How would your sermon fare on a Reality Competition Show?

I really like reality competition television.  Mike and I passively sit in judgment over the dinner made out of cracker crumbs and seaweed and the clumsy waltz featuring the aging television star.  It is easy to be critical when you aren't the one being forced to create haute couture out of toilet paper and gum, MacGyver style.

Recently, however, we had reason to be disappointed in a contestant of Design Star on HGTV.  Given the task of designing a room for a little boy, whose very basic requests were "locker room" and "bunk bed," she managed to design a sad space with neither feature.  She created what she thought was good design, not what the child (or his parents) expected.  Though he responded politely during the reveal, the last camera shot is of the little boy with his back turned to the room.  It was as if he was so disappointed he couldn't pretend, so he just looked away.

This episode made me think.  Are we designing church services for ourselves, or for the guests?  When was the last time you asked a guest what they thought about a church service?  Not if the coffee was hot or the people were friendly (hopefully both were), but do you know if they understood the message, knew how to apply it, and felt some connection to God they didn't feel before they got there?  Do you think about these things as you are planning your services?  How about the words of the worship songs?  

Here's an example of an old hymn that you might sing in your church:

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;

And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;

And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

Out of context, this could be pretty freaky imagery to the unchurched visitor.  Fountains of blood? Drowning sinners?

The contemporary version cleans it up a bit, but there is still the same basic imagery:

There is a fountain full of grace and it flows from Emanual's veins
It came and it healed me
It came and refreshed me
It came and washed my sins away!

When you plan and practice your worship music, whether traditional or contemporary, do you think about the lyrics from an outsider's perspective?  What language could you use between songs to explain it to a guest?

Listen to the culture through your guests, friends, the media, and apply what they are longing for to your church services.  Give them the basics - a spiritual bunk bed and lockers.  Design a service around the foundational elements of the faith so that guests won't be disappointed.

Listen up, you brood of vipers!

It is important to consider the opening to your message.  The words (including songs, videos, stories, and announcements in a church setting) that precede your sermon/presentation can open minds and hearts to what you are going to say.  The first line you speak helps people to decide how much more they want to hear, like the opening line of a sales pitch.

John the Baptizer was preparing the way for Jesus, but John wasn’t the storyteller Jesus was.  Many people may be so taken aback by the whole "brood of vipers" thing John says in Matthew 3:7 that they miss the really good advice he gives that brood in the next verse.  I love the way the NLT puts it: "Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.  Don't just say to each other, "We're safe..."  (Matthew 3:8-9a).

Every once in a while, we need to shake things up and tell people how it really is.  John was pretty good at this.  But in today's boardroom, worksite, or church, we can't call people a brood of vipers very often to get their attention (and if you do, you may end up with your head on a platter). 

There are better ways to get people's attention.  We should be concerned with our opener.  How do we get people interested in what we have to say?  What’s your opener?

[It matters too, that once you have their attention (as John the Baptizer undoubtedly did), you have something interesting to say…something that could possibly change their lives, that no one else has said to them in just that way before, that truly makes a difference.]

Communicating for Change

According to John Kotter, "People change what they do less because they are given analysis that shifts their thinking than because they are shown a truth that influences their feelings."

When attempting to motivate change in others, are you communicating to people's minds or hearts?

Kotter, J. P. (2002). The heart of change: Real-life stories of how people change their organizations. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Cats & Other Annoyances: A Leadership Lesson

My cat taught me a leadership lesson this weekend.  Since I've given her a really good life for nineteen years, I figure it's about time she gave back, but it was not in a way I would have hoped.

For the past year, KaLeo (who was born in Hawaii, where this means "the voice," because she's really chatty) has become an alarm clock.  At around 5:30 a.m., she starts complaining that we are not up yet.  Mike gets up and pours her some milk and begins getting ready for work.  He leaves after 6 am, at which time she comes in and gets started on me.  She tries to pull down the covers with her claws, pats me on the face, and walks all over me, all the while meowing incessantly.  I finally succumb, rolling out of bed to give her water and food and open the blinds (so that she can have a sunbeam later).  By the time I exit the shower, she is already fast asleep in the guest room, her morning task of annoying me beyond measure accomplished.  Each day, I find her in the same spot when I return home nine hours later.  This has become our routine.

