Category Archives: Organizational competence

Evaluating cross-cultural partnerships with “metrics”? … Be careful

Competencies for cross-cultural partnership, Global Christian mission, Organizational competence

Mission and metrics in cross-cultural partnershipA good friend sent me an email asking if we had some tools for evaluating a cross-cultural partnership. Her friend—another Christian leader—had asked…

“Have you seen any organization attempt to quantify or describe the quality of a cross-cultural relationship? The [name of organization] Board of Directors is big on metrics.”

I sent my friend two documents I had created for Mission ONE in 2003. The first document is a tool to evaluate the cross-cultural partnership from the side of Mission ONE. The second tool is one that our partners in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East can use to evaluate Mission ONE. I mentioned to her in my email that we have not used these evaluation tools in a long time, but that perhaps these documents could be helpful to the person making the inquiry.

Then I began musing on the concept of “metrics” in evaluating a cross-cultural partnership. Below are my thoughts.

If we measure the effectiveness of the partnership from our side, we ought to make sure that our partners can “measure” us and our effectiveness from their side as well. But would our indigenous partners ever initiate such a thing? No way. I have never heard of that happening. Why? I think they likely would consider this a dishonor to the relationship.

Isn’t it true that the people doing the measuring are usually the ones with the financial power? Ironically, the ones being “measured” are often actually the ones who have a lot more at stake (their very lives, families, ministries, reputation in the community, etc.).

What if an indigenous ministry partner from the majority world asked their wealthy American financial supporters to measure, not just amount of money or time invested, but also …

  • the actual amount of prayer devoted to a ministry partner, and then report on that?
  • the amount of personal sacrifice quantified as percent of personal income devoted to the partnership or world missions?
  • or the amount of time they listen, compared to the amount of time they talk — in the partnership dialog between leaders?

The very use of the word “metrics” sounds cold. What if your spouse said, “I need some metrics on the effectiveness of our marriage”? Of course, a partnership is not a marriage, but a healthy cross-cultural partnership is deeply relational, built on trust over a period of time with common vision and values. And Christian cross-cultural partners do have a relational closeness in Jesus Christ, which, from heaven’s perspective anyway, is intimate and eternal. Why else would Jesus pray, “that they would be one…” (John 17:21)? Isn’t this our hope?

The use of the word “metrics” in Christian ministry also implies that everything important can be quantified. But fruitfulness is both quantitative and qualitative. On the one hand, “fruit” can be understood as the number of people professing Christ, or the number of churches planted; that’s quantitative.

But then there’s Galatians 5, describing the fruit of the Spirit. How do you quantify the fruit of agape love, or patience, or meekness, gentleness, or self-control? These are qualitative things that are very important to God and very difficult, if not impossible, to measure.

The practice of cross-cultural partnership, therefore, which over-emphasizes “metrics” will invariably lead to outcomes that focus on those externals. A truism of business management is that “you can only manage what you can measure.” When applied to Christian ministry, wouldn’t this lead to a focus on quantitative external expressions of the faith, while qualitative expressions of the faith would be marginalized? It is no wonder legalism can be so inimical to the gospel.

Another thing about the word “metrics” is the cultural baggage that comes with it. As stated above, the word “metrics” implies the idea that everything important can be quantified and categorized. Isn’t that a Western construct, a part of modernity? The biblical principle of stewardship notwithstanding, it really fits the American Christian consumer mentality of “more souls per dollar invested,” or “best bang for the buck.” It is part of the empire of globalization that prizes efficiency above all else. Isn’t there is a kind of Western cultural imperialism implicit in the term, “metrics”?

Having said all this, I recognize that accountability and outcomes are important. God is interested in outcomes. He wants the nations to be discipled, not only that people have the opportunity to be saved. Stewardship is important. Evaluation is important.

And if you are evaluating a cross-cultural partnership with “metrics”—be careful. Make sure the evaluation is mutual.

What is “managerial paternalism?”

Competencies for cross-cultural partnership, Cross-cultural partnership, Global Christian mission, Helping the poor, Organizational competence, Quotes, articles & books related to cross-cultural partnership
Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert are the authors of this excellent book

From When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor … and Yourself, by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert …

Managerial paternalism is perhaps the hardest nut to crack. We middle-class North Americans love to see things get done as quickly as possible. Relative to many other cultures, including many low-income communities in North America, we are prone to take charge, particularly when it appears that nobody else is moving fast enough. As a result, we often plan, manage, and direct initiatives in low-income communities when people in those communities could do these things quite well already. The structure and pace might well be different if the low-income communities undertook the project themselves, but they could do a good job nonetheless.

