“Outsight” Required

Jay Hostetler, July 16

As church leaders we are constantly processing ideas to help us move things forward. This process takes many forms. We talk to our ministry teams. We talk to colleagues; maybe we hire an external voice like a coach or consultant. And we should be praying and expecting to hear God whisper insight to us.

Generally speaking, we don’t take action until we have thought it through. We usually refer to this as having “insight” before we get to action steps.

In her new book, Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader, Herminia Ibarra challenges this process norm and provides an interesting idea she calls “outsight.” She uses this term to describe the valuable perspective gained through actions.

In other words, get out of your comfort zone, do something and see if you learn something. I love this principle. It’s a refreshing approach in light of the fact that so much leadership literature is questioning leader’s competencies in the area of strategy execution.

Some of my church clients in my coaching practice have stated, “I wish my guys would do something, even if it doesn’t work!”

So I am raising this issue but only want to give some brief applications. I don’t want to make you think too much about it.

• Gain “outsight” by trying new things
• Changing ministry requires agile response; don’t think too long before taking action
• Consider diversifying your network of relationships
• Our actions and learnings could lead to transformation for our work teams and for the people we serve

How much are you trying (or willing to try) new things?