How to Utilize Four Different Modes of Design Thinking

by: VRcurator

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According to the authors of Solving Problems with Design Thinking, most leaders harbor a deep, dark secret: They believe in their hearts that they are not creative, and find themselves short on delivering innovation ideas to their organizations.

In today’s seemingly rampant innovation mania, managers and leaders cannot appear unimaginative, let alone fail to come up with brilliant solutions to vexing problems on a whim.

For most of us there will be no Moses-like parting of the waters of the status quo

that we might safely cross the Red Sea of innovation.

Drowning is more likely our fate.  

– from Solving Design Problems

There is hope.

Instead of trying to part the waters, leaders need to build a bridge to take us from the current reality to a new future.

In other words, we must manufacture our own miracles.

The technology for better bridge building already exists, right under our noses. It’s called design thinking.

This approach to problem solving is distinguished by the following attributes:

• It emphasizes the importance of discovery in advance of solution generation using market research approaches that are empathetic and user driven
• It expands the boundaries of both our problem definition and our solutions
• It is enthusiastic about engaging partners in co-creation
• It is committed to conducting real-world experiments rather than just running analyses using historical data

And it works.

Design thinking is capable of reliably producing new and better ways of creatively solving a host of organizational problems.

THE QUICK SUMMARY – The Non-Designer’s Guide to Design Thinking by Kunitake Saso

“Design thinking seems to be an important way of thinking in 21st century business, but I am not sure where to begin.” Do you agree or not? If yes, this book is a good introduction to map the overall picture of learning design thinking.

This book illustrates the key components of mastering design thinking based on the author’s experience at the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, one of the most famous Design schools in the world. The author highlights the difference between the business world and design world based on his own experience. His big transition from logical world as a ex- P&G marketers to design world helps non- designers learn design thinking with comparison to business protocol.

The author categorized the key components of design thinking into four parts:

1. Thinking: Hybrid Thinking
2. Mindset: Creator Spirit
3. Process: Human Centered Co-creation
4. Environment: Switching to Creative Mode through Tools and Space

In later chapters, the author proposes the framework of how to start the career of business design world and finally how the design thinking might influence your well being. This book is a compass for you to start mastering design thinking for all non-designers.

A SIMPLE SOLUTION

Design teaches us how to make things feel real, and most church rhetoric today remains largely irrelevant to the people who are supposed to make things happen.

Church elders and staff can make plans, bring on new staff, invest in the latest conference success story – but they can’t change the organization without a lot of help. The only people who will care enough to help are those for whom strategy is real.

Things that feel real to people are both interesting and personally significant. They are experienced, not just pronounced. While leaders are showing growth spreadsheets, design thinkers are telling stories.

We have a lot to learn from design thinking about how to tell a story that engages an audience, captures the experience dimension and makes the future feel real.

Using the power of design thinking to solve problems is a skill focusing on switching between four modes that make full use of the entire body.

Traveler (Research)

First, you visit somewhere new and unusual. Feel the place with all your senses; keep your curiosity intact while you immerse yourself completely into this world unknown to you. Take notes and snap photos at every opportunity. Record that sense of excitement when experiencing something unusual, so as not to lose it. Imagine a traveler who makes few plans in advance, who prefers strolling around places unknown to him, striking up conversations with strangers and writing about it in his blog.

Journalist (Analysis)

When you come back from the journey you review your memos and photographs like a journalist would after an interview; analyze objective facts and your own subjective interpretation using your left brain, and process it with your gut.

Editor/Artist (Synthesis)

Use all the facts and novel perspectives you acquired from the trip as inspiration to express the user’s problems and values with a poignant slogan, and with a single page compilation of the most memorable photographs, as if you are a magazine editor. Imagine The New Yorker or similar magazine to better understand the process.

Craftsman (Prototyping)

Finally, you use your hands like a craftsman to physically realize an idea for a product or service that you thinks should be present in the worldview you have just imagined. Picture an engineer who likes to make things himself, or a do-it-yourself father, or a creative housewife.

Kunitake Saso, The Non-Designer’s Guide to Design Thinking

A NEXT STEP

Everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing conditions into preferred ones.     – Herbert Simon, Nobel Laureate

If we take Simon’s description but simplify the language and tone, we end up with a new definition powerful enough to recast the way organizations think:

Design is change.

According to Simon, anyone who tries to improve a situation is a designer. You don’t need a Master of Fine Arts degree and nine years of experience at a design studio to engage in designing.

You just need to find a situation worth improving and then work through the creative process.

And of course, church leaders don’t have any of those situations, do they?

Marty Neumeier, writing in The Designful Company, reminds us that leaders are designers, too, since leading is the act of moving people from an existing situation to an improved one.

