Mike Walker

Lessons learned from baseball

Every morning I head to Starbucks to grab a Venti Americano and catch up on my ESPN radio.

This morning the announcement came out that Major League Baseball is going to try out instant replay in their fall league. 

A lot of baseball purists are openly speaking out against it as technology shouldn't be a part of the game and it will slow it down (I guess they haven't figure out that it's baseball and there isn't much you can do to make it slower).

The radio host made a brilliant point. He said "do the purists not realize that a good number of people sitting in the stands at the game are working or playing on their PALM or BlackBerry device? They are likely listening to the game on SIRRIUS Satellite radio. They probably purchased their ticket online. And, they probably got to the stadium by using a GPS system. If the people you are trying to reach and connect with are in the 18-28 year old range then they are using technology."

What about in the churches, are you using technology to it's fullest? What audience are you trying to connect with? Are they a group that is tech savvy? If they are then take a leap and meet them where they are and figure out how to incorporate more technology (effective technology) and reach them.

It's ok to try a few things. Going back to some sports examples, the NBA tried enforcing a dress code which many thought would fail and it turned out to be a great thing. At the same time, they also tried introducing a new ball and it didn't last. Point being, try a few things and see where it takes you.

Team building filters

I have heard it said many times that in construction there are 3 considerations:

1 - Cheap

2 - Fast

3 - Quality

...and you only get to pick 2. I laughed the first time I heard it but soon discovered it to be true.

In team building and organizations there is a principle of 3 that holds true as well. If you look at it like a 3 legged stool the legs represented would be:

1 - Relationships

2 - Results

3 - Processes

Each of has a natural bent in one of the three as our primary strength with a pull towards a secondary. For example, a good friend of mine is VERY relationships driven as their primary and their secondary is results. 9 times out of 10 he will sacrifice the process for the relationships or results. He realizes the importance of the processes, but it's also the one quickest to be sacrificed. 

As you are building your team (especially at the top level) you need to make sure you have balance in the 3 areas otherwise you could have a team that is high on relationships and results but the processes and day to day operations suffer (which could, in net effect, have an adverse affect on your relationships). If you are too results and process oriented you could negatively affect your relationships...and so on and so on....

It's a good filter to keep in front of you as you are building your teams as well as evaluating your current teams.

It ain't all about the gear...

I was recently brought in by a church that was experiencing some "technical difficulties" after moving in to their new building.

Upon arriving the staff informed me that they were fairly frustrated and they were not sure what to do. As the conversation moved on they kept expressing over and over how frustrated they were because they had just spent a huge sum of money and didn't feel like their systems were all that great.

After about 2 hours of letting them vent I began to dig a bit in to what all had been put in to play. What I found was that they had some pretty amazing sound, lighting, and video systems put in to play. In fact, they had very little to complain about.

I pulled a team of trusted friends together who were audio engineers, lighting programmers, and video engineers. We were able to come back in and run through a weekend with their staff while operating their recently purchased gear.

At the end of the weekend the staff pulled me aside to tell me how everything looked and sounded different that weekend and wanted to know what we did different. Imagine the surprise of the staff when I informed them that we didn't change a single thing. Which then posed the question....well...then what was the difference?

The ONLY difference was that we had great people at key positions. Great gear is only that....great gear. If you don't have properly trained people then you will end up with a very high priced frustration.

Take some time and do an evaluation of where your staff is and what they are really capable of. If you don't really know how to evaluate them then bring in someone who has a better idea how to bring some light to the situation.

If your staff isn't where you thought or hoped they are not all hope is lost. Invest in your people. Bring in a team of experts who can help bring out the most in your team....after all....it ain't all about the gear.

How'd they do that???

I was in Las Vegas recently and attended the Cirque du Soleil salute to the Beatles called "LOVE" as well as KA as a special guest. They are both definite "must see's".

I have now been doing large scale productions for almost 20 years (that makes me feel old). There isn't much I haven't seen and in some cases done, but there were moments where in both evenings where I found myself asking "how'd they do that"?

This weekend was another one of those moments.

During the past year and 3 months it's been nice to be a church member/attendee. For several years I was in the thick of it "doing church". What always made it tough was, in the process of working it was often hard to let go and be a worshipper or get fed.

Let me be clear here, I am in no way placing blame anywhere.....I am just saying it was tough.

