praxis 6 below

More thoughts on adaptive leadership - movement at the edge of chaos (& why City Team is one of the best organizational models of getting to the edge)

"The role of leaders in the equation? Well, once again this goes back to Heifetz’s understanding about the nature of adaptive leadership.  Adaptive leadership moves the system to the edge of chaos, not over, but to the edge of it. As was said before, the leader’s role is to ensure that the system is directly facing up to the issues that confront it.  Issues that if left unattended, will eventually destroy it   Because if people in the organization never seriously face the problem, and stay with it for a reasonable time, they will never feel the need to move to find a genuine and more lasting solution—hence the idea of a burning platform.  We teach the Forge interns this simple formula.  It is the role of transformative leadership to ‘sell the problem before you try evoking a solution’ because it is this being at this ‘edge of chaos’ where real innovation takes place." read the rest here.

Attended a remarkable training on CPM (church planting movements) hosted by City Team Ministries in San Jose.  A dude named David Watson (featured in David Garrison's book Church Planting Movements) was the primary trainer & facilitator for the week - he looks & often sounds like a college football coach straight out of East Texas - training people with the intensity of a savvy field general (though he's wisely wary of co-opting military terminology for leadership).  And if you are being personally trained by Watson you are issued a 2 strikes and you're out of the training policy.  I love it.  He says he doesn't have time to mess around with people who aren't continually moving ahead on the leadership path.  Coffee once/month sure no problem - but training with Watson requires consistently proving your gumption.  I'm sure this strikes some of our shepherding & overly nice-evangelical types as somewhat harsh.  But it was weirdly refreshing for me to hear & be challenged with.

One aspect of the conference that struck me so forcefully is how fundamentally vital it is to constantly get to that edge in both our individual as well as our collective lives.  Alan Hirsch writes about this extensively in his books & it was a predominant theme during this past week of training.  Without movement to the edge we are in a downward movement toward equilibirium & stasis - death to put it more succinctly.  I'll have more thoughts on the training later. . . 

One thing that must be noted is how truly remarkable the folks at City Team are - they have a radical predisposition toward hospitality.  They gave away this training to folks like myself at no charge (including meals, drinks, snacks, & training resources).  This carries with it the strong aroma of Kingdom work being advanced.  And this is one of the first trainings I've attended in the states where people from all backgrounds (from Kenya to Nicaraugua, from Mexican barrio to the streets of Oakland & Philadelphia to the tech halls of Silcon Valley).  I met a couple dudes who were only 2 & 5 years ago on the streets doped up & dropped out - but now they're cleaned up and living the edge of being gospel planters in similar communities they came from.  That is, they are not extracted away from other substance abusers - they are with them, serving, befriending, planting the gospel among them in the name of the King.  Certainly no organization is perfect but City Team seems to be constantly striving to get to the edge & there institutional ethos of discipleship is just rather jaw-dropping. Thank you to my table-mates from City Team - Carole, Trudy, Dick, Jonathan, & Tom it was a true honor to meet each one of you.  And thanks to my afternoon laborers - Elton, Massoud, Mike, David, Tom, & Arash it was likewise a great privilege to have shared some of this journey with you.

church leadership is about seeking the last, the lost, the least . . .

It seems that leadership within faith communities has been about seeking out the lost, the abandoned, the stray, and the injured for an incredibly long time.  Oh, if we could ever recover this ethos of leadership within church structures . . .  This is the kind of passage that has immediate application in compelling our churches (be they conventional or simple or mainline or mega or emergent) to go, to move, to get out beyond their places of safety and lethargy.  Beyond predictability.  Faith is movement.  Church is movement.  Leadership must entail movement to the edges and margins of our cultural contexts.  And this entails great risk - but therein lies the rub; faith leading to risk & danger for the last, the lost, the least will threaten us as people & we will get bloodied & battered in the process - but this kind of risk is ultimately & always wildly thrilling and indeed where it seems Jesus spends most of his time.  Time to get up and move collectively toward the door. But great danger lies ahead. 

