But like all strategic tools, the compounding phenomenon can work both to the benefit and detriment of your organization. A lesson that most companies (and people) learn the hard way.

A quick analogy.

Right now, there is infection in five of my toes. I’ll spare you the details but know this: IT HURTS. I’m a pitiful sight right now, wincing and grimacing as I hobble around. But it didn’t start out like this. It started with my winter boots which, though functioning correctly, have a narrow “toe box” which caused my toes to rub against the inside of the boot.

Now add to that the fact that it’s winter and I wear the boots for extended period, the rubbing starts to become intense. Add to that the fact that (as a diabetic) I have poor circulation to my feet. Now my toes are being irritated and don’t receive a sufficient supply of “clean” blood to keep them healthy. What happens? Infection sets in and then spreads to the toes that have been weakened by the compounding effect of my constricting boots and lazy pancreas.

What started as a minor irritation quickly became a near-debilitating condition.

How small problems can compound in an organization.

Now imagine a similar situation in your organization.

One member of your team (let’s call him ‘Tony’) is being slightly but continually irritated by a tool that isn’t quite what he needs. Annoying but no big deal, he’s team player and times are tight so he’s making due with the best he can.

Now imagine that some other part of your organization, say Human Resources, starts having problems. It doesn’t have to completely fail to function, like my pancreas has; it could be as minor as falling behind or forgetting to complete something on time. But as a result, Tony doesn’t get his pay check when he’s supposed to.

Now Tony is being worn down by a minor inconvenience and the flow of resources that he needs has been disrupted. As anyone who has ever had to deal with a missing pay check will tell you, Tony’s condition has just gotten a lot worse. The stress of his inefficient work environment is now compounded by the disruption that flows from another part of the organization. Tony’s pissed. Infection has set in.

Let unchecked, Tony will now start to have a detriment effect on those around him, compounding any difficulties they’re enduring. This is how the infection spreads. Suddenly, what started as a minor problem has compounded to a critical issue that will take a lot of attention to heal.

Don’t sweat the small stuff.

As entrepreneurs, leaders, and managers, you’re accustomed to working in less that perfect conditions. And in many regards inefficiency will always hinder our efforts. In order to accomplish our strategic goals we’ve learned not to sweat the small stuff.

But that doesn’t mean that we can ignore the small stuff completely. You need to pay attention to what’s happening around you. And it is especially important to keep a pulse on the “health” of your team and make sure that you are creating the right conditions for them to succeed in their positions. Because if you don’t, something minor can quickly compound into something major and hobble your efforts.

Don’t sweat the small stuff. But don’t ignore it either.

Creating Eternal Value through Strategic Management

Business as Mission Methodology – BAM Business Organization and Resource Coordination (part 2)

Impact of Company/Business Attributes on Business as Mission Objectives

Research suggests that links exist between respondents’ perceptions of how different attributes of an organization (development stage, size, and geographic focus) impact BAM goals (Exhibit 7). ^[1]
(Note: The colored bars on the scale reflects specific opinions pertaining to General Businesses (not explicitly BAM) [yellow], Missions Organizations [red], and Business as Mission Companies [blue], respectively.)

Key Insights:

Development stage (7.1-3)

• Respondents believe that start-up companies are more influential than established (95 percent agree start-up BAM companies are better; 87 percent agree start-up businesses are better). (7.1 and 7.2)
• The preference for start-up missions organizations is not as significant (only 64 percent agree). (7.3)
• Development stage is strongly linked to all Business as Mission objectives, with the greatest correlation with building the economy and blessing the nation.

Implication: the newness of an organization creates perceived benefits that are valued by the Business as Mission movement. Primary among these is the creation of new value in the form of products/service enhancements, additional wealth, and jobs in the economy. Start-up companies could also be assumed to be more dynamic and flexible which theoretically would make it easier for the company to incorporate BAM goals. Of course there is a trade off between the benefits of newness and the efficiencies and learning that a company gains as it develops. It makes sense that respondents seem to favor the benefits of maturity more for traditional missions organizations given that missions organizations do not create as much market value to offset early stage inefficiencies.

• The development stage of a missions organization is not correlated to profitability or the ability to provide access to locations. (7.3)
• The development stage of a company (both BAM and regular) is negatively linked with the ability to provide access to locations. (7.1 and 7.2)

Implication: the relationship between a company’s development stage and “Provides access to many locations” may result from closed-access countries valuing existing companies more than entrepreneurial efforts. The established size and structure of a mature business may lessen the government’s fear of exploitation.