According to Neumeier, while everyone uses design thinking in some situations, certain people are particularly suited to it. They tend to be:

• Empathetic – able to understand the motivations of individuals and form strong emotional bonds
• Intuitive – a shortcut for understanding situations. While the logical mind works through sequential steps, the intuitive mind is good for seeing the whole picture
• Imaginative – new ideas come from divergent thinking, not convergent thinking
• Idealistic – creative personalities are notorious for focusing on what’s wrong, what’s missing, or what they believe needs to change.

Designful leaders are energized by the ambiguity and uncertainty that comes with constant change. Designful leaders don’t accept the hand-me-down notion that cost cutting and innovation are mutually exclusive, or that short-term and long-term goals are irreconcilable. They reject the tyranny of “or” in favor of the genius of “and.”

Schedule some reflective time by yourself, and read both the four roles in the box quote above as well as the four characteristics above.

At the end of this reflection, when you look in your leadership mirror, do you see a designful leader?

This is part of a weekly series posting excerpts from one of the most innovative content sources in the church world: SUMS Remix book excerpts for church leaders.

SUMS Remix takes a practical problem in the church and looks at it with three solutions; each solution is taken from a different book. Additionally, a practical action step is included with each solution.

As a church leader you get to scan relevant books based on practical tools and solutions to real ministry problems, not just by the cover of the book. Each post will have the edition number which shows the year and what number it is in the overall sequence. (SUMS Remix provides 26 issues per year, delivered every other week to your inbox). 

>> Subscribe to SUMS Remix <<

>> Purchase prior issues of SUMS Remix<<

Tags: Design Thinking, Design is change, Kunitake Saso, SUMS Remix, The Non-Designer's Guide to Design Thinking

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Keys to Unlocking the Power of Your Leadership Energy

by: Dan Reiland

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Some leaders seem to bring more energy to the mix than others.

Leadership energy is more about intentionality than personality. Yes, some leaders have bigger personalities than others, but there is much more to leadership than charisma, “woo” and persona. In fact, personality alone can be detrimental to enduring leadership.

Many great leaders are reserved, introspective or introverted. Again, it’s not about personality; it’s more about making something happen. Great leaders don’t just get things done, they make things happen. There is a big difference. Being a closer – that is successfully finishing what you start, is a vital part of successful leadership, but making things happen is the action that triggers momentum.

The flashing yellow caution light is about leaders who are willing to coast in the wake of other leader’s energy and effort. Those who are willing to let the rest of the team carry the weight of anything from prayer and deep thinking, to making that one extra phone call, does not help the team. In fact, over time, they hurt the team.

The Apostle Paul writes about his energy as a leader.

²⁷ To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. ²⁸ He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. ²⁹ To this end I strenuously contend with all the energyChrist so powerfully works in me. 

Colossians 1:27-29

Paul makes three things clear.

1. The purpose is proclaiming Christ, and helping followers become mature.
2. Paul gives it all he’s got. (strenuously contents, with ALL his energy)
3. The source of energy is Jesus.

This is how we know the playing field is more equal than personality alone would reveal. It is Christ working in and through us. That is the starting place for all of us.

Then what parts are up to you and me?

What can you do to activate the fullness of the energy that God places in you?

6 questions to help you maximize your leadership energy:

1) Are you all in?

Do you love your role and responsibility as a leader? If you are on staff, are you called and passionate or is it just a job? Can those around you count on you or are you quietly holding back, watching, and letting others carry the load?

It’s impossible to maximize your effort and energy if you are not all in where you’re at. Jump in all the way, commit! If there is a risk, it’s all in your favor!

2) Are you fighting any distractions?

We all face distractions. They might be financially related, about a difficult relationship, or health oriented. The list of possibilities is long. Distractions must be intentionally battled. They never go away by themselves.

Temporary distractions are commonplace, and you can usually handle them. But long-term distractions often require help to resolve. Give the things you can’t control to God, and take action to shut down the distractions you can.

3) Are you in the right place?

Are you serving in the right place? I’m not suggesting that you make a change. But if you are uncertain that you are leading in the right environment for you, you will hold back and not leverage your full capacity.

You can’t lead with full energy if you lack confidence you are on the right team. If you are not certain, get wise counsel and decide.

4) Are you physically in shape?

You don’t need to eat Paleo, flip tires, and bench-press Buicks to be in good shape for your age and body type. But it is important to keep active. Choose something you like that is easily accessible, and stick with it. Think decades, not New Year’s resolutions.

