Industry – where the goal is the goal
From my experience in industry, a clearly defined mission statement was helpful but not essential. I have worked in established businesses where it what we do is pretty clear. One of my previous employers celebrated a hundred years in business. We always had a clear line of sight between the actions we took and the bottom line of our operation, even in an industry in which results were never certain.
We always had clear goals. Our goals were directly and clearly linked to corporate performance. When we did leave our core mission, things did not go particularly well. I believe this is largely true all but the most dynamic of companies, and by this, I mean start-ups or firms seeking to develop new markets for new products.
My experience in industry was that the goal was the goal. There was little discussion and almost disagreement about the metrics, only the level of performance we were targeting against those metrics. Bottom line, we all agreed on what it was were to do. The only discussion was around how well we would be expected to do it.
Church – where the goal is the question
Now we come to church where the goal still remains a question. In all my years in industry, I have never felt compelled to recite our mission statement. Since coming to the church, it has been a quarterly exercise. What exactly does your organization do? There are a range of mission statements, many preceded by the phrase “All are welcome.” Let me ask, what is the stated mission? What does your organization actually attempt to do? Does everyone in the organization work toward that mission? Each organization should work toward a clear mission and toward clear and measurable goals.
From a marketing perspective, in my lifetime I have seen a great shift in the church from an undifferentiated “product offered” strategy to a “market served” strategy and now toward a blend of the two. I was born the day before Cardinal Angelo Roncali became Pope John XXIII. I guess that make me pre-Vatican II. I do remember the altar rails coming down and some Latin going away, but I can’t really claim a good understanding of the old liturgy. Pre-Vatican II, the Catholic Church offered a very clear “product” – and equally clear, to the point of being black or white, teaching on almost every subject.
Vatical II was not a marketing conference. It was an ecumenical council called by Pope St. John XXIII to address how the church related to the modern world. If Vatican II were a marketing conference, it might have been phrased in terms of repositioning the product, reclaiming its relevance.
Here a few thoughts on marketing and mission of the top of my head. I would avoid a pure market served mentality. Jesus was radically inclusive – we should be as well. Jesus made demands of this followers – we should as well. Given that, the old “Here is Catholicism, take it or leave it” approach falls flat, and frankly so does the “Jesus, universal buddy” approach. The former fails to honor Jesus’s inclusion, the latter fails in that it makes no demands. Many from my generation have spent themselves working to knock the hard edges off of Catholicism. Those who have attempted to make the faith universally appealing have at the same time removed any appeal. If the end result is a Catholicism that is not unlike everything else, then why not simply be spiritual and forget about the faith?
If I were to market the Catholic Faith, I would market it as a time-limited opportunity to become something more than you are. It is a once and in a lifetime chance to unite yourself to a group who work tirelessly for justice and for love. We give God his due and we honor the salvation he won for us through our Lord Jesus Christ. That is justice. And love, we love with a love that surpasses the good feelings and friendship that passes for love these days. We dedicate ourselves to the eternal welfare of the entire world. Now that is love! Inviting people into this life with the expectation that they will commit themselves to Christ as disciples might very well be a good place to start on your mission statement.
Shared vision is critical for church work. We need to align our staffs on the goals and priorities that match our state and circumstances. We don’t get to change revealed truth; we do get to proclaim it in ways that are effective to our people. I believe that is what Pope St. John XXIII had in mind.
Enough preaching. Let’s move on to a few words that are currently shared by industry and church.
Shared – people striving to do their best for their organizations and for themselves
The key attribute shared by industry and the church is that they are a group of people who are striving to do their best for their organizations and for themselves.
Canon Law is pretty clear that the organization of the Church is hierarchical, a sort of “holy order” if I have the etymology correct. I have no issue with that. At some point, some one has to have accountability and authority for what happens in an organization. The trouble comes when a reductionist approach results in decision making so concentrated that the system no longer responds. We hear of pastors who cannot get their parochial vicars to respond to their requests. We hear of deacons who maintain that they work for the bishop, not their pastor. Canon Law may not provide for many levels of hierarchy, but it certainly doesn’t prevent effective delegation.
Although the bishop is responsible for his diocese, and a pastor is responsible for his parish, they can – indeed they should – add delegates as needed to ensure that they execute those responsibilities faithfully. In short, although the key accountabilities are assigned the execution of non-liturgical responsibilities is not.
This opens the way to forming an effective organizational structure that captures the best of the willingness of people to work for the good of the organization while at the same time effectively motivating them personally.