SEC is always in season

No, not that SEC. For most people, SEC is the Southeastern Conference, home to great athletes, great sporting events, and a proud athletic tradition. For organizations building excellence in the workplace, SEC is Succession, Execution, and Culture, the building blocks for a great workforce, high quality products and services, and a compelling brand. What does that mean?

Succession

During the Manila Overture, one of the presentations included mention of helping organizations develop succession strategies. It may be old news by now, but it's still urgent. Your organization is staring down the barrel of the greatest generational shift in its history as the Baby Boomers exit the workforce and a new generation takes their place. Will your organization be ready? Every organizational leader I've spoken with has identified succession as a top concern. We're in the middle of helping one organization develop and implement a succession strategy so they can prepare key people in their workforce to take on greater responsibility, and we expect more organizations to put succession strategies in place.

Execution

During the Manila Overture, I learned about Glenn Yu of SeaOil, who grew his business from one station to two hundred stations. That growth is an example of execution. Developing your workforce at all levels makes your organization better at turning plans into action. That requires skills for understanding the organization's business objectives, aligning plans to support those objectives, and integrating people who have different specialties into cohesive teams. Your workforce, in other words, needs management systems like supervisory management, operations management, and project management in their competencies to succeed in turning plans into action.

Culture

Organizational culture is at the heart of all the presentations during the Manila Overture. Your organization's culture brings your brand to life. Communicating that culture comes via formal means like onboarding classes and informal ways like peer interaction. Have you determined your organization's culture? Is what and where you want it to be? If not, how would you go about changing it?

Don't hesitate to ask for help. There are many experts who have practical experience as well as deep knowledge in the field. By staying current in your industry and discipline, you'll know who these experts are. You can also find them via your network of peers, relationships you developed that can expand your reach.

Remember, SEC isn't just an athletic conference. It's a way to look at your organization and think about the difference between where you are and where you want to be.

Keep going, keep growing

The example of a pastor during a visit to Payatas in the Philippines included how he lost what was probably a decent job. It made me think about how we have to keep building our skills. I thought about Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael and how Nebuchadnezzar considered them ten times better than his own magicians and conjujrers. The three Jewish youths succeeded in what had to be a killer job interview through God's grace and a demonstration of skills developed through study and practice. That small episode is relevant to today's workers.

A recent article took on the issue about wage decline in the face of an improving employment picture and suggested wage decline may not be the bad thing some people think it is. The same person wrote the articles looking at both sides of the argument.

Points from the articles:

A bad thing Employers are holding out on employees	Not to worry Younger workers and reentering workers command lower wages
"…every time it looks as if there might be some upward pressure on what people are seeing in their paychecks, the number ends up dropping again."	"Boomers are retiring and younger workers, who necessarily make less at the moment, are replacing them. Therefore, the overall real average hourly wages being paid out to workers are declining, even as workers are seeing more in their paychecks."
"Employers are basically cutting their employees' ability to consume…a lack of wage growth will eventually choke the growing economy. "	"…when you look at the amount of cash being paid to workers, adjusted for inflation and per worker, compensation seems to be going up."

In addition to younger workers (lower wages) replacing the retiring Boomers, the blogger mentioned another contributor to wage decline - the long term unemployed returning the workforce with outdated skills. That is, "…those out of the labor force for an extended period would see a staling of skills that left them less likely to find employment. Over the past year, those long-term unemployed have been returning to the workforce in force — rapidly enough to offset the demographic drag on participation."

No matter what we think is the cause of wage decline, one thing holds true: upskilling is your hedge against falling behind. Employers must invest in their workforce to stay competitive, and individuals must invest in themselves to move forward.

What is upskilling? It's a real word, not something I just made up, and is a priority of the US government. Upskilling is the next step after skill-building. You learned how to do your job. Now it's time to learn what it takes to get to the next level.

How can you upskill? Here is a basic approach that can apply to employers and individuals:

• Take stock. Where are you now, and where do you want to be?
• Find the gaps. Why aren't you there yet?
• Point the way. What will it take to get you there?
• Take action. Don't wait, and do what it takes to move down the path you set before yourself.

What do you need to upskill? There are three general areas affecting your success. Individuals need to upskill in these areas to advance, and employers need their workforce to develop in these areas to build excellence in the workplace:

• Job skills. Like athletes who want to stay on top, you have keep getting better at the job. Don't just show up and go through the motions. Do things like get a higher level degree or go after a professional certification. At a minimum, take advantage of the many training courses available from different providers. Joining professional organizations can put you in touch with people who can give you great advice.
• Soft skills. Develop your ability to communicate with other people. Build your understanding of business etiquette and gain knowledge of other cultures. Another term for behavior, soft skills like emotional intelligence affect how well individuals do in the workplace and well organizations compete in the economy. Here's a quick way to take stock of where you stand: are you making the people around you better or do they think you're a drag on the group? Don't let soft skills trip you up.
• Organizational savvy. If you want to move up, you have to move around. That is, you have to understand what makes organizations tick? At some point, you'll have to integrate the efforts of diverse groups in the organization to accomplish a common goal. Success will come from know how groups with different functions can complement each other so the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Where can you find out more? Your Internet browser and your public library are your best friends. These resources can open up a world of knowledge.