If you are exercising regularly, great, keep it up. If you are more sedentary than you would like, do something simple. Take a walk. Just go out your front door, and keep moving. If you walk briskly for 40 minutes 4 times a week, it will have a fantastic impact on your overall well-being and energy level.

5) Is your mental attitude positive?

There is a great truth about the difference between your cup being half empty or half full. Think about it. Who do you like being around more? Negative people or positive people? Negative people are draining. But the surprising truth is that the person they drain the most is themselves.

The wonderful news here is that your attitude is a choice!

6) Is your personal life in order?

You may not be able to resolve a struggle at home quickly, but progress increases hope and thereby increases your energy for everything you do.

It may be as simple as an apology, or perhaps formal counseling is needed, or maybe it’s intentional time with your kids. Take the first step toward progress today.

> Read more from Dan.

Tags: Dan Reiland, Leadership, Leadership Energy

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Are You Looking for Tools to Help Design Your Succession Planning Process?

by: VRcurator

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“Succession planning” is actually a catchphrase for five distinct conversations. 

You are somewhere in one of those conversations right now – do you want to know the difference?

You can lean the differences in two days of training and preparation at Auxano’s Pastoral Succession Boot Camp in Phoenix, AZ.

Introducing Auxano’s Pastoral Succession Boot Camp:

One hundred percent of all pastors stop pastoring at some point.

You can avoid the succession crisis in your church, and learn to use tools to help design your own succession.

The Pastoral Succession Boot Camp will help you learn how to transition with wisdom and power. The Boot Camp will include:

• Two full days of training with your team (9 a.m. – 4 p.m.)
• Pastoral Succession Workbook for each team member
• Customized Pastoral Succession Implementation Plan for your church
• Training tools for your team
• Lunches and breaks throughout the Boot Camp
• One 90-minute virtual coaching follow-up session for your church

Transportation, lodging, breakfast, and evening meals are NOT included.

The Pastoral Succession Boot Camp will be held at Mountain Park Church in Phoenix, AZ, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 21-22.

Register for the Pastoral Succession Boot Camp

The $1,995 investment includes registration for up to five members of your church team. Transportation to the host church, local lodging, breakfast, and evening meals are NOT included.

Join us at the Pastoral Succession Boot Camp for a collaborative learning environment that will help you design a succession plan centered on your vision and focused on the overall health and effectiveness of a leadership transition.

Register for the Auxano Pastoral Succession Boot Camp here.

Tags: Auxano Boot Camp, Auxano Boot Camp Series, pastoral succession

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How to See Beyond Today: Acknowledge the Paradox of Expertise

by: VRcurator

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It has been said that all leaders live under the same sky, but not all view the same horizon. Some leaders see a wider horizon and keep their eye on the emerging skyline. Continual learning contributes to their sense of adventure and their ability to steer their organization. Others, however, unknowingly wear blinders. The shifting horizons don’t signal new opportunities because they are unanticipated and out of view.

In this sense, strategic planning is often limited because it keeps blinders on leadership. Auxano founder Will Mancini calls this “fallacy of predictability.” The assumption is that the near future will resemble the recent past. But rapid cultural change has meddled with this assumption. Change now happens so fast that the planning processes of yesteryear are obsolete. Unfortunately, not even the future is what it used to be.

If the North American church is going to avoid the slow but sure death guaranteed by “we’ve always done it that way,” it will have to shift its understanding of both the past that was and the future that is not going to be more of the same.

According to Reggie McNeal, the churches that prepare for the new world will ride the wave of the growth that is possible. Those who don’t prepare will continue to plan their way into cultural irrelevance, methodological obsolescence, and missional ineffectiveness in terms of being kingdom outposts.

THE QUICK SUMMARY – Simply Brilliant by William C. Taylor

Far away from Silicon Valley, in familiar, traditional, even unglamorous fields, ordinary people are unleashing extraordinary advances that amaze customers, energize employees, and create huge economic value. Their secret? They understand that the work of inventing the future doesn’t just belong to geeks designing mobile apps and virtual-reality headsets, or to social-media entrepreneurs hoping to launch the next Facebook. Some of today’s most compelling organizations are doing brilliant things in simple settings such as retail banks, office cleaning companies, department stores, small hospitals, and auto dealerships.

William C. Taylor, cofounder of Fast Company and best-selling author of Practically Radical, traveled thousands of miles to visit these hotbeds of simple brilliance and unearth the principles and practices behind their success. He offers fascinating case studies and powerful lessons that you can apply to do ordinary things in extraordinary ways, regardless of your industry or profession.

