Too Many Ideas, Not Enough Action

One of the major frustrations people have with creative types like me is that we do not follow through and "close the deal" on our commitments and ideas.  

Recently, the Action Method has helped me to follow through on the many ideas I have.  This tool increases my integrity and closes the gap between what I think/say and what I do.

The tools I use are the ActionMethod Online and the Action Journal.  If I get an iPhone, I will defiantly get the app.


Yesterday, I was at a 2-day conference full of ideas, insights and "best practices".  There were lots of items I wanted to follow up on.  If I wrote them on a piece of paper, it would get lost.  If I wrote it in a notebook, the action items would get lost in the brainstorming "I wonder if it would work" thoughts.


Here is a link to describe how the process works.


Here's a pic from my ActionJournal of the conference:

The Ten Commandments

This is a compelling way to remember the Ten Commandments. Thanks to Vit, this combines the visual and the audio in a way that draws you in.

(I just with the ordering of the commandments reflected the Lutheran numbering but that does not take away from the creativity!)

The Ten Commandments - motion (kinetic) typography from Vit Ryznar on Vimeo.

How to Create Creativity

I really like what this post says about jump-starting creativity:

http://sixrevisions.com/creativity/how-to-create-creativity/

Which technique helps you jump-start your creativity?

What Gets Measured Gets Changed

If you could make a visual of your personal routines, what would it look like?

Each year, Nicholas Feltron tracks his personal routine and creates a compelling visual report. For example, click here to see his 2009 report.

I would like to change my personal routine in 2010 but first I need to track my current habits and discover what needs to change.

(I plan to use the tool called Daytum to help track my daily routines.)

To start this journey, I need to find the routines that would be the most important to change.

So far, I have DINING OUT, DINING IN, DRINKS, BOOKS READ, PAGES READ, EXERCISE as possible categories.

What do you think are the important categories that I should track?

You Don't Have to be Accurate to Draw

Check this video out. This is what I do when I craft my sermons (although I'm not nearly as good as this guy:)

MILTON GLASER DRAWS & LECTURES from C. Coy on Vimeo.

Budget Meetings You Can Look Forward To

Last week, we had the best budget meeting ever!

We arrived at a balanced budget, every person left with unity of thought, and all our finances connected to the vision of the church.

How?

Every person accountable for a line of the budget provided their 2010 figures to the Treasurer ahead of time. Making no adjustments to the figures, the Treasurer compiled the numbers and brought the first draft of the budget to the meeting.

At the meeting, the budget was projected on the wall (side note: it's frustrating to me to have paper copies shuffling of papers, don't know what line item people are talking about...if it's projected, you can point to what you're talking about.)

We had a dialogue and cut figures and came up with ways to balance the budget.

Then came the fun part...

In order to balance the budget, all of us had to cut out funding in certain areas and had to leave some items unfunded. But that doesn't mean we ignored those items.

We took out large sheets of paper and each of us wrote down a personal wish list of items that we would like funded for 2010. Then, each person got 5 stickers. They could use their 5 stickers to vote for any item on any wish list but they could only vote for only 1 item on their own list.

We compiled all the items that got votes and ended up with 10 items. Each person took the list of 10 items and ranked them 1 to 10 (1 = lowest priority and 10 = highest priority). We added up all the votes for every item and found that there were 2-3 top priority items that everyone agreed that needed to be done.

Now, when God blesses us with more than we budgeted for and when donors come to us to fund projects outside the budget, the whole team (not just me) has the same answer on how that money gets spent.

I can't tell you what our top 3 items are for 2010 (that wouldn't be fair to our church) but I can tell you that this process broke down the silos of ministry and created a unity of vision like none other!

Moleh-skeen-uh

I've always heard about them but never had the opportunity to get one.

Now I've got one ...

... AND I LOVE IT!!!!

My first MOLESKIN

http://www.moleskineus.com/sketchpocket.html

It works a lot better than my sketchpad that is big and bulky. This moleskin is much easier to carry around. I'm able to more effectively capture my thoughts, sermon ideas as well as keep track of "little things" that people mention (likes, dislikes, goals, dreams, etc.).

You Can Solve Anything With a Picture

No matter what your level of artistic talent is, you can solve any problem with a picture. Consider the health care debate: there are so many different voices, opinions, options, and distractions on the table that it is hard to be clear on what the issue is let alone what the possible solutions look like. Dan Roam has helped sort all this out:

Healthcare Napkins All

View more documents from Dan Roam.

