[A follow-on to Spreading Effective Vision and The Agile Church, addressed specifically to the Church Spread of Kingsway Community Church.] In less than twelve months, together with the Holy Spirit, we have completely reinvented Kingsway Church. While our overall numbers may be the same, we have spread to two new neighborhoods, dramatically expanded our pastoral staff, and filled much of... Continue Reading →
Spreading Effective Vision
While discussing The Agile Church and Metrics versus Goals, I realized that our organization's primary motivation for adopting Agile practices is to spread the ownership of effective vision. That is, we start with a shared belief that vision ought to be: Effective: timely, clear, actionable & aligned with the organization's overall purpose Spread: distributed from the core... Continue Reading →
Metrics versus Goals
As a followup to my post on the Agile Church, our elder's board is having a spirited discussion of the appropriate role of metrics and goals when leading a church. My perspectives is that the main purpose of SMART Goals is to inspire operational metrics that enable continuous innovation. In other words, knowing where we... Continue Reading →
The Agile Church
The modern church is typically structured like a 20th-century business, with distinct, mostly autonomous departments focused on executing an agreed-upon "business plan" that changes very slowly over time. The church adds a layer of relationship and prayer, and relies on volunteer labor, but overall mostly matches the model invented by Alfred Sloan at GMover 50 years ago. The important thing to... Continue Reading →
What in God’s Name is Happening to School?
A primer on the ongoing transformation of education, for my cousin-in-law who runs a seminary startup. Use video to "flip the classroom" so teachers are more "guide on the side" than "sage on the stage." Shift the goal from passive content acquisition to constructive skill mastery: Khan Academy Vision - YouTube Personalize education for different learning styles and goals: Mass... Continue Reading →
Can Startup Thinking Solve the Innovator’s Dilemma?
When I discussed theories about how and whether Apple has solved the Innovator's Dilemma, I neglected to mention my favorite theory: Institutionalizing Startup Thinking (IST) Apple has solved the Innovator's Dilemma by institutionalizing startup thinking. This is characterized brilliantly by an Andreessen Horowitz post on Why We Prefer Founding CEOs: The technology business is fundamentally the innovation... Continue Reading →
Has Apple Solved the Innovator’s Dilemma?
Last October, along with many other tributes to the late Apple co-founder, James Allworth claimed that Steve Jobs Solved the Innovator's Dilemma. His explanation is that Apple avoids the traditional pitfalls that stifle innovation because: Apple hasn't optimized its organization to maximize profit. Instead, it has made the creation of value for customers its priority. This... Continue Reading →
How to Professionalize Teaching
Everyone knows that great teachers are the key to a great education. But how do we get more of them? One popular request is to treat teachers as professionals, a "certified expert who is afforded prestige and autonomy in return for performing at a high level" rather than "interchangeable cogs in an educational factory line out... Continue Reading →
The Innovator’s Restaurant: Architecting for Creativity
Andrew Dunn from Insight Labs recently posted a call for metaphors about Iterating imagination: Creativity. Structure. The two are normally thought to be at odds. But for a large organization to produce imaginative results again and again, it must have a structure that anticipates reinvention. He listed four models they came up with: Church and State: these... Continue Reading →
#InsanelySimple 140 Characters at a Time
I just finished reading the eagerly-anticipated Insanely Simple by Ken Segall. For my money, this is the best way to get a feel for how Apple "Thinks Different" than virtually every other business in America. From May 10th to 17th I used Twitter to catalogue my journey through the book, and I've collected all those... Continue Reading →
iHack, therefore iBlog 
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