Sunday, Mike was out of town, so I was the object of her attention at 5:30 a.m.  She would not leave me alone for almost two hours, while I stubbornly refused to move from my bed.  I spanked her and tossed her from the bed, to which she immediately returned to continue the harassment.  Why do cats not understand weekends?  Finally, at 7:20 a.m., my alarm clock rang and I exited the bed.

Later, sitting in church, I was feeling a bit guilty for my reaction that morning.  God spoke to me in that moment.  “Maybe I wanted you up at 5:30 a.m.  Maybe I sent a cat to annoy you because you won’t get up on your own to be with me.”  That’s the truth.  I didn’t think God was awake at 5:30, let alone want me to be.  I apologized as best I could to KaLeo by giving her a lot of attention when I got home, and I apologized to God for not wanting to get up early enough to meet with him.

Monday morning, KaLeo waited until 6:30 to begin harassing me.  I looked at the alarm clock, wondering why it had not gone off at 6:20, then realized that I had forgotten to change it from Sunday’s wake-up time.  Had KaLeo not wakened me, I would have been late for work.  Yesterday’s annoyance was now today’s salvation.

What if we looked at all of the people in our lives like God wanted me to look at KaLeo?  What if, instead of reacting in anger or disappointment, we were thankful for their annoying behavior, because it brings us closer to God?  And, as communicators, how can we react positively to people who seem to be annoyances, but may actually be God’s messengers?  I have asked God for wisdom to be able to understand and persevere through “annoyances,” and to teach me to respond with joy.  I hope you will as well.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
                                                                         ~James 2-5

Make an A+ on Your Next Presentation

"A successful principled presentation is the offspring of 60 percent planning and development prior to the event, 20 percent delivery proficiency, and 20 percent environmental and situation-specific factors, such as the setting, the audience, technology glitches, and so on." *

In terms of a grade, you would make an F if you only focused on one of these things. You can have the right graphics, videos, music, and props and get a 20 on your presentation.  You can be an excellent speaker - an entertainer, even (read this http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2011/spring/whatdoesgodthink.html for more on that) - but you will only get a 20 on your presentation for proficient delivery.  But, thorough preparation alone will also get you a failing grade.  Planning and development delivers a grade of 60. 

So, how do you not only get a passing grade, but an A+ for your presentation, whether it is to staff, congregation, or customer?  You have to excel at all three.  Planning is important, delivery is important, and the environment is important.  Overemphasizing one creates a subpar presentation.  Focusing on all three puts you at the top of the class.

How are you focusing on all three for your next presentation/sermon?  Where could you improve? 

Putting Flesh and Blood on the Data

Arianna Huffington, recently ranked 10th on Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business 2011, offered excellent advice to those of us who desire to communicate more creatively in the church.  When asked what book has changed the way she sees things, Huffington's choice was Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story by Peter Guber, in which 

He writes about the magic that arises when you take relatively soulless information like poll data, facts, and figures and channel them into a story with a purpose -- in the process putting flesh and blood on the data. So I guess it didn't so much change me as provide an eloquent affirmation of the power of using narrative to connect with people.

Sometimes we communicate the facts of the gospel without putting "flesh" on it.  Using creative stories can put the facts into context - the context in which it first existed and the context in which the listener can apply it - and help your communication to connect.

Trendy Churches

Last week there was a report in the ASTD Learning Executives Network newsletter, LX Briefing, about UPS.  The article stated that "ninety-nine percent of UPS's advertising dollars are spent using social media outlets or other Internet-based sites." Editor Ruth Weiss tells us that "UPS—which hires up to 50,000 part-time and seasonal workers per year and relies heavily on young workers to fill many of those positions—is using social media tools to recruit new hires. Matt Lavery, managing director of talent acquisition at UPS, realized that to reach a larger group in the prospective employment pool, UPS needed to go where those between 18 and 25 years old were looking: Facebook and Twitter."

In this week's news, McDonald's is spending a billion dollars (according to Forbes) "to make its stores more appealing to its customers." They want their customers to hang out in their stores, like in Panera and Starbucks. This is another example of how corporations ride current trends (the success of the community-friendly atmosphere of Starbucks) in an attempt to attract and retain customers. (The difference is, Starbucks/Panera doesn't have a PlayPlace or serve greasy fast food. This is an entirely different customer, whom you are not going to win over with pleather seats and soothing, earthy green and dijon paint colors.)

