ESSENCE:  From time to time, we will devote posts to describing specific actions a leader can consider during the Re-Align step of Integriosity^®–actions that will begin to Re-Align the organization with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.  We will call the posts “Integrity Ideas”. The Integriosity model organizes “heart change” along six Covert-Overt Continuums, and breaks the Covert-Overt Continuums into six gradations that we believe are helpful in beginning to pray and think about what is most appropriate for an organization at a particular moment in time.  No single place along a continuum is the “right place”.  The “right place” will be unique for each organization and leader.  The “right place” for a particular organization and leader will come through prayer and is likely to evolve over time.  That means, some Integrity Ideas will feel like a good fit, and others will not. The choice should be based on which approach is best for stewarding the organization toward its WHY.  There is nothing magic about these categories, but we think they are helpful in thinking about practical execution of a Re-Imagined Purpose, Re-Imagined Values and a Re-Imagined Culture.

We have spent 125 posts exploring how a faithful leader of an organization can lead that organization faithfully.  Topics have included:

(1) the attributes of business as usual and work as usual in the way of the world and the problems they create,

(2) the practical need and theological basis for business a better way in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities and what it looks like,

(3) the problems with some faith as usual approaches to faith/work integration, the Side Road detours that can lead a well-intentioned leader to “miss the mark”, and the problems inherent in getting stuck on a Side Road,

(4) the ancient road of business a better way and the four steps of navigating it through what we call Integriosity^® (Renew, Re-Imagine, Re-Align and Restore), and

(5) the five key “mind-shifts” necessary to work toward business a better way and how faithful leaders can lead faithfully through business a better way.

From time to time, we will devote posts to describing specific actions a leader can consider during the Re-Align step of Integriosity–actions that will begin to Re-Align the organization with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.  We will call the posts “Integrity Ideas”.

Refresher: The Importance of the Steps to Integriosity

CAUTION:  The four steps of Integriosity build on each other.

As we begin describing practical steps an organization can take to move toward business a better way, some leaders will be tempted to just begin implementing them.  While doing these things on an ad hoc basis is not “bad”–it risks “missing the mark”–being satisfied with something “good” and missing God’s “best”.

In his book Ekklesia, Ed Silvoso writes “The enemy of the “best” . . . .  is the “good”, because by being so satisfying, it deprives  us of the hunger for the “much more” that in this case God has in store.”

RENEWING a leader’s mind (about things like business as usual vs. business a better way, God’s purpose for work and business and faith as usual Side Roads) builds the foundation for dreaming and planning–RE-IMAGINING what their organization would look like in alignment with business a better way.

In turn, RE-IMAGINING creates the blue print for RE-ALIGNING the purpose, values and culture, step by step.

RESTORE is called a “step” in the Integriosity process, but it is really the product of the first three steps–it is the fruit. That fruit can be seen in people, in the organization and in work relationships.  It is people Humanized, the world Beautified and God Glorified.

Jumping straight to RE-ALIGN risks building on a foundation of sand.

Refresher: The Continuums

Our description of “Integrity Ideas” for these practical suggestions will make no sense unless you recall our discussion of the six Covert-Overt Continuums from the RE-ALIGN step of Integriosity.

Matthew 10:16 cautions to be “wise as serpents”, and we believe the “wise” approach to leading faithfully through business a better way is a flexible approach.  The Integriosity model organizes “heart change” along six Covert-Overt Continuums.  There is nothing magic about these categories, but we believe they are helpful in thinking about practical execution of a Re-Imagined Purpose, Re-Imagined Values and a Re-Imagined Culture.

• Covert-Overt Continuums

Prayer

Proclamation

Policies

Practices

Products

People

Each continuum goes from COVERT to OVERT and represents areas in which leaders can begin to think about, plan and institute Re-Alignment changes to the heart of the organization.

Integriosity focuses on heart change and the continuum approach gives permission to be “wise” about overtness, providing a structure within which prayerfully to consider the most appropriate balance for the particular organization at a point in time.  The most important step is getting on the continuums, because any place along a continuum is better than no place on the continuum.

The Integriosity model breaks the COVERT-OVERT Continuums into six gradations that we believe are helpful in beginning to pray and think about what is most appropriate for an organization at a particular moment in time.  No single place along a continuum is the “right place”.  The “right place” will be unique for each organization and leader.  The “right place” for a particular organization and leader will come through prayer and is likely to evolve over time. That means, some Integrity Ideas will feel like a good fit, and others will not.

Highly Covert: An action that would be taken by a secular company.

Very Covert: An overtly faith-based action known only to the leader.

Covert: An overtly faith-based action known only to a select group within the organization.

Overt: An overtly faith-based action known generally within the organization.

Very Overt: An overtly faith-based action involving suppliers, vendors or customers

Highly Overt: An overtly faith-based action involving community, website, sales/marketing materials.

Continuum Ideas

When we do a post introducing a Integrity Idea, we will indicate the Continuum(s) it falls on as well as where we believe it falls in the six COVERT-OVERT gradations.

At the COVERT end, initiatives may look just like initiatives that an enlightened secular organization might implement.  The difference–and it is a BIG DIFFERENCE–is the WHY behind the initiative–because that makes ALL the difference.  The faithful leader is putting the initiative in place because it represents leading faithfully in furtherance of business a better way in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.  The secular business is likely putting the initiative in place because its leaders have determined that, in the long-run, it is good for the bottom-line in furtherance of Profit as Purpose and business as usual (or, at a minimum, they believe it is not inconsistent with Profit as Purpose).

WHY also matters in choosing a COVERT or OVERT approach.  The choice should be based on which approach is best for stewarding the organization toward its WHY.  It would be a “miss” to pick COVERT out of fear, and it would be “miss” to pick OVERT for human approbation.  Integrity is at the core of the Integriosity journey, and as Rick Warren noted:

Integrity is uncorrupted motivation. It means you do the right thing, and you do it for the right reason.

Integrity Idea posts are likely to be much shorter than most of our posts, which some readers will cheer (we have received feedback that our posts take a fair amount of time and brain cells to digest).

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM):  Even before developing the Integriosity model, I spent a year teaching myself FileMaker (the Apple database solution) and building a fairly complex (at least for a database novice) database structure that would make it easy to categorize, retrieve and track organizational practices based upon organizations using them, their Continuums and their place along the Continuums.

I invite readers of these posts to share examples of organizations integrating faith and work and the specific practices they have implemented to bring the organization more in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities–I will add them to the database for the benefit of all.

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Photo Credit: Original photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash (photo cropped)