A great friend sent me this and it's worth a post! Thanks for the friendship, Andy.
December 30, 2003
Best New Year's Resolution? A 'Stop Doing' List
USA Today
by Jim Collins
Each time the New Year rolls around and I sit down to do my annual resolutions, I reflect back to a lesson taught me by a remarkable teacher. In my mid-20s, I took a course on creativity and innovation from Rochelle Myers and Michael Ray at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and I kept in touch with them after I graduated.
One day, Rochelle pointed to my ferocious work pace and said, "I notice, Jim, that you are a rather undisciplined person."
I was stunned and confused. After all, I was the type of person who carefully laid out my BHAGs (big hairy audacious goals), top three objectives and priority activities at the start of each New Year. I prided myself on the ability to work relentlessly toward those objectives, applying the energy I'd inherited from my prairie- stock grandmother.
"Your genetic energy level enables your lack of discipline," Rochelle continued. "Instead of leading a disciplined life, you lead a busy life."
She then gave me what I came to call the 20-10 assignment. It goes like this: Suppose you woke up tomorrow and received two phone calls. The first phone call tells you that you have inherited $20 million, no strings attached. The second tells you that you have an incurable and terminal disease, and you have no more than 10 years to live. What would you do differently, and, in particular, what would you stop doing?
That assignment became a turning point in my life, and the "stop doing" list became an enduring cornerstone of my annual New Year resolutions -- a mechanism for disciplined thought about how to allocate the most precious of all resources: time.
Rochelle's challenge forced me to see that I'd been plenty energetic, but on the wrong things. Indeed, I was on entirely the wrong path. After graduate school, I'd taken a job at Hewlett- Packard. I loved the company, but hated the job. Rochelle's assignment helped me to see I was cut out to be a professor, a researcher, a teacher -- not a businessman -- and I needed to make a right-angle turn. I had to stop doing my career, so that I could find my real work. I quit HP, migrated to the Stanford Business School faculty and eventually became -- with some remarkable good luck along the way -- a self-employed professor, happily toiling away on my research and writing.
Rochelle's lesson came back to me a number of years later while puzzling over the research data on 11 companies that turned themselves from mediocrity to excellence, from good to great. In cataloguing the key steps that ignited the transformations, my research team and I were struck by how many of the big decisions were not what to do, but what to stop doing.
In perhaps the most famous case, Darwin Smith of Kimberly-Clark - - a man who had prevailed over throat cancer -- said one day to his wife: "I learned something from my cancer. If you have a cancer in your arm, you've got to have the guts to cut off your own arm. I've made a decision: We're going to sell the mills."
At the time, Kimberly-Clark had the bulk of its revenues in the traditional paper business. But Smith began asking three important questions: Are we passionate about the paper business? Can we be the best in the world at it? Does the paper business best drive our economic engine?
The answers came up: no, no and no.
And so, Smith made the decision to stop doing the paper business - - to sell off 100 years of corporate history -- and throw all the resulting resources into the consumer business (building brands such as Kleenex), which came up yes, yes and yes to the same questions.
The start of the New Year is a perfect time to start a stop doing list and to make this the cornerstone of your New Year resolutions, be it for your company, your family or yourself. It also is a perfect time to clarify your three circles, mirroring at a personal level the three questions asked by Smith:
1) What are you deeply passionate about?
2) What are you are genetically encoded for -- what activities do you feel just "made to do"?
3) What makes economic sense -- what can you make a living at?
Those fortunate enough to find or create a practical intersection of the three circles have the basis for a great work life.
Think of the three circles as a personal guidance mechanism. As you navigate the twists and turns of a chaotic world, it acts like a compass. Am I on target? Do I need to adjust left, up, down, right? If you make an inventory of your activities today, what percentage of your time falls outside the three circles?
If it is more than 50%, then the stop doing list might be your most important tool. The question is: Will you accept good as good enough, or do you have the courage to sell the mills?
Looking back, I now see Rochelle Myers as one of the few people I've known to lead a great life, while doing truly great work. This stemmed largely from her remarkable simplicity. A simple home. A simple schedule. A simple frame for her work.