The past several weeks I found myself being able to attend my home church Gateway in Southlake (which I am greatly thankful for the investment they have made in me), but then was on site with different clients on Sunday morning. As I was in the middle of a service on one of the weekends I looked around at the staff and was asking "how do they do this"? Several of the people I have been in contact with are in the throws of doing services and never have the chance to sit in a service to be a worshipper or have a chance to disconnect enough to get fed. Again, it's just hard. It's no wonder that burnout in the church world is so high.

Here's another sobering thought, network television produces between 18-26 episodes a year. The local church has 52 if they only do weekends. What about the ones who do Wednesdays or require additional time from the staff during the week for outside classes or whatnot....wow!

If you are a church staff member let me first send out some props...keep going! At the same time do what you can to make sure you stay healthy and aren't trying to pass out something you don't have yourself.

If you know someone on a church staff that is burning it at both ends make sure to keep them covered in prayer.....having been there I can tell you that they need it.

Looking back I am not really sure how I did it....or if I was always successful at it...but recent events have made me take a good hard look at friends and clients and wonder...."how do they do it"?

Exciting Times

This spring has been both crazy and exciting. At times I have felt like I was drinking from a fire hydrant with more than I can handle, but at the same very blessed.

Currently at Mike Walker Creative we are working diligently with the folks over at The Church Media Group to overhaul the website and marketing. The team over there rocks! They have helped flush out the vision and put it in to action. The website will be new, the blog will be updated, and we have more announcements to come.

Keep checking in for more updates.

Thought you should know

It is with a sad and heavy heart I write this post. For 8 years I served at Fellowship Church. I was blessed to be there and work with the team that was in place during Fellowship Church's most explosive growth time. I served along side Rob Johnson and Vanessa Whitwell.

Many of you know Rob's name, but you may or may not know Vanessa.

Vanessa was beyond a shadow of a doubt one of THE MOST creative people I have ever been around in my life. We had a lot of really, really good people who were great at what they do, but Vanessa was a primary reason we became great.

She touched lives in so many ways. You can't walk in to FC without seeing her fingerprints somewhere. From the atrium area where she always had opinions to share, to the bookstore, to the bathroom decor, to the stage where most people saw her, she had a huge impact on Fellowship.

On Thursday I received a phone call that Vanessa had been rushed to the hospital with bleeding on her brain. I am not going to get in to the details, but this afternoon she went home to be with The Lord.

We will miss her greatly, but I take a small amount off comfort to know that all the songs she sang about heaven while at Fellowship she is now seeing and experiencing first hand.

You never really replace a person like Vanessa, you are just thankful for how lucky you were to have her as part of your life. I will miss her greatly as will countless others.

Apple is changing the game

Apple announced yesterday that there is an update to Apple TV coming in the next few weeks and months. You will soon be able to rent movies directly from your Apple TV device. I hate going in Blockbuster stores so this is huge for me.

This news started my brain going. I have been doing some extensive research and reading on the topic of broadcast culture versus digital culture. Here's how it relates in this instance. Broadcast tv, radio, etc...decides what's going to be the show you will watch or the program you will listen to at a certain time. In a digital culture the options are more wide open. Imagine you being able to tune in whatever you wanted when you wanted. I could elaborate more on this, but I'll leave that for later.

So what does that have to do with church?

Most churches have audio, video, teaching materials, etc...that the public can go online and access. In some cases there is a cost involved and in some it's free information. What if...WHAT IF....the public could access all your material at any given time, watch it when they want or read it when they want? What if we were able to basically set up our own networks so people could access it and build their own playlist?

Think about it, not only would this allow public to listen to or watch what they want from your organization when they want to, but think about what you could learn about your audience. Your audience will automatically tell you what THEY think you are great at communicating about. The information that would be collected could drastically tell you how well you are doing with branding...if you are branding at all.

Again, I could go on and on about this....and I will be.....but I think the possibilities of thinking in a digital world open whole new spaces for us in the church world to start considering.

Catching up

I thought I would get a chance to catch my breath a little during November and December....not so much.

Last week I was in Freeport Bahamas for a site survey for 4 events I am working on next year. The trip was a whirlwind. I had an oceanview room I didn't get to enjoy much.

From there I flew home long enough to change the clothes out in my suitcase and catch a flight to Las Vegas.

I was the producer for an event called Elevation Sunday at The National Finals Rodeo (NFR). The NFR brings in the best of the best in the rodeo world for a year end competition. Elevation Sunday is one of the largest attended worship services on the first Sunday of the NFR. We had around 1000 attendees this year. Former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin was the keynote speaker.....WOW! The guy has completely turned his life around and gives an incredible testimony....and he is the NICEST guy as well.

