LeadershipConneXtions

Why Things Fail (Some Observations From Seth Godin)

Here is a real succinct explanation from Seth Godin about why so many of a leaders's new initiatives fail.  (All Marketers Are Liars, page 186-189)

ONE:  No one noticed what you did!

There is so much stuff going on in their lives, they suffer from so many options, way too much information overload, that sometimes, they just don't even hear, see or notice what you are offering.

TWO:  People noticed but decided they didn't want it.

We live in the ultimate age of the consumer. I have said this many times before and leaders ignore this at our peril. We may protest to high heaven that what we offer is what they need, but… is it what they want? If they don't want it, even if they notice, they notice with the mindset of "just looking."

THREE:  People tried it but decided not to keep using it.

With the endless supply of options, what you are offering MUST be worth their while for them to keep on using it. Plus, we live in the age of boredom where what we offer soon becomes yesterday's excitement. I wish it were not so, but it is.  So, if you put it out there for people, make it VERY good so they want to keep on using it and doing it.

FOUR:  People liked it but didn't tell their friends.

And this is the final reason why your "thing" doesn't go viral. It goes viral when people like something so much, they become raving fans who then tell others! They are so shaped by it and so believe it, that they naturally and comfortably tell their friends.

Does this ever make sense to me!

So for example, in the world of following Christ, whether it is a new program, a new ministry, a new idea, a new outreach, a new approach to following Christ, a new spiritual discipline, a new church plant, or ____________ (add in whatever you want), this is just the way it is.

And boy do we have to work very, very hard for our ideas and ways and offerings to go viral (i.e. spread like wildfire through the very people we want to impact).

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

The Podge of Hodge and Bits of Tid (December 09)

I missed doing this one last month, but here are the "bits of tid" from December.

ONE:  Music and Concerts. We saw two concerts this Christmas season. We saw the Trans-Siberian Orchestra for the third time and they included a lot of their new material off of Night Castle. They were outstanding as usual.  Then, Matt, a friend of his and I went to hear Switchfoot down at the Ram's Head in Baltimore. A truly great venue with an outstanding band. They started the evening by playing their new album, "Oh Gravity" in its entirety. Then they spent an hour playing their hits and requests.  I enjoy these smaller venues then the concert size event. 

 I listened to a lot of virtuoso guitar CD's for the holidays. Wow... these guys just get better and better. Plus, at the last minute I got a CD from Hearts and Minds - Northern Light Orchestra. These guys rock out. And then, I caught their live show on TV, on one of the religious channels. I was so impressed with them that I checked out their website. It turns out that NLO is a group of hard rockers (and others as well) who are all saved and joined together to rock out on some great Christmas music. I love it.

Check them out on this site.  Plus they have a Facebook page. 

For my birthday and Christmas, I had a lot of gift cards to Best Buy and I bought quite a few iTunes cards. So I have downloaded a lot of new music and have some new playlists that will carry me for the month of January.

TWO:  Movies. Not a whole lot on this end. I watched Wit with Emma Thompson playing a John Donne (mystical poetry) scholar who is diagnosed with terminal cancer. It is a wonderful film, but most people wont' like it. It is basically Emma Thompson doing monologues that are reflections and commentary on her cancer, her life and the way she is treated in the hospital.

Matt and I did watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

My favorite Christmas DVD is Dicken's Christmas Carole with Geroge C. Scott playing Scrooge. A true classic that never gets old.

I haven't seen them yet, but Avatar and the Sherlock Holmes movie are holiday movies to see.

THREE:   God With Us.
I used an Advent devotional for the first time. I have used a number of Lent devotions over the years, but this was the first real time for doing an Advent devotional. I used the outstanding, God With Us book. Beautiful art as well as insightful readings.  I highly recommend it for you next Advent.

I also continued to develop the Spiritual Exercises devotionals and that remains a very moving spiritual experience for me on a regular basis.

FOUR:   Leaders.
December was a "stay at home month" for me, but I had a number of leaders visit York and I had quite a few conversations with leaders globally. Every conversation, every time of resourcing leaders I just realize how blessed I am to be able to do this.

FIVE:  Christmas Rhythm and Rest. 
December was also a pretty "sane" month. Where most Decembers feel too busy and full, this one seemed just right. Maybe it was because I felt very connected with God during this month, maybe it was because the schedule was a touch lighter, maybe it was because some life situations were less hectic... but overall, the Christmas season felt more peaceful and joyful.

SIX:  Eric Liddel and Chariots of Fire.
I spent some time this month working on a leadership lesson based on Eric Liddel and Chariots of Fire. I have no idea when I'll use it, but it was fun. It is a study on approaches to leadership by looking at four approaches to life that are depicted by four key people in the movie.

SEVEN:  Devotions, Reading and the Ignatian Way.
I read a lot this month. I have been getting up very early for some time now, for devotional times in the Spiritual Exercises and then lots of reading about Ignatius, the Jesuits and their distinctive spirituality. I have another blogsite - Evangelicals on the Ignatian Way where I post once a week, and occasionally more often, about Ignatius, the Jesuits and the Spiritual Exercises.

You can check it out here   or    check it out on the LCI blogsite, on this page where I keep a running list of links to articles.

 I don't put up every book I am reading on the Book List on the right hand column, but quite a few of them get up there.  Also, for a reading list devoted to the Iganatian Way, you can see the books that I am reading on that subject on that site.

And I have a ton of good books just waiting to be read in 2010.

Here are a few of my top books in 2009?

Feel.  A study on the place of emotions, "feelings," affections for the Christian.

The 100 Best Business Books of All Time.  This is a great survey. I came away with about 40 leadership books that I have on my "to read list."

Presentation Zen.  On how to do truly creative power point presentations. 

Outliers. Another great one by Gladwell. This on on excellence and success and what makes for them.

