Week 1: Creating Systems That Scale

Episode: “Les McKeown on the Keys to Scaling Your Church or Business” 

Description: Carey and Les discuss key principles for moving from growth to scalable systems - explaining how scaling can actually reduce stress for leaders and teams.. 

Discussion Questions:

1. What system in your ministry is currently thriving?
2. Where do you feel overwhelmed by a lack of systems?
3. What insight from this episode challenged your thinking?
4. How can systems free you to focus on people?
5. What one system improvement will you pursue this month?

Required Reading: Good To Great, Chapter 1

Discussion Questions: 

1. Where do you see churches (or even our own ministry environments) settling for “good” instead of pursuing “great”? Why do you think that happens?

   • Secular Environment to Church Correlation: answering this question helps you realize this isn’t a business issue. It’s a human + leadership issue that absolutely shows up in ministry.

2. When you hear the phrase “from good to great” in the context of the Church, what feels uncomfortable or even wrong about that? What should greatness mean for a church?

   • Secular Environment to Church Correlation: instead of avoiding the tension, you’re naming it. This helps redefine greatness as faithfulness, impact, stewardship - not ego or size.

3. Do you believe truth about leadership and organizational health can be discovered outside of explicitly Christian sources? Why or why not?

4. Collins didn’t start with answers. He studied what actually worked. How is that different from how churches often make decisions or evaluate success?

   • Secular Environment to Church Correlation: this question is intended to challenge the tendency toward assumptions, tradition, or gut-driven leadership and introduces thoughtful, evidence-based leadership as a form of stewardship.

5. If we were to define what a “great church” looks like (in a healthy, biblical sense), what would we measure? What would actually matter

   • Secular Environment to Church Correlation: this moves the conversation from theory to practical theology + leadership clarity - and should help you see that clarity leads to better decisions.