Do Your Job: Take a Vacation! March 30, 2007
Posted by Ken Newton in : Staff , 1 comment so far
I remember now why it is important to taking a vacation. The week is just about at an end. Today marked the last long morning walk along the beach with Lynda. I have about a hundred pages left to read in a book written by Marcus J. Borg. One last dinner tonight out at our favorite eating place here on Hilton Head Island. The importance of this week has been all of this and more. Enjoying time and activity on my terms, about what is meaningful.
Relaxation is meaningful. Not just sleeping in or puttering around the house. I mean disconnecting as much as possible from what really drives you from day to day. What typically drives me is holding myself daily to the highest possible standard of work and contribution at SpringWell. I love it - but it still amounts to being a job. No matter how you play it out, it still comes down to a degree of tiresome repetition. So, every once in a while, it’s time to relax.
Here’s what I have noticed about staff at SpringWell. They’re a great bunch of people, passionate about their areas of responsibility, understand SpringWell’s philosophy and how they fit - but they don’t get the importance of a vacation. They “take” vacation, but don’t go far enough away. They stay in a state of soft touch. They may even go so far as to think they’re indispensable. Regardless, they don’t step far enough out of the work mode so as to find themselves and those that are important apart from the workplace. They don’t focus on who they are independent of SpringWell and in relation to God.
Some may find that commendable, especially for those who work in a church. I don’t. I don’t care if it is a church or a restaurant or a bank. Work is work. It is not who you are, but what you do. I spent this week trying to solidify what I believe. Trying to expand my world view. Trying to be open to new and fresh ideas and concepts and other points of view. Yes - I did at times try to reconstitute much of this process and its findings to an application at SpringWell. And my marriage. And myself. I tried to make everything I was doing this week WORTH doing. I looked to step out toward innovation at every opportunity for discovery. But I couldn’t have done it without the deliberate effort of distancing myself from SpringWell in my role as managing director.
Did I work? Absolutely! But I was on vacation! More importantly, I was away from work…. Do you understand what I am saying?
Staff - do yourself a favor. Do SpringWell a favor. Take a vacation. By the way - every time I turn around one of you is taking “time off”. THERE IS NO VALUE TO TAKING TIME OFF! To you or to your employer. THERE IS VALUE TO TAKING A VACATION! Actually plan to leave the county for the first time in your life (you know who you are…!). Define it for what it really is, not for what the cost might otherwise have been spent on. Don’t condemn me for taking time away from work and actually disappearing off the email radar for a few days. Because I am coming back to my job at SpringWell full of fresh ideas, prepared to doing amazing, stunning work, and with a clearer sense of God’s purpose for my skills and gifts.
And if you or any other staff person says anything about me being on vacation again, I will be looking long and hard at your performance. I may actually force you to take a vacation whether you want to or not! Unless you know who you really are independent of SpringWell, and unless you take the time to revitalize your thinking and be provocative about innovation, then it may be that your time away is going to be a lot longer than just a vacation.
Appreciate you guys!
SpringWell Rocks March 29, 2007
Posted by Ken Newton in : Church Issues , add a comment
Here are 10 reasons that have me thinking how I obsessed I am with SpringWell:
1. I dream about SpringWell - typically I would have nightmares, but with SpringWell, they’re usually pretty good dreams! Must be all the great people!
2. When I am on vacation, I feel guilty for not being at work.
3. Any chance I have to think, I am trying to come up with innovative ideas that will continue to move SpringWell forward.
4. No one has told me what the offerings were last Sunday, and I am about ready to call Debra at the office!
5. I spend much of my day here at Hilton Head Island walking around the resort trying to find an open wireless connection - on the tops of outdoor grilles, sidewalks, local shops. I just have to know what’s going on at Springwell!
6. I am working on all the questions I am going to ask our student director candidates when I get back. I am looking forward to messing with their fragile, seminary, brain-washed minds!
7. I am reading books, not as much to relax, but to consider an outside perspective as it may apply within the context of SpringWell’s philosophy.
8. I am wondering if The Next Step letter went out and if people will respond to the challenge of meeting the financial goal for SpringWell’s capital campaign.
9. I see dolphins and think SpringWell environments. Why can’t I just see dolphins?
10. I read labels on packages and think of God’s grace at work at SpringWell. Why can’t I just read the labels for the purpose they were intended?
