A Top With a Story

My boys have recently gotten into beyblades. My wife and I both think that they look like old school tops- you know, the toy you spin on the ground. But the boys love them. You battle with other players, there's an arena for them, and there's even a cartoon about them. All of this fuss over what is essentially a top.

Two thoughts- first, this is some pretty creative marketing from the people who make beyblade (and Pokemon, for that matter).

Second, and perhaps more important, is that Beyblade isn't just a top, but it is a top with a story. Yes, the marketing helps, but it is the story behind Beyblade that generates its popularity (and again, the same is true for Pokemon).

Our faith can either be like the top and just a top. You know, something fucntional, something useful, but not all that exciting. Or, our faith can be like a beyblade, which is still just a top, but with a story behind it, a story that we're apart of, a story we're helping to create. The choice is ours.

The Volunteer is Always Right

In retail, the customer is always right.

In information technology, the user is always right.

Perhaps in the non-profit world, we should consider the idea that the "volunteer is always right".
Obviously, there are exceptions to a customer or a volunteer always being right. A customer who buys something at Target and tries to return it at JCPenney shouldn't be right- though they might be in some stores. A volunteer who can find a substitute for something ought to try and find one. But when there's a problem between the organization and the volunteer, the default for fixing on the problem falls on the organization.

I called one of our Wednesday Night Service partners last week to tell them how many were planning to serve on our scheduled shift. For this opportunity, our numbers were low and we were barely going to be able to keep our commitment, but we were going to be able to keep it. I could tell the person working the phone for our partner that they were disappointed with our response. They told me they were planning for more people. I replied that we were sorry but weren't going to be able to have more people. They asked if I could find more. At this point, I'm getting a little frustrated that the partner isn't listening to me. They are hearing me- but they are not listening. I told them no- we had who was coming.

Fast forward to Wednesday Night where the partner calls my phone right before our group is scheduled to serve and asks if we had more coming! I am surprised (and more frustrated!) as apparently they had lined up another person to help. I call back and leave a message that I am sure sounds pretty frustrated and again say no, who is there is who is planning to help.

I am sure the partner was disappointed that we had lower numbers and weren't going to accomplish all they had hoped. As someone who occupies that role too, I get that. But, the key is to figure that out on the leader's end and not on the volunteer end. Volunteers are giving their extra time and resources- precious commodities today- and to try to guilt them into giving more in the short-term isn't a successful long-term strategy.

The Token God- Part 2

Continuing in 1 Samuel 5, the Philistines have routed the Israelites and have the ultimate spoil from war- the Ark of the Covenant! When they return home, they place it alongside one of their other gods. They wake the next morning and see their idol tipped over. They set it up and the same thing happens the next morning. They try again. The next morning, their god has lost its arms. This is bad news. Pretty soon, the town that has the ark in it experiences disease and death. They move it to a different town. Same result. Soon, Philistine towns are begging that the Ark stay away from their town. What the Philistines thought would be the ultimate treasure is becoming a national nightmare. They make plans to send the ark back to Israel along with guilt offerings.

How did this happen? For the Philistines, they thought they could just add the Ark into their collection of gods and deities. For them, it was just one more thing to add. They had their gods, and they know had the Israelite God. But for the Israelite God, it's all or nothing. God has no time to be on the same mantle as something else. God has no interest in competing with other gods for allegiance or loyalty. And again, even if you're not a follower of God, you still can't contain God.

We do this all the time, don't we? We place God alongside our other gods- money, success, power, beauty, security, family. We have a mantle full of other gods and think that we can simply add God to our collection. We attend church on Sunday- that's our God mantle. The rest of the week we devout to our money god, or our family god, or our success god. But again, our God doesn't want to compete with the other gods. And we can't compartmentalize this God either.

It's not that family isn't important. Or that work and money are bad things. But when they take god status in our lives, God doesn't want to compete. God wants all of us.

The Token God- Part 1

Interesting story from 1 Samuel 5. It's a dark time in Israel's history. The last few judges have been scoundrels. Eli, the chief priest, is a priest in title only and has lost control of his wayward sons who too are scoundrels. The Philistines are knocking on Israel's door for a fight. War is nothing new for Israel at this point in time. They've won most of the battles they've fought, but just for good measure, they send for the Ark of the Covenant. You know- a little extra holy magic from their god in case it is a tough fight or things take longer than expected. And the result is surprising for the Israelites but not surprising for those of us who have the benefit of reading the story- they get routed. Severe loss of life. And to add insult to injury, the Philistines take control of the Ark and bring it back with them. A dark, dark day for Israel.

