Sources of Information for Planning

Is it relevant, is it appropriate and how does it apply? In an organization there will be some sources of information that are consistent through all levels but I think of more concern is the content attained from the source not the source itself. A professor at a previous school of mine reminded us at every class that "meaning is context dependent." I think in planning, at all levels, the sources used need to be analyzed for how the information is relevant and appropriate for the level of personnel in the organization.

I was part of the leadership team at a church where the use of different sources of information was both a positive and a negative to the organization. We were a church that participated in not only Sunday fellowship but also home groups that met throughout the week. At one point in the life of the church we were about 350 people with 20 different home groups meeting throughout the week. Each home group leader was given freedom to select curriculum and lead however they saw fit as long as the core goal of the group was in line with the vision and mission of the church. This lead to great growth but it was growth without any depth and ultimately individual groups felt they knew better than the church did and decided to leave. This caused us, as the leadership of the church, to re-evaluate the goal of our home groups and plan out a strategy of how to reach those goals. We created a team that would discern and develop the weekly message topics of which the pastor would teach. Then from that message we developed more in depth study materials that the home group leaders then used to teach the weekly lessons.

From the top down the whole organization was using the same sources but how it was applied differed depending on the audience and application. The pastoral team objective, curriculum and lesson plans were consistent throughout the organization but different sources were used on how to teach to children, teens, families, single moms, etc. This same logic applies in any organization. The overall sources need to have some consistency to them but when it comes to application and the context of the information other sources may or should be used.