Heroic Leadership. A study on Jesuit leadership and spiritual formation. Very, very good.

Plus a bunch of specialized books on Ignatius and the Jesuits and their spirituality.

EIGHT:  Salvation Army
LWCC did a focus in December, for Christmas, It's Not About Us. One of the things LWCC did was to come up with about 1000 opportunities to serve others during December. Becky and I signed up to Ring the Bell for the Salvation Army one Saturday. It was a lot of fun. Just standing there, wishing people a Merry Christmas and seeing their generosity.

By the way, on a slightly different note... I truly value the ministry the Salvation Army does, but the name of their organization is about as "out of style" as can be.  But it is the Brand... and I can't imagine how hard it would be to change it.

And a second by the way... it was interesting to note when we were ringing the Salvation Army bells and collecting money, that the more "well to do" the people were, the less likely they were to stop and make a donation!!!

NINE:  Christmas Parties
And of course there were plenty of parties and get togethers this month. This year, it didn't seem like it was too much (some years it has felt that way) but this year it was just right. Good times, good food, good music, good cheer by all.

Well, that is all for this edition of the Podge of Hodge.

Tomorrow - Quotes and quite a collection of them this time.

Brian Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

The Podge of Hodge and Bits of Tid (October 09)

The month has flown by...

Wow...

Here are a few misc. thoughts and happenings, the podge of hodge and bits of tid for October.

ONE:  The Rolling Stone issue had a great article on U2 Live From Outer Space. I love U2 but have never seen a live show.  Sigh... Someday...

TWO:  And speaking of the music industry, here was a fascinating tid bit of information from a New York Times article.  There are 13 million songs on line and for sale. Of those 13 million songs, 10 million never had a single buyer!  And . . . 80% of all revenues came from 52,000 songs. In other words, less than 1% of music for sale on the internet generated 80% of the income. Kind of makes you wonder where the music industry is going to wind up?

THREE:    What is the most common disease in the United States?  Seth Godin's blog said it is sinusitis and it has 30 million sufferers.  I am one of them. Traveling back and forth between the southern and northern hemispheres two times in 3 weeks aggravated the problem.

FOUR:   I had a meeting with a friend (a pastoral friend) and I came away deeply admiring how much of a life long learner he is. He shared books he is reading, conversations he is having with friends, new things he is exploring, websites to check out ... He is going strong and is going to finish well. I came away with a half dozen trails to explore out of our conversation. 

FIVE:  Jeffrey Gitomer.  I read two books by him in the last month... both in the "leadership, self-help" genre and the kind of books I normally avoid. But there were numerous nuggets in each one. Here is one of them. He said, "What you are off the job determines what you are on the job." Well Said! Gitomer is one of the most highly motivated, intentional, strategic people out there. He is making every minute count.   ummmhhh... good stuff...

SIX:  I had a great trip to Argentina, working with a top shelf group of leaders, many of whom I know quite well, having had them in several courses and seminars over the years. One thing that was quite rewarding was seeing the influence the LCI courses had on them... how they are growing in their capacity to empower a new kind of leader in their context. I was deeply grateful for their lives and for the privilege Christ has entrusted to me for working with them.

SEVEN: I was also really struck by the fact that my friend and colleague, Omar Gava, is finishing EXTREMELY WELL.   And I hope he takes at least another 25 years in this finish. His life and ministry is a testament to a life well lived, a life well shaped by core values and a powerful vision.  He is an inspiration to me.

EIGHT:  Practicing Spanish... Every time I am in Latin America i practice Spanish again. By the end of a week, I am feeling better about my Spanish... and then I leave and I revert... Oh well. I practice Spanish, the students practice  English, we do a Spanglish Thing and have fun.

NINE:  Since my son is a drummer, every now and then I see some amazing YouTube videos of drummers. Here is just one of them. 

Plus, there has been a lot of really good drumming with all the marching band shows we have seen during the last month.
 

TEN:  Movies... the drought continues... too little time...

ELEVEN:  I was down in Charlotte, North Carolina for a day this past month visiting with a friend who is leading a missions organization. What a nice area. Friendly people. Great weather. I am always on time for flights. This time I miscalculated the traffic around the beltway and I was running so late, I had to park in the hourly garage and run to the terminal. I made it with about two minutes to spare and the plane door closed.

TWELVE:  We are having a good time in the Ancient-Future Faith course studying Ephesians. There are just so many powerful themes in Paul's letter. We are gathering around some of the great things that matter the most and seeking out the implications for our lives.  I hope you have a section of the Scriptures that you are diving into, both for study and for lectio divina reflections.

THIRTEEN:  I am continuing to read widely and deeply about the Jesuits and Ignatius and the spiritual formation approaches that arise out of this. I have a new blog where I post once a week. For anyone who is interested in learning about this, you can check it out at either:

Evangelicals on the Ignatian Way

or

Evangelicals on the Ignatian Road

It is the same posts, but the one on Typepad and the other on Blogspot. The Typepad site also has a bibliography I am doing.

Brian K.Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

The Podge of Hodge and Bits of Tid (September 09)

Here are the misc. items that didn't make it to a post so instead, they are in this month's Podge of Hodge and Bits of Tid.

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ONE:  I listened to a lot of blues music this past month. I had a pretty decent collection of CDs and some favorite artists. I definitely like some of the rockier blues and this month I listened to a lot of stuff by Coco Montoya, Jimmy Thackery (pictured to the left) and the Drivers, Gary Moore (and guests), B.B. King, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. I listed some of their CDs in the right hand column. I listen to a lot of then on the iPod when I work out.
 

TWO:  This was a dismal month for movies. I was just so busy that I didn't watch a single movie!
 

