OK – for all you pet lovers; I’m a pet lover too! “No PETS” is just a slogan kept before our staff in our conference room. After reading Samuel Chand’s incredible book: Cracking Your Church’s Culture Code, I decided to keep a few key thoughts displayed in our conference room to remind us of some key principles we want to employ.
I use a lot of acrostics – (my staff thinks it’s hilarious & I’m the butt of jokes because of it – but that’s okay – it works for me) No PETS simply means…..
No P ROBLEMS – we want to see everything we face as an obstacle that can be overcome not a “problem” to have to deal with. These obstacles give us a chance to grow in our faith – a chance to see God do something incredible as we bring these obstacles before Him in prayer asking for wisdom in how to handle them.
No E XCUSES – It’s time for us to own up to mistakes and bad decisions; to take responsibility when we’ve failed at our job. This allows us to grow personally as followers of Christ, and to grow in our relationships so we can build greater accountability and trust on our staff team.
No “T HEY” – I don’t know about you, but the one word I hate to hear when people are complaining or identifying what they perceive to be a problem (obstacle!) is the word: “they”. It seems like THEY have a lot to say because THEY are usually an anonymous group. If you’ve been around very long, you know that “they” is usually the person talking or possibly one other person who’s complained. We will no longer use the word “THEY” when discussing obstacles someone has brought to our attention, but will identify anyone who has an issue and then deal with that issue with honesty & truth.
No S ECRETS – This simply means we have to build our relationships on a foundation of honesty and trust. Of course, we don’t air every single issue in our staff meetings – nor do we air all our dirty laundry personally. We handle those issues according to the principles Jesus taught such as you’ll find in Matthew 18:15-17. However, we have to get back to building trust through honesty; dealing with issues instead of sweeping them under the floor or sharing them “secretly” with someone else.
This isn’t an exhaustive explanation of No PETS, but hopefully will give you some ideas that you might be able to use on your team(s).
BJ Rutledge 
I think this is awesome!! Especially the “they” part… I refuse to read those community blogs where everyone is allowed to post anonymous comments – usually very hateful comments. If you do not have the courage to sign your name to something, then you should not say it. I try very hard not to say anything about anyone that I would not say to their face.