Team Culture: Innovation

20Dec2012
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A short while ago I began a series on team culture [see here and here] that I wanted to see take hold among our leaders at theWELL. Today, I’ll continue with the subject of Innovation.

With the arrival of the Information Age, we have witnessed the arrival of new technologies at breakneck speeds. Our exposure to this information is staggering when you take a moment to realize just how plugged in and connected we really are. And with that connectedness, we are open to a constant stream of fresh thoughts and ideas, each one shouting their worthiness for our consideration.

This is all well and good, except the overdose of ideas tends to send us into overload. We are overloaded with talent and creativity, almost frightened to try anything new for fear that we’ve chosen the wrong idea to cling to. We have gone from too few options to having too many. All the while, innovation waits, begging us for a chance to be used.

You see, there is a disparity between creativity and innovation. Creativity originates ideas; innovation puts them into practice. The difference between the two is production. Innovation produces.

There’s an interesting story about Steve Jobs from Steven Levy’s book Insanely Great:

Jobs’s speeches were punctuated by slogans. Perhaps the most telling epigram of all was a three-word koan that Jobs scrawled on an easel in January 1983, when the project [the release of the first Mac] was months overdue. REAL ARTISTS SHIP. It was an awesome encapsulation of the ground rules in the age of technological expression. The term “starving artist” was now an oxymoron.

As the leadership team for theWELL, we value innovation over creativity because innovation simply gets things done. Creativity is a vital part of the process, but if all we’re left with at the end of a brainstorming session is a bunch of new ideas, we become part of the problem rather than part of the solution to bring hope and healing to the earth. We end up having a lot of great ideas, but very few actions steps to put our faith into practice.

Anyone can have an idea, but it takes someone motivated by a deeper sense of calling and duty to do something great with it.

And we want to do great things. We’ve been called by a great God, compelled by a Great Commandment, and burdened with a Great Commission. Greatness is beckoning all those who would venture to throw off the status quo and lean into the infintely wise and creative God who is constantly inspiring the attentive.

So we can agree that innovation is more than just an idea. Innovation occurs when the Holy Spirit challenges a methodology or a mindset–a wineskin, if you will–so the recipient has some measurable action for which he is responsible. Innovation challenges the way things are done in order to create room for God to move in a greater way.

Unfortunately, it seems as if the Church is the least innovative people around, even though the very Spirit of God lives inside us. The answer to this is learning to treasure His voice and being obedient to the plans He gives us, no matter how far off from normal and comfortable they are. A leadership team filled with people who do exactly this are the kind of people we want having an influential voice in our community.

How important do you view innovation in the context of a leadership team? What about the organization at large?

Team Culture: Communication

5Jul2012
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This post is next in a series explaining the team culture we wish to build at theWELL. The first was about passion, while today’s topic is on communication.

The art and craft of communication has been written about many times over by professionals and academics, yet it’s something that must be addressed here as well if we are to achieve a healthy team dynamic. Communicating is more than speaking–it includes perception, understanding, clarity, tone, body language, etc. If we are not careful miscommunication can foil our attempts to move forward on our mission and result in the fallout of tension, misunderstanding, and bitterness. We will focus here on the lines of communication that exists between those working together in leadership at theWELL.

The first quality of communication that must be embraced is charity. Charity seeks to sacrificially love and honor others because we prefer them before ourselves. We exhibit it most powerfully in the context of communication when we are quick to listen and slow to speak. In times of misunderstanding, we ask clarifying questions as we choose to believe the best about the intensions of the other people around us. To the best of our ability, we are to posture our hearts to resist defensiveness and offendedness, and to assume that others believe the best about us as well.

In any productive environment when creative passions are encouraged, there will be disagreements. We must be proactive about cultivating relationships before such times arise in order to develop trust and respect between members of our team [You might find it helpful to have coffee, grab lunch, or watch a movie with other teammates often. Don't let the only social time be around a meeting table]. It’s in that context of trust where we are free to dispute openly, knowing we serve the same Kingdom vision and that trust will bring us back together and draw us closer into friendship.

And at times when feelings are hurt, we will work through issues of forgiveness quickly and seek to explain which actions and words brought offense. Everyone participating in team leadership is empowered to be vigilant against gossip’s poisonous effects in our community and to practice loving discipline among ourselves [see Matthew 18:15-20]. We can’t allow unexpressed emotion or tension pile up inside us–it will always find an unhealthy [read: sinful] outlet. The best way to deal is to have open and honest conversation to express ourselves and deal with our frustrations.

