clarity evangelist

The Payoff of Carving Out Time for Vision

I ran into this simple but powerful post of 27-year old Sean Chandler. He is a student pastor in Round Rock, Texas that has been thinking about vision lately.

Imagine waking up one day to do leadership training and realizing that, "I had not articulated any of the basic ideas that are in my head." (Don't be surprised Sean as most leaders don't.)

But why not? Sean writes:

"Its far easier too...

• do business as usual
• focus on weekly tasks
• bog down in details
• keep a system with no direction or accountability...

...than it is carve out time in your schedule to develop a vision, cast the vision, and apply that vision to every single ministry, program, responsibility, and volunteer in your organization.

Well, it's easier in the short run. In the long wrong it leads to more work, discouragement, confusion, volunteer problems, and lack of results.

Vision requires intentionality, but the payoff is efficiency, momentum, inspiration, etc.

Great thoughts Sean- every word you chose packs a punch. Read his full post here.

Leading with a Mission Statement that Isn't Dumb

How many dumb mission statements do you hear like: Our challenge is to assertively network economically sound methods of empowerment so that we may continually negotiate performance-based infrastructures.

If you have been around church at all, you know that we are good at specializing in these "corporate hallmark cards" and "Air Supply-like rhythms." 

Yesterday, I spoke to church consultants from across the country at a summit in New Orleans with the Society of Church Consulting. I challenged them to consider a new approach to vision and strategic planning as outlined in Church Unique. Many resonated with my challenge. 

Ironically, while I was speaking, this article was sent before I got my hard copy of Fast Company. It is simply one of the best articles on writing a mission statement I have ever read.

The article entitled, How to Write a Mission Statement that Isn't Dumb is featured in Fast Company by Nancy Lublin, CEO of DoSomething.org

40 Top Thoughts on Clarity at 40

A few days before my 40th birthday I was thinking about a quote that has guiding my life for the last 25 years.  I read somewhere that I can't remember the idea that in the first half of your life, the opportunity of every situation is found more in what you learn than in what you give.

Hmmmm...what does that mean now that the first half of my life is over?  For some reason, I take comfort (maybe too much comfort) in the fact that I still get to learn more than I give. It throws me back to understanding my life as a stewardship. 

The next thought that crossed my mind, was "What are the other ideas that have guided my life and work the most." In 90 minutes I had written about 70. I was surprised that I could list that many, so I boiled it down to 40 and thought it might be fun to tweet them throughout the day. I figure the rest of the twitterville could put up with my extra tweets for one day! You can see the tweets and people's ERS (emotional resonance spectrum) by searching #40at40.  

Also thanks to Brock Sawyer for typing them up on his blog here.

Here are the top six:

1. Clarity isn’t everything but it changes everything.
2. Jesus was totally clear about his origin, his mission, and his destiny.
3. In the first half of your life, the opportunity of every situation is found more in what you learn than in what you give.
4. The rest of your life will be in the future, so prepare for it now. 
5. The most important question I have ever discovered is, “What is God up to?”
6. Imagination if more important than knowledge – Einstein

The rest of the list contains my personal, family and Auxano mission; the quote that lead me to write Church Unique and some of my favorite one-liners as a church consultant. Have fun and let me know your favs!

Great Prelaunch Vision Video on Local Predicament

Uncovering your Kingdom Concept is practice along the Vision Pathway to answer the question, "What can your church do better than 10,000 others." In defining this reality for each church we look closely at Place (Local Predicament), People (Collective Potential) and Passion (Apostolic Esprit). 

Jack Thomas is a church planter launching in urban Pittsburgh in May of 2010.  I not only love his cultural exegesis, but the succinct and quality way he is communicating his Local Predicament via video.

LifeStone Community Focus Video from Jack Thomas on Vimeo.

10 Profound Lessons from the Catalyst Godfather

I was glad to see Chuck Swindoll get the legacy award at Catalyst today.  He just got off the stage and truly engaged the young audience. It was fun to watch the crowd "surprised" by the wisdom and humor of this ministry giant.  It really exposes our taste for trend. We have little patience and appetite for seasoned ministry perspective at our conference pep-rallies.  

Chuck is a giant, and I have been close enough to him to validate that he lives the top ten lessons that he shares. I first met Chuck while at Dallas Seminary, and had the privilege as a young consultant to be his vision navigator during his fourth year at Stonebriar Community Church.  Stonebriar, planted in Frisco in far North Dallas, had 700 people at its first public worship and grew by 1000 people each year for the first four years. As I mentioned in Church Unique, Chuck's big idea is "joy."  His mission is to encourage all people to pursue a lifelong, joyous relationship with Jesus Christ.  

