Every year we do an annual survey. It’s the way we keep a pulse on key vitals. We actually take ten minutes during our Sunday morning services to take the survey corporately.

I honestly think the survey is one of the most important things we do each year. We’ll put all the result in an excel spreadsheet, mix and match questions, and use it to begin our 2006 planning cycle. We ask questions that guage demographics, spiritual maturity, and spiritual preferences. We also use the survey to help us figure out when and where to launch our next location.

Every year we discus, pray, laugh and sometimes cry over the survey results during our annual planning retreat.

I think good leaders keep one ear to the ground. The mental picture that comes to mind is someone bending over on a railroad track with their ear on the rail to hear if a train is coming down the track. Good leaders use all their senses to determine what’s coming down the track.

Of course, if one ear is on the ground then the other ear is then facing heaven.

It’s both/and.