Rochelle spoke to me repeatedly about the idea of "making your life a creative work of art." A great piece of art is composed not just of what is in the final piece, but equally important, what is not. It is the discipline to discard what does not fit -- to cut out what might have already cost days or even years of effort -- that distinguishes the truly exceptional artist and marks the ideal piece of work, be it a symphony, a novel, a painting, a company or, most important of all, a life.
Jim Collins is author of Good to Great and co-author of Built to Last.
Copyright © 2003 Jim Collins, All rights reserved.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
You Twitt!
Wow, twittering is so much easier than blogging. Probably because my attention span is being deconstructed by the overload of images and information. It's just easier to write a few sentences of nothing than put together a coherent essay. I'm way more ADD now than I ever was growing up.
I was gonna say something else, but it flitterred away. If I think of it, it will be on Twitter.
I was gonna say something else, but it flitterred away. If I think of it, it will be on Twitter.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
20 Questions on Church Growth..ok maybe 8
A friend of mine is taking a church growth course, and asked my opinion on a few related questions. Since I spent so long answering him...I'll turn it into a blog post:
Wow!! Lots of good questions. My tendency is to go crazy and write a novel on each question...but I'll try to keep it short and sweet. If you want to follow up further, then let's get together!
Briefly describe the church's history, how many people were there, what was taking place.. before you arrived to what is going on now, the people, etc.
--We are a campus of a larger church, but our campus launched in Aug 2004 I think. About a year or so before that, there were about 10 people in the Greenville area interested in launching a Seacoast Campus. The Campus Pastor drove to Greenville on weekends to do a small group with these folks and see if the group would grow to a point sufficient to start the church. It grew to about 40 and we went to 'practice services at the Pavilion on East North Street and gre to about 60 in a few months. Then we did personal invites and a mass mailing, launched at the (then) Palmetto Expo Center with about 300 attending. I think we settled in at about half that. 2 weeks at the Expo Center, 6 months at the Greenville Little Theatre, about 3 years at 212 Roper Mt Rd Ext. (present location) We plan to move again in August.
What has been a few key principals you have learned during or before the growth took place that helped you?
--Hold fast to the vision for the church
--If something isn't working--STOP IT!
--Recognize the ebb and flow of ministry seasons and don't wear yourself out fighting it---make adjustments and roll with it.
--Do not try to please people--stick to the vision God has given for the church..."I love the way this church works, ...but at my other church we did this neat thing with "_______"...NO, NO, NO!! If you adopt what they want to do, you become the church they just left! We don't try to please church people--we program to reach the lost.
--Develop leaders from within---don't go hire a star from somewhere else. Hire the person who embraces the vision/mission of the church. Get the right people on the bus...THEN decide where they need to sit!
I know one size doesn't fit all (comparing to how-to for church growth), but a lot of principals work including prayer, working hard, delegating, structure, worship, etc. What principals did you do that you think other churches can benefit?
--Prayer is a given---just do it!
--Don't try to do everything at once. Sunday morning is the main thing---make it excellent. Sunday morning involves the adult service and children's ministry...if either one isn't good, you won't make it. Small groups are the only other thing we did from the begnning to connect people outside the services. Don't start a youth ministry, don't start a womens ministry---just make Sunday morning good. If you think it's good----look at it again, how can it be better? It is what people see, remember and tell their friends about your church.
--If someone wants to start a ministry---start it as a small group. If it's not viable as a small group, it will die out there with much less damage.
--Be REAL - in every aspect of your ministry.
--Be accessible to people
--Don't VOTE on stuff. The ministers are the ones gifted to lead the church--let them do it! We have an elder structure. We don't vote!
Why do you think your church started to grow?
--God's grace
--Word of mouth
--Leadership focus - do a few things well
--Effective, sound teaching
--We think like a big church even if we're small!! Before doing something think--is this how a we would handle this if we had thousands attending? If it would be cheesy they...it's cheesy now!
How, do you think, your church grew? (people talking to people, programs, advertisement, etc. excluding the stuff like prayer, etc.)
