CULTURE, INNOVATION, AND RISK
“Culture—not vision or strategy—is the most powerful factor in any
organization. It determines the receptivity of staff and volunteers to new
ideas, unleashes or dampens creativity, builds or erodes enthusiasm, and
creates a sense of pride or deep discouragement about working or being
involved there. Ultimately, the culture of a church shapes individual
morale, teamwork, effectiveness, and outcomes.”
—Samuel R. Chand1
Vision and strategy often focus on achievement and accomplishment.
They identify the direction we are moving as an organization, and how we
hope to attain a God-given dream or call. Culture focuses on the people
that make up the organization and on how we live and journey together
as we accomplish our shared goals.
Culture is a combination of an organization’s level of trust toward one
another, the way communication is carried out, the way leadership listens
and receives input from all levels of the organization, the joy that comes
from being a part of the community, and the positive impact that results
from the efforts of all.
Maria Guidice and Christopher Ireland have defined corporate culture
this way:
“Culture is the unique collection of beliefs and practices that
communicates a company’s values, whether or not they’ve been
formalized or articulated. A well-designed culture unites stakeholders in a
shared understanding of ‘the right thing to do.’ It becomes the unseen
but firmly rooted infrastructure that coaches new hires and comforts oldtimers. It’s the force that attracts like-minded talent and repels those with
1
Samuel R. Chand, Cracking Your Church’s Culture (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011).
different attitudes or behaviors. A positive company culture can boost
growth, while a negative or mediocre one can speed failure.”2
How would you describe the corporate culture of your organization?
Culture can run across the spectrum, from toxic to inspiring. Where on this
grid would you put your organization?
_______________________________________
Toxic
Discouraging
Encouraging
Inspiring
What are the most significant contributors to this kind of culture in your
organization?
ENCOUNTER
In Luke 10:1-12 (MSG), Jesus sends out his disciples into a new and
challenging experience. It is a disciplemaking, as well as a cultureproducing experience.
“Later the Master selected seventy and sent them ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place where he intended to go. He gave them this
charge:
‘What a huge harvest! And how few the harvest hands. So on your knees;
ask the God of the Harvest to send harvest hands.
‘On your way! But be careful—this is hazardous work. You’re like lambs in a
wolf pack.
‘Travel light. Comb and toothbrush and no extra luggage.
‘Don’t loiter and make small talk with everyone you meet along the way.
‘When you enter a home, greet the family, “Peace.” If your greeting is
received, then it’s a good place to stay. But if it’s not received, take it
back and get out. Don’t impose yourself.
Maria Guidice and Christopher Ireland, Rise of the DEO: Leadership by Design (San
Francisco: New Riders, 2014), 86.
2
‘Stay at one home, taking your meals there, for a worker deserves three
square meals. Don’t move from house to house, looking for the best cook
in town.
‘When you enter a town and are received, eat what they set before you,
heal anyone who is sick, and tell them, “God’s kingdom is right on your
doorstep!”
‘When you enter a town and are not received, go out in the street and
say, “The only thing we got from you is the dirt on our feet, and we’re
giving it back. Did you have any idea that God’s kingdom was right on
your doorstep?” Sodom will have it better on Judgment Day than the
town that rejects you.”
What are some of the ways Jesus is changing the culture of his team as
they are sent out and as they engage in this significant experience?
What learnings and takeaways can you apply in your own situation from
this example that Jesus provides?
EXPRESSION
Richard Clark, former CEO of pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck, talks
about the relationship between corporate culture and strategy:
“The fact is, culture eats strategy for lunch. You can have a good strategy
in place, but if you don’t have the culture and the enabling systems…the
culture of the organization will defeat the strategy.”3
Culture, more than good strategy, will set the pace of your ministry or
organization. Things that are much harder to control, like morale,
teamwork, innovation, service, and relationships, will shape the overall
impact and effectiveness of your efforts.
What steps are you taking to cultivate your organization’s corporate
culture?
How effective are these actions? What one or two things can you do to
bring immediate impact and significant change into your current reality?
Richard Clark, quoted in “Corporate Culture Is the Game,” Executive Leadership
(November 2008), 3.
3
According to Philip Atkinson, 80 percent of companies do not intentionally
craft their company culture.4
What do you think that figure might be in the church world?
What keeps churches and ministries from greater intentionality?
With our RCA staff, we have been working on redefining and
reestablishing our corporate culture. We are focusing on these ten
characteristics to shape our culture:
1. Authority is decentralized
2. Leaders give clear direction
3. The input of others is valued in decision-making
4. An environment of trust is cultivated
5. Each staff person has a sense of purpose and believes what they do
is significant and part of a cause bigger than themselves
6. Creativity and innovation are rewarded
7. Failure is not fatal
8. Communication flows freely
9. Equipping opportunities are valued and available
10. Teamwork is enjoyed and cultivated
We are doing some of these things better than others. The process of
culture change is slow and laborious. As we have brought on new staff,
we have shared these values and asked our staff to help us see the values
become a reality.