Also worth mentioning is how we communicate with each other in the this fast-paced age of digitalization. With the onslaught of emails, tweets, messages, texts, etc., it’s no wonder that some of us may feel overwhelmed with trying to keep up with all our relationships. However, in order for our church to be productive and help others know to know Jesus. If lines of communication are interrupted or prolonged, our organization will suffer as a whole. Immediately what comes to mind are important emails and other methods of contact where people either procrastinate in their response, or forget altogether. Questions go unanswered, agendas items are confusing, and appointments are missed. Let’s be proactive about honoring each other by having a short-turn around time for communication so we are all filled-in and informed on important matters without resentment and distrust building up.

I find that up to 24 hours is a respectable amount of time for getting back to someone’s. Even a simply message saying that you need more time is better than nothing at all for several days. Shorter times may be necessary for phone calls and text messages–and this is all relative to the nature of the call, etc., of course.

Charity. Believing the best. Planning for disagreements. Avoid gossip. Show honor in communication.

Sounds like a team I want to be a part of.

Earthy Spirituality

30May2012
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ImageMy salvation experience came just over ten years ago and since that time I’ve made too many mistakes to count. Some of the ones that make me recoil the most about are those of the Pharisaical variety. You know the ones–when your self-righteousness rises up to help your superiority complex (or, shall I say, god complex?) which tries to subjugate everyone around you. We do this, perhaps, in response to our own insecurity. Sometimes it’s because somebody has put us down or make us look foolish. Sometimes we simply don’t know how to be relatable in our newly discovered faith.

Whatever the reason, I want to make the observation that as Christians we tend to adopt this psuedospirituality so we can show others around us how connected to God we are. But instead of inviting people into an authentic relationship with Jesus, we end up erecting roadblocks to genuine community with His church. And we land in this current situation in society where people have respect and affection for Jesus but not for His followers.

This all leads up to a quote I came across in the book Culture Making by Andy Crouch:

Jesus was a cultivator of culture. He did not just acquire enough maturity to get about his real, “spiritual” business of saving the world and then wash his hands of responsibility to tend and conserve his cultural heritage. He spent prime years simply absorbing, practicing and passing on his culture–not preaching, not healing, not introducing the dramatic innovations that would bring him into conflict with the nation’s leaders.

Simple wisdom for the proud. It’s good for those of us who are so bent on spiritual zeal to reach outsiders and impact society that what Jesus first did was to immerse Himself into His cultural heritage. What this means for us is, though Christianity is a culture of its own, we must work diligently to be in our culture to serve it. We can no longer settle for the wholesale rejection of our society and the resulting escapism into our Christian huddles. We need to drop the insider lingo that makes us sound pious and ultra-holy and relate to people on their level.

I know this brings up more questions than it answers, which is good. My simple point is that we need to look to Jesus as our example and to follow in His footsteps in cultural engagement. He was the most spiritual Man around, yet also the most approachable and connected to the goings on of His surroundings. We desperately need to recover and apply His approach.

Team Culture: Passion

30May2012
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As I grow as a leader I’m constantly being introduced to new ways of viewing organizational health and stability. It has been a good experience, but I do feel in over my head when reading about business professionals and church leaders and the means by which they’ve achieved balance and efficiency in their organizations. And while reading some blogs, I recently began to ask myself about the sort of leadership team I would like to be involved with. What would make me excited to be there? What would frustrate me? Is there anything (besides gross sin) that would make me want to leave the team? As I considered my own responses, I created a (laundry) list of traits that would provide an exciting work environment and would compell me to invest lots of time and energy over the long-haul. And then I whittled that list down to four things: Passion, Communication, Submission, and Innovation. Today, let me describe my idea of Passion.

“Passion” is defined (in the context I’m using it) as an intense desire or enthusiasm. It’s that feeling when you’ve come alive and you’re excited at the prospect of doing or achieving something that uses your gifts and talents to a greater potential. Passion energizes you to the point that no matter what weaknesses or obstacles stand in your way, there’s no end to the amount of time or energy you’ll invest to succeed.

This kind of passion is a gift from God. He distributes all gifts and chooses how we should use them to His–and our–delight (Jas. 1:17 & 1 Cor. 12:11). We have been called into His service to cultivate the earth, whether it be as pastors or politicians, businessmen or bishops. Everyone has a God-designed calling to impact their spheres of influence so His goodness is made known to all.

This is exactly what Jesus entered into our world to do. He knew that His calling was to make the Father known (Jn. 17:26) and He was sent out on a divinely empowered mission to preach the kingdom and offer salvation to those who would repent and believe (Lk. 4:18-19). Jesus is Passion Incarnate: He is passionate about His Father’s glory and He is passionate about fallen humans being reconciled to God.

Looking to Jesus draws us up into the passionate embrace of the Godhead and inspires us to live our lives as kingdom ambassadors while we seek to connect others to the One who gave all for us. That’s because passion for Jesus always leads to compassion for people (and the significance of the order must not be lost on us).