Every leader must choose which trends are useful for their market. Will a coffee-shop atmosphere attract new people to your church? Will social media? Will either keep people there for discipleship and accountability? Are we riding a trend because it works for someone else, or because it will help us to creatively community the gospel in our context?

Just for fun (and a bit of truth), watch this video: What if Starbucks Marketed Like a Church? A Parable

27 Square Inch Bag

I wrote a post about creative communication.  Then I read Andrea Swarthout's blog posting from Japan, and she did a much better job of demonstrating creative communication than what I had written.  In 111 words, she told a story, caused reflection, and pressed for action.  That's creative communication.

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27 square inch bag

Tomorrow is the 2 month anniversary of the earthquake in Japan.

Tonight they had a story on the news about families who lived within the danger zone around the power plants. They were finally allowed to go back to their homes today by a caravan bus. They were only allowed to take out what they could carry in a 27 square inch bag (about the size of a small garbage bag). They were given 2 hours. So what about you? If you had been removed from your home for 2 months, and were given 2 hours, what would you put in your bag?

Please remember to keep Japan in your prayers.

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Through a Mirror Darkly

"When a team works together in an other-centered manner, it mirrors the creativity and mutual regard that is derived from God himself" (The Leadership Bible: Contemporary Leadership Principles from God's Word, p. 383).  


Most of us would not say that our teams are perfect reflections of the Trinity.  We are a dim reflection of the unity and creativity that God created us to be in His image.  How can we become more like that image?  In what ways can we be more other-centered to bring our team to a true reflection of God's "creativity and mutual regard"?

Helping People Become Quitters for the Kingdom

Jon Acuff of Stuff Christians Like has published a new book called Quitters.  Here's a great video introduction to the thoughts behind the book.


I, and some of my friends, are quitters.  We were once employed in 'the real world,' but someone said something that made us realize that the someone who God created us to be needed to be let out to do something for which only we were created.  We may have been asked to volunteer at church in an area that seemed less like work than our 'real' jobs (thanks, Donna).  Then we may have been asked to work at the church in an area that was way more work for way less money than our jobs (thanks, Dave).  Somewhere in the process the someone that we were supposed to become got to do the something that we were meant to do, and we quit.

Pastors, think about how many pew warmers could be setting the Kingdom on fire for God, and ask God how you can help.

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Leaders, find that something in people that they are not being asked to give in the workaday world and offer to let them do it for Him.

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Quitters, stop dreaming about what you would rather be doing and figure out how you can do it and become the someone God created you to be.

Free Creative Communication Stuff!

I love coupons, discounts, and sales, but I love free even more.  Here are a few resources where you can get free stuff to help your church communicate creatively:

http://www.creationswap.com/

http://www.worshiptogether.com

http://open.lifechurch.tv/

http://www.churchleaders.com

http://wesleyansermons.com/

http://www.youtube.com/WesleyanHQ

Do you know about other good, free resources?  Share them with us!

What we've got here is a failure to communicate

Near the end of Cool Hand Luke, when Luke says, "What we've got here is a failure to communicate," he is mocking the captain, who delivered a similar line to Luke and the other prisoners two escape attempts earlier in the movie.

The captain had an idea about communication as a uni-directional passing of information. He was the boss, and what he said was the only thing that mattered. It was the job of the follower (in this case, the prisoner) to listen and obey.

Luke communicated through his rebellion that he understood but was unwillng to follow. The sarcastic irony of the repetition of the line by the follower to the leader highlights the problem with uni-directional communication. Luke completely understood what the captain was saying through his speeches and his discipline, but the captain had no idea what Luke was saying through his escapes and rebellion. Luke was right; what we've got here is a failure to communicate.

At this point you may be thinking, I'm not a prison warden, so what does this have to do with me and my creative communication?

In the creative communication process, sometimes we lose sight of the nature of the person we are communicating to - that nature which Luke confesses to just before delivering this classic line. Luke knew who he was, but the captain didn't, and so the captain's communication to Luke was lost.

When you create communication that is going out to your community, do you write it in the church's language or in the language of the community? Do you offer unchurched people fellowship with a missional body of believers based in the Word? I hope that is who your church is, but do you realize that a rebellious generation doesn't understand what that means? 

Think about an unchurched neighbor or co-worker. If you just walked up to them and started talking about what you did last Sunday, how would you define it? What words would you use? Now, use those words as you are writing the invitation to your church. Use those words on your webpage, enews, bulletin, and whatever creative communication media you send out to the community.

