Drips Can Make an Impact

Ice bucket challenge
ALS Ice bucket challenge (Flickr )

The ice bucket challenge reminded me I don't like cold water.

And I don't like hail on my head. And one bucket of anything doesn't change much.

Leaders can easily become focused on a bucket by throwing money, time or energy at a problem. But most problems are better solved by sustained, consistent effort.

It seems to me that repeated processes produce better and more predictable outcomes. The leader's urgency to change an outcome often fuels a knee-jerk reaction to grab a bucket of anything. Desperate action rarely produces sustainable results.

Simple actions, repeated with frequency, seem to make the greatest impact on an organization. However, it becomes difficult to measure the efficacy of small acts, often repeated, because many leaders stop the action too soon.

"I tried that for a while. It didn't work."

Frequency of execution is a strategy. It becomes organizational DNA.

Be wary of buckets.

"He said, 'The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he does not know how. For the earth bears fruit by itself: first the blade, then the head, then the full seed in the head. But when the grain is ripe, immediately he applies the sickle because the harvest has come' " (Mark 4:26-29).

Dr. Steve Greene is the publisher and executive vice president of the media group at Charisma Media and executive producer of the Charisma Podcast Network. His book, Love Leads: The Spiritual Connection Between Your Relationships and Productivity, is now available.

Leaders, Dr. Greene wants to help you understand the spiritual connection between relationships and productivity. Read his new blog, here.

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