From Amazon.com:

Julien Smith has delivered a surprise, a confrontation, a book that will push you, scare you and possibly stick with you for years to come. 

The idea is simple: your flinch mechanism can save your life. It shortcircuits the conscious mind and allows you to pull back and avoid danger faster than you can even imagine it’s there. 

But what if danger is exactly what you need? 

What if facing the flinch is the one best way to get what you want? 

Here’s a chance to read the book everyone will be talking about, before they do. 

What are you afraid of? Here’s how to find out.

A little backstory: Seth Godin is one of my heroes. If you don’t know him, he’s a daily blogger and one of the leading minds in the world of marketing. I tell people I read two things every day: my Bible and Seth Godin’s blog. His thoughts and ideas have deeply influenced me and in December of 2008 I had the opportunity to spend a day with Seth at his office outside of New York City. I was one of 25 finalists for his Alternative MBA Program and flew to NYC to meet with him and the other finalists. I didn’t make the final cut but that experience, without a doubt, was one of the most affirming experiences I’ve ever had. And, it’s been amazing to see what some of the people I met that day have gone on to do… people like Al Pittamapalli, Jon Dale, and Clay Hebert to name a few. You can read more that experience here.

So, fast forward a couple of years, I’m backstage helping with blogging for the Willow Creek Leadership Summit last week [which was crazy in and of itself] and all of the sudden am told that in about 2 minutes I’m going to be interviewing Seth on video. Mind you, I was totally in the zone for note-taking and now I’ve got under 120 seconds to prepare my mind for the fact I’m getting an incredible opportunity to interview one of my heroes. The WCA staff was awesome and gave me some ideas of questions to ask, but to be honest I was totally nervous and unprepared to interview him in a room full of production staff, lights, and cameras.

Well… I think I choked, but I did ask Seth a question I thought was important… what would you tell people/churches who think they are innovative and have already “arrived”?

Despite the awkwardness of my nervousness, I think Seth had some great things to say which is why I wanted to share this video.

If it it’s worth doing, what are you waiting for?

Enjoy.

Sethgodin.com
Squidoo
Seth Godin Blog
Seth Godin on Facebook
Mashable Insight, Interview with Seth Godin on What it Takes to be a Linch

