2024

September Edition

Welcome to the September edition of A Few Good Things.

Dear Good Place Community,

Here we are at the end of Q3, and if you are like most, you are already engaged in or are getting into the planning process for 2025. In this month’s Idea section of the newsletter, we share a little about Stewardship Planning—the approach to planning in a Good Place organization. We would love your questions or feedback on this topic and how it may help you prepare for 2025! I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks for checking it out,

Chris Young, President

To recall what we discussed in last month’s newsletter, the Stewardship Cycle is one of the main ways leaders and their organizations live out the Good Place Organization Operating System. We shared that the Operating System's ten areas are like a house's structure or framing. Once the major organizational building blocks and the house's main structures are in place, we apply the Stewardship Cycle as the focal point of our leadership team meetings, discussions, and conversations with leaders and employees. We live out our organizational life by stewarding the resources we've been entrusted as leaders.

In short, a stewardship mindset permeates a Good Place organization. It exists within The Good Place Organization Operating System as part of the DNA of our organizational culture. We approach the people, processes, and resources under our care with a stewardship mindset instead of an ownership mindset.

The differences in these mindsets (stewardship vs. ownership) aren’t limited to the abstract. What we believe about God’s design for work, our purpose, and our role directly affects the practical outworking of how we lead an organization. We believe a stewardship mindset should motivate us to take better care of the things entrusted to us, making them better than when given to us, even better than if we “owned” them. We do this because of who the ultimate Owner is, the grace afforded to us through the organization's resources entrusted to leaders, and the desire to give Him a return that achieves holistic success in His Kingdom economy.

This stewardship mindset is also the basis of Good Place organizational planning. Some might call it business or strategic planning. We call it Stewardship Planning as opposed to a “Wall Street” approach to planning, which typically starts with the goal (usually financial gain) and works backward to develop a plan, system, or process to achieve the goal and increase the bottom line. The difference between the approaches is that stewardship planning is a “build-up-from” approach versus the traditional “work-back-from” approach. The work-back-from approach determines how to hit monetary growth targets to increase shareholder wealth, while the build-up-from approach answers the questions:

• What can we build with what we have been given?

• How can we improve upon what we have?

• How can we achieve the aims of Good Place organizations?

• How do we remain in alignment with our Charter?

• How do we steward well to fulfill the organization's purpose? 

Stewardship Planning provides a framework (or a system), in relationship to the Charter of the organization, to understand:

• Where the organization is (the current state of things, internal and external)

• Where the organization can and should go from here (the future state along the journey of fulfilling its Charter)

• The road map to get from current to future (or at least advancing on the road toward the future) within a specified timeframe

The Stewardship Planning System includes the Managing Systems approach to understanding systems and improving outcomes at the overall organizational level and for each system (or department) within the framework of the 10 Areas of the Good Place Organization Operating System.

The result is a strategic organizational plan that allows leadership to optimize their stewardship of the organization. It is a plan populated by input from organization leaders and members, a collection of everyone’s best thoughts, a thorough and aligned understanding of the organization's purpose, and a plan to fulfill its Charter.

Stewardship planning aims to achieve success criteria rooted in God’s economy, not the world’s, where people flourish, organizations thrive, and communities prosper.

We’re excited to spotlight our newest addition to our certified partnership program. Welcome David Hemm to our team as a GPI Certified Community Partner.

Through our partnership programs, we equip and empower like-minded leaders who share the vision of multiplying Good Places. These partners participate in foundational certification training workshops and become certified to market GPI services and products to external clients through their organization or as independent contractors.

Name: Josh Mitchell

Organization: Good Place Holdings

Role: Chief Marketing Officer

Location: Stow, Ohio

What insight can you share about GPI that would benefit other organizational leaders?

GPI helps organizational leaders develop a deeper sense of purpose in their work with a different perspective on success. GPI emphasizes valuing people, fostering innovation, and engaging communities while improving the organization's economic growth. Their approach, grounded in faith, uses an operating system focusing on leadership, communication, stewardship, and financial management to build regenerative organizations. Leaders who engage with GPI benefit from tools and strategies that balance organizational growth with positive community impact.

How do you see the Good Place Organization Operating System making a difference at GPH organizations?

The Good Place Organization Operating System is designed to help organizations integrate principles into their daily operations and build long-term sustainability and growth. Focusing on leadership development, communication, and resource stewardship, the system allows organizations to operate with a clear sense of purpose, aligning growth with community impact. It encourages innovation, transparency, and decision-making, increasing employee engagement and overall organizational effectiveness.

What has been your most significant impact experienced from the application of the Good Place Organization Operating System?

The most significant impact of applying the Good Place Organization Operating System in my role has been a culture transformation. By integrating leadership, purpose-driven goals, and strategic communication, organizations have experienced increased employee engagement, purposeful decision-making, and stronger alignment between values and operations. This system has helped our organization and the marketing department for which I am responsible by improving our internal processes and enhancing our community contributions.

What excites you most about the Good Place Institute?

What excites me most about GPI is its commitment to building organizations through systems and relationships. GPI blends principles, leadership, and a focus on community impact to create regenerative organizations. This emphasis on combining transformative business practices with values-based leadership allows organizations to make a difference in their internal culture and community. The vision of creating sustainable, purpose-led organizations is genuinely inspiring.

GPI is attending or sponsoring a few upcoming events over the next few months. Check these out and click the links to learn more about each event.

2024 City Gate Gathering – Annual Gathering

• September 25-27, 2024

• The Hanger in Boulder, CO

• Bob Robinson, GPI Community Partner, will be representing GPI at this event

Boldly Conference 2024 – Faith + Work For Women Conference

• Friday, October 18, 2024

• Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Carrollton, TX

• GPI will be sponsoring and be in attendance, represented by Garry Miles, GPI Business Development

NEW WEBINAR! – The Why, What, and How of a Good Place Organization
• October 24, 2024
• 2:00 PM

Women, Work, & Calling 2024 – Annual Conference

• Friday, November 1, 2024

• Infinity Park Event Center in Denver, CO, livestream option, or attend one of 17 host sites nationwide.

• Bob Robinson, GPI Community Partner, will be representing GPI at this event

“If you can’t describe what you’re doing as a process. You don’t know what you’re doing.” 

—W. Edwards Deming

Thank you for checking out our newsletter. Our purpose at The Good Place Institute is to help leaders multiply Good Place organizations! If you know anyone who would benefit from this newsletter or The Good Place Institute, I would love for you to share this email! Thank you!

Shalom!

Chris Young

President

The Good Place Institute