Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy 2010-02-11 3min

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ

Transcript:

If you've learned a lot about leadership and making a movement, then let's watch a movement happen, start to finish, in under 3 minutes, and dissect some lessons:

A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous. But what he's doing is so simple, it's almost instructional. This is key. You must be easy to follow!

Now comes the first follower with a crucial role: he publicly shows everyone how to follow. Notice the leader embraces him as an equal, so it's not about the leader anymore - it's about them, plural. Notice he's calling to his friends to join in. It takes guts to be a first follower! You stand out and brave ridicule, yourself. Being a first follower is an under-appreciated form of leadership. The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader. If the leader is the flint, the first follower is the spark that makes the fire.

The 2nd follower is a turning point: it's proof the first has done well. Now it's not a lone nut, and it's not two nuts. Three is a crowd and a crowd is news.

A movement must be public. Make sure outsiders see more than just the leader. Everyone needs to see the followers, because new followers emulate followers - not the leader.

Now here come 2 more, then 3 more. Now we've got momentum. This is the tipping point! Now we've got a movement!

As more people jump in, it's no longer risky. If they were on the fence before, there's no reason not to join now. They won't be ridiculed, they won't stand out, and they will be part of the in-crowd, if they hurry. Over the next minute you'll see the rest who prefer to be part of the crowd, because eventually they'd be ridiculed for not joining.

And ladies and gentlemen that is how a movement is made! Let's recap what we learned:

If you are a version of the shirtless dancing guy, all alone, remember the importance of nurturing your first few followers as equals, making everything clearly about the movement, not you.

Be public. Be easy to follow!

But the biggest lesson here - did you catch it?

Leadership is over-glorified.

Yes it started with the shirtless guy, and he'll get all the credit, but you saw what really happened:

It was the first follower that transformed a lone nut into a leader.

There is no movement without the first follower.

We're told we all need to be leaders, but that would be really ineffective.

The best way to make a movement, if you really care, is to courageously follow and show others how to follow.

When you find a lone nut doing something great, have the guts to be the first person to stand up and join in.

© 2010 Derek Sivers

The Church & Immigration in Phoenix

THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2010  POSTED BY RYAN M. RICE

Phoenix is a diverse and complex city. Hispanics make up more than 30% of the population. The media has been headlining the immigration laws and outcries of the Hispanic community. 

Many people in the valley increasingly believe that Hispanics are taking jobs from Anglos according to the polls, yet Arizona's economy, is largely dependent on the Hispanics in construction and development. “They work harder, longer and for less” according to one contractor I talked to about this subject.

What’s sad is that every year in Phoenix thousands of these migrants are taken advantage of by other groups and gangs they are ill-treated, abducted or raped. Many are forced into a life of prostitution or drug dealing. Drug Dealers and Pimps know many of these illegal immigrants have nowhere to run! They can abuse, harass, taunt and torture all they want. Illegal immigrants are illegal and won’t turn to the authorities in fear of having to return to an even more hostile and unstable country- Mexico. Everyday innocent children are born into these circumstances they cannot control. So where is the church in all this? What is our responsibility as a Christian and citizen of this country? Do we have a role in all this? We do…

Recently I heard a sermon by Tim Kimmel president of Family Matters, author, speaker, writer and Elder at Scottsdale Bible Church preach a message to his more than 5,000 member congregation in Scottsdale about “Everyday Compassion.” It floored me and gave me great hope for the churches commitment to love our neighbor! His message personally challenged me as a church planter, citizen, community leader, pastor, husband, father and follower of Jesus.

Tim is far more articulate and credible than me in the city of Phoenix. I beg you to listen to his sermon for insight and understanding about where we the church fit in this issue of immigration.

Tim lays out 5 points from John chapter 9 and 5 Religious Actions that stand in the way of Everyday Compassion. Click here to watch his sermon and download his notes.

Helpful Resources & Organizations in Phoenix
Christian Family Care Clinic
Phoenix Rescue Mission
New York Times: For Migrants, New Law Is Just Another Challenge
New York Times: Welcome to Arizona, Outpost of Contradictions

For those of you wondering what kind of church we will be, you count on Imago Dei being a church that will engage these social and spiritual needs of our city. We are a church that seeks to serve our community and call the citizens of our city to do likewise. This is a reflection of our name. Imago Dei, latin for "In the Image of God" based on Genesis 1:26. Everybody matters and is deserving of dignity and worth.

Illegal Immigration in Arizona - Caring for people - Covering the cost?

My grandparents were immigrants so I am engaged in this discussion by my heritage. I live in Arizona so I am engaged in this discussion by my locale.  Are there not good suggestions that will both care for the families involved and resolve the burden to Arizona?  Here is some financial info from Fair-

Analysis of the latest Census data indicates that Arizona’s illegal immigrant population is costing the state’s taxpayers about $1.3 billion per year for education, medical care and incarceration. Even if the estimated tax contributions of illegal immigrant workers are subtracted, net outlays still amount to about $1.3 billion per year. The annual fiscal burden borne by Arizonans amounts to more than $700 per household headed by a native-born resident.

