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Let's Hear it for the Little Guy :: #Tribes

Tribesphoto  Welcome to Day 8 of the Tribes group blogging festivities, initiated by John Saddington. I'll be focusing on pages 35-39, which deals with initiative, leverage, followings, factories, and my favorite--Innovation. (Which I believe it's at the heart of it all.)

What I love about innovation--the power of an idea--is it can come from anywhere. It's not dependent on what you've done before, your talents or bank account size. In fact, too much of any of these things can actually inhibit the process. That's why I'm a huge cheerleader for the little guys.


The little guys are typically the ones to challenge the status quo. They don't have the resources to do it the way it's "supposed" to be done. (Or they're fortunate enough not to know any better.) Boxphoto

Large established organizations are frequently boxed in [perhaps self-contained?] by this type of thinking. There's too much at risk to try something new. The stakes might be too high with much to potentially lose. The early days of Southwest Airlines was a brilliant example of challenging the status quo. They refused to hire industry professionals who knew how it was "supposed" to be done. They were masters at asking, "What if".

"What if we standardize our planes to make servicing them easier? What if we could turn them around in 10 mins instead of 40? What if we focused regionally? What if the flight attendants had fun with the passengers?"

They changed the game.

Little guys are nimble enough to shift gears if something isn't working. They're forced to get creative when solving problems because throwing more money or people at it isn't an option. They cast vision and create passionate tribes that are crazy enough to realize they just might be able to make a difference.

This is one of the reasons why I love church planters so much. They're entrepreneurs. Underdogs. Ministry MacGyvers, if you will.

"[You have] ... everything you need to build something far bigger than yourself. The people around you realize this, and they are ready to follow if you're ready to lead." -Seth Godin

The challenge is to maintain this mindset as the organization begins to mature. Marketplace companies have R&D labs; what about the Church? This is something we need to be intentional about because it's inevitable. Once we discover something that works, we systematize it. So what are we doing to overcome the Factory mindset that is inherent with larger organizations?

Fellow Triiiber, Eric Murrell did a fantastic job painting a picture of the unfortunate results in his post of an organization consumed by the Factory mindset:

"The lack of enthusiasm was even evident from the demeanor in the break room; instead of discussing the latest technologies and wildly daydreaming about it’s implications on our field, folks sat around passively drinking their coffee and checking the clock to see how much time remained before they could escape their fluorescent prisons."

How many churches does this describe today?

My take away from this section is that innovation is born out of initiative, which leads to increased leverage and a following. Factories can be the unfortunate byproduct of success that cripples future growth if not handled with care. True, efficiencies can be fantastic but at what cost?

*Tribes banner courtesy of Media Salt

Posted at 12:09 AM in Books, Business in Ministry, Innovation & Entrepreneurs | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBack (0)

Tags: #tribes, churchcrunch, eric murrell, john saddington, seth godin

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The Idea Camp

Ideacamp

IStock_000002404872XSmall Honestly, words can't fully describe how excited I am about this event. I think it truly is going to be a game-changer in the conference world. Actually, using the word "conference" seems to be pretty weak in attempting to explain what actually is going to be more of an experience.

Yes, there will be some amazing, well-known, really smart people like Dave Gibbons, Erwin McManus & Matthew Barnett. Combined with equally amazing [but maybe not as well-known] people like Zach Hunter... A 16 yr old who's making a world difference and influencing countless other young people. Topics include not only technology & leadership best practices, but funding nonprofits, caring for the poor and creating a culture of authenticity, plus a ton of others.

But what I'm most excited about is the format. The audience is in the driver's seat. As speakers, we're primarily facilitating conversations and asking questions. 

I love sharing ideas. That collective collaboration could offer more value than the wisdom of one person. And it's about things that are truly making a difference.

Let's face it--The speed of innovation is becoming somewhat of a blur. I think Charles Lee is brilliant for facilitating a think tank where we can learn from and stretch each other. And did I mention registration is free? Yep. A big fat $0 to sign up.

I'll be leading a discussion on what it means to authentically live out your brand on Friday, in addition to participating in two Q&A panels [both on Saturday]. The first is with Brad Abare & Penny Hunter on Marketing & the Church, and the second with two really smart women, Cynthia Ware & Dawn Carter talking about Women & Influence. [You can read more about everyone here]

If you're planning to attend, I'd love to connect with you. If you're a person who likes to live on the edge & hasn't signed up yet... seriously. You don't want to miss this.

Posted at 01:47 PM in Conferences, Innovation & Entrepreneurs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Tags: Brad Abare, Charles Lee, Cynthia Ware, Dave Gibbons, David Ruis, Dawn Carter, Erwin McManus, Keith Kall, Matthew Barnett, Penny Hunter, The Idea Camp, Zach Hunter

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Stretching Beyond What's Comfortable

Heard a fantastic message from Craig Groeschel last night & something he said really stuck with me.

"A leader's greatest fear is failure, but his greatest pain is regret"

How often do we as leaders hesitate from doing what we know in our hearts we're supposed to do, yet let fear paralyze us to the point of inaction? Or crazier still, we ask for help but when God actually shows up we're completely dumbfounded in disbelief.

Maybe it's doing something no one's done before. Maybe it's just new for you. The fear of failure can be overwhelming, but it's nothing compared to the woulda coulda shoulda's that inevitably follow when we stay on the sidelines.

This is striking very close to home for me these days, as I've made the jump and am in the process of writing a book for entrepreneurial leaders... the "Ministry Mavericks" in all of us out there.  [no that's probably not the title] 

I'm pretty stoked, but feeling uneasy as well. (I think the last "book" I wrote was in 4th grade, but man did it have fantastic illustrations) So I'm reaching out to some folks I really respect who've "been there, done that" to learn as much as I can and have just been blown away by the responses.

Will keep ya posted as things progress.

Posted at 05:21 PM in Innovation & Entrepreneurs | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

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