Pulling Our Boats: When Culture and Technology Hinder

I was watching PBS recently (as always) and saw a great episode of Nova titled “Arctic Passage“. It detailed the failed Franklin Polar Expedition from the 1850’s.
Outfitted with the best 19th century technology, Sir John Franklin set out on a journey to navigate a northwest passage through the Arctic waters north of Canada. [...]

Ferret People & Sub-Culture

Was headed to bed the other night and flipping the channels when I got fascinated by a documentary on PBS called “Ferrets: The Pursuit of Excellence”.
The documentary followed a group of ferret owners at the Buckeye Bash Ferret Show.  These were not just any ferrets.  They were show ferrets.  Ferrets of the highest caliber who [...]

Permission and Mindset

Continuing some thoughts on permission and creating environments of innovation…
The “big news” of the weekend was Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama.  
I think there will be some Republicans who hear what the General has to say and will be influenced by it.  Certainly, some will join him and “convert”.  Not all, but some.
Colin Powell [...]

Organizational Permission and Straw House Thinking

The following is from a post from Tony Morgan. Consider what organizational permission can do…
Once upon a time in a far off land there lived a leader who supervised three little pigs. The leader was committed to excellence in his life and in his organization. He knew there was a direct correlation between the [...]

The Permissive Environment

How often do you say “yes”? Not in the “Would you like cream and sugar” way, but in the “Try something different” kind of way.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about creating “permissive” environments. Not places where anything goes, but, rather, places where people are free to adhere to a core set of [...]

Essential Relationships for Worship Leaders – Media/Tech Director

Continuing thoughts on key relationships for worship leaders…
One of the best friends a worship leader can have is Media/Tech Director. Anyone who has ever grabbed a microphone understands that they have little control over the sound. The guy on the sound board at the front of house can have a huge impact.
My media director and [...]

Honor your father…

Really appreciated this post by Shawn Wood of Seacoast Church.
What really struck me was the sense of respect he has for the impact that Ed Young (and Pace Hartfield) and all of Fellowship Church had on him.  
Everyone (yes, EVERYONE!) is a product of someone else’s ministry.  Too often, we are prone to thinking we [...]

The Perfect Pepsi’s: Building an Environment of Unique Experiences

Came across this from Malcolm Gladwell at TED.  Go ahead and give it a looksie.  It’s okay, I’ll wait.  See you after the jump…

There is a lot of emphasis now within many churches on creating environments that make an impression and building an experience for worshipers.   The buzzwords of the day are excellence, interactive, [...]

The Law of Unintended Consequences (pt. 2 of 2)

 In a previous post, we discussed how actions taken within our organizations can impact us in unexpected or unintended ways.  The primary thought was focused on recovering from negative blowback.  In today’s post, I would like to think about the other side.  Those beautiful moments of happy accidents that you never expect that produce results in [...]

The Law of Unintended Consequences (pt. 1 of 2)

Last week, the US government literally opened the flood gates of the Glen Canyon dam.  The hopes are the manmade flood will carry rich sedimentary residue to nourish the Grand Canyon area, improving the fish habitat in the river and rebuilding beaches.  This was necessitated due to the fact that 98% of the sediment carried [...]