This analysis looks specifically at the costs of education, health care and incarceration because they represent the largest cost areas and because a 1994 study conducted by the Urban Institute, which also examined these same costs, provides a useful baseline for comparison ten years later. Other studies have been conducted in the interim, showing trends that support the conclusions of this report.

As this report will note, other significant costs associated with illegal immigration exist and should be taken into account by federal and state officials. But even without accounting for all of the multitude of areas in which costs are being incurred by Arizona taxpayers, the programs analyzed in this study indicate that the burden is substantial and that the costs are rapidly increasing.

The $1.3 billion in costs incurred by Arizona taxpayers is comprised of outlays in the following areas:

• Education. Based on estimates of the illegal immigrant population in Arizona and documented costs of K-12 schooling, Arizonans spend approximately $820 million annually on education for illegal immigrant children and for their U.S.-born siblings.
• Health Care. Uncom-pensated medical outlays for health care provided to the state’s illegal alien population is now estimated at about $400 million a year.
• Incarceration. The cost of incarcerating illegal aliens in Arizona prisons and jails amounts to about $80 million a year (not including the monetary costs of the crimes that led to their incarceration).

The unauthorized immigrant population pays some state and local taxes that go toward offsetting these costs, but they do not come near to matching the expenses. The total of such payments might generously be estimated at $257 million per year.

The fiscal costs of illegal immigration do not end with these three major cost items. The total costs of illegal immigration to the state’s taxpayers would be considerably higher if other costs such as special English instruction, school nutrition programs, or welfare benefits for American workers displaced by illegal alien workers were added into the equation.

The full report is available in PDF.

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Description: The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Arizonans

Teens, Cell Phones and Texting by Amanda Lenhart

PEW INTERNET & AMERICAN LIFE PROJECT

Text Messaging Becomes Centerpiece Communication

by Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist, Pew Internet & American Life Project
April 20, 2010

Summary of Findings

The mobile phone has become the favored communication hub for the majority of American teens.¹

Cell-phone texting has become the preferred channel of basic communication between teens and their friends, with cell calling a close second. Some 75% of 12-17 year-olds now own cell phones, up from 45% in 2004. Those phones have become indispensable tools in teen communication patterns. Fully 72% of all teens² -- or 88% of teen cell phone users -- are text-messagers. That is a sharp rise from the 51% of teens who were texters in 2006. More than half of teens (54%) are daily texters.

Among all teens, their frequency of use of texting has now overtaken the frequency of every other common form of interaction with their friends (see chart below).

Fully two-thirds of teen texters say they are more likely to use their cell phones to text their friends than talk to them to them by cell phone.

One in three teens sends more than 100 text messages a day, or 3000 texts a month.

Daily text messaging by teens to friends has increased rapidly since early 2008. Some 38% of teens were daily texters in February 2008, and that has risen to 54% of teens who use text daily in September 2009. Of the 75% of teens who own cell phones, 87% use text messaging at least occasionally. Among those teen texters:

• Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month, and one in three send more than 100 texts a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month.
• 15% of teens who are texters send more than 200 texts a day, or more than 6,000 texts a month.
• Boys typically send and receive 30 texts a day; girls typically send and receive 80 messages per day.
• Teen texters ages 12-13 typically send and receive 20 texts a day.
• 14-17 year-old texters typically send and receive 60 text messages a day.
• Older girls who text are the most active, with 14-17 year-old girls typically sending 100 or more messages a day or more than 3,000 texts a month.
• However, while many teens are avid texters, a substantial minority are not. One-fifth of teen texters (22%) send and receive just one to 10 texts a day or 30 to 300 texts a month.

Calling is still a central function of the cell phone for teens, and for many teens voice is the primary mode of conversing with parents.

Among cell-owning teens, using the phone for calling is a critically important function, especially when it comes to connecting with their parents. But teens make and receive far fewer phone calls than text messages on their cell phones.

Teens typically make or receive five calls a day. White teens typically make or receive four calls a day, or around 120 calls a month, while black teens exchange seven calls a day or about 210 calls a month and Hispanic teens typically make and receive five calls a day or about 150 calls a month.

Girls more fully embrace most aspects of cell phone-based communication.

As we see with other communicative technologies and applications, girls are more likely than boys to use both text messaging and voice calling and are likely to do each more frequently.

• Girls typically send and receive 80 texts a day; boys send and receive 30.
• 86% of girls text message friends several times a day; 64% of boys do the same.
• 59% of girls call friends on their cell phone every day; 42% of boys call friends daily on their cell phone daily.