Creative Storytelling

Lately, books, blogs, conferences, and articles have instructed us to change our communication style, because this postmodern generation learns through story. This is reported as breaking news, as if it's a new phenomenon just discovered in this millenium. 

Aristotle said, "It is metaphor which most produces knowledge."

Storytelling is not a new concept (Aristotle wrote Rhetoric over 2300 years ago). The call should actually be to a return to storytelling that is meaningful; to the use of metaphor to produce knowledge.

In the church of my youth, the sermon exposited the gospel reading of the day, explaining what it meant during the time that it was written. I learned a lot about Bible history, but never connected what was written on those pages with how I should live my life. Even when Jesus used metaphor, the story was explained as to what it meant then, not now. The metaphor was not transferred to present day, to aid me in diagnosing my own sinful condition as compared to the holiness of God and prescribing a cure.

Church communicators who translate this postmodern generation's desire for storytelling into a need to show YouTube videos that are funny (http://bit.ly/1ahoiS) could be missing the mark. If you can fit a trunk monkey into your series promo or sermon to illustrate truth, go for it. But if you play it just for laughs, you haven't told a story - you just added noise to the communication process that potentially blocked people from hearing the truth.

When you are creating your church's promotional collateral, announcements, worship set, and sermons, do you think in metaphor? Do you consider exactly what word/picture/video/song would best communicate truth and produce knowledge to this generation?

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Application: In John Mark McMillan's song How He Loves, one line says "So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss." When David Crowder Band covered the song, this line was changed to "So heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss." In an interview (full text found here: http://bit.ly/1ihiHj), Crowder said,

As the band researched the song, they found that churches had been put off by the term "sloppy wet kiss". David says that some found nothing appealing about it. Others thought that the word "sloppy" should never be associated with a God who is so precise and engaged in the lives of His people. As a band, they had a decision to make.
"I was disappointed in this," he confesses. "It’s a shame that many church settings are missing out on this because of those words. It means that the metaphor didn’t work for some people. Those who love the song already have it and have experienced it. So it was a no-brainer. I’m very careful with what we put in front of people that gives [them] an understanding of who God is what He does, how He interacts with earth, and this is one place that I would not assign sloppiness."

No matter how you feel about the lyric, it's the thought process behind the metaphor that is important. You need to know your audience and what metaphor will best communicate truth in your environment.

Tonight I'm Gonna Manage Like It's 1999

This is a bit academic (because it's taken straight from my posting to a classmate in Organizational Theory and Design), but there's an application after the academia, so please read through:

Eisenberg, Goodall, and Trethewey (2007) define communication in organizations through the lens of historical versus modern organizational theories. Classical organizational theory would define effective communication as "top-down clarity and the cultivation of an authoritative style" (p. 285). If the employee followed the bosses' instructions well, communication had been successful. The human relations theorists would argue that effective communication might be measured by how the employees felt about the communication. Employees were not just the passive receivers of communication, they became active parts of the communication process. Moving into a postmodern era requires that communication take into account the cultural, social, economical, and political environment in which the communication takes place.

What this is saying is that how leaders communicated to employees during the Industrial Revolution of the late 19th and early 20th centuries didn't cut it in the Mad Men era of service organizations, and the good vibrations of the 1960's and 70's don't resonate with employees in 2011.  Are you trying to communicate to the next generation of leaders in yesterday's terms, with old-fashioned manager-knows-best top-down directives?  Today's generation needs you to understand the environment in which the communication is taking place, what the symbols of language represent to them, and how important a collaborative style is to them.

Eisenberg, E. M., Goodall, H. L., Jr., & Trethewey, A. (2007). Organizational communication: balancing creativity and constraint (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's.

And the award goes to...The Set

Last night's Academy Awards ceremony was a reminder to communicators about how important environment is to the communication process.  Based on the evening's Twitter feed, the most impressive element of the Oscars was the creative visual environment.  The producers created an excellent environment for the broadcast, with funny videos, enormous screens, great lighting, holograms, and music.  (I especially loved the way videos were shown on massive, arching screens.) 

These elements were impressive, but they competed with, and stole the show from, the communicators.  No one was tweeting anything positive about James Franco.  The tweets about Anne Hathaway were nice, but left you feeling like Paula had just told her how pretty she looked before Simon told her never to do this again.  They did not interact well with the environment.  They seemed to be in competition with it, and the set won.  Hands down.

