Management Rewired

Recently I picked up and read Management Rewired by Charles Jacobs. While I confess I don’t know much about business or what’s trendy in business management, I did find this book interesting and helpful, primarily due to the fact it is different than some of the other books I’ve read on the topic. Using some of the latest research on brain science and neurology, Jacobs offers some insights as to why leaders and organizations do what they do and how they can do them better. I thought I’d share a few of the notes I took from the book that I found to be insightful.

· Leadership is primarily concerned with ideas. Good leaders get the big ideas right. When they do, a lot of other things will fall into place. Jacobs elaborates by saying that the power of an organization is in its ability to generate ideas.
· Jacobs argues that leaders cannot change organizations, but they can change people who change the culture of the organization.
· This transformation is accomplished through the power of storytelling.
· Much of our thinking is organized in stories. Stories and metaphors help us to organize our experience of the world. The more we tell the story, the more the story shapes us.
· If you want to know what’s going on in your organization, you have to figure out what story the people are telling themselves.
· You change your environment by changing your story. It is important to craft the story with a predictable outcome that promotes the change you want to see.
· Rather than emphasizing organization, leaders should work on shaping the culture that shapes thinking. Culture is a convenient way of thinking about patterns in behavior in a organization that isn’t hardwired by policies, procedures, or structure.
· The right hemisphere of the brain sees “wholes” and is responsible for our emotions. The left hemisphere of the brain is the center of logic. It delays immediate gratification. The power of story is that story unites the two hemispheres.
· One of the reasons organizations make poor decisions is their unwillingness to delay immediate gratification.
· Leadership isn’t about forcing people to do one’s bidding. It’s about telling a story so that people can do what they need and want to do.

In the final pages of this monograph, Jacobs' lists five characteristics that mark Transformational Leadership. They are summarized as follows.

1. In order to shift the paradigm, leaders have to change the way people think within the organization.
2. Any successful paradigm shift must be a participative process. For example, Plato influenced thinking by asking questions.
3. Leaders can influence paradigm transformation by conveying an aspirational but credible view of the future.
4. This view of the future is communicated through story. Leaders have to tell a better story than the story the people are currently telling themselves.
5. Finally, transformational leaders use the story to create focus and urgency on what’s critical for success.

Jacobs' book is an excellent read. While I only touched on some of the great stuff I found, there's plenty more that's helpful, even for pastors like me who continuously communicate the greatest story ever told.

Waukee Jazz 1 at Disney

Here's the video from Lauren's Jazz Band playing at Downtown Disney on December 29, 2009! Awesome job by an awesome group of kids!

A Final Word to the Thief on the Cross

The first word Jesus spoke from the cross concerned forgiveness. The second word concerned eternal life. Jesus said to the thief, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43, NLT).

Think about the promise of eternal life that Jesus offered to him in those dying moments.
Salvation is immediate: “Today.” Salvation is personal: “YOU will be with ME.” Salvation is eternal: “in paradise" (literally, the garden).

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not just about what happens to us when we die. It is life with God here on earth. Jesus extends the same hope and promise to you today.

A Word to those Who Fear they are Forgotten (part 2)

Sometimes we may wonder if God has forgotten us. Take a moment to consider some of these powerful promises from Scripture:

God knows us by name.
God knows the number of hairs on our head.
God knows the number of our days we will live on earth.
God hears the words we speak.
God knows our thoughts.
God sees our tears and records them.
God listens to our prayers.
There are many more affirmations from the Bible that affirm God’s constant awareness and attentiveness over our lives.

Why then, does God remember us? He remembers us because he loves us. He not only loves us, he has made it possible for us to have life with him always. You never forget those who are always with you. Through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, God closes the proximity and empowers us to become children of God.

The gospel is not just the message proclaimed that brings salvation. The good news of the gospel is that we can have life with God. 1 Peter 3:18 states, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God (NIV).” That’s the gospel message, life with God!

News

There are a couple of helpful websites that I routinely check that are proving to be helpful time savers. When I want to catch up on Christian news, I find www.baptiststoday.org. This site scans online newspapers from coast to coast and posts the links to the top religious news stories each day. While the web address may lead you to believe that the site is only concerned with Baptist news, it crosses into interdenominational and interfaith territory. As a bonus, the site includes stories from the legal system that might be of interest to Christian readers.

The second site scans the Christian blogosphere. Though its a relatively new site, www.zoecity.com scans the top Christian blogs and provides links on a daily basis. Let me encourage you to check these sites out. I hope they prove to save you some time.

A Word to Those Who Fear they are Forgotten

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42-43, NLT)

When we lived in Arkansas, Lisa and I were invited to a dinner party to honor the 40th birthday of a friend. His wife did an immaculate job of decorating and preparing for the group that gathered. The table was set, complete with name cards that assigned seats to each dinner guest. Except me. It was a funny oversight, but at the same time, a bit awkward. Have you ever been forgotten? Have you ever felt that God has forgotten you?

Sometimes we feel forgotten by God, especially when our fail proof systems hit a glitch. Any number of life’s challenges…bills, kids, marriage, employment, health…can cause us to wonder if God’s really paying attention to us. If you’ve ever felt that way, then the second saying Jesus spoke from the cross is for you.

Jesus’ words are spoken to one who is simply called a “thief.” To refer to him as a thief is a bit understated. He was more than one who stole stuff. He was a professional criminal and an insurrectionist, an enemy of the Roman Empire. Many would have labeled him as a “bad person.” He was deserving of death even by his own admission.

It’s fascinating that the thief appealed to Jesus’ memory. “Remember me…” I must confess that it’s a bold request, given that Jesus probably had a lot on his mind already. Jesus responds, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Or, “I will not forget you.”

In our pain and adversity, we echo that same request… “Remember me…” and he does.

The Shadow of the Cross

There is a famous painting by Holman Hunt, leader of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, titled The Shadow of Death. The picture depicts Jesus standing inside the carpenter’s shop in Nazareth. He is standing by a wooden trestle on which he has laid down his saw. He stands with his eyes fixed toward heaven and arms stretched outward. As he pauses from his work in this posture, the sunlight casts a shadow in the form of a cross on the wall behind him.

Hunt did the painting from a rooftop in Jerusalem in the early 1870’s. While it is historically fictitious, it is theologically true. Jesus was born for this purpose: to give his life on the cross for our sin. His life was not taken from him for he gave it willingly. Jesus’ mission was the cross. Ours is the same. As we begin to turn our attention toward Easter, may our hearts be filled with praise and worship of the “lamb who was slain.” May we commit ourselves in a new, fresh way and continue the mission Jesus began.