Girls are also more likely than boys to text for social reasons, to text privately and to text about school work.

• 59% of girls text several times a day to "just say hello and chat"; 42% of boys do so.
• 84% of girls have long text exchanges on personal matters; 67% of boys have similar exchanges.
• 76% of girls text about school work, while 64% of boys text about school.

For parents, teens' attachment to their phones is an area of conflict and regulation.

Parents exert some measure of control over their child's mobile phone -- limiting its uses, checking its contents and using it to monitor the whereabouts of their offspring. In fact, the latter is one of the primary reasons many parents acquire a cell phone for their child. However, with a few notable exceptions, these activities by parents do not seem to impact patterns of cell phone use by teens.

• 64% of parents look at the contents of their child's cell phone and 62% of parents have taken away their child's phone as punishment.
• 46% of parents limit the number of minutes their children may talk and 52% limit the times of day they may use the phone.
• 48% of parents use the phone to monitor their child's location.³
• Parents of 12-13 year-old girls are more likely to report most monitoring behavior.
• Limiting a child's text messaging does relate to lower levels of various texting behaviors among teens. These teens are less likely to report regretting a text they sent, or to report sending sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images by text (also known as "sexting").
• Teens whose parents limit their texting are also less likely to report being passengers in cars where the driver texted behind the wheel or used the phone in a dangerous manner while driving.

Most schools treat the phone as a disruptive force that must be managed and oftenexcluded from the school and the classroom.

Even though most schools treat cell phones as something to be contained and regulated, teens are nevertheless still texting frequently in class.

• 12% of all students say they can have their phone at school at any time.
• 62% of all students say they can have their phone in school, just not in class.
• 24% of teens attend schools that ban all cell phones from school grounds.
• Still, 65% of cell-owning teens at schools that completely ban phones bring their phones to school every day.
• 58% of cell-owning teens at schools that ban phones have sent a text message during class.
• 43% of all teens who take their phones to school say they text in class at least once a day or more.
• 64% of teens with cell phones have texted in class; 25% have made or received a call during class time.

Cell phones help bridge the digital divide by providing internet access to less privileged teens. Still, for some teens, using the internet from their mobile phone is "too expensive."

Teens from low-income households, particularly African-Americans, are much more likely than other teens to go online using a cell phone. This is a pattern that mirrors Pew Internet Project findings about adults and their cell phones.

• 21% of teens who do not otherwise go online say they access the internet on their cell phone.
• 41% of teens from households earning less than $30,000 annually say they go online with their cell phone. Only 70% of teens in this income category have a computer in the home, compared with 92% of families from households that earn more.
• 44% of black teens and 35% of Hispanic teens use their cell phones to go online, compared with 21% of white teens.

Cell phones are seen as a mixed blessing. Parents and teens say phones make their lives safer and more convenient. Yet both also cite new tensions connected to cell phone use.

Parents and their teenage children say they appreciate the mobile phone's enhancement of safety and its ability to keep teens connected to family and friends. For many teens, the phone gives them a new measure of freedom. However, some teens chafe at the electronic tether to their parents that the phone represents. And a notable number of teens and their parents express conflicting emotions about the constant connectivity the phone brings to their lives; on the one hand, it can be a boon, but on the other hand, it can result in irritating interruptions.

• 98% of parents of cell-owning teens say a major reason their child has the phone is that they can be in touch no matter where the teen is.
• 94% of parents and 93% of teens ages 12-17 with cell phones agreed with the statement: "I feel safer because I can always use my cell phone to get help." Girls and mothers especially appreciate the safety aspects of cell ownership.
• 94% of cell users ages 12-17 agree that cell phones give them more freedom because they can reach their parents no matter where they are.
• 84% of 12-17 year-old cell owners agree that they like the fact that their phone makes it easy to change plans quickly, compared with 75% of their parents who agree with that sentiment.
• 48% of cell-owning teens get irritated when a call or a text message interrupts what they are doing, compared with 38% of the cell-owning parents.
• 69% of cell-owning teens say their phone helps them entertain themselves when they are bored.
• 54% of text-using teens have received spam or other unwanted texts.
• 26% have been bullied or harassed through text messages and phone calls.

Cell phones are not just about calling or texting -- with expanding functionality, phones have become multimedia recording devices and pocket-sized internet connected computers. Among teen cell phone owners:

Teens who have multi-purpose phones are avid users of those extra features. The most popular are taking and sharing pictures and playing music:

• 83% use their phones to take pictures.
• 64% share pictures with others.
• 60% play music on their phones.
• 46% play games on their phones.
• 32% exchange videos on their phones.
• 31% exchange instant messages on their phones.
• 27% go online for general purposes on their phones.
• 23% access social network sites on their phones.
• 21% use email on their phones.
• 11% purchase things via their phones.

