This is the second of a two part series reviewing Margaret J. Wheatley's book, Leadership and the New Science. The reviews are done as part of my Doctor of Ministry work at George Fox Evangelical Seminary.

• Embracing the Leadership Middle
• Metrics of the Accountable Pastor

Faith Bentonville operates under what has been described as an accountable leader model of governance. Essentially, you have a small board that is responsible for public support and private accountability of the senior pastor, and a senior pastor who's responsible for all aspects of the congregation's mission and ministry. As a result, in the congregation's "Guiding Principles" document, you have statements like:

AP1.0 Comprehensive Accountability Statement - The responsibility of the board before God, on behalf of people of Faith Lutheran Church of Bentonville and the surrounding region who need to be led to Christ and nurtured in Him, is to see that Faith Lutheran Church of Bentonville, through the leadership of its senior pastor, (1) achieves the fulfillment of its Mission Principles, and (2) avoids violation of its Boundary Principles.

AP 1.3.5 Detail: Annual Goals of the Senior Pastor - The senior pastor will be required to write measurable goals each year that correspond to each of the board's mission principles. At least one of these goals for each mission principle must project growth in the number of people who benefit or participate.

Now, without going into detail on the mission principles, how, in a post-Newtonian world, where the idea that establishing the right mechanistic structure will result in the projected outcomes is seen for the fallacy that it is, do you establish measurements that indicate you've successfully accomplished your goals? In other words, if a high level of performance doesn't guarantee the pre-determined definition of success, how do you define success or measure performance (a question that is even more important in the Church where God often has odd definitions of success and the Holy Spirit is responsible for growth)?

In answering this question, Wheatley, on page 184, offers what I believe to be a health starting point for any discussion on measuring growth, although, she it models it after a body that is anything but positive, Al Qaeda.

The science of how networks emerge out of chaos, organize around shared meaning and grow more effective provides new and more accurate measures for assessing the strength of Al Qaeda and other insurgencies. These measures focus not on size, structure, or chain of command, but on meaning and emotions. They are startlingly different to the traditional ones we use.

1. Instead of counting the number of insurgents, how can we assess their passion and rage? A rise of attacks and demonstrations indicates increased rage.
2. Is there a predictable pattern to attacks? Or are they becoming more varied? Greater variety of attacks indicates local initiative. This indicates increased dedication to the cause and less reliance on a central authority.
3. Where are the attacks occurring? More attacks in surprising places is evidence of the network's strength, that it is growing.
4. What is the impact of our actions in fueling the passion of network members? Is what we're doing fanning the flames or working to pacify the situation?
5. To determine the leader's influence, look at the popularity of his ideas and interpretations. Do people accept his interpretations without question or do they debate them? How does the leader's appearance (in any form) affect the behavior of his followers? Is there any correspondence between the number of attacks and these announcements? Or do attacks continue to escalate independent of his presence? If attacks increase without his visibility, this indicates the network's momentum, "a web without a spider."
6. To determine a network's resiliency, what happens when a node or cell is destroyed? Have the number of attacks decreased or just shifted to a new location?

What would it look like for a congregation to take its mission principles, principles that reflect its melody, tempo, and key, and identify measurements akin to the ones suggested for Al Qaeda to rate the performance of the senior pastor?

This is the first of a two part series reviewing Margaret J. Wheatley's book, Leadership and the New Science. The reviews are done as part of my Doctor of Ministry work at George Fox Evangelical Seminary.

• Embracing the Leadership Middle
• Metrics of the Accountable Pastor

The Premise: In brief, Wheatley argues that most leadership models are based on the assumption that a mechanistic Newtonian world is an accurate description of reality, therefore, we're all pieces and parts in a carefully crafted system and the job of any leader is to simply arrange all the pieces and parts in the right order and wonderful things will result. The problem comes in that first, this doesn't work the vast majority of the time, and second, a mechanistic Newtonian world isn't an accurate description of reality, let alone the best description science offers us. Therefore, with the base presuppositions that organizations of people function like systems seen in the natural world, Wheatley explores subjects like quantum physics, new concepts emerging from biology and chemistry, and chaos theory in search of a new model of leadership that works in our post-Enlightenment world.

