This week did not respect my productivity plan.
A few dear friends are walking through real relational and situational crises.
The kind you don’t solve with a calendar block or a follow-up email.
I wanted to be available to them...
Which meant interruptions, long conversations, and emotional bandwidth that didn’t fit neatly into the day.
Just when I thought I was about to reclaim momentum and get back into my “work mojo,” Mom called.
(And as you already know, never rush Mom.)
The list slid.
The schedule bent.
The day stretched.
Then my wife came in with the line "can we talk for a minute?"
Lots of nails-in-coffins metaphors for my productivity this week.
If you pastor a church, this doesn’t sound unusual.
It sounds like Tuesday.
The Quiet Frustration Optimized Pastors Rarely Admit
Most pastors who care about productivity eventually hit the same wall.
You clean up your calendar.
You tighten your systems.
You batch, block, automate, and optimize.
And yet the biggest slowdowns remain untouched.
Meetings linger.
Tension leaks.
Drama interrupts momentum.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth most productivity frameworks don’t address:
You can optimize systems.
But you must shepherd people.
And people do not move at 560 mps like your awesome internet connection.
Why Rushing People Always Backfires
There’s a phrase that keeps proving true in leadership:
Rushing people never saves time.
It only moves the cost into the future.
When you rush:
- People feel unseen
- Resistance goes unspoken
- Compliance replaces ownership
- Issues don’t disappear, they wait
What looks like speed is often just deferred conflict.
You may “win” the meeting, but lose the month.
You may push the decision through, but inherit passive resistance.
You may save time today, only to spend triple later cleaning it up.
What feels like productivity often becomes relational debt.
Why People Are the Bottleneck (By Design)
People aren’t inefficient systems.
They’re human beings.
They carry:
- Emotion
- History
- Fear
- Pride
- Insecurity
- Unspoken expectations
None of those respond well to urgency.
What ministry leaders often label as “drama” is usually unprocessed reality.
What feels like resistance is often misaligned trust.
Trying to move faster than trust allows doesn’t create momentum.
It creates friction.
And friction always slows things down.
The Hidden Cost of Moving Too Fast
When we push relational speed...
(Or even nudge it. Yes, they can sense us nudging it.)
... several things happen quietly:
- Small issues go underground
- Conversations get shorter and less honest
- People nod but don’t buy in
- You find yourself revisiting the same issues again and again
Short-term efficiency gives way to long-term drag.
You’re not leading faster.
You’re just stopping more often.
Why Slow Is Actually a Speed Strategy
Slowing down with people does three things that feel inefficient in the moment but pay off massively over time.
1. It prevents relational debt
Unaddressed tension always collects interest.
Slow conversations today prevent explosions later.
2. It builds trust that increases velocity
High-trust environments move faster with fewer words.
Low-trust environments require endless explanation.
3. It reduces rework
Most leadership “fires” are repeats of conversations that were rushed the first time.
Slow now means fewer interruptions later.
Again, you won't feel any velocity in the moment.
But it is there. And it's real.
This is broccoli, not coffee.
What “Going Slow” Does Not Mean
Let’s be clear.
Going slow does not mean:
- Avoiding decisions
- Tolerating dysfunction
- Lowering standards
- Letting chaos run the show
Going slow does mean:
- Listening fully before correcting
- Naming issues clearly instead of hinting
- Giving people time to process before expecting change
- Allowing alignment to form before acceleration
This isn’t passivity, brother.
It’s precision.
Shepherding vs. Managing
Here’s where most frustration comes from...
Systems reward speed.
People require presence.
You can manage systems quickly.
You must shepherd people intentionally.
Confusing the two leads to constant irritation and burnout.
Understanding the difference restores sanity.
The Optimized Pastor Reframe
Optimizing productivity cannot be reduced to:
- Doing more
- Moving faster
- Compressing every moment
Because people are part of the equation.
To be maximally productive over the long haul, productivity must include:
- Reducing relational friction
- Increasing trust velocity
- Eliminating future breakdowns
The fastest ministry isn’t the one that moves quickest. It’s the one that doesn’t keep stopping.
A Closing Thought
If your productivity system keeps breaking down around people, the problem isn’t people.
It’s expecting relationships to work like software.
Slow is not the enemy of speed in ministry.
It’s the only path to it.
And yes, your calendar may not like it.
But your life, leadership, and long-term momentum will.
And, bonus...
In heaven, both your mom and your wife will thank you.
More Resources To Help You Optimize
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