Lynda will tell you that this is no vacation for me. I guess what she is really saying is that I have not given her as much attention as I have SpringWell. (Thank goodness I still have a day left before coming home!) But ask me, and I will say this has been an incredible time of experiencing SpringWell apart from its hectic day-to-day operations. I have come to believe more than ever that we are heading down the right road, and that great things are ahead in drawing people closer to God. But, oh I wish my mind could have shut down for just a day or so…..
Starter Kit March 28, 2007
Posted by Ken Newton in : Church Issues , add a comment
Let me jump to something then bring it back to church and what it is all about. Here I am, on a mini-vacation, reading some cool books (I will tell you about them in another blog), and enjoying this time-share property. As Lynda and I were unpacking some foodstuffs we brought with us, I noticed a bright fluorescent green label on a bag that had been set out by the property management. The bag contained some basic supplies like sugar packets, dishwasher soap, salt & pepper, and few other small items. The label on it read: Supplies beyond starter package are the responsibility of occupant. Supplies will not be replenished.
For some reason, I thought I’d try rationalizing that statement in the context of church. I started with my favorite definition of GRACE (I don’t know where it came from, but I memorized this a long time ago):
Favor, of a merciful kindness, where God, exerting his holy influence on souls, draws people to Christ. Keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge and affection; and kindles them to the exercise of Christian virtue.
Just think - if God’s grace were just a starter package and then everything from that moment was for us to manage. We wouldn’t last long! The reality is, God’s grace is perpetual. Consider another aspect of grace - that church is part of the grace continuum. Think of it. What better place than where people who are striving to better understand God in their lives, and growing in character after the life of Christ, than as part of a church community. That is where they are kept, strengthened, increased in faith, grow in knowledge, and are exposed to the affection of others who understand loving others and the world.
SpringWell has created environments that are for this very purpose. They represent connection and movement. The movement of people from parking lot for the first time through life connection and service with other people who really do get grace and influence and service. Perhaps those people who still say they don’t get our philosophy of environments may also not get the meaning of grace. Maybe they just don’t like change. Whatever, I don’t get it. Maybe they just need to memorize this grace definition and then start opening their minds to how the church plays into the continuum. It’s not all that difficult through unselfish, caring eyes….
Flipper March 27, 2007
Posted by Ken Newton in : Looking Outside , add a comment
OK - I think I got to see SpringWell’s environments all in play before my eyes at the same time. Lots of us got to observe the environments in full action today here in Hilton Head Island.
It started with Lynda and me taking a walk along the beach late this morning. The sea was calm, people were just strolling along the low-tide water’s edge, the sun was brilliant, and there was just a slight hint of a breeze. (You didn’t think I could write with such sensitivity, did you?) Anyway, as we looked out over the water, a large number of dolphins (or porpoises - I never knew if Flipper was a dolphin or a porpoise so I call anything that is big and looks like him a dolphin…) appeared about a hundred feet or so off shore. Just to see one is magic for me, but to see a large number and observe their behavior in their natural habitat was something else. We, along with everybody else, stopped and watched spellbound for a good 30 minutes.
Guess what? They get environments better then we do! Firstly, I observed that even though there was a large number, they swam in small groups. They swam in the same direction, surfaced and dived in unison, touched one another in care and encouragement and safety. From time to time they would connect with another cluster, and the span of relationships was extended. And every once in a while, they would all come together in celebration of a school of fish and the supply of food.
Now here was the neat part. A swimmer decided to check out the dolphins. He certainly bore no resemblance to a dolphin. He was clumsy, knew nothing of how they communicated and did life together, was nowhere close to their culture; yet he was interested to check them out. Guess what? They didn’t ignore him. They came to where he was treading water. They allowed him to be part of their gathering. He felt accepted and honored that they were more interested in who he was than that he was different than they were. Unconditional acceptance!
I am not going to make the connection for you. It was all about the kitchen, living room and foyer environments. It works. Dolphins get it with ease! Certainly we at SpringWell should have no difficulty doing the same as a community, and as we want to be accepting of the unchurched - the uninitiated, the unfamiliar, the needy person who is just “checking us out”.
And who says you can’t experience God in every part of creation…..
What’s It Worth? March 26, 2007
Posted by Ken Newton in : Church Issues , add a comment
It’s the second day of being away from the office and I’m suffering from mixed emotions. Part of me wants to know what I am missing - how did SpringWell’s weekend gatherings go? Was Scott back in full form just 3 days after giving birth to a 20 pound kidney stone? Were some people thinking he wasn’t going to be there and chose not to come to church?