As the communicator, your message can be enhanced as you interact with the visual environment.  Every element of your services should move toward one idea, and your communication should be the apex of the idea.  Do not rely on cool sets, graphics, videos, and music to communicate your message for you. 

It's not a good thing if people are complimenting the creativity, instead of the creativity complementing your message.  At the end of the day, you don't want to hear people say, "That (fill-in-the-blank creative element) was so cool!"  The reason for creative elements in church services (and awards shows) is so that people will say, "That (fill-in-the-blank creative element) really helped me understand what you were saying." 

Are Your Logos Creative or Criminal?

I have designed logos for sermon series and ministries.  Often, the church wants to tap into a pop-culture reference to teach biblical truth.  The nineteenth century advice to "preach with the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other" still applies today, but studies (http://people-press.org/report/689/) have shown that it is now the Bible and television and the internet.

Using pop-culture and current events to "sell" a sermon series or a ministry is creative.  What is not creative is modifying a trademark.  When churches do this, it is not creative.  It is illegal.  I have been asked many times what percentage a logo can be changed, because there is a myth that if you only use part of the logo it is legal.  This comes from copyright law, where you can use a portion of a published work (with citation) without infringing on the copyright owner.  For example, the following paragraph is from Disney's Corporate Website (http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/conduct_standards18.html):

Under United States law, a federally registered trademark provides the registrant with nationwide protection against another's use. Any use of another party's trademark that gives rise to a likelihood of confusion as to the source or sponsorship of a product or service constitutes "trademark infringement" and violates the law. It is also impermissible to duplicate the packaging of a rival firm in a way that deceives or is likely to confuse the public.

I quoted just a small portion of the website, and gave you a link to go to the original content, so I am not violating copyright law.  There is no such provision in trademark law.  As Disney's legal experts state, ANY use is a violation of the law.

Consequences of violating trademark laws include cease and desist orders to lawsuits. Lawsuits do not often result in fines or punitive damages for churches, but the lawsuit itself costs on average $151,000 for litigation and $300,000 for a trial (http://www.ficpi.org/library/montecarlo99/damages.html).  This is not the way most congregations would like their tithes and offerings spent, so why take the risk?

The worst consequence, though, is when churches use trademarks in an effort to identify with the culture, they are identifying in a negative way.  It does not demonstrate creativity; it demonstrates disrespect for the law.  Advertising agencies work diligently to create the perfect brand for their clients.  Instead of stealing their work, churches should work just as diligently to bring the essence of the cultural icon into a design that is our own creation.  It's okay to use the idea, just don't use the artwork.

Delegate Everything Under the Sun

Sometimes we hold onto all of the work we need to do because we don't trust the people to whom we should give it. How often do you think that it would "just be easier to do it myself" instead of delegating?


"So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless." (Ecclesiastes 2:17-19, NIV)


We can really begin to hate life because of our workload. Not sharing our work with others causes us to be overloaded and them to be unfulfilled. How can you trust the next generation of leaders if you give all of your effort and skill to your tasks, instead of giving some of your effort and skill toward developing others? Developing leaders is a creative act that requires communication. Find trustworthy people who are good at and passionate about things that you look upon as anxious striving. Share your ideas with them, and ask for their help. Listen to their solutions, and equip them to make those solutions reality. Give feedback throughout the process. Focus on building into them the skills they will need to become leaders themselves.


"A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?" (Ecclesiastes 2:24, NIV)


The great part about delegation is that you get more creative solutions than if you tried to do everything yourself. Delegation is hard work--it doesn't make your job easier--but it can make the results so much more satisfying.

Men Report, Women Rapport

It's a given that women and men communicate differently.  Since communication is not just talking, but sending and receiving messages, and since approximately half of our audience is of a different gender, it is important to understand these differences.


Recently, Mike and I sat in the backseat as another couple drove us to a restaurant.  As I observed their interactions, I realized they were almost identical to ours when Mike is driving and I am navigating.  We are very different from this couple, and yet the conversation was the same.


Now, I personally hate stereotypes, but you really cannot avoid noticing similarities like this.  Deborah Tannen, in You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation (1994) uses report talk to describe the way men seek status through a demonstration of knowledge or skill, instrumentality, command of the conversation, assertive expressions, and impersonal terms.  Women seek relationships by engaging in rapport talk, emphasizing equality, responsiveness, maintenance of the conversation, tentativeness, and personal experiences.


