Big Is The New Small

Innovation is defined simply as– The act of introducing something new. I am an adamant believer that if an entity, organization, group or leadership team wants to be a driving force in the area of innovation, they must be diverse.  If you have a bunch of guys and gals sitting around the table that all look alike, think alike and have similar life experiences, it’s only a matter of time before new ideas are just recyclyed ideas.  By recycled I mean “More of the same.”

Diversity as it relates to innovation does not only apply to ethnic diversity; however in my opinion ethnic diversity is always crucial.   I love having an ethnically diverse team, as they bring their unique cultural and life experiences to daily discussions.  These discussions ultimately drive innovation.  If an organization wants to attract the brightest and most innovative minds in the world, they must make sure that all the faces at the leadership table don’t look the same.

It doesn’t matter if the entity is for-profit, non-profit or a religious institution; a diverse leadership team helps to create synergy, productivity, and the ability to serve a diverse world.  Over time, that diverse group of leaders may need to be shuffled around, because long-term familiarity can also result in “More of the same.”

Diversity is different, change is good, innovation is new and Diversity Drives Innovation.

What do you think?  Share your thoughts!

Criticism is a one of those words that seems to cut most people like a knife.  Although the knife doesn’t seem as sharp when we put the word “constructive” in front of the word criticism, none-the-less the word still seems to pierce.

When I was growing up my mom would always tell me: “Son, you can’t control or worry about what people say… you can only control what you say and what you do.”  Later on in life, as a young leader I had a mentor that would always say “If you’re doing something worthy of people taking shots at you, you better believe they will.  I would much rather have a leader that people don’t always understand and who are occasionally criticized, than a “leader” that no one ever talks about.”   I have heard my pastor say something like “If you want to find the leader, look for the one with the arrow in their back!”

I tend to view criticism as neutral… “It Is What It Is!”  I prefer to “Eat The Meat and Spit Out The Bones!”  If you don’t want to be criticized, I have some advice for you: “Say Nothing, Do Nothing & Be Nothing!” Find someone who has blazed a trail and you’ll find someone who has weathered a trail of criticism. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”   If you follow Emerson’s line of thought, be ready for the critics because Trailblazers Will Be Criticized!  Trailblazers must throw on their armored jackets daily, with these words written on the back “Criticize Me!”

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” ~Theodore Roosevelt

I don’t ever want to find my place with those “Cold and Timid Souls.”  Criticize Me!

What do you think?

I have been a Mike Leach fan since he was the Offensive Coordinator at OU. Although Mike Leach drums to a little different beat and is a little quirky, all-in-all he’s a guy that you want to like.  It was a bit disturbing to hear the allegations against Leach; however my mom always told me “There are two sides to every story!”  Great interview with Mike Leach!  You can also read the New York Times story here.

Share your thoughts on this interview and the overall Mike Leach and Adam James controversy.

As each New Year approaches everyone is generally so excited, because “This is going to be the year that {fill-in-the-blank} happens.”  Fitness Center memberships are off the chart, people want to stop smoking, go to school, get a better job, go to church, get involved, manage their money better and the “Self-Help/Life-Improvement” list goes on and on.  All of these things are great and well intentioned; the problem is they don’t last.

The quote, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” is definitely applicable when it comes to this time of year and New Year’s Resolutions.  According to the research from Proactive Change, nearly 50% of American Adults will make at-least 1 New Years resolutions and the majority of these resolutions won’t be maintained for more than 30 days.  The study also shows that 75% of the resolutions will be broken in the first week and by the end of the year 97% of New Years Resolutions won’t be kept.

Personally, I have set many goals for this year and the majority of them revolve these two words: “Focus and Simplify.”  I really believe that Twenty-Ten is going to be “The Year!”  Not only is it going to be “The Year” for me, but I believe it can be “The Year” for you as well.  Here are 10 Ways To Make Twenty-Ten “The Year!”