As Taylor writes: “The story of this book, its message for leaders who aim to do something important and build something great, is both simple and subversive: In a time of wrenching disruptions and exhilarating advances, of unrelenting turmoil and unlimited promise, the future is open to everybody. The thrill of breakthrough creativity and breakaway performance . . . can be summoned in all sorts of industries and all walks of life, if leaders can reimagine what’s possible in their fields.” Simply Brilliant shows you how.

A SIMPLE SOLUTION

Most artists look for something fresh to paint; frankly I find that quite boring. For me it is much more exciting to find fresh meaning in something familiar. -Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Wyeth did not look constantly for fresh things to paint; rather, he was excited to find fresh meaning in things that were familiar. The beginning point in ascertaining vision is nothing less than the work of scrutinizing the obvious. 

This represents a paradigm shift for leaders. Many leaders see what is, and accept it without looking for deeper or newer meanings. When leaders are “successful” at something, the tendency is to move on to the next thing. After all, you don’t mess with success.

Expertise is powerful…until it gets in the way of innovation. In a world being remade before our eyes, leaders who make a big difference are the ones who challenge the logic of their field – and of their own success.

One of the sobering lessons of the great transformations in business, leadership, and society in the last few decades is that the people and organizations with the most experience, knowledge, and resources in a particular field are often the last ones to see and seize opportunities for something dramatically new.

The storyline has become so familiar that the questions almost answer themselves: All too often, what we know limits what we can imagine.

Cynthia Barton Rabe, a former innovation strategist at Intel, coined a memorable term to describe this debilitating form of strategic blindness. Too may companies and leaders, often the best companies and most successful leaders, struggle with what she calls the “paradox of expertise” – the frustrating reality that the more deeply immersed you are in a market, a product category, or a technology, the harder it becomes to open your mind to new models that may reshape everything. Past results may not be the enemy of subsequent breakthroughs, but they can constrain the capacity to grasp the future.

In other words, the more closely you’ve looked at the field, and the longer you’ve been looking at it in the same way, the more difficult it can be to see new patterns, prospects, or possibilities.

There is a more sustained way to transcend the paradox of expertise, a mindset that draws on the best of what’s come before without closing off what may come next. It’s called “provocative competence,” and it comes from the world of jazz.

William C. Taylor, Simply Brilliant

A NEXT STEP

In his captivating book “Yes to the Mess,” Frank J. Barrett combines his accomplishment as a jazz musician with a background in teaching at the Naval Postgraduate School. In drawing all sorts of leadership lessons from jazz, Barrett states that so-so musicians allow themselves to fall into the competency trap by “relying on licks that have been greeted enthusiastically in past performances, to become in effect imitations of themselves.”

Great musicians manage to “outwit their learned habits by putting themselves in unfamiliar musical situations demanding novel responses.” According to Barrett, provocative competence is “leadership that enlivens activity and rouses the mind to life.”

In jazz, as well as on your church team, we need leaders who do this—men and women who support imaginative leaps, who can create a context that enhances creative possibilities and triggers glimpses, sudden insights, bold speculation, imaginative ventures, and a willingness (even an insistence) that people explore new possibilities before there is certainty and before they fully comprehend the meaning of what they are doing.

Schedule a future team meeting and walk through the five elements of “provocative competence” by discussing the following:

• Provocative competence is an affirmative move. The leader must first hold a positive image of what others are capable of. This often means seeing other people’s strengths better than they see their own strengths. It’s important to create a holding culture, an environment that provides enough stability and reassurance so that people know there is a safety net, someone to watch their backs as they branch out.
• Provocative competence involves introducing a small disruption to routine. It is an art to introduce just enough unusual material or thought that it engages people to be mindful – to pay attention in new ways. Timing is critical: Too much disruption on a regular basis will cause it to soon be ignored; too little would seem to be just a stunt.
• Provocative competence creates situations that demand activity. Leaders push their teams to try and try again to keep trying and discovering as they go. There’s not “sitting this one out” or taking a break to figure everything out.
• Provocative competence facilitates incremental reorientation by encouraging repetition. Think of it as a comfort zone – but not one that is too comfortable. Even while people are leaning on old habits, they have to attend to new options, and start to manage and process information within a newer, broader context.
• Provocative competence is analogic sharpening of perspectives and thought processes. Your team should start to make parallel links with seemingly unrelated contexts and see linkages between seemingly disparate ideas.

Saying, “yes to the mess” means finding affirmation in the best of what already exists. Every group, every individual has some strength, some moment of exceptional performance that has the potential to make a difference at some point. Truly gifted leaders—those who practice and exhibit provocative competence—are able to uncover this potential even when it is well hidden, even when the individuals in question can’t see it in themselves.

Excerpt taken from SUMS Remix 110-2, released January 2019

This is part of a weekly series posting excerpts from one of the most innovative content sources in the church world: SUMS Remix book excerpts for church leaders.