The authors then go into the reasons for managerial paternalism, and the alternatives. If you want to know more, you should buy the book!

At Mission ONE, we do not try to run our partners’ ministries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. We do not tell outstanding indigenous Christian leaders how to manage their financial administration, how to delegate responsibility, how to do accountability in their culture, how to pursue their vision. We do ask, “How can we serve your vision?” We do require quarterly reports covering ministry progress, stories, prayer requests and financial disbursements. We do trust one another, not only as organizational partners, but as friends who serve the Lord together for God’s glory.

With these kinds of relationships between Mission ONE and our ministry partners in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, we avoid managerial paternalism. Want to know more about Mission ONE’s ministry partners? Write to me at werner@mission1.org.

“Duplicated Effort vs. Partnership”

Competencies for cross-cultural partnership, Cross-cultural partnership, Organizational competence, Quotes, articles & books related to cross-cultural partnership

The Lausanne World Pulse web site has an article by Ken Lane of Focus on the Family. Lane makes several good points that relate to the practice of cross-cultural partnership. Mr. Lane argues that:

Duplication of effort arises within an organization because of:

  • Ignorance. Different business units are unaware of similar efforts by other business units.
  • Pride. Different business units believe their approach to meeting needs is the only correct way.
  • Confusion. Different business units are unclear about who should be doing what in relation to each other (no integrated plan).

Duplication of effort arises outside of organizations because of:

  • Ignorance. Organizations are unaware of similar efforts by other organizations.
  • Pride. Organizations believe their approach to meeting needs is the only correct way.
  • Confusion. Organizations are unclear about who (which organization) should be doing what in relation to each other (no partnership plan).

Read the full article here.

Ken Lane is senior director of global strategic development for Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. He also serves as a member of the Lausanne Strategy Working Group. Lausanne World Pulse is Published as a joint effort between the Institute of Strategic Evangelism, Evangelism and Missions Information Service and Intercultural Studies Department (Wheaton College, Wheaton, Ill. USA) and the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization.

A model for cross-cultural partnership—inside of God’s grace

Competencies for cross-cultural partnership, Cross-cultural partnership, Cultural intelligence, Global Christian mission, Godly character, Organizational competence
A model for cross-cultural partnership inside of God’s grace
A model for cross-cultural partnership inside of God’s grace

THE CROSS-CULTURAL PARTNERSHIP

  • A, B, and C are partners in a partnership—and represent any organization or ministry entity; for example, a western mission agency, an indigenous majority-world ministry, and a local church.
  • God’s grace—each ministry partner operates inside of the sphere of God’s grace (the large light green circle)—secured through the finished work of Jesus Christ.
  • The vision—is central to the partnership; it’s what has brought the partners together, and is far greater than what any partner can do alone. Each partner brings unique resources to work together toward  the vision.
  • The Cross—represents the finished work of Jesus Christ, and God’s passion to gather worshipers from among all peoples; this is what ultimately holds the partnership together.
  • The advocate—is an individual from one of the partner organizations who serves as a “champion” or ambassador for the partnership, and applies cultural intelligence as he/she serves the partnership toward the vision.

THE PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS

  • Character: Each partner has leaders with godly character (represented by the yellow circle) who live as followers of Jesus Christ. The principal thing is humility.
  • Culture: Each partner devotes resources to acquiring cultural intelligence (represented by the smaller green circle) in order to develop cultural awareness of self and others along with the ability to adjust behavior and attitudes. The principal thing is deep understanding.
  • Competence: Each partner has developed organizational competence (represented by the blue circle) with appropriate systems and accountability. The principal thing is wise practice.

If you are interested in developing godly character, cultural intelligence, and organizational competence for your cross-cultural partnership, consider joining The Beauty of Partnership learning journey. Or contact me, Werner Mischke at werner@mission1.org.

Risk in cross-cultural partnership, part 3 of 3: Navigating risk

Competencies for cross-cultural partnership, Cross-cultural partnership, Cultural intelligence, Global Christian mission, Godly character, Indigenous ministries, Organizational competence, Short-term missions
Are you avoiding risk, underestimating risk, or wisely navigating risk in your cross-cultural partnership?
Are you avoiding risk, underestimating risk, or wisely navigating risk in your cross-cultural partnership?