If you have not taken the time to dream about the environment you want
your organization to have, what are some of the values and qualities it
could contain?
Philip Atkinson, Creating Cultural Change, quoted in Guidice and Ireland, Rise of the
DEO: Leadership by Design, 87.
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If you have taken the time to develop and define your organizational
environment, share the ways you are working to cultivate your culture,
and provide insight into how well it is or is not going.
IMPACT
In John 6:1-15 (MSG), Jesus creates space for innovative thinking. The story
is probably familiar to you:
“After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (some call it Tiberias). A
huge crowd followed him, attracted by the miracles they had seen him
do among the sick. When he got to the other side, he climbed a hill and
sat down, surrounded by his disciples. It was nearly time for the Feast of
Passover, kept annually by the Jews.
When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said
to Philip, ‘Where can we buy bread to feed these people?’ He said this to
stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what he was going to do.
Philip answered, ‘Two hundred silver pieces wouldn’t be enough to buy
bread for each person to get a piece.’
One of the disciples—it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter—said, ‘There’s
a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that’s a drop
in the bucket for a crowd like this.’
Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ There was a nice carpet of green
grass in this place. They sat down, about five thousand of them. Then
Jesus took the bread and, having given thanks, gave it to those who were
seated. He did the same with the fish. All ate as much as they wanted.
When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the
leftovers so nothing is wasted.’ They went to work and filled twelve large
baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves.
The people realized that God was at work among them in what Jesus had
just done. They said, ‘This is the Prophet for sure, God’s Prophet right here
in Galilee!’ Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm, they were about to grab
him and make him king, so he slipped off and went back up the mountain
to be by himself.”
In this story, what were some of the environmental or cultural factors
necessary for increasing innovation?
How did Jesus help the disciples to begin to think outside the box?
What kind of spaces do you need to cultivate in your culture to increase
innovation and creativity for greater impact?
A 2009 study in The Journal of Marketing surveyed 759 companies in 17
countries. The results of their study showed that internal corporate culture
is an important driver for innovation.5
The link between culture and innovation is significant. In an MIT Sloan
Management Review article, How Innovative is Your Company’s Culture?,
Jay Rao and Joseph Weintraub describe it this way:
“An innovative climate cultivates engagement and enthusiasm,
challenges people to take risks within a safe environment, fosters learning,
and encourages independent thinking.”6
As you read through that description, what speaks to you as helpful? What
do you push back against?
REFLECT
Joshua 6:1-9 (MSG)
“Jericho was shut up tight as a drum because of the People of Israel: no
one going in, no one coming out.
God spoke to Joshua, ‘Look sharp now. I’ve already given Jericho to you,
along with its king and its crack troops. Here’s what you are to do: March
around the city, all your soldiers. Circle the city once. Repeat this for six
days. Have seven priests carry seven ram’s horn trumpets in front of the
Chest. On the seventh day march around the city seven times, the priests
blowing away on the trumpets. And then, a long blast on the ram’s horn—
when you hear that, all the people are to shout at the top of their lungs.
The city wall will collapse at once. All the people are to enter, every man
straight on in.’
Gerard Tellis, Jaideep Prabhu, and Rajesh Chandy, “Radical Innovation Across Nations:
The Preeminence of Corporate Culture,” The Journal of Marketing 73 (January 2009), 3–
23, faculty.london.edu/rchandy/innovationnations.pdf.
6 Jay Rao and Joseph Weintraub, “How Innovative Is Your Company’s Culture?” MIT
Sloan Management Review (Spring 2013), sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-innovative-isyour-companys-culture.
5
So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and told them, ‘Take up the Chest
of the Covenant. Seven priests are to carry seven ram’s horn trumpets
leading God’s Chest.’
Then he told the people, ‘Set out! March around the city. Have the armed
guard march before the Chest of God.
And it happened. Joshua spoke, the people moved: Seven priests with
their seven ram’s horn trumpets set out before God. They blew the
trumpets, leading God’s Chest of the Covenant. The armed guard
marched ahead of the trumpet-blowing priests; the rear guard was
marching after the Chest, marching and blowing their trumpets.”
Hebrews 11:30 (MSG)
“By faith, the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for seven
days, and the walls fell flat.”
What are the top three things keeping you from cultivating creativity,
increasing innovation, and taking more risks in your organization?
Where in your life recently did you take a risk that helped you take a
greater step of faith?
As you reflect on culture, innovation, and risk, where is the blockage
preventing your organization from moving to the next level?
“People who don’t take risks generally make about two big mistakes a
year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a
year.”
—Peter Drucker7
“Peter Drucker Quotes,” Brainy Quote, accessed September 15, 2015,
www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/peterdruck121838.html
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