My favorite learning experience with Chuck was a small think tank with Greg Mott at Houston's First Baptist. I remember thinking: here is a 70 year-old church planter meeting with a 30 year old senior pastor of a 70- year old church. Chuck's humility and his command of Scripture is always amazing.  In fact he is one of the most humble and teachable pastors I have ever worked with.  That's why I especially appreciate his 10 lessons from 50 years of ministry:

1. It’s lonely to lead
2. It’s dangerous to succeed
3. It’s hardest at home
4. It’s essential to be real
5. It’s painful to obey
6. Brokenness and failure are necessary
7. Attitude overshadows actions
8. Integrity eclipses image
9. God’s way is always better than my way
10. Christlikeness begins and ends with humility

Places to Push the Envelope on Vision

My speaking ministry has ramped up a bit with more people engaging Church Unique. Here are a few places I will be in the next 6 weeks. I will begin updating the blog more with events like these. The reason I speak is to push the envelope on vision. It's all about what God wants to do uniquely through you and your ministry.

• September 29: A Day of Clarity, Portland, OR
• October 12-13: Sticky Church Conference, San Diego, CA
• October 20-21: CB Plus ‘24’ Conference, Anderson, IN
• October 27: Cornerstone Conference, with WFX Charlotte, NC
• November 10: Society for Church Consulting, New Orleans, LA

Take a NINES Intermission- A Guide for Knowledge Junkies

While the NINES is new, the feeling of being drenched by an information fire hydrant is not. As I watch folks tweet and celebrate and whine about this blast of kingdom wisdom, I wanted to share a few thoughts to guide your learning experience. Consider taking a 5 minute intermission to reflect now.

What we are aiming for is not the picture of a child playing and splashing in the hydrant’s water-works. There is no learning there. We are looking for the leaders ability to sip from the hydrant (without loosing your lips!) 

Three things can drive your knowledge junkie “drenching” over a learning leaders “drinking”

1) Omission Paranoia.  This problem has come with the cultural phenomenon of hyperchoice.  We are constantly provided with so many options and so many evolutions of improvement with products, services, and everyday choices, that we can live overwhelmed and not even recognize it. If you are an opportunistic person like me, the problem can be worse. Eventually, an unsettled spirit creeps its way deep within our soul.  The result?  We live paranoid that we are going to miss out on one of the options, the “right angle” or the “winning choice.”  Attending the NINES is pure hell if you have omission paranoia. Don’t worry about what you will miss.  Drink and ingest what is meaningful when you can.

2) Hidden Jealously.  One of my mentors, Howard Hendricks used to say, “You focus on the depth of your relationship with God and let God determine the scope of your ministry.”  If you’re like me, there is a little commentator inside your head when you see 70 plus speakers get platformed in a cool venue like the NINES. We wonder what we would say, how they got invited, yada, yada, yada. With these conversations in your head you really can’t drink well.

3) Photocopied Vision. If you follow me you know that this is my continual burning platform.  The longer I look under the hood of ministry teams across the country the less I am surprised by the clarity vacuum. Please know that most leaders are missing some clarity and the more you’re lacking the harder it is to sip from the hydrant. Why? True clarity provides a frame or filter through which to evaluate everything. (I call it a Vision Frame.) Robust clarity actually makes learning more aggressive and meaningful, because you continually cull out or highlight content based on the needs of your vision and strategy. You know when this “personal calling filter” is working when you can skip chapters in a book or hit pause on a NINES presenter without a second’s thought. 

What’s the answer to these challenges? They all push me back to Jesus.  Battle omission paranoia by resting in God’s goodness and sovereignty.  Repent of hidden jealously. Take time and create margin to refine your ministry vision and understanding of God’s call on your life. A potential action step: In the next few weeks I will be hosting a virtual Vision co::Lab for this purpose. It’s the polar opposite of the NINES. Instead of spending 8 hours with 70 leaders spend 24 hours of vision coaching with a small group of 8. More info here.

How to Maximize your NINES Learning Experience

I spent the day at Leadership Network (LN) continuing a clarification and alignment process that started as they celebrated their 25th anniversary this past January. It has been an honor to serve them in this season of visioning. And the closer I get to their core, the more I respect their unique contribution to the kingdom.

One crown jewel in their strategy this year is the NINES.

In order to maximize this learning experience, consider the context of the offering.  The mission of Leadership Network is to accelerate the impact of 100X leaders.  What is a 100X leader? (I'm glad you asked.) The concept is rooted in Matthew 13:23.  People produce different amounts of fruit depending on the soil of their soul.  The verse references thirty, sixty, and hundred fold fruitfulness. LN taps into hundredfold leaders (100X) to accelerate their impact and to encourage the multiplication of that learning (one of their stated strategies). 

So in order to encourage multiplication, they are hosting this massive conversation called the NINES.  Over 8500 church leaders are registered to hear from over 70 different speakers. I believe this will be the most innovative and effective learning event of the year. Yet it has come together quickly and with a bit of intrigue. So how can you actually maximize the learning from this event?  Here is my advice.