And yet, how surprised could they have been? They had been living far apart from God. Their spiritual leaders were anything but spiritual leaders. They had a history of military success. They had once known God but now God was just a token for them- a symbol of things that gone well in the past but now had no meaning in day to day life. When times got tough with an army coming in, they quick proclaim faith in the token God, as they had done before, but a token God is powerless. They saw God- and the Ark that contained him- as a Genie they could run to when things got tough. But as soon as life settled down and prosperity returned, they put the genie back in the bottle and the ark back in the museum.

It goes without saying, but how often do I do that? How often do I call on God only when I need him? How often do I treat God as if he was a genie or Santa Claus- useful for when I am in need, but when good times return, there's no need anymore?

Weird Churches

Seth Godin has a new book out called We Are All Weird. While Godin is primarily a marketer, he dabbles with comments on religion every now and then. In this book, he writes:

When people in power tell other people what to do with their hobbies, their work, their passion, and their lives, we run the risk of enforcing the status quo by pretending we’re talking about morality when we’re actually using fear or corporate greed as a motivator. Hence the stress that so many organized religions face today. When the religion ceases to be about faith and hope and connection and love and positive change and begins to focus on compliance, this organizational embrace of the status quo runs straight into the trend toward the weird (84).

I preached a message last month that included how the modern era valued organizations over individuals and how today's era now values individuals over organizations. There's varying evidence to this theory, but Godin nails it here with his comments on religion and churches. If the goal is to bring people in and make them fill some role within the organization (and consequently adhere strictly to the organization's views on doctrine, programming, ministry philosophy, etc), that probably won't work in the long term. If, however, the goal is to coach individuals on matter of faith and provide communities and opportunities for them to practice and learn, that model could make it in this new era.

Insecurity Work

Found this great term from this book. The author writes:

"we spend too much time obsessing over real-time data. Whether you are checking your web site’s traffic, customer sentiment, or your bank account, these small actions don’t help you make ideas happen. They just help you feel safe. “Insecurity work” is stuff that you do that (1) has no intended outcome, (2) does not move the ball forward in any way, and (3) is quick enough that you can do it multiple times a day without realizing it- but nonetheless puts you at ease (159). "

I can be as guilty as anyone about doing this- checking email too frequently, checking bank accounts, checking survey results, etc. And it isn't that these items aren't important or necessary, it's that they don't need to be done multiple times throughout the day or some of them even once a day. Doing them makes us feel as if we've done something, but all we've done is prolong working on something that we should have been working on in the first place.

Just Do It

The word 'just' worked for Nike. Just do it. You know, run the race, play the sport, whatever.

But nowadays, we misuse the word 'just':

• "I'm 'just' a volunteer"- so my opinion doesn't matter, my time or energy isn't as valued, or I'm not as important. This is bologna.


• "I'm 'just' saying"- so I can now say whatever I want to say, regardless of my tone or content, because I am 'just' saying. This is dangerous.


• "I 'just' work here"- so while I get paid to be here, I can't really answer your question, provide you with meaningful service, or help you in any real positive way. This is way too common.


• "Just ___________"- fill in the blank. Just stop it. Just start working. Just stop complaining. Just get along. Just knock it off. It's as if the words behind those instructions aren't enough so we add the 'just' to signify we really mean what we're saying. Personal experience tells me that if I have to add 'just' to whatever I am about to say, I am already in trouble! This doesn't work.

Maybe we should just stop using the word just.

Change

It's been said that the only constant in life is change. Yes, that statement seems to be a contradiction, and yet everywhere I turn, I see change:

• My HyVee is totally remodeling and changing the whole store


• Facebook introduced some new changes the past couple of weeks with more in store


• Netflix recently decided to change by splitting its streaming service from the DVD by mail service

We all respond to change in different ways. A few of us like change and adopt to it early; marketers call this group early adopters. The biggest section of us- the middle or the normal- adopt after a service or product is mainstreamed. At the moment the early adopters are doing the new thing, the middle group is buying or getting used to the old thing. The last section- the laggards or the late adopters- almost fight tooth and nail against change. This group probably still has a VCR- that they bought last month!

It's interesting to notice people's response to change. Take HyVee- I've heard several east-side shoppers almost complain that they like the old store the way it was because they knew where stuff was. True, but the new store will have better organization and newer and better 'specialites' such as the deli, Starbucks, and pharmacy.

Or Facebook- whenever they roll out changes, my wall fills with posts of people griping. And yet Facebook carries on and we still use the service. In record numbers.

And when Netflix changed, there was downright anger. So much so, that they've actually reversed course.

