Here are some scattered thoughts about how the book Team of Teams applies to LBC.

1. Focus on structure and culture of the church. Don’t worry about creating a “top down” org chart, those are terrible anyway. Try to visualize the “web” of relationships between the ministry. Leaders must be “crafters of culture.” What kind of culture are we trying to establish at LBC?

2. Standardization. Some standardization and “best practices” matter for ministry. But these things won’t be totally sufficient. It’s more important to empower leaders.

3. Focus on “meta-skills” for discipleship and training. Don’t just train people in rote skills or processes. Instead, train the whole leader. Give them the skills necessary for them to adapt to a complex and changing world. For example, teaching them how to read the Bible may be more important than just pumping them with content on a biblical book.

4. Tear down ministry silos. Tearing down the silos begins by giving people a picture of the whole church. If people are able to see what’s going on as a whole, they will be less parochial in their ministry. Get ministry leaders talking to one another. This builds trust and awareness of what’s going on. This could look like embedding people on other teams, or least, making sure that someone knows someone else on each team. Ministries need information! Be transparent and share deeply and widely. Let them ask questions.

5. Decentralize authority. Actively work to empower ministry leaders to make decisions. Centralizing is a kill shot for being adaptable and antifragile.

6. “Eyes on, hands off.” Regularly check in with ministry leaders, and regularly communicate with them, but do not micromanage them. Let them do it their own way.

7. Lead by example. Work in teams. Be transparent. Share information. Ask good questions and listen. Say thank you and be grateful.