The majority of teens are on family plans where someone else foots the bill.

There are a variety of payment plans for cell phones, as well as bundling plans for how phone minutes and texts are packaged, and a variety of strategies families use to pay for cell phones. Teens' use of cell phones is strongly associated with the type of plan they have and who pays the phone bills.

• 69% of teen cell phone users have a phone that is part of a contract covering all of their family's cell phones.
• 18% of teen cell phone users are part of a prepaid or pay-as-you-go plan.
• 10% of teen cell phone users have their own individual contract.

When one combines type of plan with voice minutes, the most common combination is a family plan with limited voice minutes -- one in three teen cell phone users (34%) are on this type of plan. One in four teen cell phone users (25%) are on a family plan with unlimited minutes.

Over half of all teen cell phone users are on family plans that someone else (almost always a parent) pays for entirely -- this figure jumps to two-thirds among teens living in households with incomes of $50,000 or more. At the same time, low income teens are much less likely to be on family plans. Among teens living in households with incomes below $30,000, only 31% are on a family plan that someone else pays for. In this group, 15% have prepaid plans that someone else pays for, and 12% have prepaid plans that they pay for entirely themselves. Black teens living in low income households are the most likely to have prepaid plans that they pay for themselves.

Unlimited plans are tied to increases in use of the phone, while teens on "metered" plans are much more circumspect in their use of the phone.

Fully three-quarters of teen cell phone users (75%) have unlimited texting. Just 13% of teen cell phone users pay per message. Those with unlimited voice and texting plans are more likely to call others daily or more often for almost every reason we queried -- to call and check in with someone, to coordinate meeting, to talk about school work or have long personal conversations. Teens with unlimited texting typically send and receive 70 texts per day, compared with 10 texts a day for teens on limited plans and five texts a day for teens who pay per message.

4% of teens say they have sent a sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude image of themselves to someone via text message.

A relatively small number of teens have sent and received sexually suggestive images by text:

• 15% of teens say they have received a sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude image of someone they know by text.
• Older teens are more likely to receive "sexts" than younger teens.
• The teens who pay their own phone bills are more likely to send "sexts": 17% of teens who pay for all of the costs associated with their cell phones send sexually suggestive images via text; just 3% of teens who do not pay for or only pay for a portion of the cost of the cell phone send these images.

Further details about "sexting" via cell phones may be found in our recent Teens and Sexting Report.

One in three (34%) texting teens ages 16-17 say they have texted while driving. That translates into 26% of all American teens ages 16-17.

• Half (52%) of cell-owning teens ages 16-17 say they have talked on a cell phone while driving. That translates into 43% of all American teens ages 16-17.
• 48% of all teens ages 12-17 say they have been in a car when the driver was texting.
• 40% say they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a way that put themselves or others in danger.

More details about cell phone use among teens and distracted driving maybe found in our earlier report Teens and Distracted Driving.

Read the full report at pewinternet.org.

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_{1. Unless otherwise noted, all data in this report refers to cell phone-owning teens.
2 This 72% of teens who text figure is slightly different than previous "teens who text" numbers that we have released. The difference lies in the question wording. For this question, we asked about teens texting friends, but we did not specify the platform (computer, cell phone) on which the texting was taking place. Our other teen texting number (66%) reflects teens who text on their own cell phone, and does not constrain who the teen may be texting with. Please see K9c and K20a in our questionnaire for exact question wording.
3 This question is worded in such a way that it may refer to both parents calling a child and asking his or her location, as well as using a GPS-based service to establish the phone’s location.}

Ten Questions Unchurched People are NOT Asking

March 31, 2010 in Uncategorized | 11 comments

From Perry Noble in South Carolina:

http://ping.fm/ft2uW

#1 – “What do you do to disciple people?”  (This question is usually asked by people who want to ‘microwave” spiritually, not understand that they themselves actually became mature in the “crock pot.”)

#2 – “Who is speaking this weekend?”  (They usually don’t care about the WHO…it’s the WHAT that matters to them.)

#3 – “Are you reformed in your theology?”  (Most of them have no idea what in the heck this means!)

#4 – “Is your church spirit filled?”

#5 – “What version of the Bible do you use?”  (Many unchurched people don’t even really know there are different versions!)

#6 – “What denomination are you affiliated with?”

#7 – “How many different activities can I sign my family up for in order to add to the insane schedule that we already have?”

#8 – “Does your pastor teach exegetically through the Scriptures?”

#9 – “Are there lots of crosses and pictures of Jesus in your church?”

#10 – “Are you guys pre trib, mid trib, post trib or partial trib?”

