Break the Script!

“How do you refresh a meeting that’s grown rote?” In their book, The Power of Moments, Chip Heath and Dan Heath answer their own question, “Break the script.”

When I was in seminary, my pastor continually looked for ways to “break the script” on Sunday mornings—not to showcase his creativity—but to refresh our focus on our role in God’s work.

Example: For his pastoral prayer, he would exit the pulpit and walk the three steps down to the congregation’s level—and then read the headlines from the Sunday edition of the Chicago Tribune. After each headline, he would pray for the politician, or the grieving family, or those suffering from a natural disaster in a far-off nation. Fast-forward—I still strive to read newspapers with that holy filter.

In my journey through boardrooms over the years, I’ve often wondered why board chairs and CEOs don’t “break the script” more often. As Dan Busby and I noted in More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom:

“Let’s confess. Our board meetings have gotten sloppy when:

Preparation is rote.

Execution is rote.

Celebration is rote.

Follow-through is random.”

(Click here to read Lesson 15, “Be Intentional About Your First 30 Minutes.”)

But I do see encouraging signs—especially in this COVID-19 era. (How are you describing this period: era, season, year, or decade? Oh, my.)

A ministry in the Northwest conducted a “Single Topic Zoom Call” to discuss and discern God’s direction about a ministry acquisition. The four-hour session was devoted exclusively to one topic only. Brilliant!

Another board (pre-COVID) added a special meeting, with dinner in a member’s home, to seek God’s will about interim leadership. There were not 17 agenda items—just one. Every board member weighed in. There was plenty of time for possibilities and prayer.

David Curry, in “Think and Pray Outside the Box—and the County,” (Lesson 29 in Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom), notes: “The tyranny of the day-to-day—budgets, meetings, and yearly events to sustain life and keep the lights on—can overwhelm most leaders and sap our energy, leaving little that could be used to power a big, God-sized vision.” Curry once scheduled a board meeting at an architect’s office—so the creativity and the environment would inspire the board to “break the script.”

I was recently reminded of this “break the script” hole-in-the-roof healing in Luke 5 in The Message:

“Some men arrived carrying a paraplegic on a stretcher. They were looking for a way to get into the house and set him before Jesus. When they couldn’t find a way in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof, removed some tiles, and let him down in the middle of everyone, right in front of Jesus. Impressed by their bold belief, he said, ‘Friend, I forgive your sins.’”

As you’ll recall, that set “the religion scholars and Pharisees buzzing.” There were two stunning results: the healing and the crowd’s response! Jesus “spoke directly to the paraplegic: ‘Get up. Take your bedroll and go home.’ Without a moment’s hesitation, he did it—got up, took his blanket, and left for home, giving glory to God all the way. The people rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then also gave glory to God. Awestruck, they said, ‘We’ve never seen anything like that!’”

Imagine when your board members—wanting to refresh the focus on their role in God’s work—hear people giving glory to God and saying, “We’ve never seen anything like that!”

BOARD DISCUSSION: How could we “break the script” for greater board effectiveness?

THINK ABOUT: “The average board member doesn’t read a book a year. That is why he or she is an average board member!” (Adapted from Books Are Tremendous, by Charlie “Tremendous” Jones)

MORE RESOURCES: The click-on index to 40 guest bloggers (and their 40 blogs) was posted this week at the More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom Blog. Click here to read the 40 color commentaries, plus the 40 lessons from the book.

QUESTION 6: How Can We Get the Information We Need to Govern Well?

“Boards Should Not Get All Their Information From Management Alone” 

Warning! Skip this chapter at your board’s own peril. I’ve read my fair share of governance books and articles, but I’ve never read such a comprehensive discussion on structuring the information flow between management and the board—all in just 12 pages!

And, once again, this is a timely book—with references to the financial crisis of 2008. Change the dates to 2020 and COVID-19, and the author’s wisdom and warnings are pertinent again. 

QUESTION 6 of 14: How Can We Get the Information We Need to Govern Well? Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask, by Ram Charan (Order from Amazon)

“The quality of the board’s output,” writes Ram Charan, “depends heavily on the information the board receives.” The author invokes architectural lingo to inspire boards and management to design the information flow—in other words, to collaborate proactively so the right information is available to the board at the right time. He adds:

“The right information architecture—the right kind of information presented in a way that enables the board to ask insightful, penetrating questions—lifts the focus in the boardroom.”