1) Carve out as much time as possible to watch live.  This stuff is FREE and will be more focused and diverse than ANY conference you have to pay for and travel to see.  Grab your team and cancel your appointments. These are great thinkers and leaders.  They are not exclusively "rock stars" that we have heard from to death. 

2) Keep streaming tweets while watching OR if you can't watch live. Since I blogged on this innovative way to attend a conference click here to read more. I can't wait to watch the Emotional Resonance Spectrum tomorrow. The hashtag of leadership network generally is #leadnet, but for tomorrow's event it is #thenines. 

3) Zero in by asking for the Holy Spirit to help. Okay, if you are a church leader you are always praying for other people. Like me, you might forget this little step when it comes to learning. Pray for God to deliver the arrow of truth that you need to penetrate your heart.

4) Think "syntopically." This is where the value proposition of the NINES gets exponential. When you hear a dozen to seventy snapshots of passionate, persuasive nuggets from really smart leaders, look for the common themes and shared angles of the content. This is what all futurists and visionaries do.  They are not just seeing what others see. They are organizing and articulating in new ways what other people have seen but have not fully appreciated. Remember, no one is coordinating content, so common themes will be Spirit-driven.  Also remember that there is no real meaning to the order of the presenters other than trying to put out high-recognition names every hour (these LN guys aren't stupid). 

5) Focus reflection. All of this great content must translate, at some point, to meaningful take-aways based on the clarity of your own calling. My personal strategy will be to take hand written notes, that I will group eventually into no more than three categories. In my experience, if a leaders tries to carry more than three ideas, thoughts, or actions away in their wheelbarrow, he or she risks tipping over and having nothing. 

6) Act immediately. Perfect learning is the enemy to good execution. The truth is that you don't need more information to do a better job as a leader.  You need perspective, conviction, passion and stretched imagination. I think LN should host a conversation about the results of the learning tomorrow.  Your leadership will be measured, NOT by the size of your NINES notebook or the number of your compelling retweets.  Your leadership will be measured how you act with what you gain.  What will you need to stop, start, enhance, plan for, or discuss immediately with your leadership team as a result of what you learn? 

Change has Changed: Your Vision is Outdated Part 3

A pastor left a message on my 800 line yesterday and on my cell phone today (he was referred from a friend who used Auxano). Interestingly, he used a long string of different terms to describe what he is looking for in his two different voice messages:

"I was interested in talking to you about..."

• developing a long range plan
• a strategic planning process 
• visioning  
• strategizing  
• helping us think through the future 
• defining our DNA   

Its noteworthy that there are many ways of trying to articulate the very process at arriving at vision today. The way we think about vision is being challenged, pushed and stretched to adapt to new sets of problems and opportunities. 

Of course this is nothing new.  As with many things in the church today, we stand on a giant threshold of change. Never has the rate of change so rapidly increased that change itself is changing. You name the subject- community, technology, justice, preaching- change is relentless.

Change also pushes divergence in how churches express their identity.  In the last century, divergence was experienced slowly and primarily through denomination and theology.  Now, divergence is driven more by context and geography. This divergence leads to a new lexicon that explodes with words like microchurch, gigachurch, church online, organic church, mult-site, and so on.

What does this mean about your vision?  It is probably outdated. Consider the fact that:

• Conferences (event-based inspiration) have become the primary tool for thinking about the future
• Church growth methodology that peaked in the 70's and 80's was based on cultural assumptions that have changed 
• Traditional strategic planning (and the resulting notebook from the process) is more of a hindrance than a help in energizing a church's future.

What's the bottom line? We need new words, new tools, and new processes today to help us with vision. (This need is the holy discontent behind the book Church Unique.) Until we regain an adequate model for visioning in this context of rapid change, the effectiveness of every other decision in the church will decrease. 

Guiding Principles and Yogi Church

I have been transitioning from coffee to tea. Today the family was comparing two brands of green tea- Tazo and Yogi. The clear winner for us is Yogi.  I always enjoy reading the story and vision behind a product I like. In this case I found the Yogi Principles an interesting example of a defining core. 

As you read these principles, consider whether your life or your ministry could be summarized by a few values, guiding principles, or distinctives. The greatest obstacle to do this is having too many.  Oftentimes ministries will have multiple lists of statements with 6-10 things in each list. Remember, it is not as important what you call your core (be creative) as long as you boil it down to six or less ideas. In other words you don't want to have a list of both 8 guiding principles and 7 core values.  That's 15 things total which is 9 more than you should be stating.  Your vision will stillbirth if you don't distill.

As I read Yogi's principles I could help thinking of a retranslation for the local church. So enjoy both lists:

Yogi Tea Principles

• Tasting great is essential but not enough
• We think before we blend 
• Health is found in nature
• Creative combinations can optimize what nature has to offer 
• Whenever possible we work with wholes not parts 

Yogi Church

• Great worship is essential but not enough
• We think before we program 
• Health is found in community 
• Creativity and innovation can optimize what church has to offer  
• Whenever possible we lead the whole church body not just parts