Now there’s something that really bugs me - any time word gets out that the senior pastor might not be speaking, or is on vacation or reading week or something, suddenly a lot of people find an excuse not to be where they should be on Sunday. Guess we’ve just got to keep working on people that there is a higher relationship than with a senior pastor when you are part of a community of Christ followers. Then again - maybe if the senior pastor didn’t bring that on himself for beginners…..
Back to where I was. I wonder how revenue was this past weekend? I’m the business guy at SpringWell, so I am allowed to ask that question. I mess with people when I say that it’s the wallet that counts - but think of it… Take away the revenue, and you are out of business as a large church operation. Pretty basic stuff - take away the family income and try paying your home mortgage, kids’ tuition, food costs, and anything in life for that matter. Yet when one tiny thing bothers you at church, the first thing people do is stop making payments. Let’s see…. Hmmmm…I don’t think I am going to pay my taxes this year because I am unhappy with the rise in gas prices… Hmmm…I don’t think I am going to buy groceries this week because I had an argument with someone who I had thought was a good friend. Hmmm….I don’t think I am going to subscribe for health coverage anymore because my parking spot at work was taken by a new employee. Hmmm….
Does this leap in logic make any sense? I wouldn’t think so in real life. But in a church community, it goes on all the time. The buck stops with every little emotional hiccup.
Like I say - I’m the business guy. Some things just don’t make sense, but they just keep happening…
Joe the Tile Guy March 25, 2007
Posted by Ken Newton in : Looking Outside , add a comment
I didn’t blog yesterday. I was just too mad!
Lynda and I had our kitchen floors tiled this past week. We spent a lot of time getting the specs right, and finding the right person for the job. His name is Joe (not his real name), and we went so far as to inspect other work he had done, and obtain references.
The first thing he did was hire a couple of guys to do the work. We had been assured by Joe that he would be doing the job personally. In reality, he had committed to another job at the same time he was to be doing ours, and, at best, all he could do was show up a couple of times a day to see how things were doing. On day one, one of the workers dragged a piece of baseboard with projecting nails across our brand new kitchen table. Absolutely destroyed the surface. And, or course, no one would admit it when Joe asked them who did it. You’ve heard the rest of this kind of story - the damage must have already been there.
From that point on, things got worse. Our new brushed stainless dishwasher suffered the same fate, but thank goodness the scratch was only 4 inches long. Only 2 of our kitchen cabinet doors will have to be replaced, which is better than all of them. Most of the walls I had recently painted will have to be repainted again. The baseboards have been re-installed so poorly that I will have to pull them all and replace and paint them.
OK - shabby work. We got set up, paid through the nose (by the way, never pay for a job up front. You lose any leverage you might need for unsatisfactory workmanship!). But here’s where Joe crossed the line. I have a pretty nice Harley. Dust doesn’t settle on it for longer than a millisecond. When I clean it, it takes a full 8 hours to get it perfect. It has no blemishes. I arrived home after work on Friday to find one of Joe’s workers in my garage using my Harley as a work bench to cut trim on. Literally! One end of the trim was sitting on my front fender while he leveraged the other on his knee while making the saw cut. My bike is now scratched! Any Harley guys out there will know how ballistic I went. I used language I am certain I have never used before in my life. Of course it didn’t matter because we had a starting language barrier already in place. But when Joe showed up, he got an earful. Interestingly, he asked where I worked and I told him SpringWell Church. Ooops.
Unfortunately, we had already paid the guy, and all I could get out of Joe was that “good workers are hard to come by”. So - the job’s not done, they left, I’m grieving over my Harley; then looking at this white gritty tile that is should actually be a glossy brown finish, except that the grout was never sponged; and, of course, all the other damage and shoddy workmanship still to be repaired.
But it didn’t stop there. And you’re thinking it’s going to get even worse! Well - listen to this. Joe called Friday evening, then again on Saturday. I would not talk with him - coming down from a scratched HD takes a long time! Finally, Lynda spoke with him. I was standing by the phone waving my hands in front of her, and giving her instructions on how to be angry and aggressive and vulgar and threatening and demeaning. But what did she do? She spoke kindly to him, laughed a bit, thanked him… I couldn’t believe what was happening! But the reality set in that if anybody was disappointed with the condition of the kitchen, it was Lynda. It’s her favorite place, and it was now in ruin. Yet she set a relationship as minimal and as offensive as with Joe at a level more important than her feelings and forfeited expectations. Wow!
