By Way of Introduction
Issachar Thinking is the application of God-given Wisdom and Discernment to the process of understanding the times we live in and knowing what God wants done.
It involves continuously observing and considering ongoing opportunities and challenges within complex and dynamic changing environs.
It enables us to develop a shared and God-honouring conceptual framework which shapes and guides decisions that determine what our organisation is, what it does, and how it does things, with an eye to the future.
We begin by seeking and practising God-given Wisdom. This is the core of Issachar Thinking. It is the enabler of clear observation, of appropriate development and careful discernment of ideas, and of motivating definition of the strategy.
From this core we practice the four dimensions of Issachar Thinking. One, we seek to discover what God has done, is doing and wants to do, as we observe the terrain in which we minister through the frame that God has shaped for us.
Two, we take our Insights and develop them into scenarios - asking what if 'x' happened... what if we did 'y'? - and map these scenarios against each other.
Three, we then take time to discern firstly the criteria we will use to evaluate the scenarios and then to select the direction we should take, the Great Holy Audacious Challenge we should focus on.
Four, we define and distil it into a simple document that can be the lynch-pin in developing a shared conceptual framework for decision making across the enterprise.
These activities are carried out in a dance-like process, each dimension being considered multiple times in seemingly random order.
And finally we enact the strategy (using a plan), regularly evaluating it and seeking to enhance it.