Trends for the church in 2015

The social transformation work seen during recent trip to the Philippines could be an example for American churches to engage their communities. Thom Rainer began a blog series about trends in 2015 for churches.  Rainer (2015) suggested one of the trends would be "Congregations growing in favor in their respective communities." In other words, churches will become more active as partners in serving their communities. This suggests some ideas for churches in cities like Manila: instead of operating behind church doors, get out into the world. In light of concerns about decline even among evangelical churches, a more activist approach can be a demonstration of authentic Christianity.

Churches can do something similar. Our small church in Lacey, Washington, Life Pointe Church, committed to serving their community, reaching out to the military and to subdivisions in the area. Life Pointe served the subdivisions by providing logistics support to homeowner association programs supporting events like National Night Out. Life Pointe Church became especially valued by the high school whose facilities they rented, providing backpacks full of supplies for homeless students, preparing breakfast for teachers during in-service days, holding clean-up days of the school grounds, and creating a scholarship program. The lease, originally restricted to two years by district policy was waived for the church because of their value-adding ministry.

Church leaders and members, however, need training for this. Churches are uniquely positioned to take the lead in communities undertaking joint projects involving different kinds of entities. These might be called megacommunities where businesses, nonprofits, and government entities united to solve a problem. To be effective, church leaders and members need to embrace development in practical areas like project management, interpersonal communications, and finance, to name a few. Congregations are also uniquely equipped because they are the ones with a broad range of disciplines represented. The other entities have specific competencies, but congregations have specialties ranging from handymen to attorneys and from mechanics to doctors.

Megacommunity thinking

A great pastor, Lowell Bakke, explained Paul's letter to the Philippians as a treatise on partnership, which made me think about the concept of megacommunities. A megacommunity consists of organizations from the business, government, and civil sectors joining forces to solve a common problem. The civil sector means non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the non-profit sphere interested in development or humanitarian work. Joining together, the organizations must navigate the learning curve via a relationship called "permanent negotiation" because their different mindsets naturally set them in some opposition to each other. Businesses seek efficiency and returns in the short term. Governments seek the approval of a majority of people in diverse constituencies. NGOs seek resolution of specific problems regardless of the cost. Permanent negotiation involves continually finding ways to move forward in ways that help each other.

Do churches have a role? Maybe, but I doubt the modern church can collaborate its way out of a wet paper bag. Last year at The University of Alabama, we were trying to put on a conference on aging, relying on the churches in the area as the backbone of the effort. Two years later, we put on the conference but only after walking away from the churches and involving non-church organizations and people. The church leaders who were on the planning committee couldn't agree on the content of the conference, its format, and its logistics. Different denominations weren't interested in working with each other on theological grounds, and one large church that could have had an impact, told the conference's champion to never approach that church again.

Church members, not leaders, may be the key to turning those situations around because current trends indicate church members may be less parochial. That suggests they may be more ready to work with each other. BGU can play a role in facilitating that by channeling some Mustard Seed Foundation support to accelerating training on transformational leadership perspectives through the theology of work programs. For example, shalom leadership, the pursuit of reconciling relationships that results in wholeness in the community and in individuals, can provide a foundation for such collaboration (Bakke Graduate University, Student catalogue, 2014). Shalom leadership can be a way to use that trend for the benefit of the Gospel  and break down walls between churches.

Four hours or so

A recurring theme during a recent visit to the Philippines has been that of understanding that people with business and technical skills have much to offer in service to God's kingdom. This requires taking time to develop those skills for a specific purpose. Paul challenged the Ephesians to commit to "making the most of your time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:16). It made me think of one person's definition of evil: it corrupts the good. When it comes to being fruitful in the workplace, we face a similar prospect: we can fritter the time away on what is adequate but not the best for us. Christians, in particular, are called to bear fruit in the workplace (Ephesians 6:5-9) because that's how we earn the right to be heard on Gospel matters.

You may have heard of the 10,000 hours rule. That's what Malcolm Gladwell popularized as the time you have to spend in deliberate practice to master something. Are you a violinist? If you want to play at Carnegie Hall, you have to put in 10,000 hours of practice to get to that level of mastery. Are you a chess player? A football quarterback? Same thing. 10,000 hours to achieve the potential you were born with.

Even if you disagree with Gladwell's argument, you probably agree with its basis, that you need to develop your skills to reach the potential you were born with.

Enter another set of numbers. Productivity improvements have reduced the work week from 70 hours in 1870 to 40 hours in 2000, a 30 hour decrease. What are we doing with that time? We watch television for 28 hours per week. In other words, the four hours per day returned to us through a reduced work week has been reinvested into four hours per day watching television, or so the argument goes.