THREE:  My luggage is almost always one of the last bags to come off the plane. It doesn't seem to matter if I get there early or late... I think some kind of Murphy's law is at work when it comes to my luggage. For quite some time, I was traveling only with a carry on, but the last several trips I have had to check luggage. I'm not use to waiting for it. (By the way, this yellow suitcase is not mine, just a picture off the internet.)
 

FOUR:  I read Books by Larry McMurtry. McMurtry is a famous author and screen play writer. I didn't realize that he considers himself a book seller at heart and he has a fabulous book store with about 400,000 used books... plus a personal library of about 30,000 books. Since I love books, it was fun to read the memoirs of someone who is a passionate book reader, collector, buyer, seller and writer. In these memoirs, he chronicles the decline of the book store in America and wonders about the future of books.
 

FIVE:  I continue to work at exercising, watching what I eat and fighting the hard fight of staying in shape. In some ways it is becoming easier, but in other ways it isn't. My body just tends to hurt at different places when I work out. And with a busy, hectic lifestyle, eating healthy is not so easy. As in all good things, discipline, intentionality, and going the distance is needed. 
 

SIX:  I also continue to work through the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius. I am studying the history and spirituality of the Jesuits while I work through the exercises. Plus I am taking lots of notes for how I adapt them for my own use and how they may be of use for others as well. So it is a slow process, but there is no need for it to move quickly. I have spent about two weeks going through exercises that focus on the Lordship of Christ and my response to that. This is the prequel to Week Two in the exercises which is a focus on the life of Christ for the purpose of one submitting to the call of Christ.

I have begun a separate blogsite where I post once a week, some thoughts on the Spiritual Exercises. I have been doing this for about six weeks. For those who are interested, check it out. I post on Saturdays or Sundays.   Evangelicals on the Ignatian Way.  I have identical posts on a Blogspot (Google). That is:  Evangelicals on the Ignatian Road. Two different blogsites, but identical posts.
 

SEVEN: Soldiers.  I was in the Atlanta airport this month going and returning from Chile. There were a lot of soldiers in transit through Atlanta. Young men who are serving our country. I was reminded that there are some costly conflicts throughout the world and we have people who are serving our country in some dangerous places. Pray for the end to conflict and for God's grace to be with those who are serving in those places.
 

EIGHT:  And speaking of airports. I often have layovers of some length. I am in my "introvert" mode when I travel. I am in full extravert mode once I arrive at my destination, but going and coming, I spend my time reading, reflecting, writing... and not engaging with too many people. But it is impossible not to notice the masses of people at airports. Businessmen in their expensive suits and apparent "dropouts" who are dressed in tattered (but I am sure quite stylish) clothing. Tourists headed off to their "exotic" or bland destinations. Grandparents going to see family (perhaps). There are always quite a few single mothers with children (my admiration to every one of you for navigating your children and luggage through airports). This time I saw three nuns sedately walking to their terminal. The list goes on... Just the sheer number of people going about the pursuits of life. Strangers passing one another, on their way to somewhere and something...  Journeys... We are all on a journey...
 

NINE:  If I were going to be a book collector, I think I would collect books in the following areas.   I've got a bit of the "collector's blood" in me. Actually, maybe quite a bit of that blood. I have always collected something. Stamps, comic books, CDs, guitar magazines... Reading McMurtry's book on collecting books got me thinking of what I would collect.

(1)  The Spiritual Classics of the Christian faith.  I guess there would be about 300 - 500 in this category.

(2)  The classic books on leadership and management. While today there is an explosion of literature on these subjects and if you read 100 new books a year, you would only be scratching the surface, I think it would be fun to go back and collect the classics as they were being written in the early year.  As the study of management and leadership was just beginning.... When there were only a few books being written every year...  I have no idea how many books this would be. I have read a little on the history of leadership and I may go back and start to compile a bibliography on this (someday).

(3)  Books on the Jesuits.  I am in the process of putting together my personal bibliography, and reading a lt as well.

(4)  Travel books about the countries I have visited.

(5)  Books about books, reading and great literature.

(6)  And lastly, spiritual memoirs, some of which are also in the first category of spiritual classics.
 
 

TEN:  My trip to Chile was a very good one. This is my third time to Santiago for teaching. I've taught twice for the Institute of Iberoamerican Ministries and once for the graduate program with REG. One of the benefits of returning to places is the developing of relationships that grow deeper with each visit. I will have a separate post in the near future about this trip, so I just wanted to mention it here.

ELEVEN:  I have been using my MacBookPro for about eight months now. I am becoming more and more familiar with it and slowly learning how to use it. It is growing on me. But it has taken some time. I am going to be getting an iPhone, probably in the next two weeks.  So I guess I have plunged into the Mac world... I am not sure if I will be a Mac evangelist... but I certainly like it.  (By the way, one of the WORST customer experiences I have ever had was at a Mac store... I wanted to stop the guy in the middle of it and say, do you know how bad of an experience you are creating for me? I didn't.)
 

TWELVE:  I lead a weekly mid-size community at LWCC, Ancient-Future Faith. This year we are working through Ephesians. It is a wonderful book. For most of my Christian journey, Ephesians was my favorite New Testament letter by Paul. I think it is slightly surpassed by 2 Corinthians now, but if so, it is strongly in the #2 place.  It is great beginning to walk through this brilliant and moving theology and spirituality with a group of dedicated followers of Jesus who want to go deep in theology, spirituality, community and hopefully, missional living as well. This journey has just begun and we'll see where it takes us.

That's all for this month.
Manana - Quotes for the month. 
The day after that - an angry commentator about how crazy conservative Christians are.
 

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

The Podge of Hodge and Bits of Tid (August 09)

Here is my monthly offering of items that didn't make it to a full post. It is my Podge of Hodge and Bits of Tid, miscellaneous musings and notes.