The healthcare debate aside, I believe that any problem in our workplaces, in our churches and in our lives can be solved with a picture.

stop being overwhelmed::start drawing

The White Hat

The white hat is all about information. "The facts, ma'am, and nothing but the facts" is what this hat is all about.

Facts are neutral. There are no feeling with the facts (feelings will come out with the red hat).

The goal of the White Hat is to receive as much information as possible. In a meeting or discussion, facts that would provide helpful guidance for a great decisions get covered up with feelings or side-conversations. By focusing on the facts, you are able to get all the necessary information out in front of you so you can take the next step of interacting with the information using the other hats.

The Point of the White Hat is to be practical.

Danger: too much information is paralyzing.

Examples:

"What are the budget figures for this line item?"

"What was the attendance for this past event?"

"What went wrong with the campaign?"

6 Thinking Hats: Intro

I am currently reading a book titled "Six Thinking Hats" by Edward De Bono and applying it to church, specifically to church meetings. In Six Thinking Hats, De Bono explains that while we are meeting, we try to do too much all at once: experience emotion, ingest information, create hope, inspire creativity and make decisions. Wouldn't it be great to separate all that out so that we have clarity and clearer communication?

De Bono asserts the following positives for this process:

* everyone in the group (regardless of intelligence, experience and knowledge) can provide input

* saves time (one company set aside 4 hours for a discussion on an important decision. Using this method cut their meeting down to 45 minutes with more buy-in from everyone)

* removes ego (Six Hats helps you to analyze and dissect ideas instead of people)

* provides clarity

What are the hats?

WHITE = facts and figures. Information here is neutral and objective.

RED = emotion. How one feels about a decision, idea or fact.

BLACK = weaknesses of an idea. This hat sees caution and carefulness in every idea. De Bono asserts that this hat comes naturally to many people.

YELLOW = hope and optimism. Seeing the positive aspects of an idea or thought.

GREEN = creativity and new ideas. Looking for growth and new direction.

BLUE = organizing the thinking process. Goals and step-by-step action items.

In future posts, I'll summarize each "hat" and how to use them.

Storyboarding Worship and Sermons

I came across this very useful tool. It has helped me plan out worship services as well as sermons. This tool helps me to visualize the movement from one point into another point and to think through making smooth transitions.

It's a free resource called PocketMod. It's a free recyclable resource to help plan, think, and organize your thoughts.

I use the widget called "Writing Guides: Storyboard" to help me organize my sermon thoughts. Be sure to click on 'Help' to find out how to mix and match the widgets together.

Lastly, the video below helps you to fold the regular sheet of paper into an easily transportable storyboard.

http://pocketmod.com/v2/

Mind Break

Click here to check out this video.  Not only does it give your mind a break but it also has a great beat to it!

Solving any Problem with a Picture

I drive my staff crazy because I'm always drawing pictures during meetings, discussions and while I write out sermons (click here to check out this blog post of Billy Chia; a buddy of mine who thinks through sermons by using pictures).  I have a big whiteboard in my office which I use constantly and I have computer programs that help me mindmap (Freemind, Visio, etc) but two problems:

1. After I sketch my thoughts out on the whiteboard, I can't print it out and have a hard copy of it.  I have to manually copy everything from the whiteboard down to a piece of paper.  I don't have one of those fancy machines that takes a pic of the whiteboard and instantly prints it out.

2. If I use computer programs, the are much slower than my train of thought.  My mind is racing and thinking out loud but the computer programs force me to slow down way too much.  I spend the bulk of my time orienting my thoughts to the program, which inhibits creativity and problem solving.

I finally figured my solution thanks to Dan Roam:

Dan Roam was recently in Las Vegas doing a presentation for Microsoft outlining the basic philosophy of solving any problem using a picture.  Click here to view it.

A tablet laptop and a simple pen and I'm a dangerous man...

What Do You Make Time For?

In an exercise from Pencil Dancing, there were 2 questions that rocked my world.

Question 1: What things do you make time for?

My Answer: My family, connecting with people who don't know Christ, Trinity, Columbia Counseling Ministries, Toastmasters, and Reading

Question 2: What things do you need to make time for that would increase your creativity?

My answer: running/walking, rock climbing, taking an art class, visiting a museum.

Now the task is figuring out how to carve time out to add in my answers from question 2.

What about you?

If you had to narrow down the items you invest your time in, what would that currently look like?

If you wanted to increase your creativity or productivity, what would you need to make time for?