June 7, 2011

New Post: Keep the Why

I was going to stop posting on conservative evangelicalism, but maybe just one more time before I move on to other topics.  I really think Christians need “keep the why” in our statements about lifestyle & culture.  I say this because I’m troubled by a few things: 1) the society we live in is Biblically illiterate. The Bible, along with Shakespeare, Aesop and Hans Christian Anderson lays in a dusty corner of  our collective mind, untouched in years.  Most folks at the mall or coffeeshop you drive by would struggle to explain the difference between Paul, Jesus and Moses.  This is not my way of condemning society but simply a fact about the world in which we live. 2) Many humans, by their nature, want a “moral life”- honestly, I think this is a temptation from Satan that he uses to undermine the work of the gospel, but I digress.  Ideas like “people are basically good,”  ”live well,”  ”be a good person,” are very popular, and are what they expect a Christian to say or support. 3)Most Christians don’t hold a “biblical worldview”- they are Therapeutic Moralists.(this was from a study of american teens in youth groups)  They too expect us to say “you’re okay, just live a good life and God will bless you.”

I don’t think God sent Jesus to make us Moral. I think he sent Jesus so that we might be Holy.

This has profound ramifications in how we live and work.  I think of the Quakers, who in a previous century housed, feed, taught and welcomed escaped slaves into their communities, when slaves were seen as sinful half-men (mark of Cain, sexual predators, devil worshipers,etc).  A “good christian family” of the time would not have extended Christian hospitality in such a way.  [you'll notice that "good christian family" isn't in the Bible]- maybe make a contribution to the folks that minister on the front lines, but take a black man into their home? What would the neighbors think?

Our society’s standards for “moral behavior” often fall short of the kinds of selfless devotion, personal sacrifice and humility that are described in the Bible and identifiable in the lives of early Christians.  But we won’t recognize this if we don’t know the Bible.

Secondly, in public discussions of moral issues, I think we need to recognize that both our opposition and our audience are ignorant of the Bible’s teachings. People get that Christians “don’t believe” in abortion, pornography, sex outside of marriage, etc… but the burden of explanation is on Us to explain our views.   If we stop at the “what”- we lose the opportunity to share God’s truth with those around us.  It’s very likely your one-sentence bible lesson will be all the Bible they get that week.

Here are some profound truths that I think we should put back into these conversations (and our conversations with coworkers and friends)

God is Our Creator:

“Christians are uncomfortable with abortion because God made every human on purpose, and I think that includes unborn babies.”

“I’m not in favor of euthanasia because I believe every human life is a gift from God”

Humans are sinful:

I don’t believe humans are basically good, I think we have the potential for that, but it’s in our nature to be selfish and do evil things.

And this final point is probably the most challenging:

If you are a Christian Leader, your audience/room/congregation is expecting you to support their Therapeutic Moralism.  They will regularly mishear what you say.  I think you have a responsibility to surprise and challenge them.   Even sometimes directly attack the false philosophies that are a part of their sub-Christian worldview. (there used to be this guy who preached in a “they say, but I say” pattern… I can’t remember his name…. ;)

I’m hopeful that regular one-sentence bible lessons will enrich our churches and our communities.

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May 31, 2011

500 Words: Art after Auschwitz

I just finished Rookmaaker’s Modern Art and the Death of a Culture  In it he makes a passing reference to a quote “there is no poetry after Auschwitz.”  I’ll look up the quote later today, but it gave me an epiphany.

Classical arts people (Especially Classical Music) are wringing their hands of late, because their art form has lost resonance with the American people.

Please know that the rest of this post is complete speculation. Here goes: Much of the support of for Classical music in America comes from a worldview that sees the sophisticated beauty of classical music as transformative, this view motivates philanthropists to bring the music “to the lower classes that they might be reformed” – in St. Louis, there is an organization called the MUNY.  It was formed generations ago as the Municipal Opera Company of St. Louis to bring High Art to the Lower Classes. Since its inception there have always been free seats (initially the entire venue, now just the last 10 rows).  My sense is that these groups were formed with an air towards building a socialistic utopia- where educated, cultured, working class folks, went the factory, then picnicked in the park before taking the family to the opera.   It’s a wonderful vision for urban life.   The remnant of this viewpoint can still be seen in certain phrases when arts people talk about doing performances for urban schoolchildren.

What Happened?   World War II (i.e. Auschwitz)

The dream of that urban utopia full of masses reformed by art and education died in a gas chamber in Europe.   Hitler, after all, was also keen on building a certain kind of urban utopia.    Classical music in America has always been seen as a little High Brow, and many of the metanarratives that drove the support, development, and audience interest in Classical Music died in World War II.

