Barnabas File

A walk outdoors is refreshing.     Whether it is in the backyard, the neighborhood, a park, or a walking trail, being closer to God’s creation reminds us of the resilient, dynamic, and changing environment in which we live.    Although our efforts in development and industry often tend to interrupt those natural rhythms of life, they persist.   The same is true in human organizations.  Organizations—businesses, churches, not-for-profits, communities, political parties—are living systems.  However far they seem to have departed from God’s creation, they still exhibit the characteristics of living organisms.  If we recognize this, we can encourage those inherent aspects of life to make them more integrated, dynamic, and life-giving.    I was first introduced to this approach several years ago in a book by Steven Johnson entitled Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software , but more recently I was re...

"BANI is not a technical analysis; it’s visceral and experiential. It depicts the nature of the moment... in a way that resonates for people around the world." —  Jamais Cascio Futurist and anthropologist Jamais Cascio argues that the VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) mindset from the 1980s has "expired." He writes, “VUCA was about a world that was hard to see. BANI is about a world where the things we  can  see are actively breaking." In this new paradigm, there several shifts: Volatility  has become  Brittleness .     It’s not just moving fast; it’s fragile. (Example: A career path that vanishes due to a single AI update). Uncertainty  has become  Anxiety : It’s not just 'not knowing'; it’s the fear that comes with it. Complexity  has become  Non-Linearity : It’s not just a puzzle; it’s a system where small ripples cause tsunamis. Ambiguity  has become  Incomprehensibility : It’s n...

For years, organizations have focused on VUCA, a term introduced by the U.S. Army War College in the late 1980s to describe the world after the Cold War.   VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. It is a framework used to describe the rapid, unpredictable, and turbulent nature of modern business, military, and strategic environments, focusing on how organizations navigate challenging and constantly changing conditions.  Early on, it was often cited a framework for interpreting the COVIC-19 epidemic.    Jamais Cascio , an American futurist and anthropologist, proposes it is time for a new term—BANI—Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, Incomprehensible.   He first introduced the acronym in a 2018 article titled  "Facing the Age of Chaos,"  though it gained traction during the pandemic to describe an increasingly unstable world that had moved beyond the older "VUCA" model.   Cascio designed the framework to capture...

In a recent webinar, Peter Hawkins presented a new coaching paradigm.  Using the title “From Ego to Eco Coaching:  Creative Value Beyond the Client,” Hawkins challenges coaches to take a broader perspective on their work and their relationship to the client.  Here are his five challenges:  1.     1.   You are never just coaching an individual but coaching with and through an individual. When an individual changes, he or she can change a system. 2.       The person being coached is not simply your coaching partner, and it is the joint purpose that creates the partnership not the partners.     Bob Dale called this relationship “thought partners.” This conveys the same idea.     We join together around an idea that the person being coached identifies and the coach embraces. 3.       The team dynamic, organizational culture, the wider community, and the ecology are not out...

If you assume that Kim Cameron’s book is about making people happy at work, you are shortchanging this contribution to leadership literature.     Cameron’s thesis is this:     All human beings flourish in the presence of light or of positive energy. This is called the heliotropic effect.     The kind of positive energy that usually accounts for the flourishing of individuals and organizations is called relational energy.    In this book, Cameron explains how relational energy is created and enhanced through the demonstration of virtuous actions by leaders.   Those familiar with leadership literature will find a great deal of commonality with the work of others such as Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee in Resonant Leadership but Cameron offers another model for leaders to consider.  His contemporaneous engagement with the pandemic makes his writing especially fresh and engaging.  He reminds us, “In order to effectively mana...

“What are the implications of settling for less than the best?”     This the question that corporate CEO Blake Brown must ask of himself and his company in Mark Miller’s latest book on organizational leadership.    The theme of this volume is execution, with the author arguing that “greatness hinges on execution.” There is a lot of good information in this book.  The mantra throughout is, “What does it take to  win every day ?”  The key actions are identified as pursue mastery, own the numbers, and help others win. These are illustrated both in the strategy followed by Tom, the coach of the football team of which Blake’s son is a player, and their application to Blake’s company. There are some observations here that challenge any enterprise to become better in execution, but several can be applied to the church. First, “Improvement is possible, but progress requires change.”  Many church members will affirm the need f...

