COVER STORY

Decentralizing stewardship
Minister’s decision a lesson in the power of empowerment
By Jerry Ash out $100 bills – a total of Then his daughter pitched
$10,000 from his church’s in too. Soon the Shedds had
There is no better way to general funds – to 100 collected $1,000.
understand how the rules parishioners with instructions After weeks of debate,
can change, how people can they were to invest it outside the family donated $800 to a
become engaged in making the church in line with the shelter for abused women and
better decisions, and how goals and objectives of the children.
surprise and discovery can church mission. Then Shedd read a
ignite communities than to “It had to be glorifying newspaper article about 15-
follow the collection plate of to God and it had to benefit year-old Javier Zambrano in
a community church where others,” Bellesi said. Beyond nearby Santa Ana, California,
the pastor chooses to think that, how each spent the who was collecting holiday
differently. money was a personal gifts for children even though
Follow the money in most decision. he didn’t have enough money
churches and you will see it Soon hundreds of people to buy soccer shoes for
travel through the hierarchy: and funds far greater than himself. Shedd gave Javier
the original $10,000 the remaining $200 for soccer
One hundred parishioners got $100 bills were involved. equipment.
with one simple instruction: “It must glorify The results ranged
from small acts
Michael Rodriguez
used the $100 to begin a
God and benefit others.” Otherwise, it was of kindness such donation drive at the Internet
a personal decision. as helping a local consulting company where
family get on he worked. The money raised
from the donor to the finance its feet to large helped a family with funeral
committee where decisions projects such as funding the costs for two daughters who
are made on how it is spent. construction of a church in had died. Gene Shook used
Sometimes spending decisions Asia. the money to buy Bibles and
are influenced by individuals Bill Shedd, one of the study guides to train pastors
or special interest groups parishioners, said, “It was the in Asia. Nine-year-old Alex
who want to support worthy most important $100 I ever Benson sent the money to a
causes or people in need. held in my hands.” To add four-year-old Oregon girl
The administration carries to the pot, Shedd’s 13-year- to help her family with
out the will of the committee old son donated $100 he had expenses for a heart
and, of course, there is an saved from his allowance. transplant.
accounting process and the
members receive a
financial report.
Denny Bellesi,
then minister of the
Coast Hills
Community
Church in
Aliso Viejo,
California,
turned
the process
around. The
clergyman gave
4 SMART PEOPLE

Pastor Bellesi intended
the lesson to be about
stewardship. In business
we would have called
it an experiment in the
decentralization of decision-
making.
By accident, Pastor Bellesi
may have learned a lesson
for himself – that in the era of
information and knowledge,
people like to think for
themselves, and great things
happen when hierarchy gets
out of the way.
The explosion of the
Internet and other forms of
personal communication –
coupled with the highest level
of human intellectual activity
ever – have created a new
order in human enterprise.
It is a phenomenon that
transcends all ages, not just
the young and impetuous.
Patients enter doctors’ offices
these days already having
researched their symptoms.
They make decisions about
their own care based on what
they know, not just what the
doctor tells them.
Shoppers go online not
just to buy, but also to learn
all they can about a product
from every point of view.
They depend much less on
what the salesman advises;
in many cases, the customer
knows more – or better.
The selection of media
is no longer limited to
newspapers or broadcast
journalism, creating an even
freer flow of information and
ideas. Doing business with
the government is as close
as the desktop, allowing
citizens to take charge of their
own affairs by bypassing
intermediaries who have
“government connections.”
The impact of this
dramatic culture change is
both in the marketplace and
the workplace. People like
The knowledge effect is ubiquitous.
Self-direction and decision-making are at the
heart of this cultural change
Pastor Bellesi’s parishioners
not only thrive on the
responsibility of decision-
making, they have come to
expect it. When people go to
work, they are looking for
an environment that will use
their brains as well as brawn.
Some who were schooled
in the command-and-control
management methods of
the past may call it disorder.
Certainly, the open field
attitude of today might
have been anathema in the
Industrial Age, but we are
now in a knowledge economy.
Bright people with fresh
ideas and initiative are just the
fit for enterprises that need
innovation and agility to keep
up with rapidly changing
methods and marketplaces.
Customers are approaching
organizations directly with
their ideas for new products.
They are no longer content just
to consider what’s available.
They want to participate.
So, the knowledge
resource and the knowledge
culture aren’t a problem.
Organizing a knowledge-
friendly environment that
encourages knowledge
sharing and collaboration is.
The new order requires a
new style of leadership and
“followership” that fits the
new kind of enterprise.
COVER STORY
Pioneers on the leading
edge of these phenomena
are too often thought of
– mistakenly – as promoters
of a new fad. Such a reaction
is understandable since this
seemingly sudden focus on
the knowledge phenomenon
follows closely on the heels
of a succession of popular
management fads that have
business leaders and workers
somewhat skeptical of the next
short-lived craze.
But this is not a craze and
it is not temporary. It is real
and it will change the way
we think, live and work in
the foreseeable future. The
champions of KM and SN are
the futurists of our time. They
work between an outdated
past and an uncharted
future that is already upon
us. They approach issues
from the perspective of
their own backgrounds in
management, communication,
human relations, training
and development, education,
strategic analysis, technology,
project management and
academic research.
But the most effective
champion of all is Mother
Nature. The technology may
be the work of humans, but
the effect is nature at work.
Adapted from the introduction to
Next Generation Knowledge
Management written by Jerry
Ash and published by Ark Group,
London. http://www.ikmagazine.
com/bookshop.asp
SMART PEOPLE 5