Recently, I worked with two churches who broke protocol. One moved the communications team to the connections department and the other put the director of guest services in charge of the communications function.
In both cases, it freaked people out. When they didn’t show up under the heading they were comfortable with on the org chart, they felt threatened and uncertain. They either found too much identity in the title “creative” or “arts” or they were intimidated at the thought of being responsible for a “creative” or “arts” function because they didn’t see themselves as creative. Both perspectives are flawed and incomplete.
“Great leaders are able to find small pieces of friction within an organization, and remove them.” Jeff Rosenblum, Author of The Naked Brand
Once they got over themselves, they realized this structure change opened the road to creativity at a holistic level. They were able to annihilate silos, rally around a shared win, solve nagging problems, take advantage of cross promotional opportunities and actually get more done—better. Creativity wasn’t diluted, it was unleashed.
“What defines a person’s creativity most is their ability to make connections others don’t see.” Mike McHargue
So, do it. Break protocol. Make sure your people and activity are actually aiming in the same direction, going to the same place, working together all along the way.
- Connect your title to a desired outcome, not a vanity plate.
- Disrupt old department segments to promote new thinking, not preservation mentality.
- Instigate conversations with questions to discover buried gold, not impose restrictions.
- Help with projects outside your swim lane, not just the ones on your turf.
- Prioritize efforts around the success of the team, not a personal to-do list.
“When you call it a marketing team, no one knows for sure what you’re supposed to do. But, when you call it a growth team, everyone knows exactly what the goal is and what you need to do every day.” Craig Miller, CMO of Shopify
Get gutsy. Break protocol. Be more productive.
This article originally appeared here.