Florida Megachurch Plants Facebook Church - PR Newswire 3/11/10

On Sunday morning, Northland, A Church Distributed will officially open the doors to its new Facebook app, which will allow worshipers to invite their Facebook friends to go to church with them—without leaving the familiar Facebook environment. Plus, even when live worship isn’t happening, the opportunity for worship is readily available because the previous week's service will be posted and available for viewing 24 hours a day. “We encourage people to be the church everywhere, every day, so it just makes sense to put resources out there that will help people to be that church,” explains Nathan Clark, Northland’s director of digital innovation. With a congregation of 12,000 worshipers meeting throughout Metro Orlando and worldwide via interactive webcast, the church started webcasting live services in January 2006 and, 18 months later, launched an interactive webstream of its services that includes immediate access to an online pastor and the ability to chat instantly with other worshipers. Approximately 2,000 people use this venue each weekend. Two hundred of Northland’s congregants now serve as online missionaries, replying to emails from thousands of seekers around the world. Northland’s live Sunday services will now also be accessible on Facebook. Clark says the motivation behind this new tool is to “take the church where people live.” “At Northland, we often talk about the need to take the church to the people, versus asking them to come to us. For us, it was a wake-up call to realize that we were doing precisely that online—asking people to come to our website for worship. Why require a virtual commute over to our website when you can have church where people are?”

PR Newswire 3/11/10

Urgent Message from Nigeria shared by Mike Breen

Dear Friends,

Below is an email from a dear friend of mine, and a member of the Order of Mission, who is currently living in Jos Nigeria. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Many Blessings
Mike

Message from Jos:

Beloved,

Please help post this onto the TOM website so members can read and be informed to pray more effectively. The cause of these attacks which started on Sunday January 17 is the determination of the Muslims in Nigeria to destroy the church in Jos. They are convinced that this will give them the basis from which to make Nigeria completely islamised. So this is an all out Jihad.

What you may be hearing on the news is sheer propaganda and a deliberate attempt to hide the truth. The whole thing started when a church was attacked during her Sunday worship service. Quite a number of people were killed and many others wounded. Soon afterwards, violent Muslim youths went on rampage burning churches and killing/maiming Christians. Few Christians were able to defend themselves because no one was prepared for it. The next day, the violent destruction of lives and property continued even in the presence of the police and army personnel, and in fact with their help in some places. Things got out of hand, and Christians were forced to defend themselves as best as they could, in the city and in the villages. Consequently, lives were lost on both sides. This, the Muslims could not accept because they consider themselves children of the federal government. They feel they have the right to kill and no one should touch them. So, Christians have continued to suffer attacks from Muslims since then with many of the killings carried out by the soldiers, majority of whom are Muslims. This is because the General Officer commanding the army formation in Jos is a Muslim. He selects Muslims and sends into town in the name of maintaining peace, but they go about killing Christians.

We were suffering from this situation when the brutal and heartless attack of Sunday March 7 shocked everyone. They came to the village at about 2 am while everyone was sleeping. Security information was passed to the army at about 11pm on Saturday, three hours before the attacks started and it was delivered to the army chief immediately. Nonetheless, the army failed to be there to protect the lives because he wanted the Christians in that village to be wiped out. The army got to the village at 6 am when the deed had been done. At the wake of this attack, over 500 persons were brutally hacked to death. Their aim is to wipe out the Christians in Jos because they see them as the hindrance to the country wide sweep of Islam that they are seeking to execute.

So the whole thing is a jihad that is sponsored by the Islamic world. All the Muslim governors in Nigeria, especially northern Nigeria are in support of this dastardly act; not to talk of the huge financial support and mercenaries they get from the Organization of Islamic Countries. We need all the prayers that can be offered. We are living daily by the grace of God. There is tension in the city and in the village. Please pray, and if there is anything else that you can do it will be greatly appreciated. Many people are now homeless, and do not even have food to eat. With the rains just round the corner, we do not know where the thousands who are homeless will live.

Engaging Customers by Mark Mathis 3/16/2010

The hot topic with marketing types like me is “customer engagement.”  You’ll see me overuse this new buzz word.  But it is not new.

Customer engagement used to mean studying customer/stakeholder ‘touch’ points.  Then making sure that the experience is a good one for those who engage you.  Now it seems to mean connecting with people via social media.  But do we really want to be engaged with a bank, with a grocery store, with a gas station, with a clothing store?    I find that most of the engagement just means that a raft of e-mails are coming my way.  But not much engagement. 

The one place I saw real engagement that added value was at Disney World in Orlando.  We went on my daughter’s birthday and they gave her a button at the entrance.  At first I thought, “Oh boy a realbutton, you think they could have sprung for a bit more.”  But as we walked around the park, she was treated in grand style by every cast member (employees) we encountered, making it a truly magical day.  The other engagement tool Disney uses is the trading of pins.  Each cast member has a number of pins that they wear.  You can trade any of your pins with these people.  Even the people picking up the trash get into the act.  The kids (and parents) love it.  Each encounter paints memories that last a lifetime. 

