A Simpler Way
In 2017, as I embarked on taking my very first class in a Master’s in Leadership program, I was introduced to the book “Images of an Organization” by Gareth Morgan. I remember feeling like I was taking a walk back in time as older organizational models were highlighted. It also showed how the organizational landscape had drastically changed over time.
My understanding was fueled by my parents’ jobs in a large auto parts rebuilding business out of Philadelphia and then them starting their own business when I was in my teenage years. The world of business was the common conversation around our dining room table. Efficiency, management, quotas, deadlines, hiring/firing, were often sources of conversation. All was well when the organization was working as a well-oiled machine. But when not, much was at stake for those who were employed. It was always the organization that remained central, not the people. Gareth surmised that the classical organizational theorists of those years worked at creating a balance between the technical aspects and the human aspects of the organization but in the end the “humans fit the requirements of mechanical organizations.”[1]
A Simpler Way
Because of my family’s business background, both of Margaret J. Wheatley’s books, “Leadership and the New Science” and “Finding Our Way” immediately sparked my interest from the beginning. Wheatley searches for a simpler way to lead, one that embodies the people. She formulates three main points:
- “Relationships are what matters–even at the subatomic level
- Life is a vast web of interconnections where cooperation and participation are required
- Chaos and change are the only route to transformation”[2]
Though organizational leadership has come a long way, Wheatley notes that we often still hold to old paradigms. Wheatley uses the science of quantum physics, biology, and chaos theory to make the case that we, in the Western culture, approach leadership and organizations in a way that is out of step with the natural rhythms of life.[3] Repeatedly, Wheatley mentions that there is a simpler way. It is in “Finding Our Way” that Wheatley gives practical ways to implement a more natural flow for an organization to live more simply and in step with the natural rhythms. The central theme seems to be that the more we try to control, the more we are doomed to fail.[4] “Life never stops teaching us about change.”[5] To lean into change, brings greater freedom to evolve and grow as humans personally, and with each other.
How this applies to ministry
As I think about all that Wheatley proposes, two themes come up for me regarding ministry.
- Leaning in to change produces a grit to lead in uncertainty. Wheatley advises leaders to stop trying to rescue people from the “fearful place of chaos” but rather encourage them to learn from it.[6] Oh, how we often miss this powerful principle in how we minister to people and even in our own Christian lives. Simon P. Walker in his book, “Leading Out of Who You Are” warns against being the Mr. “Fixit Leader:” in fact, Walker does not see the Mr. Fixit Leader as a leader at all.[7] To have people deal with their own problems helps them grow and mature. “I am reminded of the book, “Mining for Gold” where Tom Camacho highlights “the cross: God’s greatest refining tool.”[8] “The cross of Christ is the pre-eminent instrument of transformation.”[9] The cross exemplifies the thought that pain and suffering can be tools for greater Kingdom purposes where transformation can occur. There is a redemptive value to how we navigate uncertainty, change, chaos, and pain.
- It is easy for organizations, including the church, to fall into old paradigms of having the organization be the central concern instead of the people. Programs, leadership ideals, numerical growth, successful outcomes become the motivating factors, instead of the relationships and the motivations for those relationships. It comes back to the Level 2 leadership model described by Schein and Schein in their book, “Humble Leadership” where there needs to be personal cooperative, trusting relationships that serve as the foundational factors in leadership.[10] Perhaps, we have over-complicated the simplicity of the gospel in our desire to build our churches.
In closing, I would like to end with the poem “Surrender” that Wheatley shares in her book “Finding Our Way”
When God’s love for the world pierces our armor of fear
It is an awesome experience of calling and accountability.
When God’s love pierces our armor of fear
It is awesome
It is awesome to be pierced by God
To be called to accountability
To be called by God’s love
For the world.
The true professional is one
Who does not obscure grace
With illusions of technical prowess,
The true professional is one
Who strips away all illusions to reveal
A reliable truth in which
The human heart can rest.
Reveal a reliable truth.
Let our human hearts rest.[11]
[1] Gareth Morgan, Images of Organization (SAGE Publications, Inc., 2006). 22.