SUMS Remix takes a practical problem in the church and looks at it with three solutions; each solution is taken from a different book. Additionally, a practical action step is included with each solution.

As a church leader you get to scan relevant books based on practical tools and solutions to real ministry problems, not just by the cover of the book. Each post will have the edition number which shows the year and what number it is in the overall sequence. (SUMS Remix provides 26 issues per year, delivered every other week to your inbox). 

>> Subscribe to SUMS Remix <<

>> Purchase prior issues of SUMS Remix<<

Tags: Innovation, Planning, SUMS Remix, Simply Brilliant, William C. Taylor

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The One Undeniable Mark of a Great Leader

by: Rick Warren

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Procrastination has a high cost. When we cram for tests, we get lower grades. When we wait until the deadline to file taxes, we miss things and make costly mistakes. When we put off difficult conversations, we hurt people and relationships.

And the cost of procrastination in ministry can be significantly higher. For us, procrastination isn’t measured in dollars; it is measured in ministries never started, people with needs going unmet, and those who are spiritually lost never hearing the Gospel.

The Bible says in James 4:17, “Remember, it is a sin to know what you ought to do and then not to do it”(NLT). When God calls you to do something, but you don’t do it, it’s not just a bad strategy or a missed blessing. It is sin.

If God has called you to do something in your ministry and you are not doing it, do it now! Not next month, next week, or even tomorrow—do it right now.

Proverbs 27:1 says, “Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring” (NLT). None of us is guaranteed a tomorrow. You may not have the opportunity tomorrow to do what God has called you to do. You could be saying you’ll do it someday. That someday is today! One of these days is none of these days. Do it today. Start right now!

I talk to people who say they’re planning to do something in ministry. And I always want to ask, “When are you going to pull the trigger?” They’ve been taking aim for years, yet they never seem to get around to pulling the trigger.

Don’t be like that. You need to pull the trigger. These three words could change your ministry forever: Do it now!

Spend a few minutes right now and write down one thing you know God wants you to do in your ministry. Whatever it is, write it down and then put that note in a place where you can’t miss it — like on your bathroom mirror or on the refrigerator.

But don’t just write it down. Don’t just read it on your refrigerator. Do it — now! Every time you catch yourself saying you’ll do it later, it should be a warning light that says you’re procrastinating. There’s no better time than now. This is the moment of truth. There’s got to be a time in your life when you stop intending and start acting. Stop making excuses.

NASA says that getting the rocket off the launch pad requires the most amount of energy. Once the rocket is in orbit, it takes a lot less energy to keep moving forward. That’s why you need to get started now. The initial thrust will start you moving forward.

> Read more from Rick.

Connect with an Auxano Navigator to learn more about executing on your ideas.

Tags: Action, Leadership, Rick Warren

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6 Ways to Rekindle Your Church’s Passion for Its Vision

by: Cory Hartman

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The vision is still in print, but it’s harder to keep people’s eyes on it. Vision lingo is still spoken, but it’s harder to get people excited about it. Vision activity is still performed, but it’s harder to remember the reason for it.

Diagnosis: your church has lost its passion for its vision. We get it. It happens to everyone. Waning passion is part of life, but it doesn’t have to be permanent. Here are six ways to get it back.

#1 – REINTRODUCE people to the problem

Every genuine vision solves a problem. It describes a place we want to go that’s better than where we are. This is especially true for vision in the church. If a church’s vision comes from God, it is one detail of God’s total vision for the world. God’s vision solves the biggest problem there is: the “futility” and “bondage” in the world due to sin (Rom. 8:20-21).

So when you roll out a new vision to the church, you have to “problem-cast before you vision-cast.” In other words, you have to help people get emotionally tied to the problem that the vision exists to solve. Otherwise, they won’t care much about the solution. If passion wanes as time goes on, people may have lost touch with the problem. It may not be a burning issue for them anymore.

To rekindle the passion, use both platform and private conversation to rub people’s faces in the specific problem your church was commissioned by God to address. Remind people of what it looks, feels, and smells like. Recover holy discontent with the world as it is. Awaken people’s thirst for the solution —what God wants to do through his church.

#2 – REVISIT Scriptures about encouragement and discouragement

People need to be reminded of the problem if they have become complacent and self-satisfied or if they have become distracted by lesser things. But those aren’t the only reasons passion fades.

Sometimes passion fades because of discouragement. People may know well the problem that vision is meant to solve. In fact, they know it so well that it’s overwhelming. They may have been struggling against it for a while, and for some reason they don’t seem to be gaining any ground. They’re demoralized.