--Word of mouth is key (which implies that they have something good to say from your Sunday morning service).
--We do mailers on big days like Christmas Eve, Easter, but their effect is probably minimal--although they do expose more people to the church who may tell a friend about it even if they don't stick around. We've had people show up from a mailer we sent a year ago...
Did God prepare you for this growth before it had taken place? Were you ready for it when it began to happen? If so, what helped you become prepared? If not, how is this helping you grow now?
--Being part of a larger church gave us many advantages: other campuses are ahead of us on the growth curve so we can learn from them.
--Leadership development is key---look at who God is bringing to you and identify and develop those leaders. We have a leadership pipeline concept that is constantly looking for the next leader! People get excited when there is opportunity!
Has the growth affected the way you do ministry? (preach, visit, etc.)
--Simply put it comes back to leadership development. We have to build leaders who can be responsible for ministry areas. We now have Volunteer Small Group Directors and Coaches to oversee the small group leaders. Youth ministry volunteers who can lead the youth services, Tech leaders and Service Coordinators, First Touch Champions over parking, cafe, greeters, etc. The span of care is broadened with key people that you can trust and have relationship with.
--Our teaching is primarily from the original campus so that hasn't changed. Remember the point I made above---if you preach, lead, relate or do anything like a small church would--you'll stay a small church. Better preach as if there were 2000 even if there are 20! (In terms of presentation, delivery and quality)
What, in your personal opinion, is the most important to be prepared and sustain growth? If more than one, describe why and possibly an order of what to focus on.
Worship
Structure
Leadership
Organization
Small Groups
Relationships (similar to small groups)
Advertising
Preaching
--all are important, but Advertising is least important (but you still need to do it well--and your web site needs to be excellent as well!)
I'd say it like this in a massive run-on sentence: Authentic, focused leadership that can develop other leaders within a mission driven organization structure based on ministry gifts not elected offices with sound teaching biblical teaching and passionate (excellent) worship with small groups that allow people to implement what they are learning by serving their community and the world, will grow a church...with God's help and the power of the Holy Spirit (which, again, are a given!)!!!
Everything flows from LEADERSHIP (...that will mess up everything if it's weak). Worship needs to be excellent, your structure should promote unity and down play differences.
As for organization----I prefer organism! There must be a basic structure, but focus on ministry giftings rather than filling up the org chart.
Small groups are VITAL to connecting people in fellowship! Relationships and pastoral care happens MOSTLY in small groups. Baby showers, hospital visits, food for sick/new moms--->it's a small group thing NOT the Pastors thing IF you are really equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry!
Preaching--be real, stay on point, be practical as possible with the text----how do I respond to what I've heard. Allow for personal reflection and response to the message.
Here is one you left off: Serving Small Groups should be mobilized to serve the community in practical ways several times per year. People are busy, but they also want to be able to make a difference in the Name of Jesus.
I wrote WAY more than I thought I would...I hope this gives you something to work with. Let me know if you want to follow up!
Wow!! Lots of good questions. My tendency is to go crazy and write a novel on each question...but I'll try to keep it short and sweet. If you want to follow up further, then let's get together!
Briefly describe the church's history, how many people were there, what was taking place.. before you arrived to what is going on now, the people, etc.
--We are a campus of a larger church, but our campus launched in Aug 2004 I think. About a year or so before that, there were about 10 people in the Greenville area interested in launching a Seacoast Campus. The Campus Pastor drove to Greenville on weekends to do a small group with these folks and see if the group would grow to a point sufficient to start the church. It grew to about 40 and we went to 'practice services at the Pavilion on East North Street and gre to about 60 in a few months. Then we did personal invites and a mass mailing, launched at the (then) Palmetto Expo Center with about 300 attending. I think we settled in at about half that. 2 weeks at the Expo Center, 6 months at the Greenville Little Theatre, about 3 years at 212 Roper Mt Rd Ext. (present location) We plan to move again in August.
What has been a few key principals you have learned during or before the growth took place that helped you?
--Hold fast to the vision for the church
--If something isn't working--STOP IT!
