The analogy of “drinking from a fire hose” has certainly seemed to increase in frequency as of late. Pouring out yottabytes of information so fast that one can’t possibly consume it all is a great “out card” for those delivering information, but finding yourself on the business end of this equation is certainly less than informative or helpful. As leaders, is our best tool really a fire hose to dispense information to our teams?
Over the past few years I’ve tried to increase the clarity of my communication to the volunteers that I lead. Consistent communication has been a value of mine for some time, and the effects of such communication have been easy to see. However, I began to realize that the frequency of my communication was playing less of role I realized. What was making an impact, or lack thereof, was the clarity of my communications. So rather than putting together one email with an onslaught of information for my teams, I began to take a different approach. Instead of pumping out like a fire hose, I began to drip like a faucet. It was clear to me that the most important thing for my team was to share in the vision of our ministry and church. If everyone on my teams shared the same vision, the details would work themselves out.
I find myself constantly making the tie between what we were doing and our vision, mission or core values. Before, during and after rehearsals, I have a slow drip with these connections. When meeting with a team member for a mid-week coffee, I drip a little. From the stage on Sunday, I drip. Like a leaky faucet that drips one little drop every minute or so, I drip our purpose as a team into everything we do and everywhere that I go. I’m certainly not flooding the lawn in a few minutes like I would with a fire hose; but my hope is that I achieve a longer-term saturation and a healthier ministry from a slow and consistent drip, rather than a fleeting flood from a fire hose.