Clarify the Win

Over the weekend I read a fabulous book!  The 7 Practices of Effective Ministry"   Really, really helpful.  Think about the simplicity of Practice #1:  Clarify the win.  Here's a definition:  "communicating to your team what is really important and what really matters.  Asking certain questions, rewarding an individual's performance, celebrating significant outcomes--these are all part of clarifying the win.  Practicing this principle means that you are intentional about defining a win so that you don't accidentally communicate the wrong win or keep your team guessing about what is really important."

See, that's big.  The metaphor used throughout the book is a baseball game.  And in baseball everyone knows what the objective is.  Get on base.  Move to second.  Move to third.  Score.  There's no debate about what it means to win in baseball.

What about your church or organization?  Does your team know what it means to win?  Or are you leaving that up to each person to define it for themselves?