Shifting from Institution to Movement

— by Tom McGehee

There is a popular idea in today’s world that organizations, specifically nonprofits and ministries, need to shift from being an institution to becoming a movement. It sounds great. It conjures up images of greater impact, rapid growth, and increased ownership and innovation. This idea is fostered by increasingly connected virtual interaction options and is supported by various networks that are arising.

However, as great as this sounds, very few organizations have been able to actually make this change. We believe this is because they fail to recognize the totality in this type of shift—that this is not about adding a new product or service or about re-organizing or re-branding. This shift requires a fundamental change in the essence of an organization. It is about whole scale cultural change—change that is both internal, how the organization behaves, and external, how the organization is perceived and the value it creates.

As the new Co-Executive Directors of the Halftime Institute, Jim Stollberg and I are in the process of making this type of change to a well-known, successful, twenty-five-year-old global ministry. The purpose for this change is that at its essence, Halftime is a movement.

Halftime began when Bob Buford wrote his book by the same name. The book alone has sold more than one million copies worldwide, has been translated into several languages, and—being commonly passed along among friends and colleagues—has impacted countless individuals all over the world, many of whom never participated in a Halftime program or ever crossed paths with us. Bob Buford even said one time to one of our global partners, “I started out to writing a book about my own personal experience hoping it could help others. But then, like ‘good Americans’ we wanted to make an organization out of it.” Alas, over the years, this is just what we did.

Our desire is to build upon the organizational strengths we possess in order to re-create an even greater global movement. In this paper, I want to highlight four key concepts that are helping us make this change a reality.

4 Key Concepts for Movement Shift

1. Work inside out, not outside in.

When organizations seek to improve, they often start at the edges. They develop new products or services, expand capabilities by replicating existing models, shut down underperforming offerings, etc. In a shift as profound as the one we are discussing, you must start at the center. You must be willing to question not just how you do things but what you do and why you do it.

In his book, Good to Great and the Social Sectors, Jim Collins references a concept he calls “The Hedgehog.” The hedgehog is the essence of who you are and what you do. For social sector organizations like Halftime, the hedgehog is at the intersection of three circles: What you are deeply passionate about, what you can be the best in the world at, and what best drives your resource (or economic) engine.

© 2021 Jim Collins, The Hedgehog Concept

At Halftime, we are passionate about helping high-capacity leaders find and live out their Ephesians 2:10 calling. We are world-class at helping people live lives that are both successful and significant. We do that by providing programs, coaching, and making connections to come alongside men and women on their journeys through the abundant lives God has called them to live.

However, over the years, we gradually shifted focus on what drives our resource engine to the point that we primarily focused on our signature program—The Fellows Program—as if it were our hedgehog. Growth became about increasing the number of people in the program or replicating the program in various locales around the globe, particularly in the U.S. The more we focused on our programs, the more pragmatic we became. We even changed our name to Halftime Institute and took on a more academic tone. We became known as The University for Your Second Half, a world-class program you attended, paid tuition for, and graduated from at the completion of a process.

Eventually, we thought of ourselves as a “bounded-set” rather than a “centered-set” organization. A bounded-set organization defines itself by its boundaries. A bounded-set organization says, “We operate a certain way with a certain set of people; therefore, other people and other ways of interacting are outside our boundaries.” When a company grows with this type of model, it typically employs a franchise method. It holds ruthlessly to the specific model developed and guards operations and quality to ensure new operations behave exactly like all other operations. Over the years, Halftime attempted to develop a franchise model for growth. But this goes against the key understanding that Halftime is a platform, not a program. Bob Buford was fond of saying that, “Our fruit grows on other people’s trees.” This is movement thinking at its best, and we needed to embrace it not just for our clients but also for ourselves.

In contrast, centered-set thinking focuses on a very clear understanding of who you are at your core (your hedgehog). Holding tightly to this allows unlimited options for operations if you don’t stray from your core identity. When Jim and I assumed leadership of Halftime, we started day one with this mantra: Question everything. That included answering the question: What is the core of Halftime?

2. Question everything.

Questioning everything does not mean you have to change everything. But it does mean that you are willing to investigate things in a manner that allows you to widen your perception beyond your assumptions and to accept ideas and observations from others who have different perspectives. When you allow yourself to look beyond results to evaluate not only how you do what you do (process) but also who does what you do (structure) and, finally, why you do what you do (culture), this can result in big changes. By going through this process at Halftime, we identified necessary shifts, changes, and subtle tweaks in all three areas of process, structure, and culture. Over time, we believe these actions will make all the difference—case in point, our hedgehog.