ONE:  Money Magazine, September 2009 had an article, 103 Ways to Trim the Fat, Not the Fun From Your Budget. Becky gets this magazine (she is much more astute on financial matters than I am). She read some of the ways out loud. They were interesting. And what was good to hear is that we are already doing most of them . . . which is probably one of the reasons why we live without debt.  (By the way, the cover pictured is not the issue I am referring to.)
 

TWO:  Les Paul died. Wow. An icon is gone from the world of music. An innovator and inventor who changed the world of guitars permanently and profoundly has passed on. I own several guitars, I listen to guitar music all the time, and the Les Paul guitar in all its varieties and incarnations is a truly great instrument in the guitar world. if you want to learn more about the guitar itself in its many versions, this gives a nice summary.  And to read a nice and brief biography of Les Paul, here it is.
 

THREE: I have been reading and re-reading Ephesians in preparation for our Ancient Future Faith mid-size community this fall. For many years, Ephesians was my favorite letter of the  Apostle Paul. It has been surpassed, for me, by 2 Corinthians. But it holds firmly to second place. It will be fun to walk with a community of Christ followers through this wonderful letter.
 

FOUR:  Living Word Community Church continues to do simply profound and transformative work in the Village of Sendafa, Ethiopia. We have two teams a year that go to that village. We are doing holistic ministry that includes working with HIV/Aids patients, general medical care at a health clinic, working to provide clean water for the area, helping in the school systems (a tragic disaster), building churches, starting micro-enterprise and more. We are extremely blessed with Dr. Frew who is the Ethiopian physician and leader who had a vision and needed partners. I am truly blessed when I hear the stories of transformation and grateful to be a part of a church that has such a vision and a heart to touch one corner of the world.
 

FIVE:  And speaking of Ethiopia, my friend, Dr. Melese Wogu is on a six week trip. He will visit Ethiopian communities in several different countries, but will be in Ethiopia for several weeks. His focus in Ethiopia is to do leadership training. Melese will teach hundreds of pastors, he will mentor a smaller number. And they have him scheduled to preach for a week to crowds that will easily number between 20,000 - 30,000 on a daily basis. Melese will preach several sermons and provide multiple teachings every day. Pray for him on this trip.  Here is the website for EOM. Melese has a truly strategic ministry for one of the world's poorest and neediest peoples. (The collage is from a recent banquet EOM did.)
 

SIX:  Pastor Steve Almquist, senior pastor of Living Word Community Church has many gifts and talents. One that blessed me (and the rest of our elders) recently was his interest (one could almost say - passion) in good food. In this case, smoked ribs. Steve prepared a feast for us. And in about two weeks, he is making pulled pork for the entire staff at LWCC. (The picture is not Steve's smoked ribs, unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me...just my appetite.
 

SEVEN:  I spend an afternoon with a friend, Scott, who works in Mexico with CAM International.  A major part of Scott's work is developing Internet delivery systems and resources for developing leaders in the Spanish speaking world. Check out this website - ObreroFiel - it is in Spanish of course.  He is a visionary on resourcing Latin American leadership and it has been great getting to know Scott. I am fortunate since his home church is in nearby Carlisle and it was just a 40 minute drive to get together. Plus, I had the bonus of finally meeting his family. I first met Scott in Puebla, Mexico where he was doing the graduate program in leadership. By the way, the missions organization he is with, CAM, has gone through a remarkable transformation. As Scott has described this process, I deeply respect how CAM has responded to the massive change taking place in the world around us. They are truly a case study for how to do this well. Inspiring stuff. Mega-kudos to their leadership team.
 

EIGHT: I was invited by the local chapter of CBMC Network (Connecting Business Men in Christ) to speak on leadership at their August luncheon. My friend Chuck Blouse, who I have known for almost 30 years (gasp - how old are we getting) is part of the leadership team for the York group. He is kind enough to invite me to talk with the men about leadership. It is always a privilege to do this. I was impressed by how hard and strategically they are working to do leadership development for the men. Blessings to CBMC in their work with Christian business leaders. Here is the local chapter website.
 

NINE:  Music . . . so much music and so little time. Lots of new albums this past month, but two groups I just have to mention. First is Blackmore's Night which is Richie Blackmore's celtic, rock band which almost can't be described. You just have to hear them. I had two of their CD's and just bought three more. Check them out on iTunes and. 

Then there is a new artist for me, Neil Zaza. A virtuoso electric guitar player who is extremely melodic in his style. His website is under construction, but you can check him out here. Or better, just watch the video below. I have been struck that Neil does quite a few "religious" songs, some classics, and he has 2 or 3 albums of Christmas music. Again, check him out on iTunes.

TEN:  Websites.  Here are a few I highly recommend.

Presentation Zen.  Maybe I mentioned this one before, but if you are a communicator and use visual media, we just have to do it well. I subscribe to the weekly column. It is always good, sometimes whimsical as was the one on the wrong use of "quotation marks" and apostrophe's. Plus, on the right hand column is a list of great resources. 

Sacred Space is a website from Ireland where you can do lectio divina reflections and prayer by moving through a new daily devotional. It is quite good and available in a number of languages.

Kruse Kronicle is a very thoughtful blogsite that looks at global issues, economics, social problems and much more, from a biblical worldview. I just found this one and have enjoyed reading it. You'll have to do a little work. 

 
ELEVEN:  Business  Elite.  Okay, I have flown a lot over the last 25 years. I mean a lot. Long ago I stopped keeping track of my international trips. In all those years and on those flights, I have always flown Economy Class. I get on the plane and turn to the right and scrunch in for the flight. I had a super pleasant surprise on my trip back from Amsterdam on Delta. I was upgraded to Business Elite. Whoa. I mean this was the luxury section. I actually felt guilty just being there. The guilt lasted for about 30 minutes then I just enjoyed the luxury and pampering for the rest of the flight.   The only problem is, that from now on, every time when I turn right when I come on the airplane, I'll glance up to the left knowing how the other 1% are flying.  Sigh . . .
 

