The Minimum Factor

Imagine a barrel with eight staves, each representing the eight Quality Characteristics. The staves in the barrel only reach as high as the score of the characteristic. With this analogy, you can only fill the barrel to the leve of the lowest stave. So to increase the capacity of the barrel, we must increase the height of the lowest stave. Now focusing on the Minimum Factor does not mean that we don't pay attention to the other seven areas. As stated before, all eight characteristics are vitally important to healthy growing churches. Focusing on the Minimum Factors helps us to set timely priorities. Since all eight areas can't be worked on with the same amount of energy and concentration, we need to find areas, which will yield the greatest long-range return on our investments.

Remember, Minimum Factors can change quickly -- especially when there is a conscious attempt to improve on this one area.