1. Put God First- Seek Him, Read His Word, Pray, Serve, Give…
2. Make Family a Top Priority- This should be a “No Brainer,” unfortunately it’s often neglected.  Involve your family, make time for your family, have a family night… Be The Family!
3. Set SMART Goals- Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Based.  There are variations of this Acronym, click here for more.
4. Simplify- Stop making things so difficult, do what’s right and do what’s necessary.
5. Don’t Talk About It… Be About It- If you say that you’re going to do something, Do It!
6. Get Accountability- Share your goals, visions and desires with someone and ask them to hold you accountable.  Don’t just ask them for accountability, let them truly hold you accountable.
7. Assessment- Re-valuate and assess the status of the various aspects of your life.  Evaluate monthly and make necessary adjustments at-least quarterly.
8. Try Something New- Get out of your comfort zone and try something, do something and fail at something.  Life is change and Failure is inevitable.
9. Just Say No- Not only should you say “No” to drugs but there are plenty of things that you have said “Yes” to in the past, that you need to say “No” to in the future.
10. dream BIG. think BIGGER.- This is my mantra for 2010 and it is my new tag-line for my blog re-brand, which will be completed any day now.  Thinking is the next step after dreaming and is the action of making your dreams reality.

Twenty-Ten is going to be “The Year!”  I’m In, In Twenty-Ten, Are you?  Share your thoughts, goals, resolutions, strategies, failures…

As we are wrapping up the year, I thought I would get a compilation of some of the best books that people read in 2009.  I sent out this simple tweet “What is your favorite book/author that you read in ’09? (Only 1, your replies will be a blogpost) Ready, Set, Go! RT.“

The results are below.  The answers are in the respondents own words, so if they seem odd or didn’t follow the rules, blame them not me.   The responses at the top with the link are from Twitter and the ones at the bottom are from Facebook.  After looking through these responses, the title of this post could probably be 130 Best Christian Books Of 2009.  The favorites were: Crazy Love, A Million Miles In A Thousand Years and Principle of the Path.  Here’s the list:

1. @ScottWilliams   The War Of Art by @spressfield
2. tmamone “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.”
3. cheerfulchicka The Circle Series (Black, Red, White, Green) by Ted Dekker
4. KDenise ANdy Stanley “Principle of the Path” Ridiculously awesome!
5. NRGonzalez “The Wild Goose Chase” by @MarkBatterson
6. leebezotte Spiritual Leadershp by Oswald Sanders. A classic!
7. kentshaffer Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
8. mikewhenderson Derailed.
9. CyndiAKADisneyq Servolution by Dinno Rizzo
10. AudioBible Quest for the Life Tree by Laurie Green Westlake
11. prophetesstli “Corporate Anointing” by Kelley Varner
12. nancypurdy The Hole In Our Gospel
13. patrickcmoore “IT” by Groeschel
14. andylie Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.
15. AmandaSims Gifted to Lead by Nancy Beach.
16. danalynbyers Gifted To Lead-Nancy Beach
17. richardwestley Robert Benson, The Body Broken
18. nataliewitcher The Indwelling Spirit by Andrew Murray
19. mandymckeown Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer.
20. jessicayates Captivating by John & Stasi Eldredge
21. ericurbach “Playing For Pizza” –John Grisham.
22. MichaelBensch The Marketing of Evil – David Kupelia
23. JamesWhiteHair Michael Heppel – Flip it
24. PaulDaunno Fearless by @MaxLucado. I need to read it again in 2010
25. cwileygo The Shack… By Far
26. mfeatherson Found: God’s Will – by John MacArthur
27. TraLeeFitz Anathem by Neal Stephenson
28. tquizzle Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Excellent read by the way.
29. _natewoods “Crazy Love” Francis Chan, by far.
30. blooji Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell @realrobbell
31. samhepner My favorite book I read this year was “Beyond Belief”,the Josh Hamilton story. Amazing 2 c God redeem! I cudn’t put it down!
32. rachellelucero Outrageous, Contagious, Joy by @edyoung not released in 09, but none the less it made a lasting impression!
33. 100prayingwomen RT CRUSH IT!!!! by Gary vaynerchuk
34. briancromer “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan
35. DaveSandell Skirmish by Dobby Gibson
36. franco3x When God Writes Your Love Story by Eric Ludy (or Lundy, can’t remember)
37. eddieljones Forgotten God by Francis Chan
38. DavidLermy My favorite book of ’09 was SECONDHAND JESUS by Glenn Packiam (@gpackiam) … I read it at a time it was most needed
39. chadmissildine A Million Miles in 1000 Years- D.Miller. I don’t agree w everything Miller says, but its great insp. to live a better story!
40. Cindy_Reynolds The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith
41. joshuareich “water from a deep well” by gerald sittser, great read
42. LaDyMoNi The Secret to True Happiness, Joyce Meyer
43. spackett Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller.
44. dfoulks What is your favorite book that you read in ’09? >> “Good to Great” by Jim Collins
45. TiffVacca “The Answer is Simple…Love Yourself, Live Your Spirit” by Sonia Choquette. Opened up a whole new world for me!
46. BrianJRussell Outliers (but ’08 release). 09 release: million miles in 1,000 years – just love @donmilleris
47. PastorShan Crazy Love
48. PastorChrisj Principle of the Path by Andy Stanley
49. StanColemanSPCC Axiom by Bill Hybels.  Incredibly practical snippets of advice for pastors and church leaders.
50. Adamclausen When Heaven Invades Earth By Bill Johnson
51. SCHEFFXP The Bible – God
52. SpeakTheCulture Chasing the Dragon by Jackie Pullinger
53. DannyBDaniels “Room of Marvels” by James Bryan Smith
54. cjhennessey Best book I read in 2009 was “Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership” by Ruth Barton.
55. marklesher The Principle of the Path, @AndyStanley
56. dale_schaeffer Real Leaders Don’t Do Powerpoint
57. DryforkPastor New book by @MarkBatterson It challenge the way I think about my relationship w/ #Jesus. Read my review: http://bit.ly/3wPujm
58. Josh_Pennington “Spiritual Leadership” J. Oswald Sanders
59. VivGroskop Atonement by Ian McEwan
60. knutsoncody In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day
61. thomreagan Favorite book of ’09? Me To We: A Pastor’s Discovery of the Power of
62. ineffableGod Crazy Love !
63. scottgould Most life changing book I read: Getting Things Done
64. pattigibbons Forgotten God by Francis Chan
65. Orpheus47 “Primal” by Mark Batterson (still reading, but amazed and inspired!)
66. edgedood The irresistable revolution-shane claiborne. life ruining book!
67. memachel “The Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts” Mark Twain – ok, read it ruffly 30 times.. it’s still good & relevant
68. YPClayConry Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis
69. dawndavenport1 How cruel to limit me only to 1. I’ll go with my last favorite- The Elegance of Hedgehogs.
70. JohnHowell The Hole in the Gospel
71. Vetashep The Jesus Creed.
72. MrsHyman The Bible
73. Sknief The Chronicles of Narnia the Voyage of the Dawn Treader by CS Lewis
74. abedis Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
75. edhaskin favorite book: the bible; you know the author.
76. DavidTCopeland Book? Grown up Digital by Don Tapscott
77. evanmcelrath favorite book. Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus
78. jjkehm66 love the energy. sure beats “2010′s going to be more of the same…”
79. michaeljmetts When You Are Engulfed In – David Sedaris
80. dshropsh Sacred Echoes – Margaret Feinberg
81. gods_man The Noticer by @AndyAndrews
82. dubdynomite “Angry Conversations with God” By Susan E Isaacs
83. ubinam_rosarium anything by Andrew Greely (have read lots, can’t recall titles)
84. desiwright Crazy Love by Francis Chan
85. cwdillard Liberty and Tyranny, Mark Levin
86. BarbInNebraska This is from my Australian teacher friend @heyjudeonline hunger games – Suzanne Collins
87. SavedSister7 What is your favorite book/author that you read in ’09? // Captivating by Stasi Eldredge
88. 11Locs Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero
89. RaquelTWG Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis.
90. bugsact Power of praying for your adult children by stormie Omartian..I wish I had read it n jan/09,started reading in Nov changed ME
91. BarbInNebraska Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza.
92. MoNique32002 Battlefield Of The Mind-Joyce Meyer.
93. JonasAsberg John Bevere Extraordinary. It was truly a life changing book.
94. angieti Destined To Reign by, Joseph Prince (true). The Shack (fiction)
95. BoLane The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Hands down, best book I’ve read all year.
96. freshgreenbeans I’ve read tons this year. But I enjoyed Angry Conversations With God by @susanisaacs
97. Tamika Bryant- “The Shack”
98. Donna Dalrymple- “Redeeming Love–Francine Rivers”
99. Katie Strandlund- “A Million Miles in a Thousand years – Donald Miller”
100. Yonas Atlabachew- “Blue Like Jazz – Donald Miller”
101. Dona Clayton Pugh- “If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat–John Ortberg”
102. Jessica Kay Adams- “Emily Griffin”
103. LaVonne T. V. Harmon- “God’s Harvest: The Nature of True Revival, by I.D.E Thomas.”
104. Trina Sanchez- “Joyce Meyer”
105. Dave Ingland- “It by Craig Groeschel”
106. Rose Beaudry- “Crafted Prayer by Graham Cooke (or anything else by him!!)”
107. Jody Gresham Glaze- “Nicholas Sparks”
108. Ryan Luelf- “The Journey to the Inner Chamber by – Rocky Fleming –
109. Scott Werner- “Proverbs “
110. John Bizal- “Malcolm Gladwell – What the Dog Saw and Outliers”
111. Cyndy Lavoie- “Jesus wants to save Christians, by Rob Bell”
112. Donna Cole “I am in the midst of “Desiring God” by John Piper..with LG 180..the many topics covered have made a huge difference in my perception of God…and pleasing Him..and we’re only on Week 4!”
113. Gaye Turner Sanders- “Same Kind of Different as Me by Denver Moore and Ron Hall.”
114. Deanna Marks-White- “Crazy Love by Francis Chan”
115. Tekedra Sanders- Blanding- “THE SHACK!!!”
116. Adam Zuercher- “In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson”
117. Christy Wilkins- “the shack it was awesome”
118. Christine Pechstein- “It” by Craig Groeschel”
119. Benjamin Thomas Abee- “Crazy Love by Chan.”
120. Maurice Arnall- “Prodigal God – Keller”
121. Kevin Bailey- “Crazy Love by Francis Chan”
122. Kelly Burleson- “The Shack.”
123. Allison Adams- “Dee Henderson – The O’Malley Series totally helpful for those who have questions about faith, just amazing , a most read series .”
124. Angela Eichor- “Pastor Craig’s “Going All The Way” and “Confessions of a Pastor.” if it can only be one, then confessions wins. “
125. Chuck Brock-“Bible / God! haha couldn’t resist ok Love Revolution / Joyce Meyers “
126. Missy Smith Lawson- “Sabbatical Journey – Henri Nouwen; Nouwen’s diary the year before his death; honest, theological, pastoral…”
127. John M. Key- “Wild Goose – Mark Batterson”
128. Kendra Golden- “Forgotten God by Francis Chan. Crazy Love was my favorite last year. ”
129. Bob Willits- “Leach deserves to go for his treatment of Burn. “
130. Jeremy Mitchell- “John Maxwell-some leadership book he is awesome though…