Fortunately, the Bible contains rich resources for discouraged people. Dig up the jewels of the complaints of God’s people —

“How long, LORD ? Will you hide forever?” (Ps.89:46). Preach them. Better yet, pray them in small and large groups.

Then mine the ore of encouragement out of Scripture. Remind each other to “be strong and courageous. . . do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1:9). Recall the reality of the presence of God in your midst. Remember that he is infinitely more invested in the vision than even you are, and he will bring it to completion.

#3–RESEARCH individuals who are passionate for the vision

Maybe passion has waned in the church in general, but that doesn’t mean everyone in the church has lost it. Who is still fired up?

It may be a staff person, but it’s even better if it’s someone else. Great places to look include new volunteers and new members. These people have stepped up their involvement because they care—something about the church has touched them emotionally.

So once you locate the who, learn the why. What do these passionate people love about the church? If they’ve been at it for a while, what do they do that keeps their passion strong? Search for stories, themes, and lessons that can be transferred to the rest of the body.

#4–REMIND with an annual report experience

Does your church issue an annual report every year? A well-done report reminds people of where the church is headed and celebrates milestones along the way.

If you already prepare an annual report, does it stir the soul? Is it printed in black and white or in vivid color? Does it list numbers or does it tell stories? (The right answer: both.) Does page area display as much imagery as text? Is the church’s vision woven into its language, and does it define its outline?

To get the most out of the report, make its release an experience. Connect it with a worship weekend that’s hyped for two weeks prior. Shoot and show video that enlivens the high points. Preach a passionate sermon that illuminates the biblical source of the vision.

#5–REFRESH with your leadership development strategy

According to Auxano Lead Navigator Mac Lake, an effective leadership development strategy has three elements. All of them can inject passion back into the church.

Prepare new leaders in the competencies they need for their new roles. Whatever the role, make one of its core competencies a passion-sustaining practice such as “giving encouragement that shapes the soul. ”

Equip current leaders by huddling up on a regular basis to learn from each other on a leadership topic. One huddle could reorient leaders to the vision. Another could be about how to keep passion alive.

Finally, inspire leaders every six to twelve months with a leadership conference, either in house or as a field trip. Soak the experience in vision conversation.

#6–RENEW the passion of senior leaders

If passion has waned in the church, it’s time to check the senior leaders’ pulses. People are rarely more passionate than those who lead them.

If honest self-examination and frank conversation reveals that your team isn’t “feeling it” the way you used to, talk about why. Is the problem at church? At home? In your body? In your spirit?

Maybe it’s time for a staff retreat that’s less about planning and more about dreaming. Maybe you need to install a rotating series of sabbaticals to keep leaders refreshed.

Or maybe you lack passion for the church’s vision because you’re out of touch with your own vision. Personal calling feeds collective calling. Is it time for your team to get clear on your individual vision journeys?

Tags: Cory Hartman, Vision

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How to Practice a Six-Step Design Thinking Process

by: VRcurator

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According to the authors of Solving Problems with Design Thinking, most leaders harbor a deep, dark secret: They believe in their hearts that they are not creative, and find themselves short on delivering innovation ideas to their organizations.

In today’s seemingly rampant innovation mania, managers and leaders cannot appear unimaginative, let alone fail to come up with brilliant solutions to vexing problems on a whim.

For most of us there will be no Moses-like parting of the waters of the status quo that we might safely cross the Red Sea of innovation. Drowning is more likely our fate. 

– from Solving Design Problems

There is hope.

Instead of trying to part the waters, leaders need to build a bridge to take us from the current reality to a new future.

In other words, we must manufacture our own miracles.

The technology for better bridge building already exists, right under our noses. It’s called design thinking.

This approach to problem solving is distinguished by the following attributes:

• It emphasizes the importance of discovery in advance of solution generation using market research approaches that are empathetic and user driven
• It expands the boundaries of both our problem definition and our solutions
• It is enthusiastic about engaging partners in co-creation
• It is committed to conducting real-world experiments rather than just running analyses using historical data

And it works.

Design thinking is capable of reliably producing new and better ways of creatively solving a host of organizational problems.

THE QUICK SUMMARY – Design for Strengths by John K. Coyle

Are you on the cusp of greatness? Do you have untapped potential and talents just waiting to be released? Read this book to learn the same creative problem-solving methodology (Design Thinking) used extensively at Stanford, Google, IDEO, and Apple. This guide will unlock your personal potential, and that of your team and your business.

By exploring the intersection of Design Thinking and strengths-finding, innovation expert John K. Coyle demonstrates what most high achievers intuitively know-that each one of us possesses a unique combination of strengths, talents, skills and capabilities to achieve breakthrough performance-but may need a code to unlock them.