TWELVE: It was a refreshing month of August and in fact, the entire summer was a pretty refreshing time. I think I have as much energy as I have had in a long time. The fall is going to be great, I am really looking forward to it.
 

Blessings to all of you, Grace and Shalom, Beauty and Truth be yours.

Brian Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com   

The Podge of Hodge and Bits of Tid (July 09)

Here is the assortment of happenings and thoughts from July that didn't make it to a post.

ONE:  Rehobeth Beach vacation. It was great. We went with Becky's sister's family as we typically do. Beautiful (almost perfect) weather. Maybe the best weather we've ever had.  Fireworks on the beach for 4th of July. I walked miles every day. Read a lot. Did some runs. Good food. Grotto's Pizza bianco style!  By the way, where we were on the beach, it was quite "uncrowded."  Very nice.

TWO:  Coldstone Ice Cream. This was the first time I ever tried Coldstone. It was quite good. So good, I had to go back again. What they do in concocting a peanut butter ice-cream experience should just be illegal. However, my friend Todd McDaniel still makes the best ice cream in York County. 

THREE:  And one more food item. Darden Restaurants is the world's fastest growing casual dining experience. 

If the name Darden isn't familiar, well then, these probably are:  Olive Garden, Red Lobster and Long Horn Steakhouse. All are in the Darden family.  

What do you guys think of any of those places? Apparently millions of customers really like them.

FOUR: I read a great article on the future of the book industry in Fast Company July/August 2009. The focus was on Amazon.com and what they are doing with Kindle... but they also looked at Google's plan and wondered what Apple is up to.  Here is what I came away with. The book industry is going to radically change. As much as I hate to admit it, books printed on paper are going away.  

How about any of you readers?  Are any of you using Kindle or any kind of eBooks?

FIVE:  Words and more words.  I've said on this site before, the English language has over 1,000,000 words. An educated person knows abut 20,000 words and uses about 2,000 different words in a given week.

SIX:  And speaking of words and reading. Less than 50% of Americans read at least one novel (or) short story (or) poem (or) play in a given year!

Check out this website on illiteracy (can't read) and aliteracy (won't read).  How aliterate are you?

SEVEN:  Here are some websites to check out:

TED Ideas Worth Spreading is one I've talked about before. But it has a great collection of short talks on all kinds of subjects. I've watched a bunch of them this past month.  Really good stuff.  You can download them for watching later if you like.

ePinions.com is reviews on everything you ever wanted. It is a huge site but pretty well organized.  If it is, it has been reviewed.  Hey, that could be a new philosophical trend. I exist, therefore I am reviewed.

Audible.com is a site for those whose learning style (or whose circumstances require) audible learning. They have lots of resources of all kinds on audio. There is a monthly membership fee for this. But if you are in the car a lot . . . if you use your iPod a lot . . . audible learning may have some good resources for you.

The Motley Fool  is a website devoted to stock investing and the giving of advice for doing well in it. I just love the name. I assume it is a play on the old rock band, Motley Crue.

The Presentation Zen website is a top shelf source for those who want to spend time working on their skills in presentation and in the realm of power point or keynote.  The book is very good also.

EIGHT: July was a crazy good month for music. Check out the Music in the iPod column for new stuff I was listening to.  Right now, I am listening to Paco De Lucia, Live in America.  He is a very good flamenco guitarist. 

I also did a  FACEBOOK note asking for favorite songs that had the word "summer" in the title. What a fun discussion that was. Then my friend Josiah burned me a CD with 20 of those songs. Sweet sounds of summer.

NINE:  Michael Jackson!  Wow!  Talk about being inundated with his untimely death.  I think this is the perfect example of our celebrity obsession. It just want on ad nauseam.  And I was struck by how much people ignored the elephant in the living room. I guess you don't want to talk bad about the deceased. But the weirdness dimension of Jackson was danced around adroitly.  (Adroit -- that is not one of my normal 2,000 words in a given week.)

Yes, we did go out and buy two of Jackson's CDs. He was an incredible performer and writer.

And what did you think of the news coverage?  Too much?  Not enough?  Just right?

TEN:  Shopping.  This one surprised me. Women account for 80% of all purchases made!  I didn't realize it was that high. It was also fun reading about the psychology of sales and marketing as it is applied to men and women in The X and Y of Buy.

ELEVEN:  TV ads. Here is another one that surprised me a bit.   In The X and Y of Buy, there was a statistic that said the average American is exposed to 294 TV ads per day. That seems high. But, of all those ads, only 10-20 produce any kind of brand awareness for any particular watcher. 

It makes me realize that when stuff is constant . . . we really have to work to stand out.

TWELVE:  The spoken word.  I'm sure you already know this, but I ran across it again and thought I'd repeat it. The average guy is good for about 7,000 words a day. The average woman goes almost three times that and settles in at 20,000 words per day. I suspect that I go somewhat above the 7,000 words a day.

THIRTEEN:  Sad thoughts.  When women think sad thoughts, she has eight times the brain activity as when a man thinks a sad thought. I think I must be about half way between the average guy and the average woman.   And crying - - - one of the socially unacceptable responses. For men it is anathema! And for women (in the work world) it is virtually off limits too.

What do you think about crying? Should it have the stigma it does? If you are going to cry, what will make you cry? And what about men crying? 

I watched the DVD movie, Tuesdays With Morrie . .  . and boy were the tears flowing, not only for me, but for a bunch of guys.