11"For thus says the Lord GOD:^(U) Behold, I, I^(V) myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. ¹²As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on^(W) a day of clouds and^(X) thick darkness.¹³And I will bring them out from the peoples^(Y) and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on^(Z) the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. ^14(AA) I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land.^(AB) There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. ^15(AC) I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep,^(AD) and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. ^16(AE) I will seek the lost,^(AF) and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and^(AG) the fat and the strong I will destroy.^[a] I will feed them in justice." Read the whole passage here.

more thoughts on adaptive leadership from Alan Hirsch . . .

brilliant thoughts on adaptive leadership/change . . . somewhat heady but necessary to flesh out within our simple churches here in the area.  enjoy the read.

"Principle #1. Equilibrium is Death
Most churches start out of dynamic and exciting adventures in evangelism and church planting and at the end of their organizational life cycle they are usually miserable, static, institutions.  And it appears that an essential part of the process is the movement from the early, more unstable, disequilibrium to that of a stable environment of equilibrium. The early days of most churches or parachurches experienced as unpredictable and wild but at the same time seem to be filled with a kind of spiritual energy. Why is this the case? What is it about disequilibrium that seems to stimulate life and energy? And what is it about stability that seems to stifle it?  (Remember the story of SMRC.) Is it because life itself is unpredictable and chaotic and that when we establish organizations that seek to control and minimize the dangers of life, these organizations in the end stifle it? The history of missions is quite clear about this: that Christianity is at its very best when it is on the more chaotic fringes.  It is when church settles down, and moves away from the edge of chaos, that things go awry."  Read the whole article here.

Complexity Theory (M. Mitchell Waldrop)

"Complex systems have somehow acquired the ability to bring order and chaos into a special kind of balance.  This balance point - often call the edge of chaos - is where the components of a system never quite lock into place, and yet never quite dissolve into turbulence, either.  The edge of chaos is where life has enough stability to sustain itself and enough creativity to deserve the name of life.  The edge of chaos is where new ideas and innovative genotypes are forever nibbling away at the edges of the status quo, and where even the most entrenched old guard will eventually be overthrown.  The edge of chaos is where centuries of slavery and segregation suddenly give way to the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s; where seventy years of Soviet communism suddenly give way to political turmoil and ferment; where eons of evolutionary stability suddenly give way to wholesale speies transformation.  The edge of chaos is the constantly shifting battle zone between stagnation and anarchy, the one place where a complex system can be spotaneous, adaptive, and alive."  - M. Mitchell Wadrop Complexity (1992)

In so many ways Church in western contexts is rousting out (in sometimes seemingly violent fits & other times wonderfully pacifc starts) of its institutional slumber. . . This is good & beautiful and brings with it high levels of collective liminal experiences which initially & inevitably must feel unsettling & terrifying.  Indeed it seems we are five feet away from that edge right now - one landslide or another will trigger a massive (western ecclesiolgical) movement to that edge.  Christo-centric & Pneumatologically-led collectives (this idea comes from theologian Amos Yong) where best practices & talents are put to immediate use for the global network of the Kingdom of God are now emerging - and will not be diverted from being birthed.  

Truly looking forward to learning about some of these emerging movements on a global scale from David Watson next week in San Jose - a church planting movement pioneer & practitioner.

St. Michael is back on Top from being tossed by Hurricane Katrina

For those of you who lived or live in Biloxi, survived Katrina, & helped rebuild the area you may recognize the beautiful "Fisherman's Church" building and be happy to know that St. Michael pictured below has been restored to his rightful place on top of the chapel

"Biloxi, Miss., Apr 25, 2009 / 02:39 pm (CNA).- The statue of St. Michael the Archangel, which was toppled from its perch atop the parish’s day chapel by Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005, was securely reattached to the seashell shaped roof on March 29, despite having been desecrated days earlier by vandals who broke the sword off of the statue. . ." Read the rest here.

Inside the chapel & the incredible stained glass art - including yup you guessed it: fish

Rebuilders:

Who knew these two would get married?  Just 2 weeks ago . . . beautiful.  Ben's cleaned up since then

Michael himself with a broken sword - and off to the left of the picture is a massive barge, yes, a barge that was blown off the gulf and onto land by Katrina.

