Just finished this little book I picked up in an airport from Harvard Business Press about "execution". That's not referring to capital punishment ... its about carrying out plans within an organization. And some of the 'gems' in this book are most certainly transferable to church administration.

I don't exactly know why, but many - if not most churches have great difficulty seeing their mission come to pass. I am optimistic enough (maybe naive) to believe that church leaders have great ideas and honorable intentions. But for many their vision seems to fall short and the church can't seem to execute a plan.

I dare say, this may be the difference between great or effective churches and those that are little more than a community hall with a religious name. Certainly things like communication and power struggles within the organization cannot be overlooked. And other group dynamics are almost always a factor. But issues mentioned in this book have more to do with personal leadership skills - something I have been fascinated with for quite some time.

Maybe the most insightful information here comes from former Chief Operating Officer at Microsoft, Robert Herbold. His contribution to the book is in the area of "standardizing practices across business functions". He says when you create a plan, "Delegate clearly and use very specific criteria for defining what you want to happen." To me this is simple - but profound! And this guy has proven the power of his insight. In the six years (1994-2000) he worked directly under Bill Gates things definitely "happened" for Microsoft. They experienced a fourfold increase in revenue and a sevenfold increase in profits. YOW-W-W ... THATS EXECUTION!