An effective team at theWELL is expected to live first in pursuit of this passion. Above all efforts to achieve great things, each person involved must know the great achievement of the cross, the passionate endeavor of the Man who went there, and the joy of the Father for His restored family.

I envision a team of leaders in our community who are abandoned in their search for more of God. They order their lives so they can go deeper in Him, which means they are budgeting their time and their money so it has maximum impact and effectiveness. They don’t just experience God on Sundays, but they are overflowing with the revelation they have in the Word. They watch videos, listen to podcasts, go to Bible studies, show up early, and leave late simply because they want to know and experience more. Their prayer lives are evident in the way they carry themselves–how they talk to and treat others, the humility they walk in, the compassion they have for the lost. Their self-restraint is not an empty legalism, but a passionate pursuit of the God-Man that baffles the onlooker. Their hearts are broken for the downtrodden and less fortunate as they live as missionaries sent to their own culture. The team models servanthood by shepharding the flock as if they were their own children. They are full of the Spirit as they look for the miraculous invasion of the kingdom of God upon the earth. They live lives of great faith, but don’t broadcast any achievement, save for the cross of Christ.

A man named Howard Thurman once said, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Indeed it does.

Team Culture Intro

16May2012
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One of Michael’s many important meetings.

Recently I asked myself about the kind of organization I want to be a part of and the sort of environment that would make working on a team of leaders enjoyable and meaningful. I’m not sure I’ve ever stopped to think about it before but, then again, I’ve never been in the position I’m currently in. Exciting is an understatement, but it will do.

I want to cast a vision for our team culture at theWELL so we can draw in leaders who are imaginative and driven to excellence when they see and share a compelling vision. I came up with a number of descriptors, but narrowed it down to four to keep it simple and memorable. My thought is that we already have corporate shared values to guide our culture at large and I want to avoid redundancy wherever possible. But leaders are (and want to be) challenged to a higher standard, so I think it’s necessary to describe where our team philosophy is headed. Here’s what I came up with:

Passion. Communication. Submission. Innovation.

I’m going to take this post and the next three to develop these four ideas and how they can impact and drive our teams. I’m looking for feedback, so ask lots of questions and give me some examples of how you’ve seen these in your life.

Thanks for your help. I’m looking forward to the discussion.

Re-Up [Part...I lost count]/Critiquing the Church

15May2012
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I’m going to start writing a little more often, if only short blurbs or other interesting things I come across. Like this one:

It carries no weight to say ‘I love the global church’ but have no commitment or dedication to a local church. It’s like someone saying they play professional basketball but they are just not part of any one particular team. It makes no sense.

I’m not sure why it’s so popular to bash the church. Do we think that Jesus is going to hand out gold stars for pointing out that His wife has pimples? How about doing something countercultural, like jumping in the middle of the mess and helping out?

Find the rest of the post here.

Holy Violence Pt. 2

9Jun2011
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In Part 1, I introduced the topic of spiritual violence using the life of John the Baptist as our prime example. In this post I’d like to give a few more examples from the pages of Scripture of people who, in their own way and their own time, lived lives that we spiritually violent. First, let’s consider a hero of the faith from the Old Testament. King David was the simple shepherd boy who God referred to as the man after His own heart. As he sought God on those sprawling hills near Bethlehem, he became a diligent worshiper with the early skills of a leader preparing to care for the Lord’s nation. He was such a devoted servant that he sought to put comfort and convenience aside in order that God would be glorified. In Psalm 132, David was remembered to have said, “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house, Or go up to the comfort of my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes Or slumber to my eyelids, Until I find a place for the LORD, A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob” (v. 3-5). This posture made David a man who embraced spiritual violence to serve God with all of his being. Next, let’s consider the Apostle Paul. We all know Paul as the man who, after a radical conversion experience, gave up all of his social and religious clout to follow Jesus and spread the Gospel to the nations. If that weren’t enough to qualify as violent, you can look at the list of things he endured in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 to take the message abroad. To that list, Paul added a qualifier in Philippians 3:13-14 when he said, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” In other words, all the good work that had been done, as well as all the bad things that occurred (consider again the list), Paul hit delete. He constantly wiped the slate clean to propel himself further into the grace and love of Jesus. Lastly, we will consider the simple example of Mary of Bethany. In John 12:1-7, the story is told of how Mary anointed Jesus for burial. The oil of spikenard she used was worth an entire year’s salary, and she poured it out on Him without hesitation or regard to the disciples’ objections. All of her financial security and hope for a future–perhaps even a husband–was represented in the vial. Unfortunately, we don’t have time or space to consider all these heroes of spiritual violence, but you can always turn to Hebrews 11 to learn glean from their examples. And don’t forget to consider the life and example of the One who gave it all for us in the most extravagant act of holy violence–Christ Jesus.

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