Twenty-three years after Jehoash ascended to the throne, the temple was in a state of disrepair. Urgent works were required and Jehoash went to those responsible and had custody of it. He met with Jehoiada and the priests. How do we react when we uncover a significant problem? It may have been overlooked or left unattended until discovery. What are our approaches to managing the issue?
How did Jehoash act or react? Did he go about looking for a fall guy in the priesthood? Did he blame the economy, lack of funds, corruption, war or even management structure and system? Or was Jehoash’s lack of supervision that caused the problem? All these would not make the problem go away. The post-mortem can wait and the management control system revamped and personnel re-organised.
King Jehoash was sensible and methodical in his problem-solving analysis. He delegated and implemented various initiatives.
- Identification of problem and need. Leadership after the discovery (v6)
- Met Jehoiada and the priests. Straight to those having custody of site and problem (v7)
- A clear plan was issued. Vision and instruction from the top (v7)
- Pinpoint responsibility for the problem. Not fault-finding but asking for collective ownership (v7)
- Accepting responsibility and buy-in to solve the problem. Agreement to a clear action plan (v8)
- Execution and Implementation by Jehoiada. Leading by example (v9)
- They “put all the money.” A focused effort (v9)
- Apportionment of funds. Budgeting (v11)
- Appointed overseers among the workers. Unity of command (v11)
- There were carpenters, builders, masons and stonecutters. Division of Work (v10-12)
- Buying timber and hewn stone. Allocation of resources (v11, 12)
- Detailed log of repairs, work done and payment applied. Administration and accounting. (v12)
- Funds designated and used to specified designated areas. Accountability and control (14)
- Paymaster who dealt faithfully in the payment of workers were not required to give an account. This is trust at work. This may not be practical today due to accountability to various stakeholders, company laws, internal controls and good administrative practices (v15). However, there are many ways to practice this trust during employment.
2 Kings 12:9-12,14,15
6 Now it was so, by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, that the priests had not repaired the damages of the temple.
7 So King Jehoash called Jehoiada the priest and the other priests, and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damages of the temple? Now therefore, do not take more money from your constituency, but deliver it for repairing the damages of the temple.”
8 And the priests agreed that they would neither receive more money from the people, nor repair the damages of the temple.
9 Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the Lord ; and the priests who kept the door put there all the money brought into the house of the Lord .
10 So it was, whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king’s scribe and the high priest came up and put it in bags, and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord .
11 Then they gave the money, which had been apportioned, into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord ; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house of the Lord ,
12 and to masons and stonecutters, and for buying timber and hewn stone, to repair the damage of the house of the Lord , and for all that was paid out to repair the temple.
14 But they gave that to the workmen, and they repaired the house of the Lord with it.
15 Moreover they did not require an account from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to be paid to workmen, for they dealt faithfully.