And - guess what? Joe is coming back and we are going to work together in getting the kitchen done right. Just Joe and me. I’m starting to look forward to it already. I think we will have a good time getting it right. As for the Harley, unless you own one, nobody is going to get why a little scratch can be all that important anyway - so I guess I am just going to drop that one.
Here’s a point to be made. While working at different churches, and even SpringWell, I notice over and over again how people are offended by something someone else did or said. Usually it is nothing major (it certainly rarely comes close to damaging a Harley), but people will stop talking with that person, spread venom that is usually more potent than what is the minimal nature of the matter, rally sympathizers and supporters about them against the individual, and either force them to leave the church or leave themselves. And then they might even spend the rest of their lives regurgitating the condition, and holding to unforgiveness. Why churches, of all places? Whatever happened to authentic community, grace and mercy, patience, kindness, love and forgiveness? More than anywhere else, wouldn’t you expect to find the full redemption of human nature and relationships in a church?
If that’s where you’re at, consider my illustration. Well - consider Lynda’s illustration of selflessness and forgiveness. Don’t be like me. I’ve come around, and I now like how it feels. But I could have just gone on being mad and unforgiving. A door of connection with another person could have remained closed forever, and I would have failed in my responsibility to minister to that person as Christ so cared for me. Just don’t go on being mad. Just don’t go on thinking you won by taking someone else down. Forgiveness opens up those doors of relationships that will add value to where you are at.
Meanwhile, wanna buy a Harley Road King Classic? Perfect condition. Mint. Like new. Hardly driven. Always stored in garage. I need the money to pay for the wife’s new kitchen….
Goethe or Paul? March 23, 2007
Posted by Ken Newton in : GSTQ , add a commentI figure that by this time I should have least given you my favorite quote and scripture. They are kind of interconnected, although I do have to tell you I sometimes tend to like Goethe over Paul. Actually, they’re both pretty sharp…
Favorite Quote:
Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now. (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
Connected Verse:
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. (Paul)
I guess it’s all about faith, eh?
GSTQ!
Connect – The Panera Way March 22, 2007
Posted by Ken Newton in : Customers , add a comment
I just had another great experience at Panera. I did an article a while back on Panera, and used some of my observations of first impressions as an illustration. As a church, how impactful are those first few moments of connection for someone coming into “our” environment. Well - today, as I stood at the counter ordering my coffee, the day manager walked up to the register, looked me square in the eye, and asked if I would like a free hot chocolate. Instantly, I was taken from coming to, being in, Panera, to where it all revolved around me and my importance to someone else. He gave me what I called “brag rights”. He took the attention away from place, product, and price, and gave me the right to market Panera based on my sense of value to them. It was only a hot chocolate, big deal - but it was all about me!
Most churches don’t get that. We staff the stations, but we still make it about us. Our place, our community, our needs for your time and your wallets. We make the first impression about our amenities, and the expression of community, yet draw attention to who we are and how you can connect by observation. But we have absolutely missed the real opportunity of first impressions for how we value you, and irrespective of our achievements of building and functionality.
People are still talking about the Unleash conference at Newspring last week. Most people noted how incredible their experience was with the front-end connection and passage into the event. Even through the day, Newspring volunteers ((typically on vacation time from where they worked), were always making sure you were having the best time and were being taken care of. Here’s what was so incredible. You didn’t feel like this was about Newspring. It wasn’t about their stuff, their people, their resources. It was about you. Me. How do you do that? How do you hide the reality of an incredible facility, state of the art technology, exponential growth and creativity and make the first moment about the person?
I think it’s about volunteers and staff who are obsessed with the purpose of the church and not the church itself. I think it is about marketing a product that is simply changed lives. It is about the understanding and training that stresses the personal connection. It is about the sacrifice of self importance in favor of someone else’s worth. It is about being taught the skills of communications, having a positive attitude, being authentic, being strategic, and highly intentional about a clear intent.
And it is ever so subtle - the difference between who we are as SpringWell Church, and how much more important the visitor is. It is all about his or her sense of worth within a first experience of SpringWell, not the first casual impression of resources and functionality. Maybe that’s why it all starts in the parking lot…..