• Someone here today is going to change everything.
• Someone here is going to do something that matters.
• They are going to do it, not because someone told them to or asked them to, but because they chose to do it.
• Seth shared the story of Nathan Winograd.
• 1 guy decided to want to do work that matters.
• This is the opposite of the legend of Betty Crocker… created average products for average people.
• The legend of Betty Crocker is fading.
• There is something that is not working the way that it used to.
• There is a notion that we can promote an idea from a position of power is something we grew up with.
• Our society is built on the notion of more.
• The TV-Industrial Complex: Buy Ads > Get More Distribution > Sell More Products > Make a Profit > REPEAT
• Leads to average products for average people.
• If you are going to make something for everyone you have to make something everyone wants to buy.
• Mass is built into our culture.
• On our watch a revolution is happening.
• Revolutions do things that are perfect and impossible.
• Mass is fading away.
• We’ve branded ourselves to death.
• Revolutions destroy the perfect and enable the impossible.
• It’s the death of the industrial age.
• It’s being replaces by a new age of weird, edges, and different people needing different things.
• A tribe is a group of people who share a culture and a goal who want to be together.
• There is an explosion of tribes.
• As these tribes spring up and people meet-up, connect up and group up, things are changing.
• People still want what everyone wants… to be in synch.
• We do what we do because we are organized to do it.
• We want to do what OUR people are doing.
• Tribes need leaders.
• Who communicate, lead, connect and build a culture… that are clear about where they are going and why they are going.
• Show up, get us in synch and help us get there.
• There is an opportunity in front of us… is it YOUR opportunity?
• The people who owns the means of production get to own the factory… whoever owns the factory runs the town.
• The means of production aren’t factories anymore, they are laptops.
• Workers own the factory today… it’s our choice of what to do with it.
• The Industrial Revolution changed everything.
• The farmers stopped farming and got jobs.
• The crisis in front of ourselves asks the question, “is this the end of the job?”
• There is something beyond jobs… art.
• Art makes a line in the sand.
• Art brings humanity.
• There’s a different between art and painting.
• Art is the risky, human act of doing something you haven’t done before for someone else with someone else.
• There is natural tension between the boss and the workers.
• If you’re your own boss, why are you holding back?
• Henry Ford changed the world and made a lot of money through mass production.
• The factory mindset teaches compliance.
• There’s a difference between managing and leading.
• The system of following the rules have impacted all of us.
• The factory mindset leads to interchangeable parts and interchangeable people.
• We created a culture where we taught people to fit in… that makes the factory work.
• We have a chance to do things differently.
• There is no map for being an artist.
• If someone else can do it, it’s not worth doing.
• Competence isn’t important.
• Competence is no longer scarce.
• If I can write it down I can find it cheaper.
• The only option you have is to figure out how to race to the top.
• If all you can offer is the fact that you are the “local” church it isn’t much.
• Local is cheap.
• It’s not going to get you where you want to go.
• Quit bowling.
• Bowling is not a popular spectator sport.
• What people talk about is something they don’t expect.
• We don’t need people to memorize facts… information is easy to find today.
• We need to solve interesting problems.
• Don’t wait to get picked. Pick yourself.
• You don’t need permission.
• The internet has given you a microphone.
• Every project has 2 sides: success and failure.
• If what you do is so urgent that failure is not an option neither is success.
• It is impossible to do art without failure… that’s what makes it art.
• No one has done creative work with a Blackberry.
• In the back of our brain we have a lizard brain… the resistance.
• The lizard brain can be helpful, but most of the time it forces us to act like sheep.
• Just because the tide is out, doesn’t mean there’s less water in the ocean.
• If you want to stand out… stand out!
• Do something worth talking about.
• Meaningful art is a gift.
• Meaningful art changes people.
• Too many people walk around holding on to something that’s meant to be given away while it rots.
• We are constantly looking for a reason to not do our art.
• Is this seat taken?
• How many people want your seat?
• How many people want your platform?
• You can make excuses or see the opportunity of a lifetime in front of you.
• What are you going to do abou it?
• Make art.
• Give gifts.
• Do work that matters.
• Connect.
• If it’s worth doing, what are you waiting for?
• On the edges of the box, you’ve got a chance to dance, connect, and to lead.
• Put yourself on the line.
• The word is begging you to lead them.

The decisions we make form the chapters and fill the pages the story that God is ultimately writing in each of our lives. The decisions we make shape us, our future, and make us the people that we become.

Some decisions are easy and others are difficult. Some are made with absolute certainty of what will happen next. Others are made in faith, trusting that the leading and impulse of the heart will guide us into an unknown, but exciting future.

A few years ago I made one of those crucial, uncertain decisions.

I left a church that I had called home for most of my life as well as family and friends, and embarked on a new journey, moving to Chicago. I knew it was what I was supposed to do and while it was difficult, the risk was worth it.  I cannot even begin to articulate in words what an incredible blessing these past four years have been.

I came on staff at Park in a critical moment in the life of the church. About to open a new building in the heart of downtown Chicago and firmly establish a presence in the city, I was able to be a part of the rebirth of Park. I helped take what we were doing at Park to a new level from rebranding, to killing our weekly bulletin, rethinking our website, using text messaging in services, and much more. But more than that, it’s been so humbling to see how God has grown Park in size and influence, and how we are seeing lives impacted by the Gospel every day. That’s what it’s all about.

Along the way, I’ve shared what I’ve learned with all of you through my blog and twitter stream. It’s been crazy to see who I’ve been able to connect with, the opportunities and experiences I’ve been able to be a part of… it’s just overwhelming as I look back over the past few years. I see God’s faithfulness everywhere.

And it all happened because I took a risk and made a hard decision.

I read Seth Godin’s book Linchpin earlier this year and it challenged me and messed me up in a good way. It really made me think about what I do, what I’m passionate about, and ultimately the work I feel I’m called to do.