Share your favorite book that you read in ’09 or your thoughts on any of the above.  RT or Facebook this and share the love!

This may sound elementary; however I wish folks would “Stop Telling People What They Want To Hear!” More often than not people sugar-coat things and basically tell people what they want to hear.  This happens in marriages, relationships, educational settings, from the pulpit, work environments and countless other arenas.

We need less political correct, candy-coated politician interactions and more keepin’ it real.  Telling people what they want to hear is a loose loose proposition; one person holds back and the other person genuinely doesn’t know where they stand.   These types of interactions create “The World of The Oblivious.”

Don’t confuse keepin’ it real with being rude or crude.  Tone, style and delivery are Oh So important.  It doesn’t matter if you are the “Good Cop” or the “Bad Cop.”  What’s important is that you be “The Cop” and write the ticket.  Write the ticket, keep it real and Stop Telling People What They Want To Hear!

What do you think?

This is by far the easiest solution and application to Read The Bible In A Year via iPhone.  YouVersion has updated the app to reflect the new changes and offers many daily reading solutions.  Start the year off right!

Do you use your iPhone for your daily Bible reading? If so, What do you like best about the app? If not, Will you this year?

Random Thought: I Like To Doodle On Napkins...

Earlier this evening my boys and I had a fellas night.  My wife was running errands and making some returns to the mall, so we decided to go to my favorite little coffee shop Vintage Coffee.  My boys 6 & 10 years old had never hung out at the coffee shop before and have always wondered why it’s one of my home away from homes.

Their first coffee shop experience consisted of them splitting a Vanilla Chai Tea Latte in their own little coffee mugs, topped off with whip cream of course.  They were equipped with an  iPhone and Nintendo DSI to make sure they stayed entertained.  They loved every minute of their experience; not only did they love it, they were perfect angels.  The coffee shop owner even turned on Pirates of the Caribbean for them acknowledging how well behaved they were.  We all had a great time simply maxin’, relaxin’ and chillaxin’.  My 10yo said, “Dad, I see why you like to go to the coffee shop, it’s just peaceful… I had fun!”

