Book Review: Sticky Teams

“A unified and healthy leadership team doesn’t just happen. It has to be a priority.” Larry Osborne, Sticky Teams

It has been 14 years since I served on a church staff, but I have found that I really enjoy reading books about healthy churches.  There are a lot of similarities between churches and Christian education.  I feel certain that most of what Larry Osborne talks about in his book Sticky Teams would be quite applicable to a variety of different contexts…pretty much anywhere that at least two people are working together!  Reading this book definitely gave me some ideas on things that I could do to help our team at my school.  The greater takeaways were those things that I learned that I could be doing to be a better teammate.  This book was a great read…fairly straightforward…and I’d highly recommend it!

Here are some things that I highlighted while reading…

• STICKY TEAMS STICK TOGETHER. That’s their defining trait. When faced with the differing agendas and clashing perspectives that every team must work through, sticky teams know how to deal with the issues at hand and still come out united in purpose and vision, with a genuine camaraderie undamaged by strong differences. In other words, sticky teams are not only productive; they’re healthy. Page: 19
• One of the great beauties of a truly healthy and unified leadership team is that it experiences unity in the healthiest sense of the word. Sticky teams aren’t made up of mindless clones; they’re made up of widely divergent personalities and viewpoints. Their team members often disagree, but they know how to fight fair. When the battle of competing ideas is over, they march out and present a united front, setting aside their personal preferences and agendas in light of the greater good and the bigger mission. Page: 20
• A unified and healthy leadership team doesn’t just happen. It has to be a priority. Page: 24
• it finally dawned on me that we were never going to change the world out there if we couldn’t solve the conflicts in here. Page: 25
• Eventually, I settled on three irreducible minimums that defined what I was looking for. They became the grid through which I judged how we were doing and what we were aiming for on both a board and a staff level. They form my working definition of a unified leadership team. Your list may differ. But this is a good place to start. Doctrinal unity Respect and friendship Philosophical unity Page: 28
• unity that insists on uniformity isn’t unity at all. It’s a cheap counterfeit. Genuine and biblical unity is found in the midst of real and passionate differences that we set aside in the recognition that the differences we have are nowhere as important as the King we serve. Page: 29
• The key is to clearly determine ahead of time the things we won’t fight about and then make it crystal clear to everyone that these issues are off-limits. Page: 29
• Making clear what you will and won’t fight over will save you lots of grief. In nearly every theological tussle I’ve been asked to moderate, the battle hasn’t been over something spelled out in the church’s doctrinal statement. It’s been over a peripheral issue that someone felt should have been an essential issue. Page: 30
• Friends and strangers have very different patterns of relating to one another. Friends are vulnerable, while strangers hold their cards close to the vest; friends tend to give each other the benefit of the doubt, while strangers are cautious and suspicious; and when it comes to dicey issues, friends debate, while strangers argue. Page: 31
• The third component of a healthy and unified team is philosophical unity. Simply put, this means having a basic agreement about our priorities and methods of ministry. Page: 31
• The dysfunction and disunity in our churches often is not so much a matter of sinful people with evil motives as it is a pattern of failed traditions, policies, and structures that unintentionally tear us apart. There is a better way. Page: 34
• Resolving these five issues provided the biggest payoffs once we found a way to get around them or fix them. Meeting in the wrong place Ignoring relationships Not meeting often enough Constant turnover Too many members Page: 37
• “Whenever a group of people increase the amount of time they spend together, there is a corresponding increase in their regard and appreciation for one another.” Page: 40
• Our “no theys” rule applies not only to the board; it also applies to every staff meeting and to all of my dealings with the congregation. Now whenever someone says that they’ve been talking to some people who have a concern, I always ask, “Who are they?” If I’m told that they wouldn’t be comfortable having their names mentioned, I respond, “That’s too bad, because I’m not comfortable listening to anonymous sources. Let me know when they’re willing to be identified. I’ll be happy to listen.” Page: 53
• Rather than trying to figure out what everybody wants them to do, leadership teams have only one question: what does God want us to do? Page: 53
• How will this person fit with the team relationally? How will this person fit with the needs of the team organizationally? Page: 56
• My list of the six things I want every one of my leaders to know: Ignore your weaknesses Surveys are a waste of time Seek permission, not buy-in Let squeaky wheels squeak Let dying programs die Plan in pencil Page: 73
• successful ministries ignore their weaknesses and focus on their strengths. Page: 74
• The fact is, oiling squeaky wheels can be hazardous to your church’s health. Leaders who place too much emphasis on keeping squeaky wheels happy risk abdicating leadership. Instead of initiating, the leaders end up reacting. Instead of asking, “What does God want us to do?” they ask, “How will the squeaky wheels react?” Page: 81
• Specialists who can’t become trainers or who aren’t willing to become trainers will eventually put a ceiling on the growth of your church or bust your budget. Page: 110
• A ministry can’t remain healthy and vibrant when behind-the-scenes turf battles, budget wars, and volunteer raids are taking place. Fiefdoms and silos might make for strong programming, but the price is a sick church. Page: 112
• When working with leadership teams to determine their ability and openness to fully utilize and keep young eagles, I ask three questions. Are young eagles empowered and platformed? Are young eagles in the loop or in the meeting? Who gets to ride shotgun? Page: 115
• Ephesians 4:11–13 is a popular text and can be found on many bulletin covers, letterheads, and logos. It calls Christian leaders to equip the entire body of Christ for the work of the ministry. It implies that the one-man show is out, that we all have a role to fill, that we need to be trained and equipped to fulfill it. Page: 130
• In particular, I’ve come to rely on five powerful tools to keep us aligned. A clear and simple mission statement A front-loaded pastor’s class The drip method of preaching Sermon-based small groups Short and sweet congregational meetings Page: 160
• One thing that distinguishes great teams is the way they navigate the landmines and danger zones that bring so many other teams down. Page: 170
• Leading boldly requires a commitment to stay. Page: 181
• The Scriptures (especially Proverbs) suggest that it’s wise to have something in reserve. Solomon put it this way: “In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.”14 When we fail to build a margin into the budget or lack the discipline to store up some savings, it practically guarantees that we will have some sort of financial crisis every year and a long history of missed opportunities. Page: 192
• In a fallen world, these kinds of tough situations are unavoidable. Even in a great church with a great team, moral failures, financial meltdowns, and staff members who don’t make it are part of the landscape. It’s not a new phenomenon. The Bible is riddled with similar events. We can learn a lot by looking at how God responded when things went wrong in Israel and the early church. He didn’t cover it up. He told us the truth. Though painful at times, telling the truth is always the right thing to do. It’s also what healthy teams have come to expect and, sadly, what dysfunctional teams will never know. Page: 210
• For two thousand years, we’ve suffered more than our share of failed leadership, astounding cultural blind spots, nasty fights, misplaced priorities, millstone traditions, and lots of sin in the camp. But we’ve not been able to kill off the church yet. She’s still his bride. He’s still in love with her, and he’s still coming back to take her home. Page: 212