Challenge the Process

Everything has a process, good or bad. A good process provides wise checks and balances and makes for a best decision, a quality product or service, and excellent execution. A bad process rushes through an inferior design or a half-baked decision, and impedes progress. So, a wise leader allows all processes to be up for debate. No process is immune to questioning, but the discussion is to be done with dignity and respect.

Keep the conversation focused on process and not personalities. This is why everyone holds a process with an open hand. If you become a rigid proponent of your pet process, then there is a good chance you will take any criticism of your process personally. Process, by design, is what’s best for the entire organization, not just a convenience created to accommodate someone’s preference.

Therefore, do not overprotect a process with smothering ownership. Furthermore, challenge the process with professional courtesy. You challenge the process with respect when you speak factually and do not react emotionally. This creates calm and communicates care.

You respect others when you listen to their ideas without becoming defensive. This allows everyone to discover and support the best process. Respect keeps the best interests of the organization in mind. This facilitates teachability, teamwork, and responsible stewardship. Anyone can complain, so challenge the process with thoughtful solutions, not mindless meandering.

Healthy organizations require everyone to think. No one’s ideas are unimportant. From the mailroom to the boardroom everyone can come up with better ways to do his or her job. Think of creative processes that save time and money and utilize technology. Then document your processes. Within a growing enterprise, the processes that worked last year will probably be lacking this year. If a process does not propel progress, then it needs to be replaced with a results-driven model. Processes serve the mission of the enterprise. So, set up your processes to accomplish the objectives of the organization.

Furthermore, challenge the process with better ideas by researching other groups who have proven processes. This invites innovation. Pilot new processes before implementation, because this enhances quality. Lastly, plan a process to challenge the process because this reminds the team to think.

God is into process. This is why He is symmetrical and systematic in His creation and design. His will is process-driven. Thankfully, He is ultimately in control of the process. Therefore, challenge mediocre processes and create superior ones. And above all else, trust God in the process and with the process.

God has a lot of passion around precision and process, and He always has. “So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks” (Genesis 6:14-16).

How can I learn from Noah to discover and follow God’s processes?

Taken from the September 6th reading in Boyd Bailey’s Seeking Daily the Heart of God. This 365 day devotional book is a compilation of the reader’s favorites from Wisdom Hunters daily devotional. Andy Stanley says, “I have walked with Boyd for over 20 years and I am definitely wiser for it. You are going to love this book!”