Continuing on from yesterday…
Just before I do, its been said a lot lately that we shoudn’t emulate the business world with our practices in the church. Another pendulum swing… (yawn) I would say we shouldn’t emulate some of the practices of the business world but there is a hell of a lot of wisdom we can learn from. This book is full of it.
The second criteria of companies that made the cut as exceptional was that they worked on ‘who first then what’.
Collins discovered that it is critical to get the right people on the bus before you decide where the bus is headed. he believes that the right people will sort out the ‘what’ questions easily.
They discovered that the right people are not motivated by money. They don’t come or hang around because of the pay – they are intriniscally motivated and would be great if there were no money involved at all.
They described companies that chose the right people as ‘rigorous but not ruthless’. In that they made the tough calls if people weren’t shaping up, but never in a callous fashion.
Three practical disciplines in this area they suggest:
1. When in doubt don’t hire – keep looking. How many churches just grab the closest fit, rather than the brst fit because we need someone in the driver’s seat?
2. When you know you need to make a people change, act. He says when you need to tightly manage someone you have made a hiring mistake… Oh yes. I have been there. Its easy to get people into positions but it can be hell to get them out. On the other hand he says people can still be valuable, but just sitting in the wrong seat on the bus.
3. Put your best people on your biggest opportunities not your biggest problems. Its about using talent wisely and freeing those gifted people to fly rather than bogging them down with problem solving.