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NFL & The Church Part 6 of 6

The Church (capital C) is my number one passion after God & family and the NFL is my number one hobby.  Throughout my history with each of them I've noticed some common things between the two of them, but in some cases it SHOULD be common but it usually isn't.  I'll post them all in no particular order.

Excellence

The NFL bleeds excellence.  The casual observer may not notice, but from the TV production all the way to the details in practice, excellence is prevalent.  The parity in the NFL is so great that the worst team one year can make the playoffs the next year.  One reason for that is because the level of excellence across most of the teams is very close which leaves little room for error.  It's the reason a winless team could beat an undefeated team 5 weeks into the season. 

Churches are rarely seen as excellent.  Plus, excellence is a word/label that can be abused or sought after at the expense of more important things (like people).  For the purpose of this post, I'll borrow a definition of excellence that says it is "doing the best you can with what you have, in a sustainable fashion."  (Thanks Troy Fountain via Rich Barrett).  Churches definitely have a great disadvantage when talking about excellence in comparison to the NFL, or any business, because the vast majority of their "staff" is volunteers.  But, they should do the best they can with what they have, and not settle for mediocre. 

A big reason why the NFL is so excellent is because of focus.  All throughout the NFL they apply great focus which allows them to pour the necessary resources and time into the most important things.  Churches typically dilute focus by doing too much.  NFL teams take this to an extreme, constantly preaching one game at a time.  John Harbaugh brought an acronym to the Ravens that drives what they do every week, and it's What's Important Now? 

If the churches would choose to focus on a handful of things, and trim out everything else, we would see a dramatic difference in the level of excellence in the things they continue doing.  Unfortunately the pain from a lack of excellence doesn't feel worse than the perceived pain of cutting programs or events. 

NFL & The Church Part 5 of 6

The Church (capital C) is my number one passion after God & family and the NFL is my number one hobby.  Throughout my history with each of them I've noticed some common things between the two of them, but in some cases it SHOULD be common but it usually isn't.  I'll post them all in no particular order.

Momentum

The NFL has become a master of creating and sustaining momentum.  If you know me, you know I can't stand baseball.  I played for 8 years as a kid, but eventually it just became too boring, especially to watch.  One game is boring by itself, but then add on to that the fact that they play over 160 of them!  It has to be next to impossible to sustain momentum for that many games. 

The NFL has 4 preseason games and 16 regular season games, along with 4 weeks of postseason play.  Take into account the 2 extra weeks and you have basically half a year of pro football.  But, ask any real fan and they'll tell you it feels like it goes by so quick.  Fans are dying for the next season to begin.  Part of that is because the parity in the NFL allows most fans to have hope, which prompts them to look forward to the next season.  But, the NFL has leveraged other aspects of NFL life to sustain the momentum during the offseason, including free agency, the draft, mini-camps, and training camp.  You know you're doing well when your DRAFT draws tons of viewers. 

Churches rarely think about momentum.  I think most people don't realize that momentum can be created and controlled to an extent, and isn't something that just happens.  Some ways the church can create momentum is by:

• Calendaring events in such a way that momentum is sustained throughout the year
  
• Designing as much as possible around each message series, so that it changes regularly.  That design can include the stage, the hallways, the website, the program, the pre-service music, the video backgrounds, the lighting and much more.  (momentum has a lot to do with "new")
  
• Carefully planned promotion.  You can promote too early, and lose momentum by the time you actually have whatever you're promoting, or you could promote too late or not at all and lose your opportunity to build momentum beforehand.  Well planned promotion will get people anxious and ready at just the right time. 
  
• Re-designing.  You can re-design sets, rooms, decor, print materials, websites, service orders and other things in order to create the feeling that something has improved.
  
• Stopping something.  That's right, you can actually stop something and gain momentum.  That's the hardest way to gain momentum, but if everybody knows that something isn't working, and you cut it, everybody is happy (well, not everybody). 
  
• Start Something.  Never start something simply to gain momentum, but starting something that's in line with your vision and strategy is a great way to build momentum.

Those are just a handful of ideas.  Churches have a long way to go to come close to the momentum that the NFL has been able to create year in and year out. 

Update:  I just watched an ad on the NFL Network where they were promoting the NFL Combine/Draft and the new group of players that will be coming in.  The regular season just ended yesterday (12/28) but they know there are fans already looking forward to next season.  They're keeping momentum going by getting them to look at what's next and providing hope. 

NFL & The Church Part 4 of 6

The Church (capital C) is my number one passion after God & family and the NFL is my number one hobby.  Throughout my history with each of them I've noticed some common things between the two of them, but in some cases it SHOULD be common but it usually isn't.  I'll post them all in no particular order.

Great Systems

The NFL has amazing systems.  Systems for how the linebackers will practice on the 8th day of training camp and systems for how expansion teams are added to the league.  Systems for massive things and systems for small things.  Each week during the season NFL teams execute their system for game planning, practicing, conditioning, coaching, critiquing, evaluating, scouting, etc.  I don't think I need to make a strong case for the quality of the NFL's systems.  But, there is a great example.