Ben & Michael - together.

Maddie's happy.

Derek & Ben bum-rushing Michael . . .  Great pic.

Dee Hock: Quick Thoughts on Leadership & Management

Simple & profound thoughts from Dee Hock:

"Here is the very heart and soul of the matter. If you look to lead, invest at least 40% of your time managing yourself -- your ethics, character, principles, purpose, motivation, and conduct. Invest at least 30% managing those with authority over you, and 15% managing your peers. Use the remainder to induce those you "work for" to understand and practice the theory. I use the terms "work for" advisedly, for if you don't understand that you should be working for your mislabeled "subordinates," you haven't understood anything. Lead yourself, lead your superiors, lead your peers, and free your people to do the same. All else is trivia."  Read the whole article here.

Seth Godin/Ted.COM on Emerging Tribes & Leadership

Some good thoughts from Seth Godin on why tribes matter more than anything when it comes to catalyzing movements.  Having an idea that bucks the status quo is one thing - living into that idea is an entirely different matter.  Of course, this is important for the ecclesial radicals of the 21st century.  Enjoy.

Great Mother's Day Clip & Some History on the Day

Love to all the mothers . . .
Here's a great article from Slate on the radical origins of Mother's Day - here.

Chaordic Organization - Thoughts from Dee Hock

"Now let's follow this just a little further. If that institution has no reality save in your mind and the minds of all your associates and the people who deal with it, then what is its real nature? What's its real strength? And that led me to believe that the heart and soul of every organization, at least every healthy organization, is purpose and principles. What is the purpose that brought you together and what is your system of beliefs about how you intend to conduct yourself in pursuit of that purpose? If your beliefs are based on the old model of top-down command and control, specialization, special privilege, and nothing but profit, your organization will, in time, turn toxic. It will become antithetical to the human spirit and destructive of the biosphere. The evidence is everywhere around us.

Your organization needs to be absolutely clear about purpose and principles and must be very careful to know what a purpose and a principle is—you know, a purpose is not an objective, it's not a mission statement—a purpose is an unambiguous expression of that which people jointly wish to become. And a principle is not a platitude—it is a fundamental belief about how you intend to conduct yourself in pursuit of that purpose. You have to get very precise about these things. If the purpose and principles are constructive and healthy, then your organization will take a very different form than anything that you ever imagined. It will release the human spirit and will be constructive of the biosphere. Natural capital and human capital will be released in abundance and monetary capital will become relatively unimportant. To put it another way, I believe that purpose and principle, clearly understood and articulated, and commonly shared, are the genetic code of any healthy organization. To the degree that you hold purpose and principles in common among you, you can dispense with command and control. People will know how to behave in accordance with them, and they'll do it in thousands of unimaginable, creative ways. The organization will become a vital, living set of beliefs.

I've found that it's very difficult to lead people through enough metaphors and enough thinking about this—you can only think about it so much and your circuit breakers just go out. You have to rest, reset them, and come back to it. And you go over and over it. But what I find is that once you get a group of people who reallybegin to understand this, then energy, excitement, and enthusiasm literally explode out of them—they know what to do. You know, it's just in their nature. You can't stop it."  You can read the rest here..

"How David Beats Goliath" - new article by Malcolm Gladwell

A fun article in the New Yorker on using legs, brains, & the seven second rule to beat overwhelming odds . . . Interesting to relate some of these concepts to simple church norms & practices.

"When Vivek Ranadivé decided to coach his daughter Anjali’s basketball team, he settled on two principles. The first was that he would never raise his voice. This was National Junior Basketball—the Little League of basketball. The team was made up mostly of twelve-year-olds, and twelve-year-olds, he knew from experience, did not respond well to shouting. He would conduct business on the basketball court, he decided, the same way he conducted business at his software firm. He would speak calmly and softly, and convince the girls of the wisdom of his approach with appeals to reason and common sense.

The second principle was more important. Ranadivé was puzzled by the way Americans played basketball. He is from Mumbai. He grew up with cricket and soccer . . ." read the rest here.