Your Church's Culture

The latest edition of the Harvard Business Review spotlights "The Culture Factor." No, not the culture at large but organizational culture.

"Strategy and culture are among the primary levers at top leaders' disposal in their never-ending quest to maintain organizational viability and effectiveness," the lead article begins. "Strategy offers a formal logic for the company's goals and orients people around them. Culture expresses goals through values and beliefs and guides activity through shared assumptions and group norms."

And what is organizational "culture"?

"Culture is the tacit social order of an organization. It shapes attitudes and behaviors in wide-ranging and durable ways. Cultural norms define what is encouraged, discouraged, accepted or rejected within a group. When properly aligned with personal values, drives and needs, culture can unleash tremendous amounts of energy toward a shared purpose and foster an organizations capacity to thrive."

Oh how I wish more church leaders understood this. And, even more, how to create a positive, biblical culture, and then how to protect it.

Here are some thoughts that might serve.... Read More