For nearly ten years I’ve served in two different churches as a communications director. I started at age 18, inexperienced and uneducated, but full of passion to make an impact. I made many mistakes, learned a lot, took copious notes at conferences, and did all I could do share what I learned and connect with others.  And now, nearing age 28 in less than a few days, I’ll be embarking on a new adventure and taking an enormous step of faith.

Last week I met with some of the leadership team at Park and let them know about a tough decision I had been wrestling with in regards to my future… I announced my resignation from my role at Park.

It was a decision that was made with a lot of prayer, soul-searching, and time in reflection [which I’ve had plenty of in the last month thanks to the mono!], and I feel absolute peace about this decision. There was nothing amiss or weird,  I just felt and sensed it was time for me to move forward and will be concluding this chapter of my journey sometime in January.

As far as what’s next… I have no idea! I don’t have a job or any prospects on the horizon but trust God’s whisper and know He will provide. It’s a huge step of faith and a decision that is either absolutely crazy or absolutely the right one, and regardless, I have peace about whatever lies ahead. I’m confident, excited, hopeful, and trust that as one amazing chapter closes that this decision will mark a new beginning filled with new opportunities [and a paycheck … if you have any leads, email me!].

I plan to stay in Chicago and want to continue to be a voice in the conversation about church communications. I don’t see myself working for another church but hope to work for the Church through coaching, consulting, speaking, as well as getting OUTSPOKEN released sometime in the spring, and helping to make Cultivate11 happen! I’m sure I’ll be able to keep myself busy.

I have nothing but respect and admiration for the team at Park and absolute thankfulness to have been a part of the unfolding story of what God is doing through Park in Chicago. I’ve served alongside some of the best men and women I’ve ever had the privilege of working with, and will miss them immensely.  These next few weeks will definitely be bittersweet but I know that it was the right time for me and the right time for Park and trust that God will provide for both of us!

To all of you, readers and friends, I want you to know I appreciate all of you who have been a part of the journey so far and hope to have you along for this uncertain but exciting next chapter! Greater things are yet to come…

“When you have come to the edge of all light that you know and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown, Faith is knowing one of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.” – Patrick Overton

Seth is a renowned speaker as well. He was recently chosen as one of 21 Speakers for the Next Century by Successful Meetings and is consistently rated among the very best speakers by the audiences he addresses.

Seth was founder and CEO of Yoyodyne, the industry’s leading interactive direct marketing company, which Yahoo! acquired in late 1998. Godin worked as VP Direct Marketing at Yahoo before leaving to become a full time speaker, writer and blogger.
He holds an MBA from Stanford, and was called “the Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age” by Business Week.