The first post in this series looked at avoiding risk; the second looked at underestimating risk. This blog post considers a third option—navigating risk—as an act of wise obedience to our Lord’s Great Commission.

3) Navigating risk: Wise entrepreneurial leaders are skilled at assessing risk. They have a knack for ‘knowing that they don’t know,’ and then investing in the knowledge, skills and attitudes to overcome the gaps in their knowledge and experience. Wise leaders know that Jesus Christ commands us to assess the risk and count the cost in following him:

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? –Luke 14:26–28 ESV

Likewise, when western leaders who are following Christ realize their journey is leading them into partnership with an indigenous ministry in the majority world, wise leaders know that they don’t know. The wise leader knows there are risks involved and says,

  • Let’s slow down and assess both the opportunity and the risk.
  • Let’s listen to God, and seek the wisdom of his Word for these matters.
  • Let’s go on an exploratory search do discover what we don’t know about cross-cultural partnership.
  • Let’s listen to other leaders who have been down this road before and have been successful.
  • Let’s navigate the risk, knowing that the opportunity for reward is tremendous, while recognizing that the risk for disappointment is just as real.

The wise leader invests in developing the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are necessary for a healthy cross-cultural partnership. He or she knows that developing these KSAs is not just a matter of information; it is rather, the result of a journey that will take time. The wise leader knows that there are many varying cultures in the world—and navigating the vast differences between cultures, worldviews, and social values may be as difficult as navigating across an ocean.

The wise leader invests in the journey to gain wisdom in the practice of healthy cross-cultural partnerships—and once having done so, he or she can truly begin to think big and responsibly pursue significant risk-laden dreams for the kingdom of God. The wise leader is thrilled to be a part of God’s Story, and knows that the impact of their decisions and actions in serving a cross-cultural partnership could ripple across the globe and throughout eternity to the glory of Christ.

To see a video about risk and cross-cultural partnership, go to this page—Week 3: Risk.

If you are interested in developing the knowledge, skills and attitudes
to wisely navigate a cross-cultural partnership,
then you may be ready for The Beauty of Partnership learning journey.
Click here to learn more, or simply write to me,
Werner Mischke, at werner@mission1.org.

Risk in cross-cultural partnership, part 2 of 3: Underestimating risk

Competencies for cross-cultural partnership, Cross-cultural partnership, Cultural intelligence, Global Christian mission, Godly character, Indigenous ministries, Organizational competence, Short-term missions
Are you avoiding risk, underestimating risk, or wisely navigating risk in your cross-cultural partnership?
Are you avoiding risk, underestimating risk, or wisely navigating risk in your cross-cultural partnership?

The first post in this series looked at avoiding risk. This post considers a second option: underestimating risk.

2) Underestimating risk: One of the common blessings of going on a mission trip or serving cross-culturally is to discover that the person who I’m getting to know is so different from me, and yet, because we have a common faith in Jesus Christ, we are part of the same family and have a built-in sense of deep spiritual connection. We discover just how true the Bible really is: “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:4–6).

How wonderful! With this knowledge, many Christians believe it is easy to begin a cross-cultural partnership, confident that whatever obstacles there may be, their common faith in Jesus will enable them to overcome any problems.

A year goes by; so far so good … Another year, and questions emerge … Over time, mistrust develops, and sure enough, obstacles arise along with misunderstandings. From one side are accusations of mismanagement; from the other side, accusations of colonialism or arrogance. It is discovered that expectations for the partnership are radically different, and what seemed at first to be an exciting “can’t-lose enterprise for the kingdom” becomes mired in disappointment and cross-cultural conflict.

What happened? They underestimated the risks. They underestimated the need for developing new knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSAs); they did not know that you must develop godly character, cultural intelligence, and organizational competence for healthy cross-cultural partnership.

Risk in cross-cultural partnership, part 1 of 3: Avoiding risk

Competencies for cross-cultural partnership, Cross-cultural partnership, Cultural intelligence, Global Christian mission, Godly character, Indigenous ministries, Organizational competence
Are you avoiding risk, underestimating risk, or wisely navigating risk in your cross-cultural partnership?
Are you avoiding risk, underestimating risk, or wisely navigating risk relative to cross-cultural partnership?

I believe there are three basic ways to think about risk relative to cross-cultural partnerships—or partnership with indigenous ministries. They are: Avoiding risk, underestimating risk, and navigating risk. This blog post considers the first option:

1) Avoiding risk: People who avoid risk relative to partnership with indigenous ministries do so for various reasons—perhaps because they have heard someone say, “You can’t trust the nationals”—or they tried a cross-cultural partnership and had a bad experience. So they simply conclude, “No way” or “Never again.”