A number of researchers and writers in recent years have addressed the subject of employee satisfaction and engagement.    There seems to be universal agreement that the more engaged an employee is the more likely that he or she will be productive, healthy, and stay with the organization. Mark Miller has written several books on developing a high-performance organization-- Chess Not Checkers (being strategic), Leaders Made Here (building a leadership culture), Talent Magnet (attracting and keeping the best people), and now Win the Heart on creating a culture of full engagement. Miller’s key question is, “if people see their work as just a job, why would they bring their full, best self to work?”  Using the familiar business fable approach, the author maps how business owner Blake Brown discovers the keys to creating a workplace where people are excited, engaged, and energized by what they do. Drawing on insights from Civil Rights leaders, Renaissan...

Work is more complicated than it used to be.     Most jobs require not simply a person who will be a “cog in the machine” but a motivated contributor.     Especially with younger generations, motivation comes not just from a paycheck, but in the ability to learn, grow, and contribute.     This requires managers who will adopt a different supervision style. In a recent article , Gallup provided a strong argument for managers adopting a coach approach to supervision.  Coaching requires a more personal, interactive style, but the writer states, “ When managers provide meaningful feedback to employees, those employees are 3.5x more likely to be engaged. ” Although becoming a coaching leader requires significant training, here are some ways that a manager can become a coach. First, recognize the uniqueness of the person you supervise.  Every individual has different experiences, skill sets, and abilities.  Their uniqu...

If you have not seen a Brene’ Brown  TEDtalk or read one of her books on vulnerability, courage, shame, or empathy, I am very surprised.  A professor of social work, Brown’s research on emotions, relationships, and self-concept has provided creative ways to conceptualize, discuss, and embody these topics in a variety of settings.   Even if you are familiar with her work, you may be surprised that her newest emphasis is organizational development.  In her new book, Dare to Lead:  Brave Work, Tough Conversations, Whole Hearts , Brown focuses her research, passion, and irreverent comments on how to revolutionize the workplace. Drawing from her research and her six previous books, she explains the impact of one’s values, emotions, and interpersonal relationships on leadership effectiveness. Brown uses this quote from Theodore Roosevelt to frame the book:   “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong ...

Jim Hudan and Rich Berens have provided a helpful book for organizations based on the best recent research on organizational development.  They challenge those leaders who think everything is working smoothly when there is much that can be done to improve the functionality and health of their organizations. The writers identify five leadership “blind spots”: Purpose matters, but it doesn’t drive our numbers. We have a compelling story to tell that our people care about. Rational and logical presentations engage the hearts and minds of our people. People will not do the right thing unless you tell them what to do and hold them accountable to do it. My people feel safe telling me what they think and feel. These common misconceptions hinder both organizational health and productivity.  The common factor in all of the blind spots has to do with the people--the employees--who actually accomplish the work.  Hudan and Berens chall...

In a recent Christian Coaches Cafe LIVE Call, coach Chris McCluskey talked about the challenge of making meaningful, sustainable change and suggested two approaches that we often use in addressing needed change.   On the one hand, those initiating change may attempt to use these three strategies or arguments: Fear--“If you don’t do this, you are going to die.” Facts--“Here are the rational reasons to do this.” Force--“You’ll do this or else.” As I thought about the best way to encourage change in a congregation, I quickly realized that all of these fail as adequate motivators.  Fear tends to elicit denial and an “I’ll show you” attitude.  Facts may help to develop strategy after a decision is made, but people make choices more often with their heads than their hearts.  I think it goes without saying that force does not work in most churches, especially the Baptist churches where I have spent most of my life! The alternativ...