I had fun too, I was able to do some thinking, writing and take some random notes.  One of my favorite random forms of note-taking outside of the yellow notepad in my iPhone is doodling.  I like to doodle random notes and thoughts on napkins.  Below are my random thoughts from earlier this evening.

Random Thought: I Like To Doodle On Napkins…  How about you?

The beauty of Twitter is the fact that it has it’s own little world, community and what many people refer to as the Twitterverse.  The Twiiterverse is a world or sphere in which individuals who twitter exist.  It’s the totality of known or supposed objects, thoughts, people and phenomena throughout the social media community known as Twitter.  You are probably reading this and asking: What are you talking about? Me Too!

The above definitional language is to provide context and show that the people who exist within the Twitterverse are as unique as those in the real universe.  Everyone in the Twitter community uses the social media platform for different reasons and enjoy reading different types of content.  If you don’t believe me just take a few moments and peruse the various tweets rolling in by the millisecond.

As I interact in the Twitterverse I have come to realize that the #1 Thing Twitter Users Like To Read About is Twitter.  The level of Twitter sophistication doesn’t matter; beginners, businesses, to proclaimed gurus all like to read bout the happenings of Twitter.  Some of the most retweeted posts in the Twitterverse share content that pertain to, you guessed it… “Twitter.”  The content can be Tips, Trends, Fails, Possibilities, New Uses, Applications and many other topics, as long as the content is Twitter related.  This is definitely true for the BigIsTheNewSmall.com community; so over the last several months I have set aside my Late Sunday/Early Monday blogposts for some sort of Twitter discussion.

Reading about Twitter is the one thing that the Twitterverse can and will always agree on.  Everything else is suspect, debatable and personal preference.

Do You Agree?  Is Twitter the #1 Thing Twitter Users Like To Read About?

Leadership is a form of art.  It’s an art form that almost anyone can learn to some degree.  Just because someone learns an art doesn’t mean they will necessarily be good or effective.  Think about all of the painters, musicians, communicators, or artists of any sort; although they have learned an art very few get through the threshold of simply being an artist, to being an effective, sought after or compelling artist.  The effective artists of any genre are able do something a little different with their artistry.  That same statement is true for The Art Of Leadership... there are many leaders who never realize The Of Art Leadership.

I’m not trying to be the alliteration guy; however I’ve identified 6 thoughts that can help develop The Art Of Leadership.  Each of these concepts just happen to begin with the letter “R.”

6 Ways To Develop The Art Of Leadership:

1. Recognize- Recognize that leadership is a gift, an art, a craft… that has to be continually developed.  Seek out and be willing to learn from effective leaders who have developed this craft we call leadership.
2. Realize- Realize the fact that although leadership is a craft, it is not rocket science.  STOP MAKING IT SO DIFFICULT.  I repeat, unless you are a leader at NASA, your leadership role is not rocket science; chill-out and quit making things so hard on yourself and others.  BTW- If you are a leader at NASA or a rocket scientist, you should probably be asking the tough question: “Is what we do still necessary or relevant?”
3. Remember- Remember The Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you!”  Most leaders’ barley remember the bronze rule, let alone The Golden Rule.  As a leader it’s important to care about your people, to love your people, to care about their interests, care about their success… to treat them how you would want and expect someone to treat you.  Remember in order to become an effective leader you have to understand that “Relationships Matter!”
4. Replicate- Replicate what works and don’t force things that don’t work.  Don’t try to be a replicate of another leader or simply replicate what you have read in a book, but rather replicate the effective “What Works” concept into who you are and what you do!
5. Resurrect- Resurrect a dying team member; an effective leader has the ability to take a dying team member on the verge of being fired and help resurrect them into a story that begins with this sentence… “There was a time when so and so team member was on the verge of being fired and so and so leader believed in them… Wow, Look at how successful they are now!”
6. Reinvent- Reinvent the way leadership is carried out!  Break the box, find a new way, figure out what works for you, don’t be scared to be different, reinvent what might has been seen as irrefutable.  Reinvent out of hunger, creativity, thinking, believing, seeking etc.; don’t reinvent for the sake of reinventing!  ”Don’t reinvent the wheel” applies to those who reinvent for the sake of reinventing!

What do you think?  Share your thoughts on any of these thoughts or how you have seen them carried out.