They resist learning lessons of how to adjust their approach; they don’t know about the need to learn new skills. Maybe they are unaware that there is a specific skill set necessary for someone to be a partnership ambassador. So they never consider developing the Christlike servanthood, the listening skills, the cultural intelligence, the organizational systems that are necessary to succeed. They give up, thinking that partnership ought to be easy, or that partnership just doesn’t work. They may still have a nagging sense that the body of Christ really is supposed to work together around the world (the Bible surely seems to say that it’s possible), but they see no way to get there.

Sadly, their default response to the possibility of cross-cultural partnership is to avoid the risk, and thus, to forgo the enormous potential for greater blessing for the peoples of the world. They also forgo the privilege of a deep cross-cultural friendship, not to mention the opportunity to better know the Lord Jesus Christ through the journey of working with Christian leaders from other cultures.

Tomorrow’s post: Part 2 of 3—Underestimating risk

Three categories of competence for cross-cultural partnerships

Competencies for cross-cultural partnership, Cross-cultural partnership, Cultural intelligence, Godly character, Organizational competence, , ,

Inter-related competencies for cross-cultural partnershipGodly character, cultural intelligence, and organizational competence are the three inter-related categories of competence for people and ministries to have healthy cross-cultural partnerships. Growth in one arena usually impacts growth in the others. Likewise, deficits in one arena can also affect the others.

Here’s how we define these three categories or arenas:

1. GODLY CHARACTER means … following humbly our Lord Jesus Christ for the glory of God. At its core, godly character is—humility.

2. CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE (CQ) means … understanding deeply our diversity and unity 
for the glory of God. At its core, cultural intelligence is—deep understanding.

3. ORGANIZATIONAL COMPETENCE means … practicing wisely the art and science of 
partnership for the glory of God. At its core, organizational competence is—wise practice.

You can evaluate the health of a cross-cultural partnership by considering the three-legged stool. You need strength in all three “legs”—godly character, cultural intelligence, and organizational competence—for a healthy partnership. If the partnership is wobbly, at least one of the legs of the stool is weak or broken.

Evaluations are often made by asking questions; here are a few suggestions to help you get started:

  • GODLY CHARACTER: Does a lack of humility—a lack of Christlike servanthood—characterize the relationship or the key leaders on either side of the partnership? How much time are you devoting to slow, deliberate, empathic listening inside of the partnership? Note: Pride can be easy to recognize in others; it is harder to see in yourself.
  • CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE: Is there a lack of cultural intelligence—a deficit in awareness of the worldview or cultural values of the other party, or of the key leaders on either side of the partnership? Does this contribute to a lack of trust—or an unwillingness to make necessary adjustments in expectations or behavior? Note: Without training in cultural intelligence, this is very difficult to answer.
  • ORGANIZATIONAL COMPETENCE: Is there a vision for this partnership? Is there an alliance champion or ambassador with true collaboration skills? Is there a clear understanding of what is expected regarding reports, accountability, and protocol—from all sides of the partnership? Note: As with godly character and cultural intelligence, the wise practices that comprise organizational competence are, ideally, an ever-evolving process of growth on all sides of the partnership.

At Mission ONE, we have developed The Beauty of Partnership to equip Christian entrepreneurial leaders for a learning journey by which they not only gain much new knowledge, but also gain the skills and attitudes that are simply vital for healthy cross-cultural partnership. A weekend seminar will not give you the deep understanding and behavioral change necessary. That’s why it is a twelve-week missional learning journey.

At Mission ONE, we have a passion for equipping Christian entrepreneurial leaders for cross-cultural partnership. That is the main reason why this site exists. Would you like to join the journey? Write to me, Werner Mischke, at werner@mission1.org.

