For the last few weeks there has been a lot of fighting, arguing, with myself trying to seek the truth.  Can I be honest with you… I mean really honest with you?  Over the last few months I have been slipping into a creative purgatory.  To be frank, I feel at times I’m treated more like a machine spitting out domesticated creativity than really producing something truly meaningful from my inner depths.  Sadly I’ve been relegated towards people thinking creative excellence is a high-powered faucet that can be turned on and off at will.  I fear becoming a widget.  There’s nothing fun about being an appliance, unless your an espresso machine.  I’m not a shiny machine that people jostle in-front of in wonderment of my golden, tinkling display of mechanized, electronic joy!  Seriously, machines are predictable and boring; that’s not me.

Yet every day, I feel like I’m fighting the status quo and the willingness to come against the fear and apathy that wants to keep me in a place of living beneath my potential.  I feel that my creative soul has been ripped away from me.  What can one do?

This fourth of July I think Mahatma Gandhi said it best, “Infinite striving to be the best is man’s duty; it is its own reward. Everything else is in God’s hands.” “Infinite striving?” What does that mean? It probably means that it is our duty to strive forever to be the best we can be – - – - forever – - – - as long as we live.

What do you consider your most important duty? My answer to that question would be: “It is my duty to be better today than I was yesterday, and better tomorrow than I am today.”

I’m on the hunt for some really good books to read, to stretch my mind and understanding.  I have this thing I am trying to abide by though: No new books until I finish the ones I’m reading.  Here’s what I’m nearly done reading:

• Break From the Pack: How to Compete in a Copycat Economy by Oren Harari
• Ignore Everybody by Hugh MacLeod
• Primer of Visual Literacy by Donis A. Dondis
• AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay
• Exponential by Dave Ferguson and Jon Ferguson

“A vision is not just a picture of what could be; it is an appeal to our better selves, a call to become something more.” – Rosabeth Moss Kanter

I’ve been having conversations lately with leaders about change and not the average garden mill kind.  I’m talking rock your world and turn it upside down kind.  Then when we started discussing change within our staff, I really felt it must be more of a global trend and it got me thinking on how you do sell this kind of change?  Well, conventional wisdom would indicate that those who operate in their own little zone, focusing on what their responsibilities are, and being good stewards of that set of responsibilities are the kind of players that every team member would value having on his/her team.  It doesn’t matter if they don’t see the big picture. They’re dependable and responsible and punctual.  What else could you ask for?

From my experience in leading change and teams the average person does not understand their role in the big picture and I advocate for watching the big stuff and sweating the small stuff because it allows for innovative growth.  If you spend all your time examining the big picture, it’s very likely you’re overlooking the small stuff. I know that “don’t sweat the small stuff” has become a mantra for many.  But if no one is watching the little things, they can all too quickly turn into big things – and then it might be too late to do anything about them.  Let me use another cliche, “the devil is in the details.” In order for you to move your business forward, you need to immerse yourself in the minutiae.

However, you cannot start there because that seems a little like trying to assemble a jigsaw picture without a picture to refer to.  Or maybe it’s like trying to build a house without knowing what it’s supposed to look like when it’s finished.  Or, perhaps, it’s like playing on a team without understanding how our role influences whether we win or lose.

What’s wrong with that?  In this new economy businesses are running lean work forces, churches are stacked with multi-tasking swiss army knifes and it’s easy to just worry about the big picture; since everybody does their part and in the end that’s all that matters.  As long as those in leadership positions understand the big picture, everything will work out all right.  See the problem I see with that kind of thinking is that it is so uninspiring.  It’s not enough to feel that each of us is contributing to the big picture.  I would suggest that knowing how our role helps accomplish the mission is a key ingredient to keeping us inspired to come back the next day and have a sense of passion and a sense of fulfillment which will lead to productivity, innovative growth, and target.

Okay, I got to admit I’m really excited about speaking at ECHO again this July 28-30 in Dallas with some great friends: Tony Steward, Dawn Nicole Baldwin, Carlos Whittaker, Blaine Hogan, Michael Buckingham, Tim Schraeder and Nathan Davis.  I will tell you from first hand experience this conference is one in a million.  No matter if you’re in a new role, wanting to branch out into social media, or develop skills on how to more effectively reach current culture with media and tech this is the place to be.  I’ll shut up, you can find out a lot more about the conference by visiting www.echoconference.com.