If free opera doesn’t create an urban utopia, Why have it?

More importantly- if these pieces of music are written to celebrate the wonderfulness of human nature, and social triumphs and harmony, what good are they after seeing the horrors of the Holocaust?

More on this later.

 

 

 

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May 25, 2011

500 Words: What Conservatives Get Right, part Dos.

I will begin with this: I am a card-carrying “progressive” Christian, willing to entertain thoughts of blasphemy, open theism and socialism in conversation.

I also need to apologize for posting on a wednesday.  I try to post these on tuesday mornings. Whoops.

What conservatives get right, part Dos.

1) They say what they mean (sometimes). Get baptized.  Don’t have sex outside of marriage. Don’t get divorced.  Tithe.   Some progressive and liberal Christians waffle on these things because they don’t want to disassociate someone (which, honestly, some conservative churches do), after all, the bible says no sin is unforgivable, so lets extend forgiveness first!  But something is missing if your public services don’t touch on these ideals.  And the best conservative churches build relationships first, and then teach on these ideas, which softens the tone from “DO THIS” to “Let’s look at what the bible says about  x”

2) Doctrine.   Yes, it’s true that some churches care WAY too much about Doctrine, but I’d challenge you to think about the churches that care too little.   Have a real opinion about the gray areas of the bible- Calvinism/Armenianism, How the end of the world is gonna happen, how do to baptism, how to do communion, etc.  Don’t be a jerk about it, but if you are a practicing christian, or an orthodox christian church, you have the right to your opinion on these matters.   These intensely devout christians care deeply on these things, to the point that they discuss them at length with any para-church or missions organization they partner with. It Matters.

3) Fruits of the Spirit.   Strangely, I had never heard this point until I worked for that conservative evangelical church, but it makes total sense.   They use the Fruits of the Spirit as a bit of a spiritual litmus test:  Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, and Self-Control.   How much of those does your life demonstrate? Are they increasing?  Over time, as you mature in your faith, they should become more evident.  They don’t use this as a ‘entry exam’ or assign grades, or create a depth chart, but they do pay attention to these things.

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May 17, 2011

500 Words: What the conservatives get right

I’ve spent the last 19 months serving a church that is much more conservative than I am. To be fair, in many cases we agree in principle, but not in practice. When I arrived, I found many of the particular patterns/traditions/ideologies surprizing- but after spending two years with these intensely devout families, I have to honestly say they’ve changed my mind in a few areas. And when I spend time with my progressive/bohemian evangelical friends, I notice the absence of these practices/values/concerns.

1) the centrality of scripture.  Our society AND our churches are Biblically Illiterate. While I’m a card-carrying progressive when it comes to finding God’s Truth in secular culture, I think the conservatives are right in their emphasis on this one. The Bible, Early and Often.   Quoting scripture to each other in social contexts- “you know, paul says in Ephesians that… ”  Using real references in bible studies-not just our recollections.   There is a shameful tendency in progressive christianity  to lean on a “we all know what we mean” kind of answer for interpretation. Over time, I get the sense that that will lead to a Christian-ish social circle; not a church.  In my mind, that’s a temptation from Satan- and continual returning to scripture is a necessary part of confronting it.

2) Discipleship

My former boss says it likes this: “when it comes to conservative versus progressive Christianity, History is on the side of the Conservatives.  And the reason history is on their side is because they disciple their children.”   They get that the goal of a church is to make people like Jesus.  Are you living more like Jesus now than you were when you joined your church?  They want their kids and their friends to live like Jesus, and they are willing to make real sacrifices to enable that to happen. Again, there is a continual use of scripture in the process.

3) Gospel over Goodwill.

Because they’re conservative evangelicals, they place a primacy on the “Jesus died for you so that you can live for him” kind of evangelism.  They have no interest in building wells in Sudan unless the wells somehow tell people about Jesus.  Now, I wouldn’t take it to that extreme, (and maybe they wouldn’t either) but by making the clear choice, they leave the teeth in Gospel.  If we aren’t careful, we will find ourselves serving the poor because we feel sorry for them– “gosh, it sucks you don’t have what I do…” instead of Loving them with the Love of Christ because it’s  a part of who we are- and in that love serving them by alleviating their physical suffering.  God’s healing and Restoration is not just food, water and shelter.. it’s restoring their Birthright as Children of God.

