Team Building

Every system fluctuates between being too constrained or rigid and too loose or chaotic. The place of greatest integration and effectiveness--flow-- is somewhere between the two. We want to have both clear distinctions between the various parts of the system and clear linkages between those parts.

Further, a part of a system may appear to be too rigid from one perspective and too chaotic from another. A couple trying to set a budget may find one person urging greater flexibility in the budget while the other wants tighter controls.

When a system appears rigid, we may think we need to get it to loosen up and relax some of the tight linkages. In fact it works better to differentiate the various parts of the system. When a system appears chaotic, we may think we need to get it to be more homogeneous. In fact we do better to support the creation of better connections between the various parts.

What this means for an organization, like a church, is that the overall health of the organization is furthered by doing two things well. One is to clearly identify and differentiate each of the parts of system with regard to the roles--the rights and responsibilities--of each person, committee, or board. The second is to identify and support each connection--the flow of information and energy-- between all of the differentiated parts.

If one were to map out the organization one might get a huge sheet of newsprint and show each of the officers and committees and informal groups as nodes in a matrix and then draw lines to indicate the way information and energy flows between them. So one of the nodes is the event of Sunday Worship and related to this node is the Pastor in the role of Preacher and the Choir and the Ushers and so forth. Each node brings information to the event and energy in the form of some kind of resource, a sermon, a hymn, collection of the offering, and so forth.

If one were to map the whole organization in exquisite detail we could easily cover a whole wall. We normally only map the larger structures and we do that with a document called the By-Laws or the Constitution. Or we may have Job Descriptions or Standing Rules. Such maps are much easier to carry around and to access.

But by-laws and job descriptions are not always followed. We adapt the organization over time to fit new circumstances. Sometimes we amend the by-laws and sometimes we amend how we do business to bring the two into line with each other. But sometimes issues arise that aren't referenced on the existing maps. We don't have the guidance about what to do that would come from a prior agreement. We have to construct a new way of being with each other in the organization.

Typically we discover the need for a new agreement because of the presence of a conflict. Some node in the matrix isn't getting the information or the energy that it needs or expects from another node in the matrix. While this is troublesome, if we have a way to address the situation creatively we can repair the matrix and restore or create a higher level of functioning in the organization. This requires that we see the conflict as an opportunity to be explored and embraced, not as a problem to be avoided or suppressed.