• Do you know what time it is?
• Of course. We have a watch.
• Why do you have a watch?
• The system demands we show up at the right place at the right time.
• it’s about maximizing, centralizing, monetizing.
• The system is pretty new.
• We’ve only had time zones for 150 years.
• Professional wrestling is fake.
• Somewhere along the way someone told you pro wrestling was fake and you believed it.
• It changed the way you looked at professional wrestling.
• You came to understand that there’s a difference between what is and what you are expecting.
• As soon as you realized the truth you could realize the artifice and that
• The economy drives our country.
• 4,000 years ago when we were nomads of tribes of 150 people we had a spiritual and cultural life that matched that.
• The Roman Empire demanded a new type of living. It was a new way of living, from the top down.
• Princes, merchants, banks, imperialists and kings shifted our spiritual and cultural lives.
• The life we know today is driven at every level by the economy we live in.
• The economy changes the way we see things.
• Seth made $40 Billion dollar mistake.
• In 1992 he had a small internet company.
• He compiled a list of the best websites in print.
• Made t-shirts and sold 800 copies of the printed book.
• At the same time, a company started with the same resources called Yahoo.
• They saw the same thing Seth saw… he saw a book idea; they wanted to change the world.
• The record industry is over, dead, it’s toast.
• It used to perfect in so many ways.
• You owned a record, lent it friends and would have to go to a store and buy one if it wore out.
• Then, it changed.
• The old idea was: if you have something people want or want to reach the masses, make it average for average people and yell about it.
• Henry Ford realized the power of mass production.
• Mass production allows you to become more and more efficient because it’s so efficient.
• In order to make the factory efficient you need interchangeable parts and interchangeable people.
• The model of a factory is built into all of us.
• Factories led to schools.
• Factory workers were freaking out because it’s hard to train someone who’s not expecting it.
• Factories trained workers in schools.
• Schools trained our kids to be obedient, to sit in straight rows, to do what they are told and use a #2 pencil while they do it.
• They trained us to buy stuff.
• It was all invented to feed the factory system.
• No one ever taught students how to solve interesting problems… how to do work without a map… how to develop autonomy.
• The factory wants you to fit in so they can ignore you.
• The factory isn’t just a factory or a business, it can even be the spiritual institutions we work for.
• The factory changed us… it put in our heads that what is valuable is a building.
• The factory
• We’ve been brainwashed to have a place of worship we had to have a building.
• Making a light saber isn’t hard… what’s hard is conceiving the idea of a light saber.
• In the world of Google, competence is no longer a scarce commodity.
• There’s always people who can do your job just as good.
• There’s a problem bordering on a crisis.
• We are bowling all day long… avoiding the gutter, aiming for a strike.
• We incrimentally follow the steps and feed the system.
• The problem with factories is that they will die because they race to the bottom.
• If someone is racing to the bottom you don’t want to win that race.
• Someone is always going to beat you.
• Someone will always be better.
• You have to race to the top if you want to win.
• There is a revolution.
• A revolution is destroying the industrial revolution.
• Every revolution destroys the old revolution before it creates a new one. – Clay Shirky
• What can you count on?
• You can count on that we are now connected more than ever before, you can make things more than ever before.
• All that’s left is to make a difference.
• All that’s left is to connect.
• All that’s left is to matter.
• All that’s left is to do work that matters so much that people will miss you when you are gone.
• Will you be more obedient than everyone else or more graceful than everyone else?
• We weren’t taught to do this in school.
• Being graceful is doing work and art that matters.
• Being graceful means when you leave a room people are sad to see you leave.
• The factory was around for a long time… it created institutions that embraced compliance.
• We’ve been trained to be complaint cogs in a system.
• We have a choice.
• We live in a connected revolution.
• We are only 6 handshakes away from everyone.
• You don’t win by being complaint, you win by being connected.
• North Korea is filled with compliance.
• You can’t comply yourself to success.
• You get better at making cupcakes progressively as you veer from the directions.
• Some people fail and go back to the rules; or they choose to fail by trying something different.
• Cupcake failure is not fatal.
• If we want to create a world where we can do our work, the work, we have to be prepared to fail.
• Every coin has two sides.
• You have to prepare to fail and embrace it as a part of growing.
• Tribes are at the heart of marketing, institutions and how ideas spread.
• No one joins a boring tribe.
• CMO = Chief Movement Officer
• If you are going to win, you are going to make a movement.
• You won’t create a movement by being complaint or demanding compliance.
• You make a movement by doing things people hate.
• We bought iPhones because we are part of the tribe… it’s jewelry that has a function.
• Apple realizes they aren’t in the technology business… they are leading a movement and a tribe.
• They win because they chose to create a movement that was easy for people to join.
• Their movement grows because people talk about.
• Boring and bureaucratic doesn’t work.
• People talk about geniuses… people who solve interesting problems, who connect with people and who know what it means to be a human and make a difference.
• If you’re going to be a genius, you can’t have a boss sitting around telling you what to do all day.

Without a boss in a new economy, who exactly setting your agenda?

• Is it about compliance or relentless curiosity.
• The heart of it is art.
• 1/3 of all of the oil paintings in the world are painted in China.
• Art isn’t painting.
• Art is a human act that changes someone and its generous.
• It’s a gift you can’t sell.
• The act of being able to help someone is the work of art.
• We get paid for doing what someone needs us to do.
• It’s gift-giving and connecting with people that changes people.
• Doing acts that bring us closer together is at the heart of what makes a connection economy work.
• The thing we need to do is our art.
• When you figure out what your art is you figure out what your purpose is. They are the same thing.
• People don’t learn by understanding they learn by some other way. The world changes.
• When you figure out why something works you understand.

