The Tug-of-War In A Multi-Site Church
Having led a multi-site church for the last 8 years there are some unique tensions to this type of church. I call it the Multi-Site Church Tug Of War. The tension is a pull between reproducing and consistent quality. Many churches will never feel the tug of war between reproducing and consistent quality because they are only trying to achieve one or the other and not both. But for a reproducing church (a far better term to describe what we are doing at CCC) it is not an option to chose either/or; we have made the intentional choice to go with Jim Collins "genius of the and" and do both - reproduce new locations and new churches and do them with a high level of consistent quality.
When we got to about five locations I started to really see it and feel this tug of war. (Our fifth site in Shorewood, IL currently doing great - we are about 18 months into it and it is averaging 450-480 with over 70% of our people in small groups). However, as we continued to reproduce it seemed that our consistent quality began to waiver. What waivered was not quality, but consistent quality. Our celebration services still have a very high level of quality...a value that we have always held. But it seemed that we were not being as consistent at meeting that level of quality week after week in all of our CCC locations.
It would be easy to say, "well, what do you expect, Dave...four years ago you had two locations and you hadn't planted a church and now you guys have seven and soon to be eight locations (Pilsen-Chicago launches in February) with four church plants... of course with that kind of reproduction your consistent quality is going to suffer". Ugh! I can't buy it. How does Starbucks do it? How does McDonalds do it? I mean they reproduce over and over and over again...and they do it with a consistent quality. I have more to say about this...and I will come back to it. Any thoughts?
posted by Dave Ferguson at 8:05 PM
2 Comments:
Systems, systems, and more systems. I work closely with McDonald's Corp. & YUM Brands (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell etc.) and the key to their consistent quality in restaurants is indeed reproduceable systems - every restaurant following the exact systems (process & recipe)that have been battle tested and shown to be effective and efficient.
I believe that to maintain consistent quality across many locations the key is reproduceable systems. I'm sure at this point Dave you are probably saying, "but CCC has reproduceable systems for the most part (maybe not at MCD level just yet) at each location. We have the Big Idea!!!! Same adult message, same Kid City, same music, same First Impressions. CCC has reproduceable sytems - so where is the consistent quality?"
My answer to this would be, CCC has a much different product - and product may not be the best word here. Our product is not always representative of our reproduceable systems. A couple of examples to explain my reasoning here.
Take preparing a McD Quarterpounder - I am at one store following the reproduceable system, you at another. As long as we both follow the prescribed systems we will create a quarterpounder that presents it self the same to our customers. The same holds for Starbucks and creating a latte. Think about this, ususally when your experience differs at a MCD or Starbucks it is due to a human interaction - poor service, unhappy counter person, happy counter person, incompetent counter person, etc., The experience isn't different because the product taste different. At times there may be a system failure, but that too is ususally a result of human error. So, generally the Quarterpounder and Lattes come out tasting the same despite being prepared by different people - the talents of the preparer are ususally irrelevant if the system is followed.
At CCC the end product can be very different despite what appears to be following reproduceable systems. I am singing "Majesty" in Shorewood and you are singing "Majesty" in Naperville. Despite the same lyrics, same notes, same environment, etc., the sound coming out of our voices is not going to be the same quality nor will it ever be - both may be deemed high quality, but it will not be the same or consistent quality. I think this holds with Kid City, and any of the other areas where the real product is the delivery of people's gifts and talents.
CCC may be able to create excellent reproduceable systems to present and deliver its Big Idea, but it is the gifts and talents of individuals that truly determine the quality.
I believe that CCC is doing the right thing by creating reproduceable systems where ever possible. Reproduceable systems will increase the liklihood that the quality at each location will be deemed high quality, although it may not be consistent at each location.
Continue to create the reproduceable systems where ever possible, but I think the key system is how are we attracting, developing and training the individuals who deliver, how are we helping them to perfect their gifts - they hold the key to CCC's quality.
Paul,
Thanks for your comments. I think you are right that there is definitely a difference between CCC and Mickey D's or Starbucks. However, I think there is still more for us to learn. Let me ask you - if you had to pick three reproducible systems we should focus on identifying what three would you pick?
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