FOURTEEN:  Power Point Presentations.  I recently read two books on Power Point (from hence on PP, by the way, maybe "hence" is another one of those 20,000 words). Presentation Zen and Slide:ology. In many ways they affirmed that I have been intuitively on the right track in using this tool. But they also showed me how much more can be done. After reading those books, I am glad I am not in the world of business where bad PP abounds.  And then, I happened to be in a training situation where the organization is an outstanding one, but their PP presentations were examples of "how not to do PP."

Have you ever had the experience of "Death by Power Point?"

FIFTEEN:  And finally, a few words about athletes.

The July 27th issue of Sports Illustrated had a great article about Tim Tebow (Gator quarterback and highly committed Christian). It was quite inspirational about this young leader's faith and character. 

And the story of Ben Roethlisberger and the civil suit brought against him for rape was all over the news. Ben denies "sexual assault against the woman" and will go to court to fight that charge. I assume he is innocent until proven guilty. But, what was very interesting is that nowhere did Ben deny knowing the woman or having sex with her. He just denied that it was non-consensual sex.

And one more quarterback to mention - Michael Vick. 

I was listening to the Colin Cowherd radio show on ESPN.  Colin reported that on the night he was out of prison, Vick spent the evening at a strip club.

Colin said it this way. It is not that Vick can't do that. It is not illegal to do that. He can do it. But should he do  it? Is it wise and prudent to do it Does it help his severely tarnished image by doing this? The answer is obvious.

Quarterbacks are some of the elite athletes in all of sports. They are almost uniquely positioned in roles of leadership. And as Google has said:  "Privacy is dead. Get over it."

And that's all for the Podge of Hodge and Bits of Tid for this month.

Tomorrow . . . the monthly quotes.

Brian Loquacious Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

The Podge of Hodge and Bits of Tid (June 09)

Here are my misc. ramblings for the month of June... stuff that took place and thoughts I had, but not substantial enough to make their way into a post.

ONE:  We went to our first York Revolution baseball game. The Northeastern marching band performed outside the stadium. We went into the game after that. I loved the park. What a great size. It brings you close to everything. Easy to navigate and enjoy a game. We'll go back.

TWO:  This has been a rich month for movies. Since I just did some blogging on movies, I won't repeat myself here. But this summer, I am watching a lot of movies... some old ones and some new ones. Some are first-time views and others are reWatches.

THREE:  Music.  I have been doing a lot of writing and so I've been listening to a lot of music on my iTunes. I've also been running a lot and I listen to my iPod then.  I've listened to over 100 albums this month.  

A few favorites were Blues Travellers (8 CDs), a good ole rock/souther rock band. Ashley Cleveland (3 CDs) was a real treat this month. What a voice and what a band.  One of the best Christian female vocalists I have ever enjoyed. 

Check out Ashley Cleveland at this link.

I also listened to a whole bunch of Al Dimeola (15+ CDs).  I love Blackmore's Night (think Renaissance meets hard rock and you are in the ballpark).

FOUR:  The garden has been beautiful. Perhaps it is all the rain we have had, but everything is so green and lush. The Asiatic Lilies were stunning this year. I have two masses of them planted. The one is a rainbow splash of color and the other is a grouping of deep burgundy flowers!!!  (my, my, my, ummmhh)  The Dogwoods bloomed so nicely this year (the first good year for us). And we have far fewer annuals in this year, and focused mainly on Gerber Daisies.

FIVE:  The York Hot Rod Show...  love the classic cars... due to the economy, there weren't as many of them around. We didn't go to the Fairgrounds, we were just out and saw them driving, "hot-rodding" around.  Very cool...

SIX:  And the superstar athletes!  Roger Federer!  I used to play tennis in high school and college. I watch it from time to time and Federer is perhaps the greatest ever.  Tiger Woods - what planet is he from? Incredible... And he will be the best ever when he gets #19, which is, as they say in the Matrix, an inevitability.  Finally Kobe Bryant... even though I don't like the Lakers, Kobe is ranking right up there with some of the all time greats.  On the downside, Lebron James showed he has some maturing to do in this thing called character and sportsmanship when he walked off the court after being routed by the Magic.

SEVEN:  I have been on Sabbatical and vacation (with more to come in July). I've been doing a lot of reading, writing, exercising, just hanging out....  Ahhhhh.....  I even took some afternoon naps here and there.

EIGHT:  Here is a stunner (or maybe its a no-brainer)! Between 1970-1990, CEO pay increased by 400%. The pay for the average worker stayed about even with inflation. This is OBSCENE! Peter Drucker calls this, "morally and socially unforgivable" and "the final failure of corporate capitalism."

NINE:  Congratulations to my nephew, Zach who graduated from high school with a 4.0 (and was still about 20th in his class!!!  Jack Britt in Fayetteville, North Carolina is a great school. And Zach then got his Eagles Badge in a ceremony two days later. He is off to Berkely in Boston to study music in the fall.   Way to go Zach-man.

By the way, the picture is not Zach, but it is the Jack Britt mascot picture.... arrrgghhh.

TEN:  I read that there are 175,000 books published a year in America!  The source was Jeffrey Kramer, prolific author in the business world.  Is that even possible? 

ELEVEN:  Matt turned 15 this month. We celebrated Father's Day and Matt's birthday on the same Sunday. Next year he can get his driver's permit!  Whoa...

TWELVE:  The Father's Day, John Rudy Hot Air Balloon Festival was a bit of a bust due to poor weather conditions. They only lifted one time over the weekend. We didn't even see the Purple People Eater Balloon, one of our favorites. The fireworks were right across from our house. They were nice.

And in the words of the old Looney Tunes . . .

Brian (Looney) Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

The Podge of Hodge and Bits of Tid (May 09)

Here are some misc. ramblings of events, experiences, and ideas from the month of May that never made it on a post.