With the appropriate information, boards will “sort through, for example, the four usual causes for performance deviations:
   • shifts in the macro environment,
   • change in the consumer space,
   • shifts in the competitive pattern,
   • and the commission or omission of management actions.”

Try this at your next board meeting: Ask your board to identify your four common causes of “performance deviations.” 

Charan cautions: “Boards should not get all their information from management alone. They should be more active in seeking outside voices and hearing directly from employees.” I would add this caution: do this carefully with agreed-upon staff/board protocols. If executed clumsily, staff may blindside the CEO and/or a board member may ask inappropriate questions about the CEO. Surveys can help. An outside facilitator could also help your board create guardrails for these conversations.

And get this! The author urges boards and CEOs to pay attention to the “ambience” of a meeting. “Using flip charts instead of PowerPoint slides, for instance, creates an informal atmosphere conducive to brainstorming and discussion. Directors are more likely to get engaged, contribute spontaneously, and ask for clarification on the spot.” 

He adds, “That kind of engagement doesn’t often occur in a one-way presentation in a darkened room.”

So…think back to your last two or three board meetings in your Christ-centered organization. Did your board have the right and appropriate information at the right time? Was there alignment between your board reports (written and verbal) and the four usual causes for “performance deviations?”

• Shifts in the macro environment: Did management keep the board assessed of trends in your ministry niche? (Examples: multi-site church campuses, online learning, theological trends, etc.)
• Change in the consumer space: While you may be celebrating a five percent increase in giving year-to-date, what if other ministries are experiencing 20 percent increases? Why is this occurring?
• Shifts in the competitive pattern: Are your ministry colleagues expanding their partnership/collaboration programs—or pulling back? What should your ministry do?
• The commission or omission of management actions: Is your CEO delivering bad news (including omissions) or is your boardroom’s culture so risk-averse, such that program initiatives that flop are rarely discussed? 

One final thought: when the board is equipped with the right information at the right time—your prayer can be more focused, and we pray, your ministry will be more effective.

BOARDROOM DISCUSSION: What are our four usual causes for “performance deviations?” Are we discussing these causes at every board meeting? 

MORE RESOURCES: Check out these helpful ECFA resources:

• SURVEY: According to a recent ECFA survey, “Boards want to monitor impact, but too often don’t track measurable goals to get there.” Per the survey, 79% of board members agree that “our board is very focused on measuring mission impact,” yet only 55% of board members “receive monthly or quarterly dashboard reports that identify agreed-upon metrics or measurements, outcomes, and impact for programs, products, and/or services.” Download the 60-page report, Unleashing Your Board’s Potential: Comprehensive Report from ECFA’s Nonprofit Governance Survey, by Warren Bird, Ph.D.

• TOOL: Looking for an exceptional communication tool? Check out “The 5/15 Monthly Report to the Board,” from the book, ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board. Click here to read the color commentary on Tool #10.

How to Spend a Day in Prayer

The Ministry Grew—“Not by Methods or Principles But by Promises Given to Him From the Word”

Some of your board members may have more time—during this COVID-19 crisis—than they’ve ever had before. So consider planning a day of prayer: personal and/or corporate. Here are two resources:

#1. “Slow Down and Wait on God,” from Chapter 28 in Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom (2nd Edition). This chapter is based on The Navigator’s booklet by Lorne C. Sanny, “How to Spend a Day in Prayer.” Click here to read this chapter. Lorne Sanny writes:

I believe it was in these special times of prayer that God made known His ways and His plans to Moses (Psalm 103:7). He allowed Moses to look through a chink in the fence and gain special insights, while the rank-and-file Israelites saw only the acts of God as they unfolded day by day.

Once I remarked to Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators, “You impress me as one who feels he is a man of destiny, one destined to be used of God.”

“I don’t think that’s the case,” he replied, “but I know this. God has given me some promises that I know He will fulfill.” During earlier years Dawson spent countless protracted time alone with God, and out of these times the Navigator work grew—not by methods or principles but by promises given to him from the Word.

#2. Read Jerry White’s guest blog comments (click here) on the above chapter. Writing in Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom Blog, White notes:

I became much more reflective, thoughtful and prayerful through my 18 years of leading The Navigators—where I could not “make it happen,” but had to rely on God and others to do what I could not do. I began to see the consequences of action without deep prayer, counsel and reflection. “Seek first…” and “in everything by prayer and supplication...” have become my pattern as I have grown in my leadership and in my own maturity. What is more, key members of my board checked up on me regularly on how I was doing in my personal walk.  

