Every Sunday, pastors make a pitch of one sort or another: Invest more time in reading the Bible. Show forgiveness and compassion to others.  Volunteer in your community.   Find a new church member you can mentor.  And the prime pitch: believe in the power of the Gospel – and share it with your neighbor.  Let me be clear at the start. I'm not suggesting that pastors can usurp the divine power of the Holy Spirit in the work of salvation. It's not man who saves, but God.  (John 14:6, Acts 4:12) But pastors are placed in positions to persuade.  ..read more

In my 15 years of running Stretch Internet – the leading video streaming provider in the collegiate athletic space – I had a front-row seat to the technology evolution that defined (and continues to define) the first part of this century. The term “SaaS” (software-as-a-service) didn’t even exist when we opened our doors in 2003, but by the time we sold the business in 2018, I’d wager that I spent 80 percent of my work hours using cloud-based software solutions to track web development progress; engage with customers and vendors; prepare proposals, contracts and other sales documents; update an ..read more

Sometimes, a John Elway bobble-head doll can make all the difference. Ah, I guess some context might be helpful... At my former business – which provided video streaming services to collegiate athletic departments –  we frequently put out software updates. In one particular case, we'd discovered more than a few major bugs after the update was released. We were quick to come up with language for our customer support reps when they fielded a call or e-mail from a frustrated client. But a few weeks in, as we started to squash the bugs and push out more stable updates to the software, on ..read more

As I write this article, Google Calendar tells me we'll turn the corner on 2020 in just 28 short days. Can I get an "Amen?" But while many of us can't put this year in the rear-view mirror quickly enough, we should also be eager to wring out every last drop of time to prepare for 2021. For ministries, the stakes are even higher than normal. A worldwide pandemic has changed the ways – maybe permanently – we interact with our stakeholders. Churches are creating new on-line communities, with debate about whether worshipers' habits are forever changed. Christian non-profits are reinventing the way ..read more

A few weeks back, I found myself a bystander to a conversation between a couple of pastors when the discussion turned to COVID-19 and its impact on the rhythms of the church. "The one thing I don't miss is all the long, useless meetings we had before we had to go virtual," said one of the pastors. That, to me, is a sad statement. Sad for several reasons: It shows the pastor's time (and the time of others in the church) was not well spent. It shows his team probably met about the wrong things and invited the wrong people. It shows he didn’t value meetings as one of the best opportunities ..read more

I can still feel the creased leather on the left side of the booth cushion. I can smell the aroma of freshly brewed hazelnut coffee. I can hear the regular ladies group to my left discussing the latest political drama. I can taste my slightly burnt french toast bagel with honey almond cream cheese. But above all of that? I can recall the rush of creative juices as I opened my laptop, turned my phone on airplane mode and began to deeply focus on the work that would truly drive my organization forward.   That booth at Panera radically changed the course of my business (and really, my l ..read more

We’ve all been in meetings where someone encouraged us to “think outside the box.” As if it’s as elementary as snapping your fingers. As if simple meditation and focus can immediately spawn unique, creative, that’s-never-been-tried-before ideas.  It’s awfully hard to think “outside the box” when you’re IN the box, and it’s sealed shut with rolls of packing tape. That’s a metaphor – please don’t try this for real: Jeffrey Dyer, Hal Gregersen, and Clayton Christensen, authors of The Innovator’s DNA, perfectly capture this conundrum. “Thinking outside the box is precisely what employees (an ..read more

There’s a difference between honesty and transparency. I’d be willing to say that the vast majority of Christian organizations are honest. I’d also be willing to say that many Christian organizations fail to consistently exhibit full transparency.  Think of full transparency as intentional honesty. From an organizational perspective, it’s the practice and discipline of seeking to openly and proactively share just about everything – strategy, financials, schedules, project plans, etc. – for the purpose of creating trust and engagement.  At first blush, churches and othe ..read more

It all started with a text message from my long-time friend, Ed, in late September of 2017: “Got time to chat later today?” So chat we did. Ed had just opted for early retirement from his long-time gig in pharmaceutical IT leadership, and felt like God was leading him to pursue his “next” – serving as a Christian life coach for business leaders trying to make sense of – well, life. He wanted me to come along on the ride, and help him revise, test and execute his ideas. Little did Ed know that his invitation got my own wheels spinning as well. I was also in tech at the time. In 2003, I launched ..read more