John Harbaugh showed up to his interview for the Baltimore Raven's head coach position with way more than just experience, a great resume, great references and the pedigree.  He brought a system.  Andy Reid's influence led to Harbaugh coming in with a huge book, that was essentially a detailed plan for how to lead an NFL team from day 1.  John has executed that play book since he arrived and the results have been great so far, especially for a team with a rookie QB and 16 guys on injured reserve.  That book is really just documented systems, and the processes that make up those systems.

The Church neglects systems for many reasons.  Unhealthy schedules, little margin, lack of systems thinking leaders and a general bias against systems are all examples of reasons why most churches have bad systems.  Andy Stanley says that "systems create behaviors" (I think that was borrowed from a book called the Fifth Discipline).  Most churches have serious behavior problems.

Just imagine if every church had a "book" like the one Harbaugh has.  A detailed plan for how everything in the church takes place.  Sure, the plan will change constantly, but documenting it forces leadership to think through the current systems and identify opportunities for improvement.  With detailed systems it's easier to recruit volunteers and develop leaders.....because the play book is already made. 

If you want to have great systems at your church, Nelson Searcy at Church Leader Insights is the first place to look for help.

NFL & The Church Part 3 of 6

The Church (capital C) is my number one passion after God & family and the NFL is my number one hobby.  Throughout my history with each of them I've noticed some common things between the two of them, but in some cases it SHOULD be common but it usually isn't.  I'll post them all in no particular order.

Outsider-focus

The NFL is a public relations machine.  They understand their customer (the outsider) and make sure they don't only listen to the insiders (owners, coaches, players, etc).  Major League Baseball became too insider focused about 14 years ago and the result has been America's Past Time losing a ton of ground in viewers and completely getting destroyed by the NFL. 

In general, the NFL has done a great job listening to the fans and designing their product around what they hear.  They've gone to bat against one of the biggest media outlets there is (Comcast) to fight for the fan's ability to watch the NFL Network without having to pay even more. 

Most teams provide camps, clinics, information sessions, parties, and other events to give the fans what they want.  Many teams have PR departments that intentionally have the players and coaches on radio shows and in public appearances to reach out to the fans.  Does all of this benefit the NFL, you bet. 

The Church could take a page out of this book by seeking out the opinions of those who are not a part of any church and developing their strategy around what they hear.  The problem is, many churches can pay the bills with the insiders they do have, which means they don't have to listen to outsiders.  The NFL, and most businesses, must listen to outsiders if they want to survive.  Listening to outsiders benefits the outsiders and the Church........that is, unless a church is directly opposed to reaching out to people who don't know Jesus. 

Side note, the NFL has a big contract renewal discussion coming up with the players association where both sides will be looking out for themselves, and if neither gives in, the result will be an insider focus that will undoubtedly affect their reputation with the fans.

NFL & The Church Part 2 of 6

The Church (capital C) is my number one passion after God & family and the NFL is my number one hobby.  Throughout my history with each of them I've noticed some common things between the two of them, but in some cases it SHOULD be common but it usually isn't.  I'll post them all in no particular order.

Leadership

The NFL has tons of great leadership, because weak leaders don't make it very far in the coaching rankings.  Something the NFL does well is make sure that one person only leads a handful of people.  That's why head coaches of coordinators, and coordinators have positions coaches, and position coaches have assistants.  If somebody had to lead an entire team, or even an entire unit (offense or defense), they would fail miserably.  It would be impossible to be in tune with each individual's needs and opportunities for improvement while keeping their eye on the big picture.

The church should have a structure of leadership where nobody has to lead a ton of people.  Depending on the capacity and giftedness of the leader, a ton could be 40, or it could be 15.  Either way, it's always good to have smaller teams throughout.  Smaller teams allow everyone to form deeper relationships with the rest of the people on their team, as opposed to being lost in the shuffle. 

Another GREAT thing that you see in the NFL (most of the time), is teams helping their coaches get other jobs.  NFL teams recognize that they compete against each other, but for the most part they don't value that competition above the progress of the individual coaches on their team.  Now, with players, that's a different story.  I love that most teams do that. 

The Church is all one team, churches are TOGETHER on that team, yet we often find people operating as if we're COMPETING.  Church staff members will get other jobs without letting their church know, and be gone in 2 weeks.  Church leaders will look down on those who seek other opportunities instead of helping them out. 

The Church should learn from the NFL, and help individuals grow and seek the life they believe God is calling them to.  Individuals should trust the Church, and get them involved in their thought process early on and NEVER abuse the "God card" by acting like anything they do is okay because "God told them to".

NFL & The Church Part 1 of 6

The Church (capital C) is my number one passion after God & family and the NFL is my number one hobby.  Throughout my history with each of them I've noticed some common things between the two of them, but in some cases it SHOULD be common but it usually isn't.  I'll post them all in no particular order.

