"Influencer" - faith without actions, vital behaviors

I’m reading a book entitled “Influencer: the power to change anything” by Kerry Patterson et al.  It’s one of those leadership texts that popped up in enough discussions that I felt I should read it.  As I’ve confessed before, I’m more of a Stephen King and JK Rowling reader than a reader of management and leadership texts.  But with great power comes great responsibility, including the responsibility to read boring books.

The premise of the book is that people in leadership roles have an obligation not only to identify complex problems, but to develop and propagate solutions to those problems.  The style of the book is an interweaving of key points with interesting stories exemplifying the authors’ key points. The stories frequently felt disjointed to me, as they were intentionally spread throughout the book to highlight each sequential lesson.  All in all, the book was reasonably interesting and had some valid, instructive points.  An easy read, so in the grand scheme not a waste of time or energy.  As is my intentional-thought-habit, I read the book with at least half an eye opened to contrast it with scriptural wisdom.  Real wisdom in any form will parallel wisdom from God’s word.  

There were some ideas that stood out to me as worthy of further thought, one of them being the authors’ emphasis on key behaviors rather than dwelling on desired outcomes.  The simplistic example they started with is one very familiar to me as a registered dietitian—the example of the person who says “I’m going to lose 40 pounds in 6 weeks.”  They state this is their goal, their reason for seeing me as an RD.  When asked for what they will do, what they will change, what goal they have, they repeat this desire for weight loss.  Rarely without coaching is someone able to say “my overall objective is to lose 40 pounds; to achieve that, I’m going to start walking 5 days a week for 45 minutes and stop drinking regular soda.”  The key to attaining that overall health objective is to change specific behaviors—start walking, stop with the extra sugary calories.  Rarely are people able to separate what they want into the necessary behaviors to get to that desired outcome.  That is one of the first lessons of “Influencer” in the chapter entitled “Find Vital Behaviors.”  

In process improvement methodology, when solving a problem we are directed to “ask why 5 times” to get to the root behavior that is either causing the problem or that must be changed to solve the problem. As an RD, this has been ingrained into me as how I think as a clinician—the apparent problem may be obesity, but maybe the real problem is “obesity related to excess energy intake as evidenced by 500 calories per day from regular soda, weight creep of 5lbs/month and a BMI of 35.”  The obesity may be what we need to solve, but we are going to have to get to that excess energy intake by focusing on one specific behavior—3 cans of regular soda each day.  We definitely have to start by asking “what problem are we trying to solve.”  I have mentored many a subordinate with exactly that question; if we start changing things without clearly stating our problem, we certainly will not solve the problem.  But once we’ve nailed down that specific problem, we need to identify the string or network of behaviors that lead to it.  If the problem is HIV (a major problem tackled by epidemiologists and public health officials and used as an example throughout the book), we cannot simply rail against the evils of the problem—we must understand how the disease is spread, the specific chain of behaviors which lead up to the infection of a previously healthy person.  If the problem is obesity, we need to explore the behaviors which have contributed to weight gain—choosing to be physically inactive; consuming large portions of fatty foods, etc.

I find this emphasis on changing behavior both scripturally relevant and also in interesting contrast to a worldview, specifically, the post-modern worldview that is skeptical of absolute truths, rejects objective reality and moral absolutes.  This worldview is the philosophical child of existentialism, the belief that every individual must live their unique truth, must live life passionately and authentically according to their own values and beliefs.  The existential thinker believes that we are first individuals, a true essence, we exist first—then what we are proceeds from that.  From these philosophical perspectives, we get the ideology of “you do you”, “your truth is not my truth”, “we each have to choose our own paths, our own good.”  If there is no moral absolute (post-modernism) and everyone is living out their unique and personal truth (existentialism), then it is only the heart and motivation that counts, not the actual outcomes.  Within this thought-climate, specific behaviors are not addressed (how judg-y is it to address behaviors—don’t you know everyone is just living out their own truth?) and instead desired outcomes are only wistfully contemplated.  Top that off with a layer of good old fashioned Gnosticism—the body, anything earthly or physical, is innately base, evil and not to be trusted—and we are even further away from being able to identify meaningful actions, relevant behaviors which we must engage in with our hands, our mouths, our bodies.  “It doesn’t matter if we do the right things, as long as our hearts are in the right place.” 