Art demands emotional labor.

• We get paid for a different kind of labor.
• The labor of exposing ourselves is an intellectual risk.
• The labor of exposing ourselves to people who might not like us.
• Emotional labor is work worth doing.
• We need people who care opposed to people who are just doing their jobs.
• We need people who can make a human connection.
• We need people who can make change even if it means failure in the short term.
• A resume is a list of names proving you are good at following the rules.
• Do you fire people who don’t make mistakes or those who do?
• What are you rewarding?
• What are you attracted to?
• Why do we do what we do?
• Do we do it because it’s safe or because it’s what we are supposed to do.
• The more change we can make it’s more likely the tribe will join us.
• How tight is the tribe?
• That is our opportunity.
• Would the tribe miss you if you were gone?
• If the tribe disappeared how long could it be replaced?
• If you are at the center of a tribe that matters people will miss you.

That’s fine, but my boss won’t let me…

• Of course they wont!
• Your boss won’t let us try new things.
• Change is made by individuals who stop seeking deniability.
• That’s what we spend most of our day doing…
• Change is made by people who eagerly accept responsibility.
• You accept responsibility while not commanding authority.
• You must give away credit.
• You can never fit in enough…  You will never fit in all of the way.
• Stop trying!
• Emotional labor is hard.

The Lizard Brain

• Deer killed more people than sharks last year.
• Why did the chicken cross the road? Because his chicken brain told him to.
• We all have a lizard brain. It’s responsibility for anger, revenge, and reproduction.
• Animals are wild because their lizard brian tells them to.
• We all have a lizard brian.
• The lizard takes over when it’s upset.
• Stephen Pressfield calls the voice of the lizard the resistance.
• It’s the voice that tells us we can’t do it, we aren’t good enough, etc.
• The Resistance forces us to choose safety.
• The Resistance is our enemy.
• The lizard brain prevents us for doing work that matters.

The Downside of Tribes

• We’ve created a culture filled with politicians who divide us.
• Why is it so important for the tribe win?
• Is it about winning, really?
• Is that what we need to focus on?
• There’s a difference between scarcity and abundance.
• We are moving to a connected, revolutionary world.
• What happens when you give gifts instead?
• Is that seat taken?
• How many people would give everything to have our seat?
• How many people would want to have the opportunity we have.
• Do not waste the revolution.
• Do work that matters.
• Hurry.

The day was technically “off the record,” so while I have over 30 pages of notes, I can’t share all of them publicly. However, a lot of the content he did share was expounded thoughts from his book Linchpin and from entries on his blog. Both are required reading in my opinion. Anyway, I wanted to share some key points and key-take aways I had from the day and hope to share some of the excitement and enthusiasm I felt while hearing Seth speak.

“How dare you waste the revolution!”

That’s how Seth kicked off the day. And it is true, we are living in the midst of the revolution of our lifetime. Every major cultural shift [the printing press, assembly line, etc] has made significant cultural shifts and we are living in the midst of one with the death of the factory and the rise of a new way of working in the internet age. People who are making impact are ones who don’t follow the rules, who aren’t cogs in a giant machine… they are people who discover what they were born for and do work that matters. And beyond having ideas and insight, they ship!

