Reflections on DiSC and Church Planting Research

Recently I read over a research paper coming out of the States by Dr Paul S Williams titled, The DiSC Test as a Predictor of Church Planter Success.

I found it here. It was published last year (ish) and interacts with (among others) the NCD survey, Jim Collins of the business world, and previous studies like Ridley's.

It was definitely worth the read. I'm certainly not in a position to critique it from a methodological point of view, so my reflections are just at the level of interacting with the conclusions / comments along the way.

Here are some things that stood out:

• Research Measures (i.e. what was 'success')
• His two key measures were:
• (a) average attendance growth, and 
• (b) per capita giving ($$) growth. (I gather they're very commonly used measures). 
• Attendance and giving were measures at 12 months in, and at three years in to the plant.
• Particular DiSC Patterns and Performance
• The 'Inspirational' (one of the high Di patterns)--which seems to be the darling pattern of many in church planting literature--was vastly out-performed by the 'Persuader' (a high iD pattern) on (a) attendance growth, and came dead last on (b) giving growth. It's not that the 'Inspirational' pattern did poorly at (a), though, it was still top 4.
• 'Persuader' pattern leaders was head-and-shoulders above the pack for growth in attendance.
• 'Creative' pattern leaders were strong on growing giving, but only modest in generating attendance growth.
• Variation was significant:
• "It is important to note, however, that in all but one pattern represented in the study […] there was at least one church that experienced growth equal to or greater than the average growth of the top four patterns." 81. 
• Given his very-small sample-size for some of the 'DiSC patterns', this surely renders some of his 'averages' tentative, at best, I reckon.
• DiSC and Jim Collins. Williams sees the 'Inspirational' pattern leader as a nearest match for Collins' Level 4 leader. So what about Level 5?:
• "From this researcher's knowledge of the DiSC test, it would appear that Level Five leaders would likely score with one of the other strong church planting patterns. Persuader Pattern, Results-Oriented Pattern, and Creative Pattern leaders seem to have the strengths that appear in a  Level Five leader.", 96.
• Fwiw, from my reading of Collins, I reckon a Level 5 leader has to be pretty extraordinary--a real mould-breaker. I'd expect him/her to exhibit a breath-taking versatility of behaviours right around the DiSC. i.e. I'm suggesting that none of the DiSC Patterns provide a neat match.
• Stability of your DiSC over time. Over time, an individual's DiSC assessment of behaviours holds 'very good' over one year, and 'good' over three years (the study length). But the implication from the data is that your DiSC behaviours drift over time, and beyond three years it does drop beneath a level required for a 'good' correlation. I guess that makes sense--patterns of behaviour change over time. We still believe in that, right?!
• Systemic Preclusion? The researcher hints at his own concerns that systemic issues are precluding some DiSC pattern folks from even applying to be church planters (non-'Inspirational' types, particularly). While I'm intrigued and I've wondered the same thing--and I'm certainly wary of letting my own failure of imagination preclude people-unlike-me from taking on big ministry roles--I'd be keen to see some actual research on it. It's too easy to cry 'systemic failure!'.

For the record, I'm High-D, High C, with average (not low) i. That means none of the Classic DiSC profiles neatly matches my behaviour pattern, but I'm kinda two-thirds 'Creative', one third 'Results Oriented'. The researcher fits a 'Persuader' pattern.

MCing at Church - some advice

Mike Jolly's ever-popular post on MCing a church meeting is well worth a read (as is the comment thread there, actually). And I think he's about to post on the topic again, so stay tuned!

Anyhow, prompted by a conversation with Mike, I'd like to share with you some things I've been thinking about (and working on) in my MCing recently. This isn't a 'balanced' list, in any sense; it hardly mentions biblical input, for example. Hope it helps :)

• Start Strong - the first 30 seconds either sets up everyone else to be heard, or makes their job harder.
• Sustained Eye Contact - make it, and hold it... then move on. Don't flit, flit, flit. Make eye contact with an individual, hold it for several seconds. Move to another. Repeat. That kinda eye contact takes confidence, but it establishes a very 'direct' connection with your listeners.
• Your Own Prayer - without meaning to sound all-pious, make sure you actually pray ahead of the meeting, on your own. And also pray with other key players in the meeting: preacher, band leader, Bible reader, etc.
• Give Feedback - be the guy who courteously but diligently strives for improvement with specific, timely, personal feedback.
• Relationships - the feedback thing reminds me: don't make 'giving feedback' the only time you talk to him/her. People are more important than the 'quality' of their contribution to your church meeting, so reflect that by building relationships that are more substantial than mere feedback-loops.
• Actually say, "Thanks" - I think it's nice to explicitly thank the bible readers, prayers, band leaders, musos, etc. Not necessarily from the stage (depending on the tone of the meeting), but certainly personally. Not every single week, necessarily. And try to make it specific, too, incorporating a touch of positive feedback. "Thanks for leading the band this week. I thought the arrangements in that second song really helped the chorus shine--brilliant!" That kinda thing.
• Deviate - Deviate from your 'habitual tone', sometimes. If you're the 'serious guy', then occasionally do a *really* up-beat angle. If you're the bubbly MC, then occasionally do a reflective, deep, thoughtful, serious kinda angle.
• Thick Skin - Some people will love your MCing, some will prefer the other guy--some might even think you stink at MCing. Be ok with that. It's the same for preachers, singers, musos, every public figure has to deal with it.
• Stockpile your Notes as a Resource - get organised and keep your MC scripts/notes, including prayers, etc. It's fine to reuse them sometimes.
• Prayers should be Excellent - Invest time and creativity into your prayers. They don't have to be long. But they should never be boring, or sound insincere. If you only barely believe what you're praying, then you can be sure that those trying to pray along with you are feeling the strain. "Dear God, thanks so much for your word": Perhaps you could think on it, and find ways to say it that are fresh to your ears, at least.
• Direction and Purpose - know where the meeting is going and take it there with a sense of direction and purpose. Do you *really* need to say all that stuff? Waffle should have been edited out well before you take the stage.