This post was last updated on July 25th, 2024 at 12:32 pm.

I don’t believe any organization is immune to problems. They can range from lack of resources, low attendance, wrong building location for ministry, too many resources, a need for better technology, etc.

How do these problems relate to church leadership? Simple. If church leadership can’t agree on the problem(s), then the solutions are either slow to come or will never come to realization. Any great organization has problems, but what they do with them is what makes them great whereas other organizations falter. Great organizations harness the problem, quickly define it, and immediately begin working on a solution. Great organizations and their leaders agree about what the problem is.

When leadership can’t agree on the problem, this just prolongs the agony of fixing it and moving on. Once you can agree on the problem, then you can work on the solution jointly as a team and are willing to do anything to overcome it. Progress isn’t slow because of the solution but instead of defining the problem and cutting through all the noise.

JFK’s Problem

I think back to JFK’s speech about putting someone on the moon before Russia. As many know Russia put someone into orbit around the Earth before the US. Through much discussion with his advisers, JFK made a commitment that defined the problem. We would put a person on the moon before the end of the decade in 1961 and before anyone else. Keep in mind that the Russians were much closer to this reality having sent someone into orbit around the Earth. Eight years later in 1969 that defined problem was solved when Niel Armstrong landed on the moon before anyone else. There are only two other events that match this kind of ambition. The Panama Canal (10 years) during peacetime and the Manhattan Project (approx 4 -5 years) in war. Incidentally, these two projects were also completed by defining the problem first and working towards a solution – quickly.

Amazingly JFK’s project started with great leaders who defined the problem first and quickly. JFK’s announcement to put people on the moon came only six weeks after Russia put their man in orbit around the Earth. I have seen and heard of organizations taking more than six weeks to work on far simpler things than JFK’s project. Some examples are their yearly budget or what color their playground equipment should be. Both need decisions before execution, however, the allotted time is very disproportionate. Especially in the context of landing a person on the moon.

JFK’s decision in six weeks was lofty and heavy-laden. I doubt many organizations have the magnitude of sending a man to the moon, as JFK defined in his speech. However, many organizations take a lot longer to define the problem before working on a solution. Why do you think that is? Time is better spent if we define the problem quickly, and find a solution dedicating more time to it. More dedicated time should amount to a better positive change.