Priorities

Below is a picture from inside the Ravens Training Facility in Owings Mills, MD.  Coach John Harbaugh has posted signs like the one below to remind everybody in the organization what their priorities should be.  According to God's plan our priorities should be God, family, Church, others, self.  Neither the NFL nor the Church does a perfect job (but who does) at keeping priorities straight but they have similar goals. 

You could replace "others" for "team" in the image below, add God to the top, and you would have a great poster for Christians.  It's obvious why God isn't at the top of the poster below, but it's also interesting to note that I've never seen any secular organization give credit to God, talk about Jesus, and pray more than NFL players do.  Sure, they aren't all like that but the vast majority are despite the fact that all we here about are the minority that cause problems......like shooting themselves. 

Praising God in the NFL

Sorry it's been so long since I blogged.  Things have been crazy lately.  Anyhow, I was just do 3 things at once, one of which was listening to the NFL Network.  They were doing the segment where they talk to the director of officiating to clarify rules and look at controversial calls.  They talked about the rule against celebrating certain ways in the end zone.  Basically, no part of a player's body can touch the ground when they're celebrating, unless, and I quote - "they are praising the Lord".

Very interesting.  The director of officiating said that the rule is in place because he doesn't want to get struck by lighting.  Of course, the rule is in place because they don't want to clamp down on people's religious rights.  But, it made me think about the fact that mentioning such things publicly is a no no for most companies.  The NFL is an interesting dichotomy of a group of players, some of which make big mistakes regularly (a player is arrested about once every 10 days) and others exhibit high character and talk about God and Jesus more than most Christians.  I would go out on a limb and say that the NFL may have more Christian "employees" as a percentage than most non-Christian organizations.

I wonder why that is. 

I have thoughts, what are yours?

Leadership Lessons from College Football

To be honest, I don't watch much college football.  I watch the Terps whenever I can, and will watch just about any football if it's on, but I'm not a real fan.  But, I hear that great college football teams don't rebuild, they reload.  What that means is, when all the star talent heads to the NFL, instead of having to rebuild from scratch which takes a few years, the great teams reload with the talent they already have on the team.  Most colleges teams don't have that ability, but some do.  USC & Ohio State come to mind (remember: my knowledge of college football is not so great).

Churches should learn to reload rather than rebuild as well.  In football they're reloading with talent.  The church should be reloading with new talent and leadership.  It's critical for a college football team to be able to reload because they're talent leaves in 3-4 years whereas most churches can sit content because people aren't going anywhere.  But, healthy things reproduce and healthy churches should reproduce as well.  Reproduce talent, leaders, campuses and churches.  

If a church is like a great college football team, the talent and leaders are there waiting to be called on.  They're there because the church is intentional about getting new people involved and developing leaders.  They're there because the church creates space for them to serve and takes risks on people.  They get opportunities to grow and take on more responsibility because the church is growing and/or sending people out to start new churches and campuses.

If a church is like a bad college football team then nobody is going anywhere and there probably isn't much to reload with anyway.  So, if for some reason they need more people to step up, they have to rebuild.  That takes time and limits how quickly a church can respond to an opportunity.

Hopefully more and more churches will be able to reload, and not rebuild.

24: Exile - Movie This Fall

I was randomly looking up a character from the show 24 and realized there's a movie coming out this fall!  I love the show 24.  Jennifer and I got hooked on it when we started watching the DVDs after season 5.  We watched the first 5 seasons in less than a month (that's 90 hours, insane).  24 is easily my favorite show on television.  After watching the DVDs of the first 5 seasons, I hated watching season 6 on TV week-to-week.

Apparently the movie is a prequel to Season 7, but stands alone from the show as well.  It's set to air on Fox on Sunday night, November 23.  You can find more information here and here.

NFL & a 24 movie on the horizon......I'm pumped.

Trust, Leadership & Agendas

I've mentioned before that I'm a huge NFL fan, so I follow aspects of the game that most people would be bored by.  One such thing that came up recently was Matt Stover (best kicker ever, for my beloved Ravens) wrote an email to the NFL Players Associate (executives and team reps).  What I wanted to highlight was how he concluded his email:

As I make this suggestion, I will only hope that every one of us will put any personal agenda aside and remember who each of us represent. Both the old and young players in our locker rooms have voted us in because they trust our judgment. This is about the future of our organization. Not now ... not 1 or 2 years from now, but 5, 10, 15 years from now. Thanks.

I think we all need a gut check every now and then to remember who we represent, what our agenda is, and how far into the future we're planning.  I liked how he said that the players voted them in because they trust their judgment.  Everybody has people who are trusting in them in some way.  Are we setting our personal agendas aside and setting them up for success 15 years down the road? 

By the way, if you follow the NFL as closely as I do and want to read the rest of Matt's email, click here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3336021