If I were to ask your people what the vision of your organization was, what would they answer? Would they speak to me about your strategy? Would they speak to me about your culture? Would they share the vision? Would they tell me where you want to go, what you want to build?
About a month ago I had the chance to talk with another pastor about the twists and turns of 2020. We were discussing some of the things we were trying to do and he asked me this question, “Are your people frustrated by the changes?”
When I told him no, he asked why, and in doing so helped me to clarify something that we’ve been learning over the past thirteen years.
Hold tightly to the vision, hold loosely to the plan.
The vision is where you want to go. The vision is the ultimate of what you want to become what you want to build.
God has actually given us a vision for our lives. It has nothing to do with your education, your career, even your family. The vision isn’t overly complicated. The vision is that we would become like Jesus.
We would follow like Jesus. We would love like Jesus. We would serve like Jesus. We would sacrifice for the salvation of others like Jesus. That’s the vision.
The plan however, is different for every single one of us, and God is going to use all sorts of twists and turns to get us there.
The same is true in every great endeavor. There must be clear vision. This is where we’re going. This is what we’re working to become, to build.
The plan however, is going to take many different twists and turns. The plan changes based on countless factors. The plan changes based on staffing. The plan changes based on cultural shifts. The plan changes based on circumstances and unforeseen virus outbreaks! The plan is going to, and actually must change if you’re going to get where you want to go. This shouldn’t be the exception, this should be the expectation. Great leaders understand this and great organizations practice this on an ongoing basis.
So how do you ensure that your organization holds tightly to vision and loosely to the plan?
- Talk more about where you’re going than you do about how you’re going to get there. Every time you talk about the plan do so in context of where you’re going. Champion the vision more than you do the plan.
- Change your language. Years ago we began to use the word “try”. We wouldn’t talk about how we were going to “do” something. We would talk about how we were going to try something. The idea being that we understood the plan may need to change. We expected the plan to change. We expected some plans to work and some plans to fail. Talk about plans as temporary. Talk about the vision as permanent.
- Experiment consistently. Don’t experiment just for the sake of experimenting, but when the opportunity presents itself try something different. Let your people see you adjusting the plan. Build it into the culture. Our church gets uncomfortable if we’ve been doing the same thing for too long. We know we can’t keep the same plan in a world that is constantly changing. We have to adapt. Make it part of your culture and experience.
- Evaluate the plan against the vision not the plan. The question isn’t did we execute the plan. The question is, did the plan accomplish the vision. Be ruthless in this evaluation.
- Admit when you fail. Don’t shy away from it. Be honest about the wins and losses. Teach your people not to be afraid to acknowledge failed plans. It’s actually key to finding the right plan. We’ve experienced our greatest wins immediately after we acknowledged our failure.
Hold tightly to vision, hold loosely the plan.
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