Rethinking planning—beyond the pandemic

Mike Bonem Jan. 15, 2021

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A denominational leader recently asked how my work has changed in the pandemic. I explained that the number of churches doing strategic planning had decreased considerably. He responded with disappointment at this missed opportunity to think creatively about the future.

My first reaction was to defend pastors who are exhausted and overwhelmed. Few decisions today can be put on autopilot. Who has time for strategic planning? And yet, the opportunity of this moment should not be overlooked. My solution is to rethink planning.

What does it mean to rethink planning? What kind of planning process would be appropriate when we're still in a pandemic and the future seems so uncertain? A fresh way to engage planning in this season will be based on:

• A foundational belief that God is at work. Some people treat this season as if God were leaving us to survive on our own. A better perspective is to wonder what God might want to teach us and do through us in this moment.
• Reaffirmed (or clarified) mission. The context for every church and ministry is quite different today than it was a year ago, but your mission and values should be unchanged. This is the north star to guide any plans. A mission to "make disciples" will be just as relevant in 2021 as in 2019. Only the plan for how to make disciples needs to change.
• Assumptions that have been exposed and tested.We bring a variety of unspoken (and often unconscious) assumptions into conversations about the future – the importance of being face-to-face, the necessity of certain programs and staff to lead them, the ways in which people grow in their faith, and more. Now more than ever, those assumptions need to be named and their validity examined.
• Shorter time horizon.Rather than extra reading and analysis to anticipate an unpredictable future, planning energies should focus on the next 6 to 18 months. For example, we can't know what portion of a congregation will return for in-person worship on the other side of the pandemic. But we can be confident that many will return and that a considerable number will permanently shift to the online option. How should that inform plans for the next year?
• More little bets and less big ones. In the past, planning often led to a few major initiatives, such as launching a new campus or deepening local mission partnerships. In today's context we should creatively generate experiments that can be tried on a small scale. Multiple small experiments require less resources, are easier to start and stop, and collectively lead to more learning that will ultimately show where to place big bets.
• New metrics. Rethinking planning calls for fresh ways to define success. The old metrics work against short time horizons and small experiments. What if we measured the number of different experiments? Or the total number of people that were engaged in those experiments?

This is still a challenging season in which to do any kind of planning. But by rethinking planning, you may develop renewed hope and fresh dreams about God's preferred future for your business, church or ministry.

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Mike Bonem is an author, consultant, speaker, church leader, businessperson, husband and father. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a breadth of experience in ministry and business, including 11 years as an executive pastor, consulting with Fortune 100 companies, and leading a start-up business. This article was first published on MikeBonem.com. Used with permission. Learn More »

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