Size (7.4-6)

• Respondents prefer large Business as Mission efforts to micro-enterprise.^[2] (7.4)
• In general, respondents favor large companies over small; however the preference is not as pronounced as it is for BAM companies. (7.5)
• Respondents prefer small missions organizations over large. (7.6)
• A focus on micro-enterprise is believed to limit the benefits that profit can create for the kingdom. Additionally, respondents associate micro-enterprise with the goal of providing access. (7.4)
• Larger companies are perceived to have a greater impact on building the local economy and blessing the nation. Larger companies are also perceived to have a negative impact on ability to evangelize and focus on developing nations. (7.5)
• Large companies are negatively correlated with providing access to many locations while large missions organizations are positively correlated. (7.5 and 7.6)

Implication: the preferences exhibited toward organization size highlight that size is proportional to perceived impact within a host country. However, the BAM movement strives to maintain a balance regarding size because of the perceived trade-off between size and ability to evangelize. The results suggest that there is a size at which it becomes more difficult for a BAM company to effectively evangelize. This belief (if validated) will greatly influence the goals set by the Business as Mission movement in terms of growth targets. Similarly, respondents may recognize that some developing nations or remote regions do not have the infrastructure needed to support larger companies, which tempers size preferences.

Geographic focus (7.7-9)

• Respondents overwhelmingly embrace the global focus of the Business as Mission movement. (7.7)
• Global presence is believed to impact all Business as Mission objectives. The biggest impact is believed to be on profitability and ability to build the local economy.
• Global presence is negatively correlated with providing access to many locations.

Implication: the results reinforce the central role that globalization plays in creating opportunities for Christians to further the kingdom through Business as Mission. The negative correlation between global focus and “Provides access to many locations” most likely is a consequence of reactions to the simplification of Business as Mission as a means for overcoming prohibitions against missionaries in closed countries.

The following is another excerpt from the BAM Survey 2007 Report. The BAM Survey 2007 Report is an in-depth assessment of the state of the Business as Mission movement based on survey responses from 497 people in 38 countries. You can purchase an electronic copy of the BAM Survey 2007 Report for $14.99 here.

Creating Eternal Value through Strategic Management

Business as Mission Methodology – BAM Business Organization and Resource Coordination (part 1)

In order for Business as Mission objectives to drive the strategic management of BAM companies, the structure of a BAM company must align with those objectives. Analysis of the survey results suggests that correlations^[1] exist between respondents’ perceptions of key elements of a BAM company (structural elements and management considerations) and perceptions of key BAM objectives.

Structural elements

Different strategies that integrate business activities with ministry efforts hold to different principles on how a business should operate. How each of these principles is manifest within a business is a subject of much debate. Core principles such as operating with integrity and honesty are universally accepted as important to Christians in business. However, research shows that three key considerations regarding structure (commercial function^[2], licitness^[3], and management oversight) are not universally accepted as vital elements of Business as Mission (Exhibit 5).

• Nearly 10 percent of respondents do not think that commercial function and legal structure are vital for Business as Mission. (5.1 and 5.2)
• One out of four respondents expressed no opinion about whether an advisory board is a vital element of a BAM business. (5.3)

Management Considerations

Exhibit 6 summarizes how perceptions of corporate structure as well as management considerations regarding oversight and sustainability correlate with the perceptions of the strategic objectives of the Business as Mission movement.

Corporate structure (6.1-2)

• Aspects of corporate structure (licitness and commercial function) are recognized by 77 percent of respondents as important elements of BAM companies.
• Both licitness and commercial function are considered to strongly influence a business’s ability to make a profit. Both also influence evangelism efforts and focus on the developing world.
• A BAM company’s commercial function influences that company’s role in building the local economy. (6.1)

• Commercial function has a negative correlation with providing access to countries. (6.2)

Management oversight (6.3-5)

• Survey respondents heavily favor Management participation in discipling and accountability relationships (87 percent). Additionally, 68 percent agree that BAM companies should have an advisory board. (6.3 and 6.4)
• Results indicate that the primary influence of these two types of management support is on the company’s evangelism efforts and focus on the developing world. (6.3 and 6.4)

Sustainability (6.6-8)

• Sustainability is considered a highly important aspect of Business as Mission, with over 85 percent of respondents agreeing that Net profitability of the organization, Growth in capital base for future development of kingdom businesses, and Development of a succession plan are valuable elements.
• Respondents correlate net profitability with the ability to build the local economy and to bless the nation. (6.6)
• Respondents also believe that developing a succession plan facilitates the ability to evangelize and the focus on the developing world. (6.8)

• All three aspects of sustainability are negatively correlated with the goal of gaining access through Business as Mission.