Halftime is most widely thought of as a program designed to help a person when he or she is facing the end of the “first half” (generally, career) and moving into the “second half.” After all, the subtitle of Bob’s book was “Moving from Success to Significance”—as if this were a one-time or one-step thing.

We recognize that God calls us to different things at different times. We know that, over time, our core (passions, strengths, and experiences), our capacity (time, resources, and spiritual overflow), and our context (what we do and how we do it) all change. God’s call on our lives is dynamic, not static. Over the years, Halftime has supported individuals through these changes. But, to embrace movement thinking, we need to make this value obvious to whom we serve and how we serve them.

When we would ask people, both inside and outside of the Halftime network, what our core was, the answer we most often received was, “to help high-capacity leaders find their Ephesians 2:10 calling.” When we asked how we did that, the answer always included at least two parts:

• Through programs and coaching.

• Through connecting those we serve with others to help them along the way.

As we considered this, it became clear that the real value Halftime provided was not just helping a person find his/her calling (today there are many programs that try to do that); rather, we are experts in helping a specific set of individuals both find and live out their callings.

The specific set of individuals we are called to serve is that of a “high-capacity leader.” As with everything, this definition faced rigorous questioning to determine what we really mean by that identifier. To some, Halftime is seen as a ministry focused only on wealthy individuals—specifically, individuals who have also reached a point in their lives where they can “stop working and start serving.”

In truth, more than 65% of those who participate in our programs remain in the workplace. As they gain clarity on their individual callings, many see opportunities to re-purpose their current platforms as the place for greatest impact. However, it is true that the majority of people we serve are very successful professionals. They are typically professionals, entrepreneurs, business owners, senior military officers, or in the “c-suite” of corporations. They acknowledge that God has blessed them with time, talent, and treasure but sense a “smoldering discontent”—that nagging, there’s got to be something more feeling—that drives their desire to do more to honor God with what He has given them.

Reminding ourselves of who we are called to serve, let us consider one of our greatest values—one that we all appreciated, but never officially recognized—which is our global community of like-minded, highly-capable Christian leaders and influencers that supports any person who joins us through a program, so that they don’t have to go it alone. Further, this community lasts far beyond the conclusion of a program. We have great content, models, and processes to help individuals get clear on their callings. But, even more, we have a network that is ready and willing to help them get free from their constraints and get going into a life of significant success. Leaders around the globe stand ready and willing to prayerfully support them in exploring their passions, testing ways to live out their callings, and walking alongside them on a journey of significance for many years to come.

Now, this may seem like merely semantics, but it, in fact, was some very heavy lifting. The result is a larger vision (a movement-oriented vision) that is expressed in how we now define our core:

To help high-capacity leaders find and live out their Ephesians 2:10 callings.

With that clarity, we could move to concept three.

3. Form follows function.

 This concept is certainly not new to anyone dealing with organization change. Many would say it’s “where the rubber meets the road.” That’s why, too often, organizations will jump to this before they are ready. This is the tangible stuff—boxes on organizational charts, changes in process flows and policies… the tactics. And it’s easy to see the change and to measure results in this phase, so it’s natural to want to gravitate here. But, unless you put in the time and effort to address the first two concepts thoroughly, you will make changes through the lens of your past organizational constructs, rather than with a movement-oriented perspective. You will be putting “new wine in old wine skins.” (Luke 5:36-39)

We are currently implementing many of these changes, utilizing a concept that we recommend to every individual we serve: low-cost probes. It is the idea of making a short-term commitment to an effort to try it and see if it is truly what God is leading you to do before you jump all the way in. As we address changes at Halftime, we are using the same approach. Let me highlight three examples:

1. A process change. This refers to what we offer to our clients and how we source our clients. As we now see our programs not as the goal but as the “on-ramp” to the journey with community, we are implementing multiple programs to reach a broader scope of our target client. Now, in addition to our signature Fellows Program in Dallas, we have added a program that we call Round Tables. These are local or virtual programs that cover much of the same content as the Fellows Program but in a different context. The Fellows Program delivers an exclusive, high-touch experience to a Cohort of individuals from around the world who come together several times a year across the U.S. Now, by offering a Round Table, we can work with individuals and with other organizations to bring value not only to our clients but also to our partners as well—meeting them where they are. By training individuals to become facilitators or coaches within their own circles of influence, or equipping organizations with customized resources, we can bring Halftime into a new culture or context.