Myths to reject—to help your partnership succeed, part 2 of 3

Competencies for cross-cultural partnership, Cross-cultural partnership, Cultural intelligence, Indigenous ministries, Organizational competence, Quotes, articles & books related to cross-cultural partnership
  1. “You can’t trust the nationals.”
    One of the greatest gifts we can give to one another in cross-cultural partnerships is friendship, and friendship is nothing if it is not rooted in trust. According to Daniel Rickett in his book, Making Your Partnership Work, the greater the interdependence and the greater the cultural distance, the greater the need for trust. If you have little trust, you simply will not have a healthy or lasting partnership. As Steven M. R. Covey says in his book, The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything, “High trust is the critical career skill in the new global economy.” See also the intro video for Week 5: Trust, in The Beauty of Partnership learning journey.
  2. “We’re just being biblical” … or … “We don’t need cultural intelligence.”
    According to Brooks Peterson in his book, Cultural Intelligence: A Guide To Working With People From Other Cultures … Cultural Intelligence is the combination of: Knowledge About Cultures + Awareness of Yourself and Others + Specific Skills and Behaviors. Cultural intelligence (CQ) is important because there is a great temptation to think … “We’ve been Christians a long time, we have been successfully following Christ for many years, building his kingdom in our community” … “We do not need to learn that much about cultural differences and how to adjust our thinking and behavior when working cross-culturally; after all, aren’t we all one in the Body of Christ?” … “Only full-time resident missionaries need to develop deep cultural understanding.” In reality, cross-cultural partnership practitioners will benefit just as much from cultivating cultural intelligence as resident missionaries. My definition of cultural intelligence is as follows: Understanding deeply our diversity and unity, for the glory of God. For more on CQ, check out the intro videos for Weeks 5–8 in The Beauty of Partnership learning journey; all of these lessons are devoted to Cultural Intelligence.
  3. “Accountability is not that important.”
    Actually, accountability is vitally important—because appropriate accountability is biblical. It is modeled in Scripture again and again. “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). Note also the word, “appropriate.” Finding the right level of accountability going both ways is a matter of cultural intelligence and organizational competence. Without appropriate accountability, your partnership can easily move toward frustration, distrust, or failure. See also the intro video for Week 10: Accountability, in The Beauty of Partnership learning journey.
  4. “There’s not much risk in cross-cultural partnerships.”
     Reread point number 1 and point number 3, above. How much money is wasted by not doing our “due diligence!” Our tendency is to underestimate the risks of cross-cultural partnership, especially if we  expect success to be easy. To reduce the risks, going through a learning journey like The Beauty of Partnership is extremely helpful—it reduces the risks by giving you the KSAs (knowledge, skills and attitudes) necessary for a developing a healthy cross-cultural partnership. And once you have gained these KSAs, you can confidently and wisely take wonderful big risks for the glory of God! See also the intro video for, Week 3: Risk, in The Beauty of Partnership learning journey.

Myths to reject—to help your partnership succeed, part 1 of 3

Competencies for cross-cultural partnership, Cross-cultural partnership, Cultural intelligence, Godly character, Indigenous ministries, Organizational competence, Training
  1. “I have more to teach than to learn, more to give than to receive.”
    When it comes to cross-cultural partnership ministry, it’s often the other way around. You may indeed have much to teach, but if you have this attitude, it will be an obstacle to serving well. Why not engage in cross-cultural partnership to learn together, to discover what God is teaching all parties in the partnership? What’s more, given that the church in the west is generally in significant decline (see my blog post, 15 August 2009), shouldn’t we rather learn from our brothers and sisters in the majority world—how to pray, strategize, serve and suffer well in the cause of Christ?
  2. “We can partner without being invited.”
    I recently heard of a mega-church that decided to build a school in Africa for half a million dollars, and then also committed to fund it for 10 years. Seems like a worthy goal, except for one huge thing: This was done without consultation from the local leadership, without local “ownership”—essentially, without being invited. This is probably a train-wreck waiting to happen. It belies a lack of trust and respect for local leaders, and violates the spirit of humble servanthood. For more on this, see my blog post, “Have we been invited?”
  3. “I can control the partnership with the right system.”
    I am aware of a cross-cultural partnership which began with this attitude: “We absolutely can’t let this fail” … “We have to control this as much as possible” … “One of us from our side will sit on their board of directors, and we are going to MAKE SURE there are no problems.” What do you think happened? The partnership failed miserably—and there is an ongoing three-year lawsuit between these Christian partners. The result has been that thousands upon thousands of dollars have been squandered, along with untold heartache and the name of Christ defamed.
  4. “My ministry model is the most biblical.”
    If you believe that, you have probably labored intensely to be faithful to the Word of God—and paid a significant price to do so. This is a good thing. But isn’t it also true that your ministry model is influenced in part by your culture, your worldview, and peer group? Your ministry model is one way of obeying the Scriptures, and it is possibly no more biblical than a myriad of other ministry models found in the majority world. Consequently, we should be very cautious in trying to extend our unique ministry model across other cultures around the world.