For example, a wife tells her husband she had a bad day at work, using specific examples of why it was bad.  The husband responds by asking her what she did to solve those individual examples, or telling her how she should have solved them.  The wife is frustrated that the husband is trying to solve the problem instead of just listening to her, while the husband is frustrated that the wife doesn't take his advice on how to solve her problems.


Taking this to a broader audience, when leading a mixed-gender team, the leader should take care to speak both languages.  Women can work at reflecting less on personal experience and emotional details and demonstrating knowledge and skill through conversation.  Men can try to speak more personally with less concern for commanding the conversation.  This is also important to understand when writing a promotion for an event or series at your church, or in your sermons or presentations.  By blending report giving with rapport building, you are speaking a language that can be received and processed by both genders.

A Gladiator's Sweet Spot

Last Friday I attended a seminar for doctoral students at Indiana Wesleyan University. The speakers were Dr. Christina Bodurow of Eli Lilly and Bill Stanczykiewicz of The Indiana Youth Institute. 

Dr. Bodurow's presentation was titled "Living in Leadership."  Her first point: as leaders, we need to know our strengths, passions, and the what is needed for the mission. The intersection of passions, strengths, and organizational needs (mission) is your leadership sweet spot. The Venn diagram she used reminded me of the one I saw on Bud Caddell's blog a while back: http://bit.ly/5z566p. If you aren't operating in your sweet spot, which one of these areas needs adjusting?

Mr. Stanczykiewicz's presentation was titled "Leadership and Management at the Movies," as he used movie clips to illustrate leadership principles. His first principle was drawn from Jim Collins' Good to Great, using a clip from the movie Gladiator to illustrate Level 5 Leadership. (This process is a communication lesson in itself.  Using pop culture references to make a point makes that point more memorable. The scene is where Caesar meets with Maximus to offer him the leadership of Rome. Maximus demonstrates loyalty to the organization, moral leadeship, humility, and emphathy for followers.) The Level 5 Leader looks out the window when things go right (acknowledging the contribution of others) and in the mirror when things go wrong (accepting the mistakes they made), because the Level 5 Leader's ambition is geared to the success of the organization, not personal achievement. It would seem that the Level 5 Leader has achieved all the growth that can be achieved, so what is left to be accomplished?

Putting the two thoughts together, the path of growth for Level 5 Leaders is growing others, and one of the best ways to grow others is by helping them discover and live in their sweet spot. 

This communication lesson is what I call "mini-mentoring." When you see an individual in your organization who has undirected passion, think of how that passion could connect with the organizational mission in a way that would optimize their strengths. Give someone who has obvious strengths that would benefit the organization something to get excited about. Tell them that they are good at something. Encourage them to pursue their passion. Thank them for contributing to the organization. Each time you do any of these things, you are moving them toward their sweet spot. Each time a leader communicates, the result should be a mini-mentoring session where the person knows just a little more about who they are and where they should be.

LOL, ROTFL, and Loop Closing

Feedback is defined as "a system of loops that connect communication and action.  Individuals provide messages to others, who then respond to those messages in some way.  The response closes the loop, providing communicators with information about how their messages were received."  Facebook gives us the opportunity to send messages and post feedback in the form of comments, and we often use shorthand like LOL (laughing out loud) or ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing) to respond.  These are usually hyperbole (although you may have laughed audibly, when was the last time you literally rolled on the floor laughing?), but they do convey a positive response to the person who sent the message.


Unfortunately, sometimes leaders can practice facebook-style communication.  They share the vision, then sit back and wait for positive comments and productive compliance.  Positive feedback feels great, but is only half of what is needed for success.


To be successful, an organization needs both positive and negative feedback.   Often, negative feedback seeks to reestablish high expectations or quality.  This type of feedback often stings, but whether the complaint is completely true or an emotional, exaggerated reaction, there is truth in the individual's perception, and they are making an effort at loop closing.  It may not be what we want to hear, but we need it to genuinely evaluate the organization's vision, strategies, and communication.  Does your organization invite both types of loop-closing feedback, or is it clear that leaders want you to be their BFF who <3s everything they do?