--Recognize the ebb and flow of ministry seasons and don't wear yourself out fighting it---make adjustments and roll with it.
--Do not try to please people--stick to the vision God has given for the church..."I love the way this church works, ...but at my other church we did this neat thing with "_______"...NO, NO, NO!! If you adopt what they want to do, you become the church they just left! We don't try to please church people--we program to reach the lost.
--Develop leaders from within---don't go hire a star from somewhere else. Hire the person who embraces the vision/mission of the church. Get the right people on the bus...THEN decide where they need to sit!
I know one size doesn't fit all (comparing to how-to for church growth), but a lot of principals work including prayer, working hard, delegating, structure, worship, etc. What principals did you do that you think other churches can benefit?
--Prayer is a given---just do it!
--Don't try to do everything at once. Sunday morning is the main thing---make it excellent. Sunday morning involves the adult service and children's ministry...if either one isn't good, you won't make it. Small groups are the only other thing we did from the begnning to connect people outside the services. Don't start a youth ministry, don't start a womens ministry---just make Sunday morning good. If you think it's good----look at it again, how can it be better? It is what people see, remember and tell their friends about your church.
--If someone wants to start a ministry---start it as a small group. If it's not viable as a small group, it will die out there with much less damage.
--Be REAL - in every aspect of your ministry.
--Be accessible to people
--Don't VOTE on stuff. The ministers are the ones gifted to lead the church--let them do it! We have an elder structure. We don't vote!
Why do you think your church started to grow?
--God's grace
--Word of mouth
--Leadership focus - do a few things well
--Effective, sound teaching
--We think like a big church even if we're small!! Before doing something think--is this how a we would handle this if we had thousands attending? If it would be cheesy they...it's cheesy now!
How, do you think, your church grew? (people talking to people, programs, advertisement, etc. excluding the stuff like prayer, etc.)
--Word of mouth is key (which implies that they have something good to say from your Sunday morning service).
--We do mailers on big days like Christmas Eve, Easter, but their effect is probably minimal--although they do expose more people to the church who may tell a friend about it even if they don't stick around. We've had people show up from a mailer we sent a year ago...
Did God prepare you for this growth before it had taken place? Were you ready for it when it began to happen? If so, what helped you become prepared? If not, how is this helping you grow now?
--Being part of a larger church gave us many advantages: other campuses are ahead of us on the growth curve so we can learn from them.
--Leadership development is key---look at who God is bringing to you and identify and develop those leaders. We have a leadership pipeline concept that is constantly looking for the next leader! People get excited when there is opportunity!
Has the growth affected the way you do ministry? (preach, visit, etc.)
--Simply put it comes back to leadership development. We have to build leaders who can be responsible for ministry areas. We now have Volunteer Small Group Directors and Coaches to oversee the small group leaders. Youth ministry volunteers who can lead the youth services, Tech leaders and Service Coordinators, First Touch Champions over parking, cafe, greeters, etc. The span of care is broadened with key people that you can trust and have relationship with.
--Our teaching is primarily from the original campus so that hasn't changed. Remember the point I made above---if you preach, lead, relate or do anything like a small church would--you'll stay a small church. Better preach as if there were 2000 even if there are 20! (In terms of presentation, delivery and quality)
What, in your personal opinion, is the most important to be prepared and sustain growth? If more than one, describe why and possibly an order of what to focus on.
Worship
Structure
Leadership
Organization
Small Groups
Relationships (similar to small groups)
Advertising
Preaching
--all are important, but Advertising is least important (but you still need to do it well--and your web site needs to be excellent as well!)
I'd say it like this in a massive run-on sentence: Authentic, focused leadership that can develop other leaders within a mission driven organization structure based on ministry gifts not elected offices with sound teaching biblical teaching and passionate (excellent) worship with small groups that allow people to implement what they are learning by serving their community and the world, will grow a church...with God's help and the power of the Holy Spirit (which, again, are a given!)!!!
Everything flows from LEADERSHIP (...that will mess up everything if it's weak). Worship needs to be excellent, your structure should promote unity and down play differences.