Below are some other great quotes from the day…

• An idea planted in the right spot is like a pair of glasses that can change the way you look at things. What are you going to do when you notice the world is changing? Great ideas don’t require assets, they require insight. They have nothing to do with technology but has everything to do with intention.
• We don’t need you to be good at what we were doing yesterday we need you to be good at making mistakes on what you want to do tomorrow.
• Every problem you have right now is a perfect one. If it wasn’t perfect you would have solved it by now.
• Revolutions are all about doing something that’s impossible. What makes things impossible is what makes them a revolution. Revolutions change things in impossible ways.
• One of the dangers of the internet is that you can do short-term stuff all day long and produce nothing.
• If it’s easy it’s not remarkable. If it’s not remarkable it won’t be talked about. Remarkable means to make a remark about it.
• If what you are doing is easy, then it’s not scarce, and if it’s not scarce, it’s not valuable.
• The internet is a communications network. If you own a laptop you own a factory.
• All of us sell something none of us have heard of. The old model was to yell about it. The new model is to make something worth talking about.
• The conversation you create is worth more than the product you make.
• Find products for your customers instead of finding customers for your products.
• The revolution hates compliance. It doesn’t reward cogs in the system. You don’t get rewarded for compliance. You get rewarded for solving interesting problems. You get rewarded for leading. You get rewarded for taking risks. You are rewarded for connecting people. You are rewarded for creating ideas worth spreading.
• Do things that scare you and change people around you.
• Ship every day.
• Big isn’t better than the right size.
• Be a creator of media and a leader of people
• No one can stop you but yourself and it probably will.
• Art should exist to change people.
• It’s not about the product it’s about the story you give to people as they engage with it.
• It’s not about what you can accumulate but what you can give.
• If you can help people think about why what they do matters, it can be a foundation to start a movement.
• Asking the question is harder than answering it.
• We spend way too much time responding and reacting to minutia than really doing work that matters.
• Decide to fail. Decide to connect. Decide to put yourself out there.
• Part of living your life is doing art that scares you.
• You aren’t meant to be a part of a factory you are meant to be a part of a movement.

That’s just small taste of what was an incredible, inspiring day. I’ve never been so challenged to do something NOW. One of the key concepts I took away from the day was the importance of shipping… not just having good ideas, but actually delivering something, giving people something, executing ideas. Seth gave us each a copy of his Ship It journal, which is a workbook to help you work through you ideas and ship them. I’ve already started filling out mine!

Seth is a man who lives what he preaches. He’s genuine, sincere, and cares deeply about people finding their voice and doing work that matters. He’s incredibly selfless and humble, and someone who has made a significant impact in my life from a distance. The time spent with him and other linchpins in Chicago was valuable and I know will mark the days ahead of me. I see the revolution happening and know it presents amazing opportunities for the Church and I don’t want to waste it. Every day I want to take a step forward and do work that matters.

On Friday last week I took the first step in posting my blog “No One Cares About Your Church.” That was a blog post I had been sitting on for months but was afraid and insecure to post. I fought the lizard brain and shipped it, and I am so glad I did.  I’m making a commitment to continue to share ideas and insights to help the Church communicate more clearly and effectively, to tell the tell greatest Story every told in way that compels people to see Jesus differently.

Thanks for an amazing day, Seth… and to everyone else out there… don’t waste the revolution… do work that matters!

–

Photo of Seth is courtesy of my new friend and fellow Linchpin Rachel Koontz. She does amazing work and blogs on yoga. Check it out!

I missed the first few minutes, sorry!

But, Charles played this video from Seth Godin on why tribes are important.

• Stories are intimately connected to ideas.
• How many notifications do you get for a new cause?
• The ideas you pay attention to are the ones that have a story connected to them.
• Ideas survive if they are memorable.
• Most people don’t trust advertising.
• When they people hear something from people they know, they inherently trust it.
• What makes our idea an addition to a conversation not a multiplication of the same concept?
• The early Church didn’t think about making “Christian” roads.

Practical Insights for Idea-Making

Wisdom from the Streets

• Don’t bank on your experience, talk to people who are actually there.
• The best ideas come from the streets
• Charles helps with a program called Laundry Love.
  • They talked with a homeless person who said they’d like clean clothes.
  • They began to work with laundromats and pay for their laundry to be done.
• There are indigenous resources that can meet the needs in your community. You don’t need to recreate what’s already there.
• You have to listen first.
• The best and most innovative ideas start on the street.
• You have to meet people who will be impacted by what you are creating.
• Let them speak into what your innovating and collaborating.

Paper, Please!

