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Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Changing Organizational Culture: The LARC Device

"Sir" the Chief said "There's something in the bushes your peeing on." 

Culture is a living dynamic entity that exists in every company and in every  network of companies
(or ministries) that do business or ministry together. It grows whether it was intentionally tended or not.  It responds reflexively to the things that happen to it. It can be assessed, and believe it or not, it can be Shepherd by intentional leaders. A LARC device is a tool that can Help.


Culture:

 the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time. : a particular society that has its own beliefs, ways of life, art, etc. : a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in a place or organization

-Miriam Webster


5  Principles


1.  Acknowledge that culture exists in your Christ - centered activity, and  the cultures are distinct. (Revelation 2-3)
2.  Get an independent assessment of your culture using easy diagnostics and useful measurement.
3.  Get a group with all resulting impact-full members to interpret the results for the record.
4. Create a change plan (LARC Device)
5. Create an ongoing shepherding plan to tend to your culture.

The LARC Device

Change across a culture can be affected by creating an initiative (device) that engages legends, artifacts, rites, and ceremony (LARC) simultaneously.

  • Legend: a story that is told over and over again in an organization, and passes from one member to another becomes a legend. The stories that emerge reflects a real cultural value - positive or negative.
  • Artifact:  an object that carries symbolic meaning when seen or worn by group members.
  • Rite: customary observance, a social custom,  a practice, or conventional act particular to a group of people.
  • Ceremony :a deliberate celebration- or absence of celebration - of  an event that reflects an organization value.
 LARC Device principles
  1. Designed to address one (1) specific cultural value
  2. Engages all four areas
  3. Is implemented by a  impact-full leaders, both formal and informal
  4. Is consistently practiced until the organization knows it is a permanent change by an ongoing shepherding practices.
I learned this by observation, implemented by leaders, and watch it work in an impossible situation:
Names of the leaders would be recognized by many so I will leave them out.

Case Study:

 Set up:

I knew from experience serving at both the lowest and in the staff at the highest levels of an America military organization in NATO in Europe that the senior leader  held a value similar to units of the UK at the time, that when leaders kept their creature comforts with them they were well rested and made better decisions than those who led without those luxuries. It supported the real but unspokenvalue that rank had its privilege.  

It became clear that a new leader at the Army Core level, then Lieutenant General Colin Powell wanted to change that overall value. He believed that a leader that lives with the means of the people they lead the will best knows and their capabilities.

When the old leader left, General Powell put in place a new  Major General Calvin Waller. General Waller picked a new chief of staff, and he knew he wanted a culture change.

The Legend

General Waller and his chief of Staff came to his first briefing of the General Defense Plan (GDP) by by First Brigade leaders in a tent on a hill near the East West German Border (Iron Curtain)

When he got there there were two large overstuffed leather chairs sitting in the tent meant for them. General Waller looked down at it and ask the Brigade commander "How many soldiers did it take to bring these chairs up here? How much 5 Ton truck space?" The chairs were quickly removed.

When The general and his Chief of Staff arrived at the next Brigade after a long trip and again in the wilderness near the border, they got out to stretch and found some large bushes near a tree to urinate.
"Sir" the Chief said "There's something in the bushes your peeing on." 

It turns out a resourceful sergeant at Brigade 1 had called his buddy in Brigade 2 and told him to get rid of their leather chairs, and they had hidden them in the bushes.... right where the General urinated.

The Artifact

The Chief of Staff seized on this event and had an award made, a little Model of two soldiers peeing on a leather chair in the bushes. It became known as the "throne in the trees" award.  

The Rite

The general created a new metric, a metric of how much each unit had lightened their war packing load. The legend of how the award came about was retold.

The Ceremony 


The brigade that showed the least progress in their goal of reducing combat load received this white elephant award and kept it prominently featured until they could give it away to another brigade.

This was carried on until I left Europe so I don' t know how long it went. But I know it changed our organizational value.

So whats the point?

Find out the real cultural values of your company - you might be surprised what you find. Decide which negative value is killing you fastest, design a LARC Device and implement it fully to replace it with the one you want. - only make the rite and ceremony positive experiences not negative ones.