Design for Strengths delivers the process, tools and mindsets required to find and maximize your hidden potential. Illuminated by a captivating narrative of Olympic training and competition, Coyle demonstrates how he used the Design Thinking process and mindset to hack the sport of speed skating and win an Olympic silver medal. This book contains real-life examples of how individuals and organizations can use Design Thinking to define the right problem, and to ask and answer a better question. Instead of “how do I fix my weaknesses?” ask, “how can I design for my strengths?”

A SIMPLE SOLUTION

Design is all about action, and churches too often get stuck at the talking stage.

Face it – despite all our planning and analyzing and controlling, the typical church’s track record at translating its rhetoric into results is not impressive.

In the business world, researchers estimate that only somewhere between 10% and 60% of the promised returns for new strategies are actually delivered. Having been around ChurchWorld for over 38 years, my observation is the reality would be between 10% and 30% – tops.

Practices that consume enormous amounts of time and attention produce discouraging results. All the empty talk is making it harder and harder to get anything to actually happen. Churches expect the staff to be member-focused while the majority watches. When a staff or volunteer actually takes a risk, they are punished if it doesn’t succeed. Ambitious growth goals aren’t worth the spreadsheets they are computed on.

Getting new results requires new tools – and design thinking has real tools to help move from talk to action.

Design thinking is a simple framework and process to guide creative problem solving – a way to leverage the designer’s mindset to “solve old problems” in new ways.

Here are quick snapshots of each of the six Design Thinking steps.

Accept: Like so many problem-solving methodologies, the first step in the Design Thinking process is to admit there is a problem. Corollary to this is the idea that you don’t want to accept or work on problems that are completely intractable. There is a fine line between giving up too early and taking on the impossible.

Define: Often the “obvious” fix to a problem is the wrong one. The define stage is all about framing and reframing the problem in meaningful and solvable ways.

Empathize: This is perhaps the most important element of Design Thinking and probably also the hardest. Empathy doesn’t mean sympathy or agreeing with a particular viewpoint. Empathy means being able to shift your own thinking to emulate the thought patterns of someone else, to understand why something can make sense to someone possessing a particular mindset in a particular context.

Ideate: Probably the simplest step in Design Thinking – and yet the one with a methodology most quickly abandoned. Generating ideas without judgment is vastly superior to the simultaneous divergent/convergent process that almost every meeting in the world manages to evoke.

Prototype: Critical to this step is a “learn-by-doing” action bias and mindset. It is less about feedback and much more about the willingness to produce a less-than-perfect artifact or process that we could learn from.

Test: This phase is a decision point; either A) we have confidence to launch through quantitative data, or B) we need to return to Define, Empathy, or Prototype to tweak our problem statement, understanding, or approach. In this phase, you take a prototype – a new way of doing something – and try it in “real life.”

John K. Coyle, Design for Strengths

A NEXT STEP

It may be simplistic, but when it comes to problem solving, there are basically two kinds of problems: the simple and the complex. Simple problems really aren’t “simple” – it’s just that their solutions are often obvious, and require specific types of action to solve. Think of building a house – it’s a complicated process, but the “solutions” have been honed and refined over hundreds of years until they become somewhat formulaic.

On the other hands, complex problems do not have easy answers, and may even appear to be unsolvable at first glance. Reframing stubborn and complex challenges as design problems allows new ideas and solutions to emerge.

With this in mind, schedule a team meeting to tackle a complex problem that either exists or you see on the horizon.

On the top of six chart tablets, write the key word for each of the steps listed above. Copy and distribute this SUMS Remix to use as a guide for your team in discussing and listing actions that correspond to the six steps.

Excerpt taken from SUMS Remix 111-1, released January 2019.

This is part of a weekly series posting excerpts from one of the most innovative content sources in the church world: SUMS Remix book excerpts for church leaders.

SUMS Remix takes a practical problem in the church and looks at it with three solutions; each solution is taken from a different book. Additionally, a practical action step is included with each solution.

As a church leader you get to scan relevant books based on practical tools and solutions to real ministry problems, not just by the cover of the book. Each post will have the edition number which shows the year and what number it is in the overall sequence. (SUMS Remix provides 26 issues per year, delivered every other week to your inbox). 

>> Subscribe to SUMS Remix <<

>> Purchase prior issues of SUMS Remix<<

Tags: Design Thinking, Design for Strengths, John K. Coyle, SUMS Remix

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When and How to Teach About Money

by: Art Rainer

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How often does your church teach about money? For some churches, the answer is rarely or never. The topic is avoided. Some churches contain the topic of money to a single sermon series, only to return to the topic 365 days later.

