It wasn’t often that I got High Distinctions at uni. But in my last year of uni I did get a HD for a group assignment – and more surprisingly, our group all worked together to make it happen! My part of the project was the presentation at the end, showing our research and presenting our design concepts – and early on as a group we decided that wanted to get a HD – and so I looked at the marking criteria to see what we needed to do to get that mark. Then, all I had to do was prepare the presentation while making sure I did those required things to hit the HD criteria. Our assignment went well and when we received our High Distinction we were pleased, but not surprised – because the marking criteria made it clear what was expected and we knew exactly what we had to do to achieve a HD. Clear expectations and defining what success looks like makes it much easier to do a great job. This is why I think Crawl, Walk, Run documents are incredibly helpful.
What is a Crawl Walk Run?
Crawl walk run is a framework for developing leaders who serve at Church. It breaks up the role into the different aspects and articulates what it looks like to do the role at 3 levels of competency – crawling, walking and running.
Crawl walk run is like a position description, with the bulk of the information presented as a table. The first column has the different aspects of the role down the side, with a clear explanation of what it looks like to do those aspects at 3 levels of competencies: just starting out (crawling), growing in the role (walking) and absolutely killing it (running). Here’s an example for a Connect Team leader.
What’s helpful about a Crawl Walk Run?
- It reduced “leadership creep” and makes recruiting easier.
In the past, if I’m looking to replace someone who has been “running” in a role for 5 years, I’ll look around and feel like I can’t see anyone who is able to do the role at that same standard. Instead, using the Crawl Walk Run document, I am not looking for someone who will start “running” but instead someone who could start with “crawling” and grow them from there. As I talk with them about the role it’s also a lot less overwhelming for them to get their head around the role – so they’re much more likely to say yes. - Expectations are clear.
It clearly lists what the role is and how to do it. There’s no need for assumptions. Everyone is on the same page. - It sets people up for quick wins.
Presumably, people are serving in their ministry because they think it’s important and so they want to do a good job. With the Crawl section they can start out feeling like they’re already achieving the role. They don’t feel like they’re struggling from the start. - It forces you to define what progress and growth looks like.
It’s better than a static position description. - It builds a growth mindset into the role.
It’s clear to them that we want them to grow as a leader. No one wants to stay crawling! - It’s clear to them on how they’re to grow.
They can see how to improve as it’s clearly defined with a clear next step. It’s great for training as you can help them identify which box to work on and support them in that. It’s also helpful for self-analysis as they can identify where they’re at and what to focus on next to improve.
How we use Crawl Walk Runs at Church
We’ve been using Crawl Walk Runs for a few years now and they’ve been really helpful. The first time I’m using it, I’ll sit down with the leader or team and go through the document to explain each aspect. Once someone has been serving in the role for a while I’ll then get them to identify which box they think they’re in for each category. Then I will ask them to choose 1 box that they’d like to improve in and we’ll talk about how they could do this. Next time we meet we talk about how they’re going, and if they’ve achieved that goal then we’ll work together and set another. It helps foster growth and shows exactly what to do to achieve it.
You can see 15 examples of Crawl Walk Runs that we use at Salt.