As for organization----I prefer organism! There must be a basic structure, but focus on ministry giftings rather than filling up the org chart.
Small groups are VITAL to connecting people in fellowship! Relationships and pastoral care happens MOSTLY in small groups. Baby showers, hospital visits, food for sick/new moms--->it's a small group thing NOT the Pastors thing IF you are really equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry!
Preaching--be real, stay on point, be practical as possible with the text----how do I respond to what I've heard. Allow for personal reflection and response to the message.
Here is one you left off: Serving Small Groups should be mobilized to serve the community in practical ways several times per year. People are busy, but they also want to be able to make a difference in the Name of Jesus.
I wrote WAY more than I thought I would...I hope this gives you something to work with. Let me know if you want to follow up!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Sheep Rustlers
I usually skim the articles in the newsletter from my alma mater, but I was captured by the latest cover article: Stealing Sheep: A Study in Church Growth Ethics, by William Chadwick. Since we want to be a church that evangelizes and disciples unchurched and dechurched people, it might be interesting to see how we stack up!
The author gives five tests to detect Sheep Rustlers. I'll give you the categories with my summary definitions:
1. Advertising/Marketing - are we intentionally promoting ourselves to the Christian subculture rather than non-Christians?
2. Networking - are we inviting our converted friends and family or maintaining a "positive secular network of friends"?
3. Gross mistrust between ministries - is there a sense of cooperation between churches and ministries in our city or do we ignore everyone else?
4. In-house dissension - do we have a lot of high maintenance spiritual pygmies bringing their baggage to our church from the one they just left?
5. Emphasis on secondary pursuits - do we feel the pull to water down our message to avoid the reality that no one is coming to Christ?
Here is how I see us stacking up:
1. We intentionally don't advertise on the local Christian radio station for this very reason. We don't want Christians!
2. Part of our monthly Newcomers orientation is teaching people how to invite their unsaved friends and neighbors. We especially emphasize this for special services like Christmas Eve and Easter.
3. The churches I know that are cooperating with each other are all intentionally (...as evidenced by their programming!!) seeking to reach lost people. The institutional/denominational churches seem to me the least likely to be communicate with other ministries in the area.
4. Everyone is going to get some high maintenance people from time to time. Shallow people are going to hop around, but currently, we don't have an issue with lots of this.
5. Every Sunday there is an opportunity for people to come to Christ...and it's happening almost every week.
Well, there you go. So how about you? Are you a shepherd or a rustler!
The author gives five tests to detect Sheep Rustlers. I'll give you the categories with my summary definitions:
1. Advertising/Marketing - are we intentionally promoting ourselves to the Christian subculture rather than non-Christians?
2. Networking - are we inviting our converted friends and family or maintaining a "positive secular network of friends"?
3. Gross mistrust between ministries - is there a sense of cooperation between churches and ministries in our city or do we ignore everyone else?
4. In-house dissension - do we have a lot of high maintenance spiritual pygmies bringing their baggage to our church from the one they just left?
5. Emphasis on secondary pursuits - do we feel the pull to water down our message to avoid the reality that no one is coming to Christ?
Here is how I see us stacking up:
1. We intentionally don't advertise on the local Christian radio station for this very reason. We don't want Christians!
2. Part of our monthly Newcomers orientation is teaching people how to invite their unsaved friends and neighbors. We especially emphasize this for special services like Christmas Eve and Easter.
3. The churches I know that are cooperating with each other are all intentionally (...as evidenced by their programming!!) seeking to reach lost people. The institutional/denominational churches seem to me the least likely to be communicate with other ministries in the area.
4. Everyone is going to get some high maintenance people from time to time. Shallow people are going to hop around, but currently, we don't have an issue with lots of this.
5. Every Sunday there is an opportunity for people to come to Christ...and it's happening almost every week.
Well, there you go. So how about you? Are you a shepherd or a rustler!
Monday, March 17, 2008
The Piano Theory of Life
Raising kids is tougher than I thought it would be. I knew they would have a will of their own, but that surely wouldn't be that big a deal...right?