[2] “Leadership and the New Science – Margaret J. Wheatley,” accessed November 15, 2024, https://margaretwheatley.com/books/leadership-new-science/.
[3] “Finding Our Way Free Summary by Margaret J. Wheatley,” getAbstract, accessed November 15, 2024, https://www.getabstract.com/en/summary/finding-our-way/5736.
[4] Margaret J. Wheatley, Finding Our Way: Leadership For an Uncertain Time (San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., n.d.). 126.
[5] Margaret J. Wheatley. 127.
[6] Margaret J. Wheatley. 127.
[7] Simon P. Walker, Leading Out Of Who You Are: Discovering the Secret of Undefended Leadership (Carlisle, UK: Piquant Editions Ltd., 2007).155.
[8] Tom Camacho, Mining for Gold: Developing Kingdom Leaders through Coaching (La Vergne: IVP, 2019).144.
[9] Camacho. 144.
[10] Edgar H. Schein and Peter A. Schein, Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust (Oakland, CA: Berrett-Loehler Publishers, Inc., n.d.). 3.
[11] Margaret J. Wheatley, Finding Our Way: Leadership For an Uncertain Time. 137-138.
About the Author
Esther Edwards
Esther has served in ministry leadership for over 35 years. She is an ordained minister, an ICF and CCLC certified coach, and licensed coach trainer. Her and her husband have launched their own coaching practice, Enjoy the Journey Leadership Coaching and seek to train ministry leaders in the powerful skill of coaching. Esther loves hiking, reading, and experiencing new coffee shops with friends and family. She enjoys the journey with her husband, Keith, their four daughters, sons-in-law, and their five beautiful grandchildren.9 responses to “A Simpler Way”
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Thanks for this post, Esther. I was having a hard time finding practical applications out of these books, but the themes you bring out really helped me. I’m going to have to think more about my own ministry and if I’m inadvertently “rescuing” instead of walking alongside while people grow through their own problems. I’m guessing you would have some stories to tell along these lines, given your years of ministry experience with so many different people.
Kim,
The Savior complex is so inviting in ministry! I’ve often owned people’s outcomes and took on weight that was not mine to carry. And yet there is a balance between 1 Peter 5:7 empowering people to take responsibility to cast their care on the Lord and Galations 6:2 (Bearing one another’s burdens). So much discernment needed!
I love the idea of leaning into change instead of fighting it—it’s such a good reminder that transformation often comes through the messy, chaotic stuff.
The connection you made between the cross and navigating uncertainty is so real—pain and struggle can refine us in ways we don’t expect – and it’s the focus of my NPO writing right now, which may just kill me!
It’s so easy to overcomplicate things and miss what matters most: people. Thanks for sharing this—it’s a breath of fresh air for anyone feeling stuck in the old ways of doing things.
Written in our obituaries…Death by NPO…
I look forward to reading your book and look forward to it becoming a best seller. 🙂
Thanks for your response!
Hi Esther, Thank you for such a thoughtful post. Connection and relationships are so key to leadership. But what holds it all together is love. I was listening to a pastor’s wife the other day in which she described her heartache at life-long friends in their church creating divisions. I kept wondering were is the love in this situation. It’s so good to remember that God’s love is what we must return to…it truly does pierce our armor and change us from the inside out.
What a profound statement you ended with: God’s love “truly does pierce our armor and change us from the inside out.” Such a good reminder and something for me to write down.
“Perhaps, we have over-complicated the simplicity of the gospel in our desire to build our churches.”
Yes, I’ve seen that a million times, and have been culpable more than I’d like to admit.
I love Wheatley’s call back to the organic instead of the structural. It’s a model of leadership that I believe would serve pastors to wrestle with since the churhc is not a busienss, but is the body of christ.
It is something to wrestle with. I recall Jason saying (can’t remember his exact words) the system is needed, but yet the system eventually takes over what is most important. Then we have to start again and come back to what is important and then we need to build a system as it grows…and so the cycle goes.
Thank you for this post Esther!
“Chaos and change are the only route to transformation”, this made my head spin. I have certainly seen this play out on more than one occasions