What are we doing with our time? Here are a few resources to get you started:

Cal Newport

Lifehacker

Self Made Scholar

MOOCS for learning

• MIT Open Courseware
• Open Learning Initiative
• edX

As you explore, you'll find many more resources you can use to develop your skills.

Don't be afraid to pay for training that leads to enhanced skills. The training you pay for will include hands on instruction and activities to help you internalize your newly learned skills. Such training is less costly than a degree, focuses on specific skills you're targeting, and gives you something valuable with which to impact your organization.

Wall-breaking

Some thoughts on seeing a prevailing feature during a trip to the Philippines.

Walls. Everywhere in Manila walls rise up, cinder blocks or concrete slabs topped with spikes, barbs, or broken glass. Manila is a walled city, the thick mossy wall of Intramuros that can no longer protect against invaders represented for me all the walls seen and unseen. Built by Spaniards, the wall protected for a time, but progress soon overtook it. The wall became a way to keep people in since it could not keep invaders out. At Fort Santiago, the Spaniards kept Dr. Jose Rizal until his execution, and the Japanese kept prisoners there during World War II.

The walls I saw in Manila work the same way, the most noticeable function being to demarcate the gated communities and businesses. I also saw human walls, the omnipresent white-shirted security force controlling entry into beautiful buildings and the green-uniformed police controlling movement along the busy streets. Diverse and competing interests can form walls blocking fruitful collaboration as we heard time again. Lazarus outside the rich man's gate (Luke 16:19-20) seems so obvious and easy as a comparison. If so, it's probably because it comes to mind so quickly and easily, just as easily as condemnation for the rich man comes to mind. Like the rich man's walls and the walls in Manila, however, Jesus does not seek to condemn but to enter.

So what should we do about walls so Jesus can enter through us? Here are some thoughts.

• Walls could never keep ideas out, bearing out Lowell Bakke's argument that society doesn't change through government action but through cultural transformation. Rizal's writings against Spanish occupation continued to fire Filipino imaginations, and General Douglas MacArthur's promise to return to liberate the Philippines from Japanese occupation sustained Filipinos and the Americans left there in World War II. We can get past walls with the idea of the Gospel.
• Walls could never keep people in or out. We're living in an era of great migrations, and even if governments don't allow it, people still find a way to get through walls. We can think of ways to make the most of the movement of people.
• We can break through walls through partnership by becoming of one mind, love, spirit, and purpose (Ph 2:2).

Can we be that force that shifts the ground and breaks walls that the American poet, Robert Frost, spoke of when he said in his poem, Mending Fences:

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,

That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,

And spills the upper boulders in the sun,

And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.

Like the Holy Spirit, the force Robert Frost spoke of is unseen but it's effects are seen. Will God make the ground shift through us? Maybe we can be wall-breakers like that, the unseen Holy Spirit energizing us in a servant role, which, by definition, is an unseen role that has visible effects. Melba Maggay made reference to such invisible activity, saying Christians work in the informal domain versus the technical and formal. It may not be seen by the world, but it will follow us in eternity.

Myers-Briggs is pretty popular in organizational development circles, and us middlebrow folk are always interested in something that gives us some insight into where we fit.

Via Wired, "...the MBTI quiz has morphed into a new form of astrology" because it's appealing to figure out what labels and categories fit us.

Critique:

• Based on dichotomies, opposing pairs of characteristics like perceiving/judging and introverted/extroverted.
• Nobody is one or the other but all have characteristics of both.

Benefit: Dichotomies keep things simple so you can jump start some self-reflection.

M-B has been an interesting experience for me. I've done the full inventory four times and got the same profile each time. During one session, the people burst out laughing, saying, "That's you to a T!"

I'm more intrigued by the DiSC profile. It's an inventory of behavior types like Myers-Briggs but has the added layer of adapted profiles. Here are the elements:

• Dominance: Person places emphasis on accomplishing results, the bottom line, confidence
• Influence: Person places emphasis on influencing or persuading others, openness, relationships
• Steadiness: Person places emphasis on cooperation, sincerity, dependability
• Conscientiousness: Person places emphasis on quality and accuracy, expertise, competency

Completing the inventory shows you the behavior styles you tend to favor. You have a natural DiSC profile (what you're really like), but you also have an adapted style where you change aspects of your natural behavior style to fit how you think you need to behave at work. For example, you may naturally favor Steadiness, but at work, you think a more dominant style is more appropriate so you adjust. I think a potential problem is not really understanding how to act under the adjusted model. You may think a dominant style requires more yelling when it really doesn't.

The intriguing part is the potential for identifying the DiSC profile associated with success in a particular job and then seeing how a candidate's natural or adapted profile line up. Us middlebrow folks don't drill into such niceties and may need to be aware of that aspect of hiring, especially if it's not valid.