ONE:  The word entrepreneur did not exist until about 1950!  Covert and Sattersten say, "entrepreneurship is hip, treacherous and vital."  Three intriguing words.  When I think of some of the entrepreneurs I know, I think they are accurate.

TWO:  In 2007, there were about 11,000 business books published. That includes books on leadership and management! Good luck if you are planning on trying to get published in that field in 2009.

THREE:  We have been using the language of "growth engines" quite a bit in recent months at Living Word. A growth engine is simply the strategy or means or way that your organization is going to grow. It can be a product, an experience, or anything your customer/consumer wants. It is very difficult to find good, sustainable growth engines.

In the business world, only 25% of new initiatives actually create value and add to the growth of the organization. The average success for new products is a little less than one third. And only 10% of start companies succeed!  Wow.

I would guess that in the world of church and mission, our successful, new initiatives would not be any higher in their percentage. In a cultural era where Christianity is on the decline in the United States, we better start becoming a lot more creative with growth engines.

FOUR:  As I work on this Podge of Hodge, I am listening to Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Their album Places is playing right now. Tales From the Acoustic Planet comes up next on my iTunes library. 

If you have never listened to Bela... get on Pandora Radio and create a Bela Fleck station.

FIVE:  Here is a great "trinity" of qualities that are needed for any new program, any new ministry, any new church that we begin.  Anything new must be:

Fundamentally Innovative

Morally Compelling

Philosophically Positive

I found that list intriguing as a litmus test for anything new I begin. The issue of innovative and creative is a growing theme in the literature I read. One of the interesting lists of books that was in The 100 Best Business Books of All Time was the number of books on creativity. Somewhere I have heard that the MFA (Master's of Fine Arts) is the new MBA!  I am currently reading, The Back of the Napkin which describes how to be creative through visual thinking.

And morally compelling. I think that is more true than ever in light of the financial collapse of 2009 that was in part due to moral shortcomings in almost every sector of American life.

Philosophically positive - I'm not sure I quite know what that exactly means! But I am going to think about it for a while.

SIX:  And speaking of fine arts and creativity, one of my friends, Vince Butera, is a master florist. Once you buy from Vince, from that point on, it is "nothing but Butera" for my wife. Vince creates masterpiece floral arrangements. He is truly an artist and his medium is flowers.  You can check them out at Butera's website.   Vince also has a blogsite where he does some occasional posting.

SEVEN:  If I could attend any one conference this year, I would choose the TED conference.  Here is the TED website link   and if you go there, you can find a link for their annual conference. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It is a think tank of sorts. Their annual conference is by invite only. 50 speakers are invited to talk for 18 minutes (and that is it). Everyone listens to every speaker. There are no breakout sessions, so everyone has the same experience. Listening to 50 of the smartest people give their best talk in 18 minutes.  First, I would die just to be able to hear these superb examples of communication. Second, their content would be amazing.  If you ever want to just get major intellectual stimulation, check out the resources on TED.  I also have this as a link on a sidebar, so you can always find this site later.

Now, since I can't go to the TED conference, another conference that would be a dream conference to attend is the GEL conference.  GEL stands for Good Experience Live and you can click here for their website.    They also have their resources on this site.

EIGHT:  May was "mulching" month. While it is hard work (we spread 12 cubic yards of mulch, a good size dump truck almost full), it is well worth it. Mulch makes the garden look great, but it does much more than that. It helps the soil hold moisture and it cuts down on weeds. That means less work watering throughout the summer and less work weeding.  Read about The Scoop on Mulch.

NINE:  I have been in a better rhythm for working out at Strictly Fitness. My knees have been hurting so I haven't done as much running, so I upped the weight workout. For the most part, I do moderate weight with medium reps (8-12) and low weight with high reps (14-20).  This 52 year old body doesn't handle the weights the way the young bucks do at the gym.  But the 52 year old ego tries anyway.

TEN: The new Star Trek movie rocks. Awesome. Of course I am an old Trekkie and this one is the best movie yet. And for a leadership angle,  read leadership lessons from the Star Trek Bridge at this Fast Company link.

ELEVEN:  Here are few websites to check out.

Change This.   A new kind of media for the spreading of ideas.

The 100 Best Business Books.   If you don't have time to read, you can get summaries through this site.

Gentle Teaching.  This is a way of teaching those who have disabilities.  Very interesting.

digg.com.    If you want to get information, this is a great place to start digging. Read the About section first. 

If you want to read some of the top business cliches, this is the place to go.  

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Okay, that's all the Podge of Hodge and Bits of Tid for the month of May.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

The Podge of Hodge and Bits of Tid (April 09)

Here is a monthly post I am adding as of April. Near the end of each month, I'll have a post that has a variety of miscellaneous reflections about things I've been processing during the month. It is a catch-all post where I'll have hodgepodge and tidbits of ideas as well as rabbit trails to run down if you are so inclined.

In part, I am doing this because there are so many "misc." ideas and thoughts I have throughout a month that I never wind up blogging about.

(1)  SOME BOOKS.  Two books that are theological studies of spirituality that I highly recommend are by the British luminary Alister McGrath. Check out Spirituality in an Age of Change: Rediscovering the Spirit of the Reformers and also Christian Spirituality. These are not easy reads but are designed for those who want to do some theological and historical investigations on this issue.  I repeat, these are not practical, easy books, but rather substantial studies of spirituality.

Another book that I picked up with GREAT expectation was Longing for God: Seven Paths of Christian Devotion. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this book is definitely not it. I have to put it down and come bak to it later and see if it grabs me. I am not saying it is not a good book, just not at all what I was expecting.

The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality is sitting on my book shelf, calling to me. I am still turning a deaf ear to it, but I'll most likely get to it this summer.

