader, what do you want them doing? Should they be attending meetings, washing windows, answering the phone and dealing with lawsuits? The answer to those questions is “no.” Those activities do not move the UMC closer to achieving its purpose. The Bishops defined the five steps in the description of a spiritual leader as “being on the path” and said that spiritual leaders should be on the path with one another and with their congregations executing and facilitating the four steps in the box (the Church).
Therefore, the major injection provided in the Evaporating Cloud of the core problem was, “Spiritual leaders are on the path with one another.” This is actually a very practical solution and doable. The Bishops could be “on the path” with their cabinets (staff), the staff could be on the path with those pastors who reported to them, and so on all the way down to the individual church member. There was excitement in the group. Each Bishop was in charge of a region of the United States, which they referred to as an “annual conference.” We began to formulate plans where each Bishop would head their annual conference in this plan going forward. It was going to be a very large challenge, as much of what a Bishop does has nothing to do with spiritual