• Write it down or type it in… RECORD IT!
• Until you write your ideas down it won’t solidify.
• Write it and let it develop… let it breathe.
• Start from the center of where you hope to implement concepts.
• Start where you want to end up.

Simplicity

• It takes work to be simple.
• Simplicity doesn’t always come by default.
• Charles shared the story of Gift Card Giver and how simple it was to get people engaged with organizations that were in need of resources.
• It’s not simple to implement ideas, but your idea should be simple.
• Scott shared how charity:water began… and the simple idea behind it: raise money and build wells.

• charity:water knows they aren’t the most holistic resource for providing clean water but they help to create awareness and position their idea in a creative way.
• They employ 17 designers.
• charity:water made charity cool again.
• They understood their boundaries but blasted it.

Have a Business Plan

• Every initiative/idea needs a business plan.
• You need some kind of process to develop a plan.
• The age of social networking the number of followers you have can be very misleading.
• Numbers and followers don’t translate to financial support.
• Don’t base your entire strategy on the “Like” button.
• It’s easy to look passionate from a distance.

Creativity

• When you have an idea you may work on it for a season.
• Then you may have another idea.
• Oftentimes we think those ideas are unrelated concepts.
• Don’t throw away an idea.
• Nurture your ideas.
• One idea can connect to another.
• At some point our ideas could merge, creating divine momentum
• The connection of our ideas could lead to THE IDEA.
• It takes nurturing of unrelated concepts to get us to an IDEA.
• Charles shared the story of how Idea Camp came together.
• Check out the book We are Smarter Than Me
• We benefit from the wisdom of the crowd.

Share Your Idea

• Being open with your ideas helps to make them better.
• Share your ideas with others!

Expect the “No’s” and Dream Anyway

• Any idea will have opposition.
• If you feel passionate about an idea, stick with it for an extended season.
• There will be a disturbance in the force when you have an idea.
• Idea makers have concepts, become passionate about it and spend more time on it.
• Ideas take away from the hours we’d normally have with others [staff, leadership, family, etc].
• Subconsciously, the people feel the disturbance in how we are allocating time and engagement.
• Check out The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield
• The resistance will display itself in relationship.
• You have to discern if people don’t like your actual idea or you implementing it.
• Every great idea requires sacrifice.
• Every idea takes time away from something.

Work Hard

• You have time for what you believe in.
• Check out Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk
• He took time and personally answered emails.
• Don’t quit your day job.
• Even if you believe in your idea, work throughout the day, spend time with your family/wife, and work from 11 PM-2 AM.
• Ideas can move forward if you intentionally put in 50 hours a month.
• There are probably good excuses but don’t use any of them.

Ideas for good are some of the best ideas in the world.

• If our ideas help create a better world, God honors them.
• You’re not creating the product, you are creating a product that can get to what you want to do.
• Shoot beyond the product you’re actually developing.
• How is what you are doing helping to move God’s Kingdom forward.

Less than a month ago an idea was born.

I bought a domain, sent a few emails, and the rest has been a crazy journey that only God could have orchestrated.

While there are a number of great books and resources available for church communications directors, they often offer a very narrow or limited view of what can be an intricate subject. Church communications is now a wide umbrella that encompasses a broad range of disciplines including print, media, branding, design, web, social media, online communities, and much more.

The need is great but solid resources are few and far between.

Two years ago I was approached by an editor to write a book about my experience doing church communications, and I began the process of putting together a manuscript. While things seemed to be coasting, the economy began to take a slump downward and the idea was quickly shelved.

Well, about a month ago a fire was rekindled under me to make a book happen [credit to Scott Belsky’s Making Ideas Happen and Seth Godin’s Linchpin]…only this one would be different.

I felt there was need for a more holistic resource that would pull from the collected wisdom of many to create an indispensible resource for church communications leaders to help them clearly and effectively communicate the Gospel. Rather than one sole voice, I wanted to help create a conversation.

I’m thrilled to be the first to let you know the idea has become a reality and it’s happening… in partnership with the Center for Church Communication, I will be releasing OUTSPOKEN: Conversations on Church Communications.