And you are truly engaged.  Why?  Because engagement requires a two-way relationship (and I’m not talking about another survey).  Engagement is a commitment from both sides with equal exchange.  Finding touch points, beyond automatically initiated e-mails, is the key to true engagement with customers and stakeholders.  Want to trade a pin? 

Engaging Customers

March 16, 2010 by iowaadguy

It's 2010, Where's My Jetpack? by John Dyer

When we were kids, 2010 seemed like a far off world full of “rad” new technology like holo- graphic TVs, atomic cars, hoverboards, and the most awesome of all—personal jetpacks.

Well it’s 2010, and the best jetpack out there costs $100,000, can fly for only 60 seconds, and is the size of a tractor (check it out at www.martinjetpack.com). Personally, I’m pretty disappointed, but I’m not the only one. There are a bunch of blogs titled, “Where’s my jetpack?,” a 2007 book titled, Where’s My Jetpack?: A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future that Never Arrived, and even snarky T-shirts with slogans such as, “The future is now, and we are not impressed.”

We may not have jetpacks, but we are surrounded by a dizzying array of technology that would have amazed us just a few decades ago. However, since these devices have become so integral to our daily lives we often miss just how much change they have brought to our world. To help people understand the changes technology can bring, Neil Postman gave a lecture in which he outlined five things that happen when we start using a new technology. Instead of looking back at past technology, let’s take his observations and imagine what a future with jetpacks would look like.

1. Jetpacks will have trade-offs. Our new jetpacks will be the new awesome. No need to worry about traffic or parking spots at Walmart. Just fly on over, walk in, get some Oatmeal Creme Pies, and then take off. But along with all the awesomeness, jetpacks will come with some downsides just like every previous invention. There will, of course, be some sad accidents and crimes committed with jetpacks, but jetpacks will also bring more subtle cultural changes. Public places will likely become quite a bit noisier, and the skies will be more polluted with exhaust fumes and flying mullets. One of the difficult things about technology is that the greater the benefits a new device brings, the more negative the possible trade-offs.

2. Jetpacks will create winners and losers. Another observation Postman made about technology is that its benefits don’t usually get shared equally among people. For example, computers and the Internet have created a world where churches now hire programmers, designers, and videographers. This is great for guys like me (and most readers of this magazine), but it uniquely advantages us over other skilled workers. If we choose to have a jetpack ministries we might do some incredible outreach, but we’ll also be choosing to favor one group over another. That’s not necessarily bad if that’s our calling, but it is easy to get so excited about a new technology that we end up leaving some people in the dust.

3. Jetpacks will contain a “powerful idea.” Mark Twain is credited with saying, “To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” In other words, the tools we use tend to color the way we see the world and the situations we encounter. Photographers tend to see the world in images, and pastors often see events as sermon illustrations. What idea or way of looking at the world does a jetpack have? I know that if I had a jetpack, I would feel invincible, as if I could go anywhere at any time without help from anyone or anything. Hmm, maybe the jetpack has a bit of embedded individualism? I would probably have to work hard to make sure that I used it in community rather than always going off on my own.

4. Jetpacks are ecological, not additive. What happens to a fish tank when you drop in a baby shark? The shark won’t just exist alongside the other fish; it will change the makeup of the fish tank in a big way. That kind of change is ecological, not just additive. Though not quite as dramatic, technological change is also ecological. The auto industry “ate” all the blacksmiths, digital downloads are eating into CD sales, and projectors pushed hymnals out of churches. Jetpacks will probably result in altered recreational habits and, sadly, they might put a halt on research into hoverboards (because who would want a hoverboard when you could have a jetpack?). Whenever we choose to use a new technology, something else will get pushed out.

5. Jetpacks will eventually become “normal.” In 1989, when I was 10 years old, my dad let me build my first computer—a shiny, new, top of the line 486 processor running at 25 MHz. Twenty years later, my phone runs at somewhere around 500 MHz, and my laptop is in the 3,000 MHz range. But you know what? Even with those insane speed increases, my phone and my computer seem soooo slow to me. The problem isn’t with RAM or my OS, it’s that we’re very quick to forget how cool things are. Over time, special effects don’t seem very special, beautiful people seem flawed, and one day, even jetpacks will seem pretty boring. It is at this point—when we forget how powerful, influential, and life-changing technology is—that technology has truly reshaped us.

What new technology are you considering adding to your life, your family, or your church? It might not be as cool as the mythical jetpack, but it will likely bring some change to your life and the life of those around you. It might be helpful to run your new stuff through these five questions:

• For all its pros, what cons will it bring?
• Which groups of people will benefit from this and which groups will not?
• What subtle influences will it have on me?
• What older tools and trends will it push out?
• And finally, what happens when I stop noticing it

John Dyer is a web developer in Dallas, Texas, and he writes about issues related to faith and technology at www.donteatthefruit.com.

