Let's face it... changes rarely happen the way we want. Change hits us when we aren't expecting and the journey of change has more twists and turns than we can predict. Change challenges our sense of control, especially from a Western mindset (other cultures don't have such a prominent illusion of control). And this is true for both individual and organizational change. It's just tough to change well. One training firm that specializes in change management has even said, "Organizations don't change." More about that later.

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You may be asking, “What is integral strategy anyway and why do I need it?” At Strategy for the People, I focus on integral strategy because I’ve found that many Christian organizations don’t know how to integrate their faith into the planning process. In fact, poverty alleviation organizations often create a dichotomy between strategic planning and faith, as though strategy is a purely secular discipline, leaving the Holy Spirit to act “in the moment” after the strategy is done. This dichotomy weakens our strategies and creates unending opportunities to go off strategy and “blame” it on God. It’s a bad habit based on bad theology.

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I often read strategies that look great on paper. They’re polished and beautiful with full color brochures and infographics. Often a high-paid consultant has helped and they’ve designed complex market strategies and program strategies that are impressive. But there’s a problem… a big problem. If you ask staff about the strategy, they don’t have a clue what it is. Staff will say things like, “I’m not really sure what the strategy is.” or “We don’t have a strategy.” This has got to be frustrating for leaders who have invested so much time, effort, and money into that full color strategy brief.

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