Reading: 3.2—Simple and Measurable

3.2 Simple & Measurable: Effective GCOs are articulated in simple, clear terms with measurability built in. When it comes to objectives, simplicity is a virtue because simplicity fosters clarity and understanding so that there is no confusion or ambiguity as to the substance of an objective. Leave no room for misunderstanding or misinterpretation in your statement of objectives so that all parties engaged in a particular objective are intellectually and intuitively dialed in accurately from the moment the objective is made known. Of course, there should be a clear link in a GCO to vision that was in view in our discussion of Skills 1 and 2.

A simple and solid GCO should include the ingredient of measurability, a metric that succinctly identifies whether or not an objective has been reached, fulfilled, or achieved. Without measurability, objectives float in the category of hopes or dreams or wishful thinking that is vague and ill equipped to drive decisions and actions toward completion. Consider these two contrasting objectives:

1. My objective is to hike to the summit of a mountain in Virginia.

2. My objective is to hike to the summit of Mount Rogers, the highest mountain in Virginia by elevation, by October 1, 2020.

The first objective is simple, but it’s vague and open ended with no measurability applied. Its shelf life could be forever as there is no metric attached that creates a timeframe expectation. An objective such as this could sit on a list of objectives until the end of time without driving any decisions or actions. The second objective is simple, clear, and measurable. What is going to be done? Hiking to the summit of a mountain. Which mountain? Mount Rogers. When? By October 1, 2020. With this clear objective in play, hikers will make many decisions and take many actions between the articulation of the objective and its completion, driven by the demands of the objective. Hikers must think through what must be done between now and October 1, 2020, to equip and enable them to meet this objective. These decision steps and action steps could be laid out as a plan that most likely demarcates the what, who, how, and when of the project to enable the fulfillment of the objective. When October 1, 2020, arrives, either this objective will have been met or not, and everyone engaged will know one way or the other. This is how a simple and measurable objective can prompt positive progress in most any endeavor.

Note that objectives exist to serve people, not the other way around. In other words, objectives need not be held over people’s heads in a legalistic or oppressive way. Objectives shed light on the disbursement of time, money, energy, and other resources. They provide a destination and even a path to that destination, but objectives are linked to vision and that vision is the ultimate destination. Therefore, significant progress toward an objective can be seen as a win, even if the result is somewhat shy of the objective. For example, let’s say that a given church’s leadership has determined that small groups ministry is to play a significant role in both the discipling of its congregation and the mobilization of that congregation for ministry in the community. At present, 28% of the congregation is engaged in small groups ministry. Leadership establishes an objective that by January 1 of the coming year, 75% of the congregation will be engaged in small groups.

Numerous decisions will have to be made and many action steps taken for this GCO to be reached. For example, this will require identifying, recruiting, and training a cadre of small group leaders to serve as leaders of the many small groups that will need to be created. This will, also, require finding multiple homes to serve as host sites for small groups gatherings. This list goes on and on, but a plan and a timeline will be developed to ensure that the ministry capacity required for this objective to be met is in place. So far, so good. However, when January 1 comes, only 62% of the congregation, let’s say, is engaged in small groups. Is this a failure? Well, it’s a failure in the sense that the stated objective was not fully realized. However, moving from 28% to 62% is a significant increase, an increase of more than double. By any measurement standard, that’s a huge win. So, rather than seeing this as a failure, this should be seen as a resounding success. What this points out, perhaps, is that going from 28% to 75% by January 1 was allotting too short a time period for this objective. The objective could be reset with something such as moving from 62% to 75% by June 1. The point is not that every GCO target needs to be hit as a bull’s-eye, but that steady progress needs to be made.

One final word regarding measurability: Be reasonable about quantitative metrics over stated time periods. Serious thought and prayer should be given to numbers and timeframes so that random pie in the sky numbers aren’t thrown out that set the bar so high that reaching them is highly improbable. Yes, exercise faith in your GCO projections; just don’t go absurdly overboard. GCOs must be seen by leaders and congregants as credible.

Setting Great Commission Objectives (GCOs) and establishing accountability effectively begins by carefully and prayerfully crafting GCOs that are simple and measurable; simple to provide clarity and understanding; measurable for accuracy in evaluating progress.