I just got back in to Dallas on Monday and I am trying to play catch up on paperwork before I fly back out of town later in the week for a projector demo in Mississippi.

It's been a GREAT 2007 and I am looking forward to an exciting 2008. There are lot's of things in the works which I will catch you all up on later.

Great thoughts on email

I read the following post from Phil Cooke who had some great thoughts on email.

I recieve on average 55-70 emails a day (not including junkmail) and it is so easy for me to get caught up in quickly responding that I could eat up my entire day doing nothing but emailing. I forget sometimes, that while email is nice and handy you also need to completely think through what you type.

Take a minute and read this. It will help you both personally and professionally. If you don't have policies regarding email I would encourage you to put some in place. It can bite you real quick...

Wikinomics

I have been reading a book called Wikinomics. The book talks about a whole lot more than what I am going to write about. Below are some thoughts I have been jotting down as I am reading so I thought I would share.

"Net Generation" Leader - my thoughts on Wikinomics and how it relates to culture and leadership

Born 1977-1996
First Generation to grow up in a digital society – we are probably about 5 years from seeing the emergence of the leaders of this generation.

They grew up more in a digital culture than boomers or genexers did.

We grew up socializing in malls, burger joints, etc….this generation is connecting on the web.

Yesterdays web was a noun – todays web is a verb

University of Berkeley-based social scientist Danah Boyd research online social behaviours. She states that sites like Myspace and Facebook allow young people to reclaim private space. It’s like inviting someone in to your bedroom except that with Myspace you can invite them in 1000 at a time. They lack control at home and they don’t see home as private space.

Online offers safer solutions for teens. Malls and 7-11’s wont allow them in unless they are accompanied by parents.

Academic studies show a massive decline in interest and enthusiasm related to school work. Everything else is so much more engaging. We are still learning through reading and regurgitating.

A younger generation doesn’t trust advertising or media as much as they do peer-to-peer opinions and social networks.

Net Geners workplace needs – speed, freedom, openness, innovation, mobility, authenticity, and playfulness

They are on a quest for “newness”

It’s a new day…Leadership models are changing, marketing changes, delivery methods are changing…..we keep trying to “keep up with the cultural changes, but what we are really addressing are cultural symptoms. We end up a day late and a dollar short. We HAVE to innovate not only our delivery methods, but also our developmental methods. We are missing it right now as a church culture. We all have websites. Many of us have Myspace or Facebook pages, but we are failing in our attempts to be “relevant” to our culture because we have failed to understand the changes that have taken place. We are trying to lead and grow from an old model that has already begun failing us.

If the N-Generation doesn’t trust advertising or media then they probably don’t trust leadership…and they probably don’t trust the church.

It’s been interesting to watch the Grassley investigation unfold. There are those in the Christian Community who want to know why more Christians aren’t outraged and screaming out against it. Maybe, just maybe there is lack of trust in todays church. Maybe, deep down people aren’t crying out against the investigation because, while they want the allegations to be untrue, maybe they think they COULD be true.

As a side note, I have worked with Joyce Meyer on a couple of occasions and I will be shocked if anything comes out negative on her. My experience with her organization has been that they try to make sure everything is above the bar in all areas of their ministry. She really just wants to reach people. The others that were on the list and made public I do not have experience with so I will refrain from commenting on them.

We can become upset over this fact OR we can understand that this is where this generation is. This is how they think and feel. What we need to do is figure out how to connect with them. Take away all the smoke and mirrors and give them something authentic to look at. We all talk about being an authentic church, and while WE talk about it…what are the people outside our staff really saying? Do they see us as authentic or do they wonder if it’s all real?

Here is the thing about your brand….it’s not what you say it is….it’s what THEY say it is. What do the people walking in the door have to say about you? What do the people NOT walking in the door say about you?

Again, we are missing it. Once things go well we think we have it figured out. The toughest thing for any team to navigate is success. Success makes you forgive things that would otherwise be sins.

What we end up doing is that we think we have stumbled on to a magic formula and that anything we say or do will be successful. We quit paying attention to the thing that got us there in the first place. For many of us, we have forgotten about our customer. Yes, that’s right the customer. Every time someone comes in the church, tithes, engages with you online, etc… they are saying yes to you and no to someone/something else. We have forgotten our passion and why we got involved in the church in the first place.

What does all this mean in the grand scheme of things? I think I have more questions than answers, which is to say I don't know that I know right now, but it certainly provides some great things to think about....