Jethro-Management Consultant

3,500-Year-Old Advice Still Pertinent

Bill Rorick is corporate director of employee relations and organizational development, United Refining Company, Warren, Pennsylvania.

THE CHAIRMAN of the board of a major New York-based management consulting firm, when learning of my close church ties, recently remarked, "I have never for a moment doubted the power of God to save, but I sure have to question His personnel policy most of the time." Sacrilegious to be sure, but still trenchantly poignant. There immediately came to my mind the words found on page 99 of Testimonies, volume 7: "The Lord is working impartially for every part of His vineyard. It is men who disorganize His work."

While the words of Matthew 5: 16 carry universal applicability, they can be applied specifically to those responsible for directing, administering, and managing the work of Cod here upon the earth: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Whatever else it might be, the kingdom of Cod is a managed organization. "Managers are needed in every branch of His work, that it may be carried on with energy and system."—Ibid., vol. 5, p. 276. On page 550 of the same volume we read, "As the result [of not seeking and following the counsel of God] the greatest work ever committed to mortals has been marred by man's defective management."

The chairman of the board referred to above was merely reacting to what he judged to be great inefficiency in the way that much of religious endeavor is managed or administered. He was, incidentally, in an unusually good position to make such an evaluation. Not only had he been a top-flight management consultant for close to fifty years but had also served on the national board of directors for one of the largest and most prestigious Protestant denominations in the country.

Coming closer to home, there is hardly a denominational worker who has not heard (or made) statements such as, "If General Motors were run as the church is run, it would be out of business in a month," or "The church's operational policy is pretty much consecrated ignorance," or "Every time the church takes over a business, they run it into the ground in no time flat." These are all sweeping generalities generously seasoned with obvious cynicism and frequent misinformation, but at the same time is there not a kernel of truth beneath the censorious crust that is worthy of closer examination?

After all, where do such attitudes and generalizations come from in the first place? More important, is there any place in the work and life of the church for the managerial tools and practices that serve as common currency in the secular marketplace? Is there, in deed, anything that the church can learn from General Motors? Unfortunately, it would appear that in some instances, at least, "the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light" (Luke 16:8).

Inefficiency Not New

Ineffectiveness and inefficiency are not new to the cause of Cod. The church's first great leader, who also happened to be a close friend of God, left much to be desired in the way of administrative skills. This leader, before assuming his ecclesiastical duties, had been a widely acclaimed administrator in the secular world.

He had supposedly studied at the feet of the Peter Druckers of his day. Yet, in spite of a close abiding friendship with God and the finest management training available anywhere, Moses fell far short of a 5-5 score on the Blake/Mouton Managerial Grid. His organizational chart still looked something like this:

In desperation at the wasted efforts and blighted hopes that en sued, Jethro, one of the first management consultants (Joseph predated him), came to Moses and declared with great certainty that if things continued on as they were, the whole movement would collapse in ruin, and that Moses would not only end up killing him self but destroying all those around him, as well (see Ex. 18:18). As a priest of Midian, Jethro was not without some practical organizational experience, and it is an indication of Moses' greatness and stature that he was willing to accept this rather strong advice so unequivocally.

Notice what Moses didn't plead. He didn't point out that he was a friend of God and had been chosen to lead the people, there fore things couldn't really be as bad as Jethro thought. In his heart Moses probably knew that he needed help. Good managers will sense when they have run into trouble and will welcome any help they can get, regardless of the source of that help. Jethro's ad vice, which could easily have earned him a $25,000 retainer fee in today's market, is recorded in Exodus 18:13-27. This passage should be required daily reading for every leader and manager in the church.

Principle Never Improved On

The counsel that Jethro gave to Moses is still to this day the cornerstone of effective management and organizational practice. The principle will never be bettered or improved upon. It is a simple concept, but incredibly efficient. It is called decentralization. It is put into operation by trusting other people's capabilities, as well as one's own, and then delegating to them both responsibility and authority.

Interestingly, Jethro prefaced his advice with the words "Now listen to me, and I will give you advice that God may go with you." The obvious inference being that refusal to follow the advice would result in the withdrawal of divine favor and even divine presence. When Jethro had finished, the new organizational chart looked something like this:

"He [Cod] designs that we should learn lessons of order and organization from the perfect order instituted in the days of Moses for the benefit of the children of Israel." —Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 653.

Counsel From Subordinates

The fact that God had not told Moses what the problem was, but chose rather to move upon a sub ordinate to proffer the needed counsel, should make every minister and administrator take stock as to how he reacts to advice and counsel from subordinates.

All of this involves a very basic management principle. Wherever this principle is recognized and given full play, the chances for making right decisions are greatly enhanced. Charles Kingsley, the director of management development for Scovill Corporation, a diversified manufacturer employing more than 20,000 workers and generating annual sales in excess of $500 million, stated the principle very succinctly in a recent conversation with this writer. In Mr. Kingsley's words, "Always let the solution come from those who are closest to the point of the problem."

How very reassuring it is to read the same logical, salient advice being given to those responsible for managing the Lord's work as far back as 1895: "The work has been greatly hindered in many fields because the laborers ask counsel from those who are not working in the field and who see not and feel not the demand, and therefore cannot understand the situation as well as the one who is on the ground." —Evangelism, p. 327.

These statements are not to be construed to mean that every man can work independently of constituted leadership or that there is no need for a constant ongoing communication to take place be tween leaders and subordinates. "But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased" (Heb. 13:16). It is a sad but poignant fact that for many Christian leaders, communication is indeed considered a sacrifice. The point that should be emphasized here is that when there is a difference of opinion it is good practice to defer to the judgment of those closest to the problem. This is not to say that mistakes will not be made or that the advice of seasoned managers not directly connected with a given situation is to be categorically ignored. The question that must be asked, however, is How are new managers to be developed and seasoned if they are in fact given little opportunity to make important decisions and then to live with those decisions?

It would certainly appear that this point is more than academic. God is very jealous of the prerogatives that He has bestowed upon those whom He has called to lead His work upon the earth. The Spirit of Prophecy is fraught through with admonition and grim warnings to those who would interpose themselves be tween a worker and the execution of his duties as he sees them. "God has given to men talents of influence which belong to Him alone, and no greater dishonor can be done to God than for one finite agent to bring other men's talents under his absolute control, even though the benefits of the same be used to the advantage of the cause. . . . Satan's methods tend to one end to make men the slaves of men." Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 360, 361. (Italics supplied.)

"Organizations, institutions, unless kept by the power of God, will work under Satan's dictation to bring men under the control of men; and fraud and guile will bear the semblance of zeal for truth, and for the advancement of the kingdom of God. . . . God will not vindicate any device, whereby man shall in the slightest degree rule or oppress his fellow men."—Ibid., p. 494. (Italics sup plied.)

We can confidently trust these managerial principles of decentralization and delegation. They are of heavenly origin, conceived in the mind of the great Proto-Manager. We see them given full play at the creation of our own world. "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth" (Genesis 1:28).

 


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Bill Rorick is corporate director of employee relations and organizational development, United Refining Company, Warren, Pennsylvania.

February 1975

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