The broad acceptance of NCD's eight quality characteristics can be attributed, in part, to a misunderstanding. The eight nouns (leadership, ministry, spirituality, etc.) sound so generic that everyone can identify with them. What many people overlook, however, is the specific twist that the corresponding adjectives (empowering, gift-based, passionate, etc.) communicate. While we can find the nouns in almost every church, it is only in healthy churches that we can find the adjectives.
If you take a closer look at the adjectives, you will realize that each of them strives to express what we have called the six growth forces. For instance, what do we mean by empowering leadership? It's shorthand for an approach to leadership that strives to release the growth forces of interdependence, multiplication, energy transformation, sustainability, symbiosis, and fruitfulness. The same idea applies to the other seven quality characteristics as well...
Excerpts from Color Your World with Natural Church Development - Christian A. Schwarz