Rust - Our institutions are rusting out. by David Housholder

Rust

February 11, 2010 in Theology-Philosophy, politics | Tags: archaeology, Church,economy, education, future, government, military

Our institutions are rusting out.

Let me say from the beginning that I am an optimist for the human race and for the Creation in general. God will have his way with Creation and people are amazingly resilient and adaptable.

But I am a pessimist about the ability of our major institutions to survive this century.

The rust has gone beyond cosmetic. The core of our institutions are rusting

Sure you want to read this?

The church, the government, education, the military, and the economy are in terminal trouble.

Not that some form of church, government, education, military, and economy won’t survive. All of these functions are going to survive; but the institutions which carry these functions now may not.

CHURCH

Arguably the most resilient of all institutions (outliving languages and nations, and ALL ideologies), the Church has gone ’sideline’ in the space of one generation.

The Church was the only major institution to survive the fall of the Roman Empire.

Irrelevant and ignored are the two adjectives that come to mind when I think of the 21st Century church.

Virtually no explicit Christian leaders, for the first time in 2 millennia, are first-team varsity culture shapers on our planet. We don’t even have an Oprah, let alone a Churchill.

Today’s 15-30 year-olds are ignoring the Church in unprecidented droves.

Most denominational organizations are ripped apart by political issues and are reaching terminal blood loss levels. Christianity is fragmented like never before.

GOVERNMENT

I live in California.

California, more or less first to try out everything, became ungovernable a few years ago. The USA is not far behind.

Our current form of  ’democracy’ is based on British parliamentary and American constitutional decision making. Also on the idea of the sovereign “nation state.”

More Americans seem to believe in the sacred inerrancy of our constitution than believe in the veracity of the Bible. But its days are numbered because the institution it calls forth is no longer able to solve problems. It can’t do its job.

The truth is, the folks in Sacramento and Washington DC are no longer at the helm of our culture. They are not calling the shots.

The models they follow are based on pre-industrial and pre-information-age interaction. They are more and more unable to solve the challenges we all face together.

The European Union is facing increasing opposition from client states and their citizens. It is a faux-empire with no mass appeal or loyalty (from the citizenry). It lacks patriotism.

The Romans were unable to adapt to changing situations. Patriotism and effort is not enough.

Sometimes you just have to think differently.

EDUCATION

We all know that there are great educators out there.

Most of us were influenced by outstanding teachers.

But there is a nagging consensus that the way we do school and university is not working as it should.

We have been unable, in the USA, to figure out how to include all of the major lifestyle ideologies in our official education process. Abraham Kuyper of Holland was the last one to pull this off (about 100 years ago). So we settle for lowest-common-denominator secular humanism as our official education vibe.

And pencils and classrooms? In the 21st century? Our current elementary education model doesn’t even assume the presence of electricity. It would work almost as well with a pot belly stove and a chalkboard.

MILITARY

We are unable to create safety for productive citizens. Our USA military was designed to beat the Germans (tanks) and the Japanese (aircraft carriers).

The military of other countries is more or less totally impotent and unable to project power anywhere. Europe couldn’t even take care of Kosovo without our help.

The real threats are politically and psychologically (sometimes both) fringe people. Especially when they congregate and organize.

Call it extremism or whatever.

They want to blow up airplanes (from their underwear) over Detroit.

They form camps to train angry young men to hate and kill.

They are notoriously flexible and hard to locate. The most powerful military on Earth can’t find Bin Laden.

They generally hate Israel, America, or the UK–not necessarily in that order.

They, as strongmen, take over failed states and provide “stability” and pride for their followers.

As a result, harmless grandmas have to take off their shoes at airport security, getting their water bottles confiscated, and honest people have governments limiting how much money they can move around. I have an 827 credit rating and the bank has to put holds on my checks because of the “Patriot Act.”

New “nuclear powers” are added every few years. An obsolete form of national security, but it continues to spread. Who will be the first to pull the trigger? Pakistan? North Korea?

We, and other nations, spend bazillions on ‘military’ but most of it is still focused on a WW2 that is not going to return. Or on a Cold War that is just plain over.

And Bin Laden and North Korea continue to do whatever they want.

ECONOMY

The economy has been fragile for quite some time. “Recovery” seems to be an elusive thing. It may not arrive; at least in the sense of returning to the way things are.

People may well prosper in the future. I believe they will. But the Reagan and Clinton prosperity patterns are not coming back. We are moving forward into something new.

The big time bomb is China. They have huge problems. 300 million Chinese (the entire population of the USA) are seasonal itinerant migrant workers. Their environmental issues are like gathering national mudslides. Their core industries are rusting out, and only 8-10 percent annual GNP growth “keeps the doctor away.” The day that expansion slips below that level…

The effect of this on the global economy will be staggering.