You say trabajo, I say trabajar, let's call the whole thing off

For a few years I worked in a temporary staffing office, where the majority of my employees were Spanish speaking.  Equipped with the vast vocabulary amassed in my 10th grade Spanish class, I attempted conversations with the applicants.  I found myself to be lacking, so I began taking an evening class at a local high school.  I would show up for class early and quiz the teacher on how to you ask "Can you lift 40 pounds?" and "First, second, or third shift?"  I never could get the hang of the conjugation of verbs, however.  I would call employees and tell them that they were to go to work the next day and gain agreement.  Then I would be surprised that they would not be there.  After several tries, I spoke to my Spanish teacher only to discover that I had been telling them "I work tomorrow," not "You work tomorrow."  I was failing at information transfer.

Eisenberg, Goodall, and Tretheway define communication as much more than information transfer, but it does begin there.  No matter how creative you are in your communication, if you aren't speaking the language of the listener, they won't get it.  It's easy to blame others for not listening and their resulting inaction, but perhaps we need to figure out our part in the miscommunication.  "Typical communication problems include information overload, distortion, and ambiguity" (p. 29).  Are you guilty of any of these?

Information overload: When someone is listening, do you drown them with the fire hose?
Perhaps those in need of information cannot handle the amount, rate of speed, or complexity of the information you are sending.  Minimize the points, slow it down, and speak their language.  Ask yourself, would the average person understand everything that I just said without a)going to sleep, b)having a seizure, or c)requiring a thesaurus?

Distortion: When someone is listening, do you get drowned out?
Read the posting on semantic noise below (where the meaning is unclear to the receiver), but also consider physical and contextual distortion.  If I want my husband to hear me, I need to ask him to turn down the television.  The physical sound creates a distortion in our communication.  Contextual distortion occurs when my perspective is different than the listener's.  For example, when I say "Father" in reference to God, do I need to put the fatherhood of God into context for those who have a negative reaction to the word father?

Ambiguity: When someone is listening, do they drown in abstractions?
There is an acronym in sales called WIIFM.  Marketers have learned to make certain their appeals answer the question, "What's in it for me?"  This is what the listener is asking themselves.  We cannot prescribe the answer for everyone in every situation, but we can speak in an unambiguous way so that the listener can figure it out for themselves.  What are they to do with this information? 

Creative communication requires that the sender process these things long before the receiver can understand.  Information transfer is the most basic component of communication, but we cannot discuss higher theories of organizational communication without working on this most basic of ideas.  Have you found information overload, distortion, or ambiguity to be issues in your own communication, and how have you worked to solve these challenges?  Or how will you?

Eisenberg, E. M., Goodall, H. L. Jr., & Tretheway, A. (2007). Organizational communciation: Balancing creativity and constraint (5th ed.).  Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins.

The Great Divide

Recently an article on the holiness tradition of women in ministry, printed six years ago in Christianity Today, was brought to my attention.  It's a really good article, but there was one paragraph that grabbed my attention.  As we celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day this week, I thought it was a great example of the struggles of those who have been oppressed by racism and sexism.  And I began to wonder why, over 100 years since this woman minister wrote this, the church is still the most racially segregated entity in our country.  I think that we should all think more about that, and what role communication plays in perpetuating the divide or tearing down the walls.

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African Methodist Episcopal preacher, singer, missionary, and orphans' home founder Amanda Berry Smith (1837-1915)...though highly esteemed in holiness circles, still felt frequently the sting of racism. She wrote at one point in her autobiography, "I think some people would understand the quintessence of sanctifying grace if they could be black about twenty-four hours."

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Here's the challenge to those who preside over the pulpit: you can't change your race, gender, or circumstances for 24 hours, but you can spend time with people of different races, genders, and circumstances.  You cannot begin to speak to people if you have not begun to hear people.  If the only people who are influencing you look like you, talk like you, and live like you, then how can you hope to influence people who do not?

(There is obviously a lot more to this topic than a question of communication.  I encourage you to read the article and comment on your thoughts.)

Woodruff Tait, J. (2004). I received my commission from Him, brother: How women preacher built up the holiness movement. Christianity Today, 82.  Retrieved from http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/2004/issue82/9.35.html

Celebrate Creative Contribution

Organizations get caught up in planning and execution, but sometimes forget to stop and celebrate the results.  If something went horribly wrong, someone will probably point it out, but when was the last time someone in your organization pointed out something that went incredibly right? 

