Balancing the E’s of decision making

For most of us, it seems like there is a constant struggle when it comes to how to make an idea reality.

How often does your team find itself in the following situation?

It’s a good idea and most importantly we know the why behind it, but how are we going to pull it off? The pastor wants something grand like what they’ve seen at a really large church or on TV, the budget is limited, and someone should be asking if it will even get the point across in a meaningful way (but no one is). Now being in a deadlock between these factors one of 2 things usually happens. One, the idea is forced through with the limited budget and it stresses out all involved parties, not to mention it doesn’t really work right. Or two, the idea is dropped altogether and never becomes reality leaving everyone disappointed and potentially frustrated. 

After this happened so many times, new ideas stop being brought to the table because no one sees a point anymore, and we just sit in the rut of doing the same things over and over and never presenting the message in ways that might get through so someone in a meaningful way. 

So how do we take our ideas and make them a reality that works? First, we have to separate the “why” of the idea from the “what”. Ask yourself “what’s the point or idea we want to get across?”. Once you know that you can then run through the three E’s to come up with the best “what”. 

The 3 E’s
Expense
What resources do we have or can be made available for this idea? Take inventory not only of any money but also what you already have. This also means how much time and how many people will it require. Can you pull it off without sacrificing something from another area? 

Effectiveness 
Will it be effective in accomplishing the “why”? So many times the perceived cool factor of an idea overtakes the point of doing it in the first place. But how will the observer see it? Will they get the point in a way that impacts them and changes their life?

Excellence
Can we do it well? This can mean the difference between the “why” coming through clearly and stories being told about “that one time, yeah that was rough....”. Only you can know exactly what the quality standard is for your people, but keep in mind we live in a global world and what many people have access to in their pocket. 

Side note: you don’t have to compete with the big players, but rather consider what you can do well. Just because you can’t do something they did, doesn’t make you any less effective. 

The team dynamic
You may have noticed there is a lot of info and prior knowledge required to work out the options. This is why it’s important to include your team in the decision making process. It’s not often that one individual knows all the pieces to the puzzle. Many minds will help produce the best decision as long as everyone comes to the table with the goal in mind. It’s not about who’s idea is used and just because your idea is shot down doesn’t mean you are any less valuable than anyone else on the team. Healthy discussion and debate is a necessary part of the process. 

Reality:
Ok.... so how does this play out? 

For many places, drums are a big challenge. Good sounding acoustic kits are expensive, they require a lot of maintaining and specialized knowledge to keep them sounding great. Most drummers aren’t big fans of electric kits and they are also hard to get to sound natural through a sound system. The room only seats around 100 people so even if you could afford the nice drums they would still likely be too loud in the space. But we have to have drums! The impact and dynamics they add is an important part of our sound. 
Now that we know why we need them and the limitations we have to work within we can start looking for solutions. 
What about a Cajon kit? It achieves the why, it’s cost-effective, it sounds great and natural at low volumes in any size space. 

Our world has become a place where being able to stream your services is almost a necessity. Cameras can be expensive along with all the other devices needed to switch between them and stream out. They also require specialized knowledge to use effectively. 
You can read about some good low-cost yet effective solutions here, but a relatively new smartphone placed and setup well is a great option. 

If you’d like to discuss how your organization can balance the E’s in your specific context, send me a message, I’d love to help you out.