6 Reality Defining Questions That Help Decide Future Improvements

POINT OF THE POST...

2 minute read... FOUNDATIONAL QUESTION: What needs to be better in your church, business, or organization? I bet you have several answers. Or at least several guesses. Of course, answering the question is far easier than making progress with your answer. Why is that? After working with leaders and consulting with organizations for some time, I've noticed a distinct trend. Better in the future is defined in juxtaposition to our current reality today. It's like trying to define something good without an opposing bad. Or delicious without a disgusting. Healthy without unhealthy. Or a finish line without a clearly defined starting line. It's challenging to make things better if you don't fully understand why it's bad (or at least "not better"). Successfully making something better is like the finish line of the improvement project. You can't successfully run a race without knowing where to start and where to finish. I call this "Defining Reality." Every healthy improvement project requires an honest evaluation of the past, present, and future. This is where too many "let's get better" initiatives fail before they even begin. We get so focused on the preferable future without adequately defining present reality. If you are hoping to improve anything within your organization, begin by asking these critical, reality checking questions to help establish your starting line: 1. What are we trying to do (mission)? 2. Why are we trying to do it (vision)? 3. What are our points of differentiation? 4. What is currently working? 5. What is currently working against us? 6. What from our past is still affecting our present? The answers will define your organizational "get better" starting line. From there, you can build a strategic pathway forward.

2 minute read…

FOUNDATIONAL QUESTION

What needs to be better in your church, business, or organization?

I bet you have several answers. Or at least several guesses. Of course, answering the question is far easier than making progress with your answer.

Why is that?

After working with leaders and consulting with organizations for some time, I’ve noticed a distinct trend.

Better in the future is defined in juxtaposition to our current reality today.

It’s like trying to define something good without an opposing bad. Or delicious without a disgusting. Healthy without unhealthy.

Or a finish line without a clearly defined starting line.

It’s challenging to make things better if you don’t fully understand why it’s bad (or at least “not better”). Successfully making something better is like the finish line of the improvement project. You can’t successfully run a race without knowing where to start and where to finish.

I call this “Defining Reality.”

Every healthy improvement project requires an honest evaluation of the past, present, and future. This is where too many “let’s get better” initiatives fail before they even begin. We get so focused on the preferable future without adequately defining present reality.

If you are hoping to improve anything within your organization, begin by asking these critical, reality checking questions to help establish your starting line:

  1. What are we trying to do (mission)?
  2. Why are we trying to do it (vision)?
  3. What are our points of differentiation?
  4. What is currently working?
  5. What is currently working against us?
  6. What from our past is still affecting our present?

The answers will define your organizational “get better” starting line. From there, you can build a strategic pathway forward.

How can I help?

Helping ministry and marketplace leaders make things better and make better things is why I created Transformation Solutions.

Go right now to mytransformationsolutions.com and sign up for a free, 15-minute conversation to decide if working together works for you.

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