2. A structure change. There is a difference between selling someone a program and inviting them to join you on a journey. Movements invite people into a community on a specific mission; institutions sell people their products or services. We know that Halftime, like any movement, grows more through person-to-person interaction than through fancy marketing campaigns. When an alum refers a person to one of our programs, the conversion rate is +70%. So, why do we continue mass email campaigns? Instead, let’s turn the “funnel” on its side. Rather than blasting broad marketing messages to build a big funnel with the idea that it will eventually trickle down to a handful of individuals who are really our clients and are ready to embark on this journey with us, let’s create more conversations with those we have already impacted. These conversations will do two things: create referrals and—even more importantly—allow us to continue to serve our network with excellence.

To do this, we created a new part of the organization focused completely on serving our global network. Today, Halftime has partners in the United States (Dallas, Charlotte, and Nashville), Europe, Africa, China, Singapore, Australia, and Canada. At one time, we called these expressions of Halftime “hubs” or “offices.” We have changed the language to that of partners—each unique yet aligned. Each is successful, but there is great opportunity for more collaboration. The creation of this entity will allow us to work together better to innovate, support, and leverage our global capabilities.

Additionally, this new initiative will focus on providing four core areas of value to our global network:

A connected community. To do so, we are building a database that will allow members to find, contact, and connect with Halftimers all over the world.

• Collaboration that can be channeled into local cohorts, affinity groups, and learning communities. This will create opportunities for collaboration among members to learn from one another, work together, and create even more impact.

• Continued equipping. We are developing new programs, workshops, and training to help people through their entire This includes helping them navigate relational topics like alignment with their spouses, integrating their families into their mission, and/or developing a legacy. We can support their continual spiritual development with such things as access to resources around spiritual disciplines and guided or solo silent retreats. We open new avenues for ministry by providing exposure to new and different ministries, non-profits, and supporting organizations.

• On-going coaching as we expand access to our global coaching network to help individuals with their personal growth.

3. A cultural change. It’s been said that “culture eats strategy for lunch.” Culture is a tricky thing to navigate, as it can be built—but it can’t be forced. One area that is of vital importance in culture change is language. At Halftime, we have moved away from corporate titles. Jim and I are Co-Executive Directors, not Co-CEOs. We refer to each other as “team members” and “partners,” instead of roles and titles. Another area we are addressing is in our brand name. (Remember? You must be able to question everything.) Currently, you can find us on the web at halftimeinstitute.org. You’ll notice that “Institute” is still in our name. Along with that term goes language of program admissions, tuition, and graduation. These descriptors served us for a time, but they certainly are not indicative of movement-type language.

Making these types of change are sure to be difficult for everyone. Team members are unclear of their new roles, clients may be confused about our offerings, and even with a clear, new vision, how to get there will entail trial and error. This brings us to our last concept.

4. Embrace liminality.

Liminality is defined as the space between no longer and not yet.

It is a place of complete uncertainty, at worst, and, at best, partial clarity. It is also a place of immense creativity and opportunity. The word comes from the idea of someone going through a rite of passage—leaving something behind and moving toward something new. You are not fully grounded in either, yet you still have elements of both.

In shifting from an institution to a movement, the space of liminality can be expansive. It may last several months—even years. For example, within the eight-person Halftime team in Dallas, we have removed the organizational constructs so that, for now, everyone reports directly to Jim and me. We want to be a team driven by intention, instead of silos of tasks and targets. The Halftime team consists of a remarkable group, and each gives one hundred percent to serving our clients. Part of the shift to a movement mindset means internalizing the same “best practices” we encourage with our clients—we want each of our team members to find and live out their own callings within our organization. We are giving them the space to explore, reflect, and perform while we reorganize. It’s not simple or clear, but if everyone embraces the liminality we are in, it can be energizing.

This is one of the biggest challenges in an organization actually becoming a movement: Fighting against the desire to put the change in the rearview and get back to results. As a CEO once told me, “I’m not happy with the results I’m getting but at least I know the results I’m getting and that’s good enough for me.”

At Halftime, we’ve had great results for over 25 years. But now, we are setting out to intentionally address our own “smoldering discontent.” We look to a future with even greater impact with those that we have the privilege of coming alongside to help in their journeys to serve God with everything that He has given them.

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Article originally hosted and shared with permission by The Christian Economic Forum, a global network of leaders who join together to collaborate and introduce strategic ideas for the spread of God’s economic principles and the goodness of Jesus Christ. This article was from a collection of White Papers compiled for attendees of the CEF’s Global Event.

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