Image by Dunechaser via Flickr
And this is from the handout from my study year presentation this last weekend.
Strategic Management
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Analysis
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Planning |
Implementation |
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Management |
Feasibility Studies |
Business Planning |
Operational management: action planning |
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Theology |
Faith – metanoia, seeing things from a different perspective. |
Hope –purpose, sense of direction, following God |
Love – responding to interruptions, paying attention |
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Spirituality |
Eyes |
Feet |
Hands |
Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion cares for the peoples’ of this world.
Yours are the feet through which Christ goes about doing good.
Yours are the hands through which Christ now brings a blessing.
Analysis
Social Research
Social research is the use of conventional social science research methods to analyse a situation, typically using methods such as questionnaires, participant observation, structured or semi-structured interviews ... Usually to do this properly you need significant resources, especially of time and the professionals, such as Local Authorities can usually out-research you.
You are much more likely to analyse other people’s data and so need to know how to find it and how to interrogate it. Here are a few pointers to help you. A good understanding of statistical methods is very helpful.
Mao Tse Tung and the Three Fish
Who’s saying it?
Why are the saying it?
Who is not being heard?
Who benefits?
Who loses out?
[A long lost cartoon shows three fish, the largest about to swallow the medium fish, which is about the swallow the smallest.]
Smallest: "There is no justice in the world."
Medium: "There is some justice in the world."
Largest: "The world is just."
Getting to the truth
Things are never presented as they truly are – however things are presented they always represent someone’s interests. It is important to identify whose views are represented in any statement.
Always be suspicious, especially of people you trust, people who trust you and especially yourself.
There may be a single great truth behind all the little truths running about on earth but you don’t have access to it. You are not Jesus Christ. No-one alone has access to truth. Truth can be glimpsed through conversations: with other people, with God (prayer) and with the material world (scientific research).
Kahane’s four types of conversation.
Kahane identifies four types of conversation:
1. Downloading. This is where we listen from within our own story and consequently hear only what supports it.
2. Debating. This is where we listen from outside, dispassionately weighing evidence.
3. Reflection is where we listen from inside and hear ourselves reflexively and others with empathy.
4. Generative dialogue is where we hear not just ourselves and others but also the whole system.
Details can be found on my blog[1].
Planning
Relevant People
National standards in management emphasise the importance of identifying relevant people, working out who needs to know what and how to ensure they are in the loop. Not everyone will need the same information or involvement and the ways they participate might vary.
Who are relevant people? They are sometimes known as stakeholders. They might be staff, volunteers, customers, suppliers, neighbours, others doing similar things elsewhere, competitors, funders, ...
Not all of these will be involved at every stage of planning. Funders for example need to know what you plan to do, but you may need to know about them before they know about you!
Some key people will need to be in at the start or even before the start. These are the people who will make a personal commitment to the work. Start with open conversations, based on your analysis, hoping to generate new ideas from conversations.
It is tempting to run with the first idea. I call this the curse of the first idea. Often a powerful person will close down conversations early and this can mean there is little commitment and the best ideas are missed.
It can be difficult to have second ideas. So, for example, a community cafe might be a good first idea. How you market it and bring in customers are second ideas and can be more difficult.
Taking time at early first idea stages allows time to scope the work. What is it we’re actually trying to achieve? If the first idea is a cafe, why is a cafe a good idea? Is it to make money? To promote other areas of work? To support and befriend people? Whatever the scope of the work, is the cafe actually the best way to achieve these wider goals?
Once there is a clear first idea, papers can be written and circulated to wider groups of people. It may be necessary to redraft several times in the light of comments.
Implementation
Operations require a different skill set to strategic thinking. Note the best person to manage the work is not necessarily the person who wrote the plan. Getting things done is not the same as planning the things to be done.
A good operational manager is good at delegating. Delegation is not the same as ordering people about. At its best it is about working hard with people to identify the best person for each task. Also, it is not always top down. It is possible to delegate up and sideways!
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