Part of the communication process is the feedback loop.  It is impossible to know if someone has understood what you have said if there is no feedback.  In an organization, the feedback loop is evaluation.  It is impossible to know if the organization's efforts were successful without evaluation.  After an event, a project, a launch, or whatever your organization does, do you, as a team, invite feedback and celebrate creative contribution?

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   When I was one, I was left for a moment in my highchair while my mother attended to one of my five older siblings.  Just in reach of the highchair was an electrical outlet.  Being a curious toddler, I grabbed the cord that hung from the outlet and tugged.  A large percolator filled with 210 degree coffee fell toward me, and I experienced 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 2/3 of my body.  At the hospital, I received skin grafts and, because of the risk of infection, my parents were told my chances of survival.  The doctors suggested that this might be the last few minutes they might spend with me.

   Fast forward to 2006.  I was working on my second Masters degree, married, and called to ministry.  A good friend had non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and I decided to attempt a marathon with Team in Training to raise awareness and show my support.  In six months, I went from a person who had never participated in any athletic activity to a person who completed a marathon.  

   Once I had recovered, I sat down at my computer and wrote an email to my mother.  In essence it asked if she ever thought, while she stared down at her little mummy baby in the hospital 38 years earlier, that her baby would one day complete a marathon.  In that email I told her that she had instilled in me the belief that there was nothing I couldn't do.  Her belief in me translated to my belief in me.  Self-confidence came from mom-confidence.

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There is no more creative contribution one can experience than that given by a loving parent.  And in that moment, I felt that her creative contribution needed to be celebrated.  I don't know if she had ever been acknowledged in that way before.  She was so proud of us, but I needed to tell her how proud I was of her.

In the organization, we cannot wait 38 years to complete the feedback loop.  Immediately after an event occurs, tell the people who contributed how proud you are of them.  Give specific details about what went right and how they contributed to that.  (We must also evaluate what went wrong, but that's a post for another day.)  Celebrate the creative contribution that was made, and let people know how proud you are of them.

A Learning Ethos

I promise that most of the thoughts in this blog will be my own, but today I am sharing a lesson from The Leadership Bible: Contemporary Leadership Principles (Zondervan, 1998).  One of the reasons that it resonated with me is that I was blessed to be a part of a learning organization for many years.  A member of 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia since 1993, I was blessed to work with Pastor Donna Whitten as a volunteer until 2002, when I was hired on staff as Series Coordinator.  Pastor Dave Ronne leads the Redemptive Arts area there and taught me everything I need to know about staying open to new ideas for communicating (story telling) and continuously stimulating learning in an organization. 

Many churches want to duplicate the results that 12Stone achieves; however, it starts with an atmosphere of learning, growing, and improving.  You can’t just duplicate the event; you have to duplicate the ethos.

Leadership Principle: The Learning Organization

Day 1

Read Judges 2:1-11

Following a smashing success, it’s easy to kick back and rest, to assume that current knowledge and achievements will assure future success.  That’s a dangerous attitude.  Unfortunately, it’s the one that the ancient Israelites adopted after the death of Joshua and his generation.  Joshua had led the Israelites in the conquest of the promised land.  His generation had personally witnessed God damming up the Jordan River and orchestrating the fall of the walls of Jericho (Joshua 3; 6).

The next generation “knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10).  What a tragic and scathing statement.  An entire generation had failed to learn in any life-changing way about God or his deeds.  The void left by their ignorance allowed room in their hearts and minds to embrace idols and pagan peoples.  Ultimately, it led them into sin and brought down the anger of the Lord upon them.  They knew the stories of their predecessors’ successes and failures, but they didn’t learn from them.

When nations, organizations or teams stop learning, they’re setting themselves up for failure.  “Those who don’t learn from history are destined to repeat it” summarizes succinctly the situation of the Israelites as portrayed in Judges, as well as the situation faced by teams who haven’t learned from past experiences.  Effective leaders know this.  They do their best to create an atmosphere that encourages learning within their organizations and teams.  They remember the principles gleaned through past experiences, and they help their people to apply them to new situations.

What are you currently doing to open yourself to new ideas?  What structures does your present organization have in place to stimulate learning?  What structures could it put in place?

The Leadership Bible is no longer in print, but can be purchased used: http://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Bible-Sid-Buzzell/dp/031091244X