BOARD DISCUSSION: How might our board devote itself (individually and corporately) to greater prayer and discernment? (Maybe a Zoom conference call-in—exclusively for a day of prayer—with “shifts” of board members and staff members hosting the 8-hour, 12-hour, or 24-hour call to prayer?) 

MORE RESOURCES: Reflect on Wes Willmer’s guest blog, “Guarding Your CEO’s Soul,” which notes that the “fourth-century Christian pastor and philosopher, Gregory of Nyssa, described the soul’s desires as a river, and at the end of the river is God. Yet channels in the river can divert us from our journey and eventually our desire-river is completely dried up before it reaches God. Board members—also—must model to CEOs that they, too, are on this journey toward God, our Only Hope!”

Click here to read Willmer’s color commentary on Lesson 4 in More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom. 

Called to Serve: The Bell Curve of a Board Meeting

Note: This is No. 7 in a series of blogs featuring wisdom from the 91-page gem by Max De Pree, Called to Serve: Creating and Nurturing the Effective Volunteer Board. (Click on the title to order the book for every board member.)

Max De Pree: “I have found it very helpful to think about designing an agenda by following the lines of a bell curve.” 

He adds, “At the top of the curve (that’s my shorthand for the way energy at board meetings starts out slowly, then rises, then declines) for regular board meetings we will want to focus on the future and plan time to be thorough.”

Do your critical agenda items align with the prime energy spurts in your board meeting? At the top of the bell curve, De Pree suggests you focus on:
   • Strategic plans and the potential for achieving stated goals and results
   • Significant issues
   • Vexing problems
   • What the board has agreed to measure
   • Key appointments and promotions (“because these people are our future”)

On being “thorough,” De Pree notes that the following agenda items should never occur at the bottom of the bell curve—and should never be delegated to committees:
   • Time to dream together
   • Time to ask questions
   • Time to scrutinize
   • Time to voice contrary opinions

Where would your board place prayer and discernment on your bell curve? (My confession: for a board I chair, I recently moved our substantial prayer time to the end of the meeting—due to extenuating circumstances. Yet—big surprise!—when we arrived at the end of the meeting, time had evaporated and we missed the opportunity to seek God’s wisdom together.)

At our next meeting, I’m bringing a graphic of a “bell curve” to remind me to leverage the best energy for our most critical agenda topics (including prayer).

BOARDROOM EXERCISE: At your next meeting, ask one board member to observe and plot the bell curve for the entire board meeting—and then share an end-of-the-meeting analysis if the most critical agenda items were discerned at the top of the bell curve.

To order from Amazon, click on the title for: Called to Serve: Creating and Nurturing the Effective Volunteer Board, by Max De Pree, (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company).

A Board Prayer: The Least Words, The Least Intensity, The Least Volume!

After you reflect on the eight foundations of trust (Truth-Telling, Center Stage, Perceptions, The Tone of Trust, Rules, Serving, Courage, and Perseverance) in Dan Busby’s new book, Trust: The Firm Foundation for Kingdom Fruitfulness, a powerful prayer awaits you on pages 86-89.

Here’s a taste:

“Dear God...Help me to SPEAK CAUTIOUSLY.
   • Let me use the least words, the least intensity, the least volume needed to be understood.
   • Help me voice my opinions with care, strength and meekness.
   • Help me to ask good questions, open dialogue, explore options, and deepen discussion.
   • Help me to say nothing degrading and nothing that would draw lines of conflict unnecessarily.
   • Help me to affirm and agree whenever possible.
   • Help me to give second voice to a courageous and wise first-voice; those who risk presenting a new, contrary or unrefined perspective.
   • Lord, help me to accept compliments and approval with humility.
   • God, give me the grace to watch with dignity as my proposal fails, and give me humility when my idea meets with approval.”

The Lord inspired Dan Bolin, International Director of Christian Camping International, to write this humbling prayer while serving board members during an overseas trip. Last week, a rescue mission CEO mentioned to me that after sharing the prayer at a board meeting, it’s now a regular agenda item as board members prepare their hearts for God’s business by reading the prayer together.

The entire prayer is also included as a supplementary resource in the ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 3: Conflicts of Interest. 

The prayer concludes, “Grant us the joy of arriving at adjournment closer to one another because we are closer to you.”

QUESTION: When the gavel sounds, are your board members closer to God and to each other?