I was 11 years old when I got my first lesson in nonprofit management. An ad in a Boy’s Life Magazine caught my eye:
“Boys! YOU can be just as happy as thousands of other boys! Don’t just wish for extra spending money to buy all the things you want. Why, there are lots of boys all over the country who are easily making dollar after dollar just showing folks the wonderful new Wallace Brown Christmas Cards… YOU can do it, too!”
I was sold! It helped that the magazine arrived just after the Sears Christmas Catalog, which reminded me of the (many) things I wanted. I promptly sent off for my samples and set about planning exactly what I’d spend my earnings on. The Christmas Catalog quickly became dog-eared. I worked and worked on how to spend the $60 I planned to earn.
Meanwhile, fall came to a close and December arrived. My mom would ask, “Paul, shouldn’t you go around with those card samples?” Not just yet, I’d reply. I was almost done with my budget.
Finally, around December 20, I set out to sell my Christmas cards. As you might imagine, it did not go well. I had not understood how the timing on Christmas cards worked. I wound up selling just two boxes of cards, which didn’t even recoup the five dollars I’d needed to invest at the outset. I call it a lesson in nonprofit management because my Christmas card business was entirely without profit!
Paul taking a nap when his family was camping in Oregon in 1962.
The Boys’ Life failure was my first, but not my last failure in management. God has used these failures, and some successes, to teach me a great deal about management — really, about wisdom – over the past 50 years. Here are a few principles that stand out:
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Good Management is the Art of Wisdom Seeking: The paradox of wisdom is that it only works when you know you don’t have it. The moment you think you have it, you begin to lose it. We see this paradox in Proverbs 3:3-5 (ital mine):
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
Wisdom-seeking flows from an understanding that we’re limited people, with a limited perspective, limited abilities, and limited time. Jesus described his wisdom-seeking when he said, “I don’t do anything by myself” John 15:1. This isn’t just “spiritual language;” Jesus’ Father is his boss. Running decisions by others, especially by supervisors, is a way of seeking wisdom. In fact, many of the systems of modern management are rooted in biblical wisdom’s distrust of the self-on-its-own: accountability, consultants, feedback, audits, boards, organization charts, and annual reviews all work at drawing in wisdom and understanding from others.
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways know him, and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
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Wisdom Seeking is Active, not Passive: While wisdom-seeking begins with humility, you won’t find wisdom if you equate humility with passivity. For about 12 years, I read through the book of Proverbs monthly. I was like a sponge because I knew I lacked wisdom to deal with the pressures of life. Observe how many ways Solomon charges his hearers to be active in seeking wisdom:
3 yes, if you call out for insight
As a manager, wisdom seeking requires asking uncomfortable questions of yourself. It means bringing to the table doubts about yourself, your processes, and what your team is doing. In the context of Christian subculture, which can be genteel and soft-spoken, wisdom-seeking can feel aggressive and intrusive. Actively seeking wisdom leads to a life that is daring but attentive, bold but careful, courageous but prudent.
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:3-6
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Wisdom Seeking Leads to Focus: Everything about wisdom leads to focus. It always means narrowing, concentrating. Even today, seeJesus faces strong temptations to be drawn in too many directions. It is as important to reflect on what (usually good things) to stop doing as it is to know what to focus on.
For example, when I’m working on a book, I log my writing hours every week. This puts in stark relief my struggle to focus on writing work. But as any writer will tell you, the only way to write a book is to spend lots of time writing! Recording and sharing my weekly timelog is a way of getting accountability and insight into what I need to stop doing so I can make more room for what I want to do.
Jesus talks about focus in the parable of the pearl of great price:
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:44-46
The merchant’s “selling all” is as important as the purchase of the field. If you don’t actively put things on hold or in maintenance mode, then you never have the time for breakthroughs. Breakthroughs require large concentrations of time and focus, so you need to delegate and, at times, live with a bit of mess in other areas to pursue them.
One of my more spectacular failures in ministry was 20 years ago, when seeJesus was 5 years old. The previous year, we raised the price for our annual pastor’s weekend retreat from $50/person to $100/person. We dipped from 100 attendees to 50, but we still thought the time was right to go big. A staff member had a successful marketing contact who was willing to help us for free, so we developed a mailer and sent it to 22,000 pastors East of the Mississippi. We offered a free book and 3 different pastor’s retreats for $200/attendee. Only about 30 people responded! Not only that, we spent $20,000 on printing and postage, based on a gift we’d received a few years in a row. But the donor decided not to repeat it, so I wound up needing to raise money for the project after it had already failed.
Our staff love that story – after all, having a boss who has failed gives you freedom to fail, too! Costly as it was, that failure has taught us the value of good processes, and that backstory helps passionate ministry people appreciate processes too.
Wisdom-seeking never ends! As we celebrate all that God has done in and through seeJesus these past 25 years, we ask again: Jesus, give us wisdom for the years ahead! Thank you for being a part of this story.
P.S. Those of you who have followed my family’s story for years will enjoy this recording of Miller family photos and stories that I shared at a 50th Anniversary Retrospective for New Life Glenside Church, the church dad started outside of Philly.
