Browsing all posts in Strategy.

You Will Be Accountable for This

Who do you admire?  I imagine that if you’re a preacher, you admire other preachers.  If you’re in kids ministry or student ministry, you’ve got a few leaders you follow. Graphic designers study and admire other graphic designers, musicians often follow other musicians. If you work in the marketplace, you admire other friends, colleagues or [...]

Happy Father’s Day (aka How to Get Fired on Mother’s Day)

If a lot of us preachers treated Mother’s Day the way we treat Father’s Day, we’d get fired.
On Father’s Day, we often say “Dads, time to get your act together…step up…accept responsibility…be a leader…we expect it, and you’re not measuring up.”
Try that on Mother’s Day.  Exactly.
I’m not saying we should be hard on our moms [...]

One Key to Innovation

In 2011, more than half of all of Apple’s revenue will come from products that did not exist four years ago.
That’s impressive.
What amazes me about Apple is how it produces products that dazzle many of us over and over again.  When I picked up my iPhone 3Gs last summer I thought – I don’t know [...]

Seven Questions to Help Engage the Culture

It’s so easy to become culturally irrelevant.  I don’t even need to try.  One day you’re doing some awesome worship music, playing Modest Mouse and serving bold coffee, and the next minute it sounds like polka music to the next generation of kids.  It happens so fast.
At Connexus Church, we do a weekly service programming [...]

What People Really Want From You

So I like Apple.  True confession.  (And no surprise to anyone who knows me.)  Last week they taught me a key lesson in customer service I’m going to share, but first, the back story. 
When I entered into Apple world three years ago, I assumed Apple would have exceptional reliability.  That’s their reputation after all.  For sure, [...]

Nothing Is Actually Free

Years ago, one of my best friends told me "Nothing is actually free."  We were talking about a free lunch I won.  He said, "Sure, it’s free to you. But somebody paid for it."
Never forgotten that.  And it’s completely true. 
That free CD you got – somebody paid for it.  That free ticket to the show? [...]

The Biggest Obstacle

You can accomplish more than you think.  Most of the barriers are in your head.  At least if you’re like me. 
Let me explain. 
It’s only June, but I think I’ve gotten more accomplished this year than in many other years combined.  I could say I’m excited about it, but actually I’m a bit shocked.  Shocked because [...]

Seven Things That Won’t Fuel Your Passion

The longer you’re in leadership, the more aware you become of what really fuels passion over the long haul.  The question that drives me (a lot) these days is this:  How do you stay passionate over a long period of time?
Some things fuel passion in the short term, but they don’t last.  Two things often [...]

How No Leads to Yes

The longer I’m in leadership, the more I realize so much hangs on the ability to say no.  
I don’t like saying no.  It’s hard to say no to your kids, to people you like.  Honestly, it’s even hard to say no to the people you may not be as fond of.  
As a leader, [...]

The Math of Methods and Outcome

Most of us want to be good at what we do. Most of us would love a little more than that – we’d love to be great at what we do.
Think about this math.  If you’re going to get top 10% results, you’re probably not going to get them using the same methods that 90% [...]