Lemon Meringue and a Hybrid Version of Policy Governance®

I’m not overly fond of pie but I like the filling, unless it’s rhubarb which I think must taste like vegetated battery acid. Lemon meringue on the other hand is to die for. The part I don’t like is the crust. I have tried to imagine some food described as crust that might taste good, but I haven’t been able.

My 91 year old mother-in-law still bakes pies, including lemon meringue. The pies she makes are supposed to be different – adjectives such as flaky and moist are used to disguise the crusty sensation of crust. However she came up with a creative way of getting her special son-in-law to enjoy lemon meringue pie. When the rest of the family is sentenced to eating the cardboard with the lemon meringue, she makes me a special pie without the crust. She serves it in a dish the way pie should be served – and yes it is to die for.

I have tried in vain to point out to Lorna that her mother has learned the secret to baking good pies. Lorna continues to point out that what I am served is not lemon meringue pie, but rather lemon meringue pudding. She contends that it is the filling inside the crust that makes it a pie.

Organizational leaders often tell me they are using a hybrid version of Policy Governance.  What they are really saying is that they are using some of the Policy Governance filling and dumping it into their own bowl. Like me they leave out the stuff they have a hard time swallowing and while they may enjoy the taste, they are not having Policy Governance. In the same way that pie is pie when there is a crust and the filling is put inside the crust, Policy Governance is only Policy Governance when all the ingredients are included and integrated in the designated way.

So if you like the sensation of the filling without the crust, keep eating. However take to heart the words of my wife: don’t call it pie when it isn’t pie.

Bill Gothard Has Been Tackled - No Piling On

 It is against the rules of football to pile on. Once a player is tackled and there is obviously no chance of the ball being advanced, jumping on top of the pile of tacklers who have collectively smothered the ball carrier is against the rules. How much more should that rule apply to those of us who are part of the Kingdom. In fact one could argue it should not be a rule but a response of mercy and a response to grace.

In the last few days news has broken that Bill Gothard, founder of what was formally known as Basic Youth Conflicts has been put on "administrative leave" pending "completion of (a) review." This action by the Board of the Institute of Basic Life Principles has resulted from a number of allegations of sexual harassment.

For a few years an organization called Recovering Grace www.recoveringgrace.org has dedicated itself to helping people whose lives have been negatively impacted by the Institute of Basic Life Principles and the Advanced Training Institute. The founders of this organization identify themselves as some who have been directly impacted by the teachings of Gothard. While it began as an initiative to expose the theological gaps in his thinking, it has resulted in women coming forward and alleging how they were sexually harassed by him.

This blog is not intended to serve as a dissertation on his theology. Gothard has defended his interpretation and application of Scripture while theologians such as Ronald Allen as well as articles within the Recovering Grace website have critiqued it. Nor is it my intention to comment on the litany of stories that put words to the fear, frustration and confusion of teenage girls who have served him over the years. However to diminish their stories, question their timing, challenge their process or attack their motivation only adds to the pain they have already experienced.

Over four hundred years ago Sir Francis Bacon stated that "what a man prefers to be true, that he is most likely to believe”. That axiom still applies to us today.  Information that aligns with my perspective only serves to reinforce what I already believe, while at the same time I cynically undermine the news that contradicts my facts.

If you have been blessed by the teachings of Bill Gothard, don’t diminish the concerns of the women who have come forward with their allegations of harassment.

If you have found his teachings to be legalistic and theologically inconsistent with the overall teachings of Scripture, avoid piling on. He’s already been tackled.

The Difference Bwtween Cost and Value

Winters in Manitoba are hard on everything, including the paving stones around my gate. The heaving and shifting created by the frost made it so my gate would not close and thus re- levelling was necessary. This would be a task taking a few hours for anyone with a modicum of patience – which I don’t have. So I called the paving company that had installed the paving stones some five years earlier to see what it would cost to do the job. The sales rep came by and set the price at $188 everything in, which I considered a reasonable price considering the value I place my sanity and sanctity. It was a small job I was told and they would do it when they had a crew in the area. 

Some weeks later while I was in my basement office, my wife let me know that the paving company was here and they were working on the paving stones. I came upstairs just as they were sweeping the last of the sand between the stones and cleaning up to leave. We estimated they were there no more than about twenty minutes. 

Was I ripped off? The answer depends on my perspective. If I based it on an hourly figure it was well in excess of $500 per hour. But what if I look at the completed job from a value perspective rather than a cost per hour perspective?  I wanted the job done well - which they did; I didn’t want the personal frustration of doing it myself and I wanted it done for the price we had agreed to. Would I have felt better if they had taken two hours? Possibly, but they would not have a better job done. So in the end I should have no complaint.

Recently a client requested a proposal for my consulting services. In the course of conversation the client asked how much time I estimated it would take to complete the services. The client was asking a cost question. In response I invited them to consider a value question; what was it worth to their organization if I was to complete the services to their satisfaction.