The Sacredness of  Questioning Everything by David Dark.  I read this book and really liked it and yet was also really frustrated with it. I think he is profoundly right on many things and substantially wrong on others.  But, he says we must question everything and so that is what I did all through the book - I questioned Dark.  I had a book review that I decided not to post. Instead, sometime in May I am going to post what I think is both the strength and weakness of his book. For, ironically, I think the very strength becomes its great weakness.  

By the way, this is a core leadership principle I picked up from McIntosh and Rima, which was recently reinforced as I read Shane Hipps, Flickering Pixels.  Everything that is good also has a dark side latent within it. Strengths have a dark side. And if you push a useful thing too far, it becomes unhealthy. But more on this in another post.

(2)  I am also working on Ignatian spirituality. I am very interested in all things Jesuit. I have done the 19th Annotated Retreat a number of years back. I read a lot of stuff by Jesuits. I decided to sit down and work through a variety of sources, creating a workbook for doing the 19th Annotated Retreat. So I am both studying the sources again and doing the work of prayer and reflection.  

Tim Muldoon's book (pictured) is one of the sources I am using. It is like being reunited with an old friend as I revisit in a substantial way this approach to spiritual formation.

I have four different translations/version of the Ignatian Exercises and the one I am using this time through is the edition by Louis Puhl, published by (none other than) Loyola Press (Ignatius of Loyola!!!)

(3)  There are a number of very good blogsites I have begun to read on a regular basis.

Check out The Forgotten Ways which is the missional musings of Alan Hirsch.

If you have some Reformed bones in your body, you can't do much better than regular visits with Steve Brown, the man of the supernaturally rich voice. I've listened to Brown for years (off and on) but now you can get your dose of key life thoughts.  Brown is Reformed and generously orthodox in his dealing with others.

If you want to read some Vintage Faith reflections by Dan Kimball, this is his blog site. I find Kimball to be one of the more helpful emergent voices for my journey.  

I have a few others, but I won't overload you with too many new sites to check out.

We are so fortunate to have the Internet as a way to have dialogue with others at a distance. (Although later in May I'll have a post or two on some of the limitations and liabilities of this medium.)

(4)  This year was about the sixth year for Living Word  Community Church doing our Sacred Space (Labyrinth) experience. We do it as a Lenten spirituality experience.  Once again, it was great. Many years ago I had the desire to create a labyrinth that was much more than just a pattern on the ground, but which had walls and spaces and corridors for a person to walk through in a guided spiritual journey. Our early years were good forays into this area of spirituality. But it has grown wonderfully since then. 

LWCC now has a great team of artists and spiritually creative directors who design a new one each year. I think my fried DeAnn Roe (Creative Arts Director for the church) will have some pictures available on her blogsite.  Vertical Creativity.

Thank you to the entire team who worked on this year's Sacred Space. We probably had 1200ish people who went through this experience.

(5)  I continue to work my way through Ephesians for the Monday Morning Bible study group I am a part of. What a wonderful letter with rich substance about Christ and the church. I come away from each time of study, reflection and discussion with a greater appreciation for both Christ and the church.

(6)  Musically I am listening to a lot of stuff. I just watched Zappa Plays Zappa which is Dweezil's tribute to his dad Frank. What incredible musicianship and virtuosity on the part of the band. I was never a big Zappa fan, but his brilliance was light years ahead of his time. It is not Beyonce (if you watch the DVD, you'll know why I said that).  The fusion of jazz, rock, and funk...

I have been working my way through my Al DiMeola collection.  Beautiful...

And I did go pop with Kelly Clarkson's CD, All I Ever Wanted.

I have also been having fun with pandora.com  and the last fm station.    If you want to check out music and find artists and albums in a genre you like, this is the way to do it.

(7)  Gardening, landscaping, planting new stuff, re-arranging, mushroom soil, mulch... ah, Spring is in the air. We love gardening.  Time to get the hands in the humus of life. Now cutting the grass... whacking the weeds... that is a different story.  

By the way, to borrow an Old Testament concept, spring is when the Gardener Kings go off to war against the Rabbit Enemies of the Garden. I am absolutely convinced that before the fall, Rabbits were carnivores who never ate one of God's good plants and flowers! But after the fall, everything changed and rabbits became herbivores....  tragic, senseless, mysterious... oh well. (And yes Virginia, I do have my theology degrees from reputable seminaries... I just tend to go mystical eisegesis  of the key texts to serve my own agenda.)

(8)  Drivers.  Is it just my imagination, or are more drivers becoming more aggressive and rude? 

(9)  When a man (sorry, but I don't know the stats for women) loses his job, within six months of unemployment, depression is becoming a reality for that man. I wonder what that bodes for this time of rising unemployment? Be aware of your friends who are unemployed and be available to keep processing this season of life with them. I talked with the coroner for York County and he said that suicides are really up for this year!  Read this article.

(10)  Do you subscribe to or regularly read any journals or magazines? My list varies from time to time, but right now I get Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Leadership, Sports Illustrated and my subscription to  Rolling Stone has expired but will be renewed.  I let my Guitar magazine subscriptions expire in this last year...  I also will stop by Borders from time to time and pick up an issue of a journal that is entirely different from the stuff I normally read.  It is just one more way to expose yourself to different ideas. 

For example:  The latest issue of Leadership focuses on the problem of addictions and how the church can be dealing with it. Now, that is not a normal theme I think about, but in about an hour's time, I can read through this issue and get a number of worthwhile ideas.

So, go out to the newstands in the near future and find a magazine or journal that looks interesting. For fun, try a different one every other week.  You can look at more than 20 different journals/mags in less than a year.  Go ahead, strrrreeeeettttccccchhhhhh yourself.

And that's all for this Podge of Hodge. A new month is upon us. Seize the spring, Enjoy the Days of May. Read a good book, sing a song, bless someone in the Name of Jesus, walk barefoot in the grass, love life, really Love Jesus.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International