If messages hitting on money are rare or totally absent at your church, let me give you a few reasons to consider placing them in your upcoming teaching calendar.

1. Because Jesus taught about it. In fact, he taught about money more than any other topic while he was on earth. So if you teach on money, you are in pretty good company.
2. Because the Bible has over 2,000 verses about money, possessions, and stewardship. God wove numerous verses throughout Scripture on how we are to manage the resources he gives us. Clearly, our relationship with money is important to God. So it should be important to you. With over 2,000 verses, there are a plethora of opportunities to discuss God’s design for us and money.
3. Because personal money management reveals the heart. This is why God cares about our relationship with money. Money has a way of bringing to light that which is hidden in our hearts. The way we manage money is a symptom of either a spiritually healthy or spiritually sick heart. Personal money management reflects personal heart management.
4. Because getting money wrong can have detrimental spiritual consequences. Money, on its own, is not evil. But 1 Timothy 6:10 says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (CSB). The ramifications are ominous for those who put money in the wrong place. Their spiritual life will suffer.
5. Because church members are struggling in the area of money. Forty percent of Americans have less than $400 saved. Thirty-three percent of Americans have $0 saved for retirement and 23% have saved between $1 and $10,000. We spend too much and save too little. And those in the church are often a reflection of these statistics.
6. Because church members make money decisions almost every single day. Money is an everyday part of our lives. We can’t run from it. We can’t hide from it. And the world has no problem providing their thoughts on this area of life. So we need to know how to think about our relationship with money from a biblical perspective.

> Read more from Art.

Tags: Art Rainer, Genersosity, Teaching about Money, Your church and money

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Guest Connection Matrix

by: Bryan Rose

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We’re always trying to practically equip church leaders with tools and processes to help them activate their church’s unique vision. Bryan Rose and Bob Adams have been working on a new tool you can use to train your welcome teams in the process of connecting first-timers to become church family. Bryan walks through the tool in the 3-minute video linked below.

The video is short and practical and we think you’re really going to find it helpful!

You can watch it here.

As Bryan mentions, this tool is a new addition to our Guest Experience Boot Camp. Bring your team of five to sunny South Florida for a deep dive into welcoming guests well! Find out more here.

Tags: Boot Camp, Guest Connection Matrix, Guest Experience, Guest Experience Boot Camp

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Here’s 5 Reasons OTHER Church First Impression Team Leaders Think YOU Should Attend the Guest Experience Boot Camp

by: Bryan Rose

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There are quite a few reasons I could come up with to encourage you to participate in Auxano’s upcoming Guest Experience Boot Camp in West Palm Beach, FL. Given the vast array of conferences and workshops you could attend, you might be wondering if bringing a team to Florida is worth the investment of time and resources? So rather than hear my reasons, I thought it would be great to hear from recent attendees of our Guest Experience Boot Camps.

Here are five reasons, when asked what they liked best about their Boot Camp experience, other Guest and Church Hospitality leaders think you should attend:

1. Because hoping to create a better Sunday experience is not the same as actually creating an intentional plan for welcoming first-time guests.

“We loved the space and coaching to think intentionally – and create a plan for our church.”

The Guest Experience Boot Camp is the only conference, workshop or seminar that includes the time and tools to create an actionable plan.

2. Because your church is not like any other church, yet has the potential to learn something from every other church.

“Our team really enjoyed how practical the whole thing was. You understood each church had a different dynamic and gave us opportunities to discuss but also learn from others.”

The Guest Experience Boot Camp fosters church-to-church interaction and collaborative learning from other leaders across the country.

3. Because learning from experienced practitioners helps more than listening to accomplished speakers.

“I thought the presenters were knowledgeable and engaging. I also enjoyed the Disney references.”

The Guest Experience Boot Camp trainers have worked with hundreds of churches and leverage real-time experience in your real-world context.

4. Because leading a team over the long term requires practical tools that supplement training.

“The workbook is gold, and if I lose it, I will probably cry. Thank you for developing such an incredible resource!“

The Guest Experience Boot Camp workbook functions as an “evergreen” resource in training your new, and seasoned leaders to create an atmosphere of hospitality every Sunday.

5. Because engaging, fresh content creates more energy than watching yet another talking head speaker.

“The passion that Bob and Bryan demonstrated for what they believe will make a difference through the stories they shared.”

The Guest Experience Boot Camp combines the inspiration and information you are looking for with a plan for implementation that creates second-and-third time guests.

Details and registration information available here.

Tags: Church Guest Experience, Guest Experience, Guest Experience Boot Camp, Hospitality, church hospitality

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