So what do you think?  Are you coming? Thinking about it.  How about I sweeten the pot?  Early Bird is already gone, but you can register here for 20% off by entering my name —> matt <— in the promo code.  Plus if you attend my session we’ll have some pretty epic gifts for a select few.

I heard someone recently refer to the old adage, “speak softly and carry a big stick.”  I looked up the origin of the phrase and discovered that it was something President Theodore Roosevelt said relative to the Monroe Doctrine in a foreign affairs speech.

Do certain people come to mind when you think about that phrase?  Me, too.  It seems, though, that there are too many people who “speak loudly and carry a little stick.”  Like the politicians who speak loudly about their commitment to religion and faith, the same goes for education but their actions don’t support their rhetoric.  Or like those who talk a lot about how they care, but they never really invest in people.

I’m grateful for the soft spoken folks that make a big difference; those who don’t care who gets the credit; those who “change the future.”

“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.” –  Colin Wilson

I’ve been lucky to be apart for several organizations who experienced explosive growth.  Additionally, I have help bring about growth and change in some others.  Currently, my organization is growing in all kinds of ways and it has got me thinking about what are some key ingredients to aid in this season?

I believe, as an organization, we’re good at what we do, it’s because you are good at what you do.  If we’re doing a poor job in some areas, it’s because some person or a group of persons is doing a poor job.  If we’re great, it’s because you are great.  Whatever the outcome, you are the reason.  Whatever the challenge, this organization will only meet that challenge if you meet the challenge. There isn’t anything earth shaking or particularly profound about the above statements.  It would be difficult to find those who don’t agree with them.  Since we agree, maybe we could become really great if each of us asks ourselves this question, “What am I doing to help us achieve greatness?”

Transition, Chaos, Change, and Control: navigating that formula is a-little like drinking a lethal cocktail set on fire. To most that maybe a turn off and to a few they see the beauty in the adversity.  Scott Wilson manages to steer one through the chaos continuum in his book “Steering Through Chaos” by using personal experience and drawing on clear examples from others who are dealing with the same hardships.

From my personal experience, “Steering Through Chaos” is not just designed for church leaders, but for any leader dealing with transitional change with their organization. Scott helps culture and apply different practices and principals for maximum impact. Chapter 7, “Celebrating Every Step Of The Way,” really resonated with me because the importance of storytelling.

Out of everything in our world no matter geographically or demographically,  storytelling is at the root of every culture.  Think about it. Who are among the greatest storytellers throughout history?  Whatever the genre the narrator used exposition, description, and narration to illustrate what they considered to be fundamental truths about the human condition.

When you think about it all great organizations, Fortune 500 or not, all have been built on a strong foundation of storytelling.  For organizations stories are the language of success and celebration they bring about serious positive change.  Informative narrative sparks action, transmits values, gets everyone working together, shares knowledge, and sells vision by leading people into the future.  Sounds a lot like most churches try to do week in and week out, but rarely understand it’s power.

So what does storytelling have to do with effectively transitioning an organization?  Well unlike abstraction and analysis, storytelling is inherently collaborative.  Storytelling helps leaders work with other individuals as co-participants, not merely as objects or underlings.  Storytelling helps strengthen leaders’ connectedness with the world. Isn’t this what all leaders need, a connectedness with the people they are seeking to lead?

“Learn to accept in silence the minor aggravations, cultivate the gift of taciturnity, and consume your own smoke with an extra draft of hard work, so that those about you may not be annoyed with the dust and soot of your complaints.” – William Osler

The Israelites crossed the Red Sea after God parted the water.  Then they spent the next forty years wandering in the desert before they crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land.  They should have been able to make the journey in about eleven days.  Why did it take so long?

When we read the story, we discover that one of their major issues was complaining.  Instead of remembering the victory of the Red Sea crossing, they complained.  They complained about the food and the conditions and their leader and each other.  Is that why it took so long?