Hourly rates for consulting services are usually a lose-lose proposition. The client has no way to determine how many hours it actually takes and so they can be left wondering if they were overcharged. As a consultant I am constantly aware of the time I spend lose the satisfaction of providing the best service for the client, regardless of the time it takes.

A potential client called me to discuss a huge problem in their organization. This problem was affecting each of their various branches in a number of countries throughout the world. He talked about the potential fallout if the problem was not solved. So I posed the question:. “If I could solve your problem for $50,000 would you consider that good value for the money spent?” Without blinking he said they would have no problem finding the money and paying the fee. (The fee was a small fraction of that amount because I could do it for much less and still be paid well.) The key of both the client and me is value. Their value is having the issue resolved for a cost reflective of that value. My value is providing the service in a manner that satisfies the client and a fee reflective of my time and expertise. 

A good deal is when we have determined the value of something before we look at the price tag. We need to beware of knowing the price without considering the value.

Mission and Vision Statements - Who Cares and Why Bother?

Last week a church leader emailed me asking what documents were important for his church to have in place. He listed as examples: a mission statement, a vision statement, a statement of faith, core values and an employee manual. I began by answering "yeah sure; whatever works for you". However I had the feeling he expected more, and justifiably so. Following is some of what I sent to him.

Various organizational documents are like having a Twitter account, being on LinkedIn, having a family budget or a personal mission statement; if it works for you go ahead. But don’t have them just because someone else thinks you need them or some other organization has them.

Start by asking yourself "why do we want these statements or documents; what purpose do they serve”? If no one but the staff knew what the mission statement was, would you still have it; and if you did have it would any employees remember what it was? Does a vision statement guide your short-term and long-term plans? Does your statement of faith remind you about what you believe or does it let others know what you believe? Are your core values generic to any church or specific to yours? Is a mission statement necessary because all missional churches have one? Do you feel pressured to have a vision statement because all progressive churches have one? Do you post it on your website so that people interested in attending your church are so gripped by your mission statement that they will want to begin attending your church? Do you have so few employees that virtually all information and expectations are intuitive? Will potential attendees catch the vision of your church and wanted to be part of it? Do your core values include the Bible, prayer and missions or do they include values which describe your church in ways which are distinct from other churches?

      I am a writer; writing things down often serves to help me answer my own questions or articulate my ideas; (thus this blog). I have a personal document to which I refer regularly because it helps me to know what to say yes or no to. Part of it states I desire clear, short-term, measurable assignments rather than assignments that are open ended or vague. That statement is for my benefit; not for the benefit of anyone else. As such when I am asked if I would like to do something, be part of something or take on some task, I run it through the above grid.  So while I am in favour of writing things down, it is only necessary to the extent that it is either helpful for me, informative for someone else, or both.

      The same applies to your church, charity or mission agency. If it helps to provide definition, direction or information, write it down.  If you aren’t clear about it, ignore it.

      Who cares and why bother? If you can answer the who and the why…write away.  

God Doesn’t Need To Be My Number One Priority

We live in an era when the word priority is vital and having our priorities linearly listed is apparently virtuous. It seems that December, like no other month challenges that noble standard.

So we end up at the company Christmas party where we avoid discussing shop but have nothing else in common to talk about and in the meantime we are getting further behind on Christmas shopping and then we attend the school concert where our daughter is cast in the role of a sheep or our hyperactive grandson plays the part of a tree when we need to be at home baking and all the while we are free-falling down the list of priorities and watching as they flash by us. (This is not a breathless run-on sentence, it’s just my life.)

So what do we do with the priority list? You know, the one that has God first, spouse second, family third, church fourth, work fifth, social life sixth etc. It sounds good in theory but it doesn’t function in the real world. If God is a higher priority than my spouse, how would that be demonstrated? If my spouse is a higher priority than my job how does that play out when I tell my boss I am going to be late for work or not coming to work at all because my spouse is a priority? How does a husband explain to his wife that she is a priority while he spends his evening running a shuttle service for his kids? How does a new mother explain to her three-month-old twins that their daddy is a priority and they will therefore not be getting attention right now?

Let me suggest that I start by taking God off the top of my priority list and place Him instead as the hub or at the centre of the spoked wheel of my life. Then my relationship with God determines how I relate to all the other relationships in my life. A healthy relationship with my spouse includes spending time with my children. A healthy relationship with my children should include a component of church life. If my wife is an accountant, both of us will realize that tax time is particularly busy.  She will then not be pressured to change her work priority just to please me. Instead part of her commitment to me will be demonstrated by not caving into my inappropriate demands on her time at the busiest time of the year. This will prompt me to be the husband God intends me to be.

God never calls me to be committed to one relationship at the expense of another. And because of that I am capable of being all the person He wants me to be – even in December.