tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5755618024908380510.post3504918883558973930..comments2009-05-30T01:01:28.436-05:00PCG Eye 2 Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03876908374648495243noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5755618024908380510.post-35559324599776342172009-05-30T01:01:28.436-05:002009-05-30T01:01:28.436-05:00Great post, Bishop. A key area you pointed out was in #5 about teams moving forward. One observation I have made over the years is that teams tend to ask the wrong questions. The wrong questions almost certainly ensure that the staus quo will continue. If we operate in a stuck system, or a stagnant team that faces recurring problems, trying harder to solve them (the problems) may mean we are only attacking the symptoms of those problems. A different set of questions may help us determine what the real problem is.<br /><br />What are crucial questions to keep in front of a team? There are numerous possibilities but I believe we could group them into four major areas:<br /><br />1. Questions of Mission and Vision<br /><br />Drucker suggested many years ago that the single cause of organizational failure is that the following questions are rarely asked or given significant thought:<br /><br />Who Are We? [what is our self-defined identity and how do others perceive us?]<br /><br />What is Our Business? [Do we have a unique purpose?]<br /><br />How Do We Get it Done? [what strategy, sources and structure do we need?]<br /><br />2. Questions of Priorities and Effectiveness<br /><br />What do we do as a group well?<br /><br />What does the organization need most from us right now and how do we get it done?<br /><br />What is one thing I can do now to help the group be more effective?<br /><br />Are we addressing real problems or are we only messing around with the symptoms?<br /><br />3. Questions of how the team approaches its tasks (Very much related to the last section)<br /><br />Questions such as how do we bst serve those we are supposed to be serving? or Are there better ways for us to make group decisions?<br /><br />4. Questions about relationships among team members.<br /><br />Satisfied and fulfilled team members can make or break the success of teams. We need to ask questions of our honesty with one another and whether there are hidden agendas among the group that derail the relationships of the team. <br /><br />For my two cents (or given the length of this post, a dollars worth), I think much of what we do as teams (groups, boards, committees, ministries) in our organization can be greatly improved by learning how to ask the right kind of questions to move the team forward.Jon Jenningshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07319551527694665724noreply@blogger.com