Blah.  

Nobody gets objective feedback.  Specific behaviors—actions which physically result in a change to the environment, to another person, to a specific circumstance—are not addressed.  Goals continue to be pie-in-the-sky, un-concrete, intangible, unmeasured.

“The workplace needs to be safe and respectful.”

                (No eye rolling.  No yelling.  No swearing or name-calling.  No offensive jokes—if it’s questionable, avoid saying it.  No threats of violence.  No threats of tattling, lying or retribution.  No physical violence.  Use civil language and be specific when discussing concerns.  Bring in a supervisor if you feel you need help.)

It’s easy to say “the workplace needs to be safe and respectful”—if I’m trying to solve the problem of a workplace that feels unsafe or threatening to some people and prevents them from being fully engaged, that’s a good objective.  But the specific behaviors—no swearing, no threats—involve specific behaviors.  Those behaviors must be chosen by each individual and reinforced by supervisors and peers.  Wrong behaviors require feedback and possible disciplinary action—judgement that the behavior was inappropriate, guidance on what an appropriate behavior would be.  

It’s easy to just say “everyone needs to be nice.”  It’s hard to work through changing organizational behavior.

Saying and not doing must just be part of the human condition, because scripture certainly addresses it.  Jesus says in Matthew 7: 24ff that those who hear His words and put them into practice (turn them into actions and physical behaviors) are like a wise man who built his house on a foundation of rock. Such a house is able to withstand storms.  On the other hand, a foolish person who fails to put Jesus’ words into practice is one who builds his house on the sand; such a shifting foundation collapses in the first storm.  In Matthew 12: 50, Jesus says that “…whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother”—that is, whoever is obedient is His true disciple.  James says in James 1: 22ff that we should not simply hear God’s word, but must “do what it says”, otherwise we deceive ourselves.  James goes further to specify that “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”  Back in Matthew, Jesus tells the parable of the sheep and goats:  those who fed the hungry, gave hospitality to the stranger, clothed the naked and comforted the sick and imprisoned—those were called His true disciples.  The ones who simply say “keep warm and well fed” (James 2: 16) are not obedient, not living out faith, not a disciple.  “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”(James 2: 17).

There’s a challenging tension in Christian theology when it comes to “good works.”  On the one hand, we know that salvation in Christ is a free gift because of God’s boundless mercy.  There is nothing we can do to earn God’s love or our salvation; that is a fully accomplished fact in Christ.  But on the other hand, we are clearly told (see verses above) that living out God’s love toward others and being obedient to God’s holy expectations is part of a vibrant life of faith.  Christians know that there is an objective truth, objective morality—God’s holiness is clearly portrayed in scripture.  Christians have no revulsion toward the body or toward physical activities—the whole physical world is God’s creation, something that He called good; Jesus came to earth in a real human body; He died on a real wooden cross, shed His real human blood.  We are not Gnostics; we know that what we do in the body and on earth has value.  We also reject existential angst.  We exist because God created us; our lives are given meaning because God loves us, has called us His children and forgiven us in Christ.  Armed with these truths, we can seek out not just the problems, but the vital behaviors required to address those problems.  We are also empowered with God’s Holy Spirit, a spirit of wisdom and of love.  Are you facing a problem at work that you must influence and change?  With God’s grace and power, you can be the influencer you need to be.

1)      Are there problems in your work place that need to be sorted through, to find vital behaviors to change and effect change?  Have you been vague in your directions? Have you focused too much on the problem or the desired end result and not enough on contributing behaviors? 

2)      Have you run into an attitude of “I may have [lied; been late; bullied a peer; failed to meet a suspense; been disingenuous with my input into the project] but I’m not a bad person.”  How do you help people separate their behaviors from their sense of self--to be able to receive feedback without feeling attacked?  How do you help people connect specific positive behaviors with their personal values and also connect their behaviors to shared organizational goals?

3)      As Christians, we understand that human beings are by nature fallen and sinful; our behaviors by default are selfish and failure-prone.  How does your leadership or management style balance high expectations about behaviors with the understanding that people will fail?

4)      Spend time reflecting on your role as a leader or manager and how it contributes to caring for your neighbor and doing God’s will.  Are there personal behaviors you should address which are preventing you from serving God’s people and being an effective leader?