Success comes by making a series of good decisions, one good decision at a time. Notice it is not only one decision and not one good decision. It is one good decision at a time. Success comes after a progression of making one good decision following a previous good decision following other good decisions. Success rarely if ever comes from one decision. Jim Collins in his book Good to Great says, “You absolutely cannot make a series of good decisions without first confronting the brutal facts.”
Perhaps you have seen video clips in movies or on television shows of a steam engine train taking off from a depot. You hear the water boiling and see the steam rolling and at the right time the engineer pulls a lever, and you hear that steam being transformed into energy, energy to turn the wheels on the train. It is then that you see the wheels turn slightly and ever so slowly. The engineer pulls again, the engine bellows, and the wheels turn again slightly and slowly. Another pull, and the wheels turn a little more and slightly faster. The actions are repeated again and again. Each time the wheels move with slightly more speed than the last. All the wheels turn simultaneously and each turn is faintly greater than the one before, each turn building momentum from the previous turn.
This process continues until the train is moving and generating speed and seemingly pulling its own weight. Momentum has kicked in and the train will continue to move down the track, headed for its destination. The wheels are now turning with ease. The engineer’s job now becomes maintaining the correct pressure on the boiler and as needed convert that steam into the energy needed to maintain the forward motion and speed of the train.
To make any significant change in your life or to reverse the decline in a church/organization requires not one turn of the ignition, but a series of good decisions, each one building upon previous decisions. Like the steam engine locomotive, it takes time and energy exercised in the right direction. All of the train’s wheels are always pulling in the same direction. To get the train moving, each blast of energy is pushing the wheels in the same direction. Every blast is for forward motion.
Develop a process for making decisions that will positively impact the forward progress of your life or the life of your church. Who will be involved in the decision making process? Who will be impacted by the decision? Even making decisions for your personal life impacts the lives of others. What could the decision impact negatively? What could the decision impact positively?
Three questions you can always ask in any decision making process:
- What is the absolute best outcome if we make this decision?
- What is the absolute worst outcome if we make this decision?
- Am I (Are we) willing to live with the answer to number 2?
Making good decisions to change your life and bring about a positive results can be a complete reformation for your life and he life of your organization. Learn to practice good decision making. Turn those negative, declining trends around and watch the positive results begin to reveal themselves.
For more information on Making Good Decisions contact George Yates and pick up your copy of Reaching the Summit.