My Reactions: Ten years ago while serving as a youth minister in California, I was on the quest for the perfect ministry formula. I attended all of the conferences, read all of the popular books, and constantly shifted and twisted programs and leadership responsibilities in hopes of finding the perfect system for a vibrant youth ministry. With every incarnation I finished the model certain that I had finally found the answer and what would follow would be the fodder for a popular book of my own. It never happened. It didn't matter how many flashy events I produced, how many mission trips we went on, the amount of time I spend forming small group leaders, or the conferences we attended ... things seems to just stumble along and I found myself increasingly frustrated that I never discovered "the formula".

Flashing back to five years ago while urban church planting in downtown Denver, I went to the opposite extreme. I didn't go to conferences, I bypassed the popular reading, and I didn't seek to create any intentional programs beyond the basic weekly gathering, rather, I just connected with people and allowed events to emerge naturally. While community did form and things did happen, they often lacked direction and focus, and often ended up looking like any other gathering of friends rather than taking on anything that could be distinctly noted as Christian.

As someone who's lived on the extremes, I find Wheatley's ideas as a delightful middle ground, one that doesn't seek to impose power and create cold and rigid structures, but at the same time, recognizes that there are fields working in the world around us that provide guidance and direction in the midst of apparent chaos. To use Wheatley's own words:

Water answers to gravity, to downhill, to the call of ocean. The forms change, but the mission remains clear. Structures emerge, but only as temporary solutions that facilitate rather than interfere. There is none of the rigid reliance that I have learned in organizations on single forms, on true answers, on past practices... Organizations lack this kind of faith, faith that they can accomplish their purposes in varied ways and that they do best when they focus on intent and vision, letting forms emerge and disappear. (18)

So today, as I sit in my new office at Faith Lutheran in Bentonville, the senior pastor of a congregation that gives me an incredible amount of freedom, how do I embrace Wheatley's middle? Let me first share a metaphor and then offer a few ideas flowing from the metaphor.

Yesterday, as we sat in my first staff meeting, I asked, "What's the difference between a classical orchestra and a jazz band?" Scott, our music (and just about everything else) guy, was quick to respond, "With an orchestra, you have to play the notes on the page that come down from the composer, but with a jazz band, there's freedom." At that point I pointed to Wheatley:

This world demands that we be present together, and be willing to improvise. We agree on the melody, tempo, and key, and then we play. We listen carefully, we communicate constantly, and suddenly, there is music, possibilities beyond anything we imagined. The music comes from somewhere else, from a unified whole we have accessed among ourselves, a relationship that transcends our false sense of separateness. When the music appears, we can't help but be amazed and grateful. (45)

So, if Faith Bentonville, both the staff and the congregation are going to be a jazz band, what does that mean for me?

• Set the Melody, Tempo, and Key: For a jazz band to be more than just noise, somebody has to both set and communicate the melody, tempo, and key. The basic message of who we are in Christ and what it means for us to be the Church needs to be the core of my preaching, teaching, and other communication, always reminding the members of Faith the baseline that their instrumentation builds upon.
• Celebrate the Music: This past Sunday, groups from Faith set out on four different community service projects, each aimed at blessing those outside of the congregation. This Sunday, as part of worship, we need to take time to celebrate those events, sharing the stories of what happened and how those acts build upon the established baseline. But it can't just happen this once, or only happen when there is a formal event, rather, we need to take time to celebrate the informal music as well.
• Ask About the Missing Harmony: In the midst of our celebrations that remind us of the baseline and what it can look like to build upon it, the question of the missing harmony needs to be brought forward. Yes, staff organized community service events are one example of where the music can go, but they aren't the only example. What else could be played that builds on the baseline? What could you play in your home, at work, in your neighborhood, or somewhere else in the world? What harmony is God inspiring you to bring to the mix?
• Welcome the Bridges: Things change and harmonies that sounds incredible today might get old tomorrow. When it's time for something to end, celebrate what it was and welcome the bridge that will bring about something new.