Synergy in Ministry

Excellence. Simplicity. Synergy. Synergy..what’s that all about?

Synergy actually adds energy to the system. It is a “force multiplier”. Effective leaders always multiply energy by multiplying themselves, and the energy between others to produce net gains beyond simple addition.

A hundred years ago when I was in school we talked about “message centers”. Everything you do communicates. You know this is true when you lead a church, ministry, or company. There was a famous study a few decades back with an article called, “Street Level Bureaucrats”…the article suggested that governmental programs are never really successful or not based on the law…but on the street level folks who really implement the programs.

So….what or who in your church, ministry, company is SAYING something different than your VISION? What or who in your organization really–by virtue of their words or behaviors—is “telling” people something different than your organization announces by its printed mission and vision statement? To the extent that your people, your processes, and your programs are not synergistic, they are draining energy from your organization.

The castmembers who sweep the streets at Disneyland affect the way I experience Disney. The maid who cleans my room at the Hilton affects my experience with Hilton. When I am at Wal-Mart or May Company, I’m still expecting people to be pleasant and customer service oriented. If you lead a church, do your children’s workers “own” the vision of your church? How about the food service folks? EVERYONE and EVERYTHING communicates.

Synergy is about adding energy to a system by all the parts working well together and having ONE message. We know a lack of synergy when we experience it. When the cashier is “ho-hum” and doesn’t “get it” the way the cook and the server did. When my Starbucks experience is a seamless up-beat and positive customer interaction, then I feel it working…from the front door in and out.

More on this topic later….do you have synergy in your church, ministry, or company?