That's the thing about change- it is such a common part of life. Yes, leaders need to do the best they can to communicate the change and lead well throughout the change. Failing to do so results in a Newflix incident. And yet, most of the time, the changes happen whether we like them or not. What matters is what we do with all of the change around us and how we lead with or through change in our own lives, be that at work, school, home, or church.

The Food Budget

I used to think a budget was only a good financial tool. We would know what money was coming in and then spend it on paper as Ramsey says. We knew which months were more expensive and which months less money was coming in and we'd budget accordingly. Early on we used credit cards to get us through those pinches but today we've gotten better at budgeting so we don't need the credit cards (though the pinches sometimes still come!). When the money ran out, it ran out.

Well, you'd think I'd translate that same thinking to my diet, but I didn't. I love food. And drink. And food and drink. And for years I didn't have to pay too much attention to what I ate or drink because it didn't matter. I don't mean that flipantly- it really didn't matter- I could pretty much eat and drink whatever I wanted and not pay too much attention and as long as I was moderately active, I didn't gain weight and felt pretty good.

Well, that's changed. Blame the kids, blame me being stuck in the middle of my 30s, blame whatever, but my lack of a budget caught up with me. Clothes not fitting ok, energy sapping a bit, you get the idea. So I realized that just like I can't spend whatever I want, I also can't eat whatever I want. Brilliant, hunh?!? I've begun a food budget with the help of an online tool. It tracks my calories, has access to almost everything I eat, counts my excercise, and measures my progress. Again, brilliant. Doing this has done a couple things:

1. Counting my calories make me conscious of how much food 'costs' me. For example, I love both sweets and pop, but can't do both if I want to drop a few lbs, so I've cut out pop (and almost every other beverage except water and black coffee) because it's too expensive.


2. Logging in each day keeps me accountable. Sure, I blew off of my birthday and a daywith the fam up in Fargo, but I was able to do that because I had been pretty conscious leading up to and after those events.

Interesting, but I would think that similar thinking would apply to other areas, whether money, food, spiritual life, etc.

Problems or opportunities?

In graduate school I managed an apartment complex. For those who know my lack of anything resembling handyman skills, this may sound like a tall tale, but it is true. I collected rent, advertised for openings, checked backgrounds, cleaned, and did some maintenance. My boss oversaw buildings and grounds for what was then Sioux Valley and everytime I'd come to him with a problem- a late rent payment, a vacant apartment, a police call for a domestic disturbance, or a bat in the apartment of Anne who was 90 and both blind and deaf, he'd take a break from chewing on his cigar (mind you, I am not making any of this up!), and say, "Brian, problems are just opportunities." At first, I was like any kid- annoyed and frustrated. But as time grew on, I saw what he meant. Some of the problems were my fault and so the problem was an opportunity to grow in an area. Some of the problems were the faults of others, and those were also opportunities to either get some experience with conflict or help the tenant realize that this perhaps wasn't the spot for them!

I was in some training last week and the trainer was doing a great job with the material. As he fielded questions from people who were envisioning some problems with the application of the training, he'd keep saying 'well, you have an opportunity . . . '.

I'm not close to being there, but I'd sure to love to be a 'opportunity' person and not a 'problem' person.

Chuck E Cheese and Problem Management

We have a birthday ritual for our kids- we go to Chuck E Cheese for supper on their actual birthday no matter what else we got going on. Now, Chuck E Cheese is to birthdays what Wal Mart is to me for grocery shopping. Both places try to compete on price, have ok products (but you can certainly do better at say Pizza Ranch's Fun Zone which has way better food or HyVee for meat and other products), and minimal service. Actually at both places, it's almost like you're an interruption as a customer. But you can't really complain, because why you are dropping some serious change, you're being fed and your kids get to play. At other places, the price you pay at Chuck E Cheese just gets you fed- the playing is extra. With 4 kids, we might as well go stay at a hotel for that money.

Things were different on our most recent visit- the staff was happy and helpful, the food was hot if not better, and Chuck E even came out and danced with all the kids- not just the ones who booked the birthday party! I thought, wow, this is good, this is better, until I saw the 'suits' were there. All of the positives I saw were because corporate was there! In fact, as we were eating, the manager- a kid who looks like he's 16- came up and asked how it was going. First time that's ever happened at Chuck E Cheese. And here's what he said- "Hi I'm the manager here and I just wanted to see if there's any problems?". What? How bad must it normally be for you to start out an inquiry with a customer that way?!? Instead of asking how it's going, how the food is, or what we're celebrating (because you see the cue of balloons and cake!), you ask if we're having any problems! Telling.