I've come to realize that it's all about being alert for teachable moments and jumping on them like a tick on a dog. Those teachable moments will come along periodically, but why not be proactive and create teachable moments (ie furious battles of willpower) every single day?
The best way that I've discovered to guarantee such a test is the daily piano practice. In just one hour per day, your child can experience every known human emotion (and so can you).
First, your child will have to do something they don't particularly want to do, but will benefit them in the long run! Then there is the frustration that occurs when things don't go according to plan (getting the fingering wrong). Oh, by the way, there is no instant gratification during piano practice---it just takes a long time to get it right--a long, long time! Sometimes a child can remain grumpy during the entire practice. This occasionally requires parental discipline to overcome--man, I hate that. They also learn that sometimes they have to humble themselves and ask others for help. Don't forget the stress of recitals and concerts...for the child and the parent! Oh, and how can a child watch all of Ratatouille and not move, but have to go potty umpteen times during a one hour piano practice!?
There are joys too! When the dynamics, phrasing and accurate fingering come together and the little face lights up because she got it right!
Come to think of it, I think piano lessons are harder on the parent than the child. So why do we do it? It's a training ground for the struggles and joys of life...for the kids and for me!
Well, here we go: "Girls, it's time to practice"!
I've come to realize that it's all about being alert for teachable moments and jumping on them like a tick on a dog. Those teachable moments will come along periodically, but why not be proactive and create teachable moments (ie furious battles of willpower) every single day?
The best way that I've discovered to guarantee such a test is the daily piano practice. In just one hour per day, your child can experience every known human emotion (and so can you).
First, your child will have to do something they don't particularly want to do, but will benefit them in the long run! Then there is the frustration that occurs when things don't go according to plan (getting the fingering wrong). Oh, by the way, there is no instant gratification during piano practice---it just takes a long time to get it right--a long, long time! Sometimes a child can remain grumpy during the entire practice. This occasionally requires parental discipline to overcome--man, I hate that. They also learn that sometimes they have to humble themselves and ask others for help. Don't forget the stress of recitals and concerts...for the child and the parent! Oh, and how can a child watch all of Ratatouille and not move, but have to go potty umpteen times during a one hour piano practice!?
There are joys too! When the dynamics, phrasing and accurate fingering come together and the little face lights up because she got it right!
Come to think of it, I think piano lessons are harder on the parent than the child. So why do we do it? It's a training ground for the struggles and joys of life...for the kids and for me!
Well, here we go: "Girls, it's time to practice"!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Planned Spontaneity
A couple of weeks ago, I had an amazing experience. I baptized 15 people over the course of two morning services on the same Sunday. The funny thing was that we had 2 people signed up for baptism ahead of time!
Have you ever tried to schedule people in advance for baptism? First, you have to do it on a weekend they are in town...no easy task! Next, explain what they need to bring and how the process works. Then meet with them to go over the 'sign/symbol/significance' of baptism. Sure enough, something comes up and they can't make it.
We decided to bypass the headache, and just do baptism the way Phillip did with the Ethiopian: a message that teaches the topic, and a 'what prevents me from being baptized?' moment of response. We provided the clothes, towels, water...and WOW!
I was shaking in the baptistry...yes, it was cold water splashing on me, but that's not why. God was in the place, and I had the amazing opportunity to be in the middle of it. So far, one of the all time highlights of ministry that I've experienced!
Have you ever tried to schedule people in advance for baptism? First, you have to do it on a weekend they are in town...no easy task! Next, explain what they need to bring and how the process works. Then meet with them to go over the 'sign/symbol/significance' of baptism. Sure enough, something comes up and they can't make it.
We decided to bypass the headache, and just do baptism the way Phillip did with the Ethiopian: a message that teaches the topic, and a 'what prevents me from being baptized?' moment of response. We provided the clothes, towels, water...and WOW!
I was shaking in the baptistry...yes, it was cold water splashing on me, but that's not why. God was in the place, and I had the amazing opportunity to be in the middle of it. So far, one of the all time highlights of ministry that I've experienced!
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