Follow us on Twitter: @SwineFlu
The words swine flu (H1N1) generally bring one of two reactions; a roll of the eyes or a look of fear. This past week my church has been dealing with a handful of possible cases of H1N1 that originated on a youth trip to Florida. Fortunately, it has turned out to be a quick recovery for those who were sick.
The old saying that “there is no such thing as bad press” does not really apply to the church. The church, as compared to many businesses or organizations, uniquely relies on how people feel. Those feelings translate into invitations to attend and involvement within. For the church to do its’ vital work, people must have a positive view and feeling about the church.
Tim Brown from IDEO
IDEO has long been considered the “founder” of the Design Thinking movement. Tim Brown is one of the thought leaders on this topic. In this interview with Business Week, he speaks to several questions about how design thinking can help businesses. The first question “What are the steps” is a very basic steps in the Design Thinking process. Tim explains these in detail.
1. Approach problems as if they were projects
2. Look outside your organization for possible solutions
3. Create “tangible” solutions early
4. Wrap a story around your solutions
Change in the Church
I spend the majority of my time working with leaders of local churches. Talk about a group that struggles with change!! One of the most significant ongoing “challenges” that these leaders face is that they have experienced success with something in the past, and are having trouble adjusting to the currently reality.
Churches have a great deal of trouble distinguishing between their “methods” and their “work”. No product or service delivery “method” is effective forever, but the “work” of the church never changes. When it is being effective, suffering is being relieved, people are finding hope, and lives are being changed for the better. It is vital that the church finds ways to be effective.
Kevin Carroll interviews IDEO Tom and David Kelley
Great interview by Kevin Carroll (Rules of the Red Rubber Ball) of brothers Tom and David Kelley (founders of IDEO).
21 Rules of Innovation… numbers 15-21
15. A good team is always an active learning team.
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16. Be aware of the balance and flow of polarities that exist for your team. Remember that too much team can be just as bad as not enough. Allow for individual self-expression within the team. Teams are not problems to solve, they are a mass of polarities to manage (see Bruce Johnson’s “Polarity Management”)
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17. Your team is a strong as its weakest link. A good team makes efforts to cover, improve, or strengthen its deficiencies. Read “The Goal” by Eli Goldratt to understand more about the “theory of constraints.”
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18. Effective teams engage in constructive disagreement around content with a ‘yes and not a ‘yes but’ attitude.
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19. Listening is key.
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20. Know thyself – what you can contribute to the team and what others can contribute that doesn’t come naturally to you.
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21. In teams, seek to ‘pull in’ the outliers, the mavericks, those who we tend to exclude. Everyone has something important to offer the team – find it.