4) Community

Yes, God built use to do life in community. Yes, the 21st century West lives individualistic, self-indulgent lives.  But the de-marker between a pagan and a christian is not JUST that we have a community that shares life and resources. It’s that OUR community collectively becomes the Body of Christ- increasing in holiness, faithfulness, fruitfulness, and acting as God’s agents here on earth. Again, the point of church is to Live Like Jesus, not just to “do life together.”

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May 11, 2011

500 words: releasing

So today I heard a story on NPR about the chicago style of dance called Footwork.

Here’s a crazy video:

Inside that story is a very brief reference to the informal system by which dancers become DJ’s.  That got me thinking about the buzzword movement. I’ve heard the word used to describe all kinds of things: models of business, philosophies, books, new styles of music and non-profits.  Phrases like ” it’s not a book, it’s a movement” blah blah blah.   As a card-carrying non-conformist most uses of the term don’t pass my internal B.S. test.

That being said, there are such things as movements. There are such things as organizations. (And books, films and other assorted nouns).  I believe–really– that some organizations become movements.  There are some great examples (like Alcoholics Anonymous, or Breath Dah for you DCI buffs) where local organizations moved national.

The key element in this is release.  People need to contribute as members, then develop as leaders and then LEAVE , taking the movement with them.  This is how Christianity spread throughout Asia 2000 years ago– this is how most great systems and ideas spread.

As a leader, don’t thwart this process. Help enable it.

You have to release your people to lead.

Back to our dancers in Chicago.  How are they managing to have parties in Chicago, battles in LA, tours in Europe, and concerts in Brooklyn at the same time?   The people are capable, and no one is stopping them.  Opportunities come, people move on, and others step up to take their place.  That’s what a movement looks like.

Why isn’t that happening to your “movement”?  A few ideas:

  •  is your org.  valuable to anyone outside your immediate group ?
  • are your leaders equipped to lead elsewhere?
  • are your leaders taking your system/org/values with them when they leave?

                     

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May 10, 2011

Today’s post:

Today’s 500 words post will happen tonight.

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May 3, 2011

500 words: Speculation part 2

Full disclosure: this may not be 500 words. We’ll see.

One of the things I left out of that other post that I’d like to go back and pick up is Insights come from Work.  We’ll call it Kyle’s Third Law of Entrepreneurial Thermodynamics.   This is really a rephrasing of “data”- except in the business world, “data” comes from customer interaction and closed deals.  As a budding freelancer, I don’t have enough client interactions to evaluate that part of my business. It’s just gonna have to be okay. I drive myself crazy wondering what the protocols are for business lunches or project meetings.  All I can do is ask experienced people and take their word for it.

When I look at savvy business people, I listen to them talk about the insights that led to their distinctions.  I can think of Steve Mauldin, a career arranger/orchestrator here in Nashville.  He can tell you how to write music so that session players can sight read it, reducing studio time and his overhead as producer. Why does he know that?  He’s done a boatload of sessions, and watched what worked (or didn’t).

I think about my father-in-law who has walked his way from po’dunk speaker rental to top-flight event production in 15 years.  Why does he know that xyz cable can’t be laid next to abc cable? Or which audio products are bs?He’s been running 20 events a year (now over 50) for 15 years.  He didn’t have those insights before he ran cable at the first gig. Yes he’s smart, and he’s kept his eyes and ears open (and brain on) at all those events. He’s savvy, sees clearly, and makes good decisions, but all of that was in the context of a crap-ton of work.

So, back to my (and your) clients.  The way to get a better process in place (or better pricing, or better marketing, or …) is TO GET MORE CLIENTS.   I really do wonder how pitch meetings are supposed to work; but the best way to have great pitch meeting is NOT to obsess over the etiquette and protocol.. it’s to have 20 pitch meetings (or 40).

I think any emphasis on process needs to be weighed against the Volume of work.  The processes can only really be perfected (innovated, etc) in the context of real, actual work.  In my case and, I think, millions of others, chuck your search for the next breakthrough industry idea and go get more clients.

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April 22, 2011

Excellence to the Point of Profanity: Adele “Someone Like You”

I liked what I had heard of her (on Lightning 100, Nashville’s independent radio station); but DANG. I had no idea she had this much depth.  I wonder what all the Belmont girls will be closing their recitals with?  :D

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April 19, 2011

500 words: Insight vs. Speculation

500 Words:  Insight vs. Speculation

In my mind, insight is an analytical observation of some sort of phenomenon, resulting in a great strategic decision. Pastors have insights about people, coaches have insights about players and plays, and business leaders have insights about markets. Only one step removed from a hunch, great insights have been the catalysts for phenomenal growth or success of  many of our favorite brands and organizations.  Great insights have resulted in millions of dollars, whole careers, and entire industries.  They are incredibly valuable.  (Netflix Streaming?  Gmail?  Youtube? The Roth IRA? RFID tags?)