Decision-making March 21, 2007
Posted by Ken Newton in : Marketing , add a comment
Just thinking a bit more on the marketing thing. How it really is synonymous with vision (if you buy into my definitions). I’ve had many people say that what I should really be saying around a church is that marketing is unspiritual and would be correctly stated as “ministry programs”.
No - I just can’t bring myself to say that. Here’s why.
When someone talks church lingo and uses words like ministry programs, they are probably thinking things like kids, youth, and other departments which are probably just demographic distinctions. Then we fill it out with all of the subsets or activity “streams” of each department. Our measure then becomes the activity.
A while ago, I was in a management program that focused on problem solving and opportunity analysis. It was called Kepner-Tregoe. Basically, the key to a successful solution or strategy is in first identifying what needs to be accomplished. Kepner-Tregoe calls it the “decision statement”. It asks these questions;
· What is the ethical question (in accordance with the standards of a profession)
· What is the vision
· What are the inconsistencies in the present aims and activities
· Who are the participants (decision-makers, interested parties, facilitator, scripter)
The answer becomes the highest level of descriptive of what needs to be accomplished that is not simply an alternative or option. To me, that is the vision. That is what we market. Changed lives. Another distinction between a decision statement and an alternative is that typically, the decision statement is more a passive expression than an activity statement. Marketing/vision for a church might read, “that people’s lives are changed as they come to understand God”. How simple can that be? Why do we always work so hard on deriving the decision statement? Vision is easy!
So - our finished product is marketing. Everything else we do is within a process stream. And, like the manufacturing sector, everything is interconnected and interdependent. We process people from where they enter the “system” through all of the processing nodes to where their lives are changed. And in thinking about it, it really is an open-ended system.
I guess I’m saying this. Don’t make any more complicated than it really is, the vision statement for your church. Don’t confuse what it is you want to accomplish with the means or alternatives. Don’t consider yourself successful by the measure of your process points. Measure your marketing effectiveness.
I just had a thought that one of my upcoming blogs might be how “secular” corporate systems have a valid application within a church operation. The argument that we are a church and not a business is absolute bunk. Not that it really needs to be an argument, because when you think of it, why is it important to defend what we are not? Who really cares? But - it is an interesting study, and maybe we can benefit simply from seeing how “non-church” methods of operation can add value if we stop trying to hold to being different.
Check out SpringWell’s “vision statement”.
Vision = Marketing March 19, 2007
Posted by Ken Newton in : Marketing , add a commentIn yesterday’s article I made the connection of vision to marketing. My point was that maybe we assign too much attention to defining and scripting our church’s vision. I think that Peter Drucker comes close when he defines marketing as “creating a customer”. But another guy named Kotler suggests that marketing is “the design, implementation, and control of programs seeking to increase the acceptability of an idea or practice”.
A couple of churches around here have come to be quite good at marketing. SpringWell is one. We’ve done well on design for certain. We are now making good progress to where we implement and manage that design within innovative programs or streams. Our ultimate goal is to change behavior. Communications (often confused with marketing) simply increases awareness. How many churches do you know by their location or advertising, yet they never grow? Marketing is really about changed lives - creating the means of connection to and relationship with God.
Just so you know, the other church around here that I think really “gets” marketing is Newspring Church.
By the way, Drucker goes on to say that apart from marketing and innovation, “everything else is a cost center”. That being the case, guess where SpringWell’s critical effort needs to occur?
Many churches ask questions that really don’t address the issue of their marketing effectiveness. While it is fair to be interested in the state of finances, operating and capital initiatives, is it acceptable that we settle for facts that only show our capability to cover costs of operation? I certainly hope not.
Here are the “tough” questions that we should be asking:
1. What do we want to accomplish?
2. What is our product?
3. Are we properly positioned?
4. Are we doing things for the right price?
5. Do we have forward momentum?
6. Do our values align with our intended product?
7. Is our organization’s structure and performance optimal?
In my role at SpringWell, these are the questions I want to concern myself with answering on behalf of SpringWell. It is just too easy to track financial performance to plan, ratios of giving within and outside of our church community, use of facilities, personnel performance, and other “typical” standards of measurement. If we really are about the vision or the marketing of SpringWell, then we need to nail the answers to the tough questions. If they can’t be answered, we’re shortchanging our investment and, worse yet, failing on our obligation as a church.
I don’t want people to process SpringWell as a cost center. My focus this year will be, simply, its marketing effectiveness.