Well, it’s not just me doing the writing… it’s me and over 50 friends including:

Kem Meyer – Granger Community Church
Dawn Nicole Baldwin – AspireOne
Greg Atkinson – gregatkinson.com
Michael Buckingham – Holy Cow! Creative
Shawn Wood – Seacoast Church
Scott Hodge – The Orchard
Ben Arment – Story, Whiteboard Sessions, Dream Year
Leonard Sweet – best-selling author, professor at Drew University
Phil Cooke – author of Branding Faith
Tony Morgan – TonyMorganLive.com
Jon Acuff – Stuff Christians Like
Will Mancini – auxano, author of Church Unique
Tony Steward – LifeChurch.tv
Charles Lee – Ideation
Cynthia Ware – Center for Church Communication
Blaine Hogan – Willow Creek Community Church
Daniel Decker – Higher Level Group
John Dyer- donteatthefruit.com
Rhett Smith – RhettSmith.com
Scott McClellan – COLLIDE Magazine
Katie Strandlund – CautiousCreative.com
Jason Widney – Park Community Church
Matt Knisely – Lawton First Assembly
Nathan Davis – Destiny Christian Center
Phil Bowdle- West Ridge Church
Jesse Phillips – CATALYST
Kent Shaffer- ChurchRelevance.com, YouVersion.com
Katie Moon – Fellowship Church
Kevin Hendricks – Center for Church Communication
Corbyn Tyson – monvee, Heartland Community Church
Curtis Simmons – Fellowship Technologies
Eric Murrell – Long Hollow Baptist Church, MediaSalt.com
Cleve Persinger – The Chapel, MediaSalt.com
Matthew Paul Turner – JesusNeedsNewPR.com

I’m just getting started!

John Saddington – North Point Ministries
Jay Argaèt – Hillsong Church
Maurilio Amorim – The A Group
Danielle Hartland - Grace Church
Jim Gray – Mission Igniter
Lori Bailey – LifeChurch.tv
Vin Thomas – VINTOM.com
Justin Wise – BeDeviant.com
Sam DuRegger – theomusings.com
Blair Farley – Mariners Church
Jeremy Scheller – The Sanctuary Covenant Church
Jan Lynn – TheViewfromHer.com
Steve Fogg – Crossway Church
Clint! Runge – Archrival
Jennifer Schuchmann – WordstoThinkAbout.com
Kerry Bural – The Resonate Group
Jeremy Sexton – National Community Church
Michael Forsberg – Jarbyco
Bobby Chandler - Sugar Creek Baptist Church
Vince Marotte – Gateway Church
Denny Weinman – Sugar Creek Baptist Church
Josh Burns – Park Community Church
Dawn Bryant – bloom
KC Walsh – Willow Creek Community Church
Rich Kirkpatrick – Sunridge Community Church
Cameron Smith – Christ’s Church of the Valley
Gerry True – Oak Hills Church
Josh Cody - Center for Church Communication

Added July 21:
Dave Blanchard – IDEO
Joshua Blankenship – NewSpring Church
Bianca Juarez – InTheNameofLove.org
DJ Chuang – Worship Leader Magazine
Drew Goodmanson – MonDev/Ekklesia360
Paul Steinbrueck – OurChurch.com

…and more to be confirmed!*

OUTSPOKEN will be a collection of short essays by each contributor focusing on various areas that encompass church communications. It will offer practical ideas and insights from some of the people who are shaping and changing the way churches communicate. Some faces are familiar, some are new, but they all represent a unique mix of churches and backgrounds that will inspire and challenge you to change the way you do communications.

OUTSPOKEN will be self-published and available for purchase online as a downloadable PDF. Print copies will be available for purchase through Amazon. We’ll also be working to make it available in Kindle and iBook format.

Release date is to be determined, but we’re aiming for early winter.

Follow the OUTSPOKEN journey on twitter @OUTSPOKENbook or “Like” it on Facebook to stay up-to-date! Watch for more updates, the website launch and more!

*  These individuals are currently slated… the official lineup could change!