On the other side of today’s dichotomy is “speculation.”  Speculation is the academic term for guessing.  My dictionary says “form a theory without firm evidence.”  I’m often guilty of it in my own analyses of people and programming.   What’s the difference?

EVIDENCE.  Insights come from analyzing trends.  Speculation comes from analyzing anomalies.  I spend a lot of time in meetings where we move from analyzing to speculating without realizing we’ve done so.  The resulting decisions are ludicrously worthless.

Most of these meetings are in the context of church-work, where we have to read our people.  It’s surprisingly political (meaning the root term polis : the ideal city-state)  Why are people going to this event and not that event?  What could we do alter their motivations?  What should we tell them  about  x and when?  Business strategists  and teachers wrestle with similar questions regularly: why are they missing this question? Is it because I taught it on the day they had pizza? Or is it because they took the test 30mins before recess? Or is it that I taught it using a flannel graph?    Why does this product sell in Albuquerque but not in Nashville?

In our quest to be groundbreaking & innovative, our egos get in the way.  I really want to be known for my supernatural insights; so my organization can lead the trend of a new strategy/product/program.   Because of our own egotistical pressure to succeed quickly we fail to ask real questions about our data.

How do we know that we know that?   Do we really know that?  How can we verify that we know that?   How big is your sample pool?  Is it representative?

In a previous article (now online at moreatstake.com) I extolled the virtue of ‘soft launches’, where new strategies are field-tested secretly.  That’s one real option.  The reason we invented the scientific process was to prove our guesses!

The leaders I know are smart people; but we miss the fact that many of the world’s greatest innovations (The McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish anyone? Or Chunky Salsa?*) come from real observations, and real boots-on-the-ground trial and error.  Not a random brainstorm in the shower.

(* The Filet-o-fish was invented in Cincinnati by a franchisee who noticed that sales tanked on Fridays during Lent; he guessed it was due to the high number of practicing Catholic customers.  Against corporate policy, he developed a new sandwich.  It sold like hotcakes.  It eventually won an internal contest to be added to the National menu)

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April 12, 2011

500 Words: Leading a Team

Be careful not to deny the humanity of your crew/staff/team.  A leader’s insatiable desire for efficiency or excellence will always be at tension with the fact that the folks being led are HUMAN.    This is why the Chinese factories whose employees work 18hr shifts with no bathroom breaks are in the news.  This is also why teams on the shop floors call accountants “bean counters” (to deny the humanity of those who see the business as numbers rather than people)

Human imperfection is a reality. It’s even in the Bible.  The best solution for human imperfection we have is teamwork. And when the team is comprised of professionals, that teamwork requires trust; which always requires a relationship. That relationship is antagonized when leadership (or management) dehumanizes the team through policy, tone of voice, or hierarchy.

In case you think I’m speculating, I’m not.   The more tightly you control your team, the more you deny their humanity.  Humans have opinions, humans have feelings, and humans have prior experience which may benefit you; if you let it.  The shop foreman who has a policy about how to place pens on work benches probably thinks that the uniformity of the workspace is valuable; but if the workspace is a manufacturing plant; the primary value is in what is being manufactured.  If those are skilled laborers, performing tasks that are integral to the success of the product,  the manager needs the workers more than the workers need the manager.  In that case, antagonizing the relationship is bad for business, because the product’s success depends on its quality- quality that needs scores of eyes that care about it being quality in order to ensure the quality standards are met/exceeded.  In essence, unless the foreman is going to personally inspect every weld on every piece in every shipment, he needs the team to take ownership of those pieces, if he needs their ‘buy-in’ he best stay out of the way when it comes to where they place their pens.

THE BIG BUT:

BUT, you say, my product relies on efficiency!  We have to be fast and cheap,  because that’s what our market dictates!  In that case, I think your job as a leader is to find ways to treat your workers more humanely, building a workplace where people want to be.  Look for ways to soften the system in place: things like start times, flex-time, productivity rewards, or efficiency bonuses.

As the leader, find markets that will enable you to treat your team as human beings.  If you can’t afford to treat your employees like humans, you need a new plan!  You stepped over a dead canary when you went to work this morning. Find some sweet spots where your team’s expertise is a competitive advantage.  Anybody trying for Fast & Cheap is going to wind up moving their factory to China or buying robots. (the ultimate dehumanization: treat your employees like machines until you make enough profit to replace them with a machine).

The End.

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