Money, also, is making no sense. What is it anyway? We are constantly measuring something that is an abstraction at best. Money is a very old school way of value storage; kind of a reel-to-reel tape in an iPod financial era. Money is simply not keeping up–obviously.

And our global banking system can’t exist without huge infusions which the governments paying them can’t afford to make.

CONCLUSIONS

Archaeology shows us that institutions calcify and end up in layers of ‘digs.’

We may be facing revolutionary changes in our institutions. Many of us alive today may see these institutions (peacefully or otherwise) make way for new forms of completing the same tasks.

Even our cities may not survive.

Cities (bigger and bigger) have to get their food from farther and farther away.

They have to ‘trade’ something in return for being fed. Cities cannot feed themselves.

It used to be that cities, by concentrating people, could create innovation that they could sell to people who would feed them.

With technological and communication breakthroughs, people can live in Northern Alberta and create innovation in conversation with the whole world via technology. We don’t have to live in cities anymore.

De-urbanization (along with other things) killed the Roman Empire. Rome could no longer add value to the rural areas who were feeding the great city. People moved to the countryside and reorganized as local fiefdoms.

The 21st Century is going to be the most revolutionary since the 6th century.

Are you ready for it?

What are you doing to position yourself to prevail?

New Year's Resolutions for Non-Profit Board Members by Gail Perry

January 2010 It’s that time again—for turning over a new leaf, for reexamining our work and lives, for refocusing on what we really want, and for refreshing our commitment to good works.

Here are some great New Year's resolutions for nonprofit board members. If you do these, you'll set an example and be a "spark plug" for your organization—and you'll also help make the world a better place through your favorite nonprofit.

1. Get more engaged. Your nonprofit needs you to pay attention to your job as a nonprofit board member. Nonprofits don't need disengaged bosses. (And yes, you are the boss—you're the legal fiduciary guardian of your nonprofit. The staff—through the CEO—reports to you.) Your favorite nonprofit needs YOU to lead, to question, and to act!
   
2. Have a bias toward action. DO something. Your nonprofit needs more than talk out of you. Don't be one of those board members who thinks his or her only job is to come to meetings and pontificate a bit. Look for real actions you can take to help the cause. Ask the staff what they need you TO DO this month, this quarter, this year.
   
3. Think big. You're not going to change the world, save the environment, feed the hungry, change your community, by thinking small. And there is great power in a big, wildly exciting vision! You attract people—and resources—to your cause. Energy is everything when you are trying to create change.
   
4. Be optimistic, no matter what. Ban the handwringing and naysaying. Negativity is self-defeating and deadening. It wipes out energy and passion. It deadens momentum. Be the board member who has the point of view of abundance rather than scarcity. You'll influence the rest!
   
5. Go back to your vision over and over and over. It will keep you excited, focused, passionate, and results oriented. If you feel jaded or bored, ask yourself why you really care about this cause and this organization. You'll fan the flames of your passion and your energy. You'll feel deep personal satisfaction when you see the results your organization is creating in people's lives.
   
6. Be the catalyst; be the provocateur. Challenge, challenge, challenge the status quo. Remember Jack Welch's quote: "If the change is happening on the outside faster than it is on the inside, the end is near."
   
   Well, guess what—that goes for nonprofits too. Too many nonprofits plan for the future based firmly on the past. Be willing to ask, "Why are we doing this?" If needed, point out the elephant in the room that everyone is too polite to mention. Be willing to examine your nonprofit's business model if needed.
   
7. Make your own proud, personal gift to support your organization. AND encourage the other board members to give. If you don't put your money where your mouth is, you have absolutely no credibility. Set an example. Don't be afraid to bring up the subject of board gifts in board meetings. Be willing to talk to other board members about their annual commitments.
   
8. Support the staff. Ask them what they need from you. Ask them how you can support them. The staff is carrying the weight of enormous responsibility on their shoulders. Pay them competitive salaries. Don't let them overwork in the name of the cause. Return their phone calls. Respond to their e-mails. Tell them what a great job they are doing. A self-confident staff will perform at a high level.
   
9. Introduce 10 of your friends to your cause. See if you can get them on your organization's bandwagon. You're not asking them for money. Instead you're trying to get them to join the cause. Have a porch party and invite your friends to meet your CEO, or take a group on a tour out in the field to show them the good work your organization is doing.
   
10. Be a sneezer and spread your organization's viral news wherever you go. Ideas are like viruses—they are contagious, spreading from person to person. You want to create an epidemic of good buzz about your organization all around.
    
    All your friends, family and business associates need to know about your passionate involvement in your cause. Say, "Did you know that ... ?" or "Can you imagine that xxxx is happening in our community?" Before you know it, they'll be engaged and on your bandwagon!
    

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Gail Perry, January 2010
© 2010, Gail Perry