Mike Walker

BIG NEWS!!!!

I am excited to announce the new website for Mike Walker Creative! 

Thank you to the team at Church Media Group for an amazing job! Yuri Star, Travis Gates, and their team did exceptional work! Thanks guys!

Stop by and check it out. The new site will also be the new host for the blog. The new location will be www.mikewalkercreative.com/blog. The past year has been an incredible journey and I look forward to the ride over the next few months. 

See ya there!

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"?

Buy in

I am currently working on a couple of larger production projects as well as working on buying a company. All of these things require large amounts of capital to execute.

I have a good friend of mine who is a venture capitalist that I went to for some advice while putting all my documentation together. The first thing he told me was "before anyone gives you a dime or buys in to your idea...they have to buy in to you. If you have a track record that will make it easier, but if you don't then you have to sell yourself...then, and only then, will they listen to your idea".

I have heard that said in a similar manner before, but it was a good reminder.

It got me to thinking later about employees. Sadly most organizations see them merely as that...employees there to serve "me" (the leader) to carry out "my" vision.

What if as leaders we viewed our employees as investors? What if we got them to buy in to the vision for the organization to help build it and grow it. What if the organization grew beyond the leader and we were able to grow something larger than ourselves? I think most would say they want that, but not many go out and DO that.

A side note on buy in...it's not fear. Having your employees fear you does not mean they buy in.

Some time ago I was an observer in a meeting. There was a new leader put in place to run a department. I just about fell over when he made statements to the effect (I will paraphrase) "it's now my department so it's my way. I have taken some larger leaders out and I won't hesitate to do the same to any of you if you don't buy in to my vision".

While yes it sounds absurd and cartoonish, but it happened. Consequently, the team, instead of getting on board and helping dig in to grow the vision they now, even to this day, do just enough. They do their jobs and nothing more. There is no buy in.

I have also sat in meetings where a new leader is brought in and clearly laid out the vision, told the team "this is your department. We will grow and develop as to the level you all buy in and contribute. If you are ok with being average then we will be average. If you want to be great then we will do it together."

I spoke with the leader of the organization just the other day and they are still growing leaps and bounds and morale is at an all time high. Everyone is working hard, but they are digging in and doing it together because they bought in to the leader then the vision.

Get the buy in and there's no telling where you can go...as a leader, as a team, and as an organization.

People Solve Problems

I produced a large festival in Dallas, TX for several years and had the privilege of working with a man I had respected for many years named Denny Keitzman who is one of the absolute best production managers the industry has ever seen.

It was an outdoor event and we had seen several days of severe weather leading up to the event as well as on show day. Everyone on the stage was exhausted and starting to fade as the show finally got under way. As we were discussing possible scenarios to preserve the event and make the best out of a tough situation I remember him saying “people solve problems, so let’s make sure our people working have exactly what they need to do their job, they are well fed, and they feel appreciated”.

The first thing we did was have catering bring additional food and drinks to the stage. The next thing we did was huddle the team and figure out what each person needed to be successful that day and we made sure if it was at all possible we got it for them. Finally we made sure everyone knew that they were vital to the success of the day and every chance we got we made sure to thank them and let them know they were appreciated.

What could have been a disastrous day ended up being one we all celebrated together and still talk about to this day.

I see too many situations where organizations forget that it’s people who solve problems and if you want to grow an organization you have to be about people. Starbucks says it best when they say “we are not in the coffee business serving people, we’re in the people business serving coffee. We are passionate about the people who make the coffee, the people we serve, the people we partner with, and the communities we’re a part of”

I think over the years I haven’t adequately been able to state why I do what I do. I think some people have seen the creativity and technology and always thought I was about excellence for the sake of excellence or being great at creativity or technology, but it’s always been about people.

When you take an approach that is people centered it makes it easy to keep an open mind. Through the years I didn’t always just do what I wanted to do or what I thought would be the coolest thing. In fact there were several times I completely thought ideas were the wrong ideas or approaches, but…because it was never about me and it was always about people, the people coming in the doors, the people I worked with, the people I worked for, and the people/companies I kept relationships with, it was always easy get past it and stay about the business of connecting with and impacting people.

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.

Rebuilding

The past few months have been spent doing some serious evaluation of everything related to Mike Walker Creative, the website, the blog, etc...I have been in talks with Church Media Group out of Keller, Texas. Yuri Star and Travis Gates, the owners, are pretty amazing at what they do. They have a definite grasp of using the web and technology to really connect with people.

There are a ton of of web builders out there. In fact there are are many cheap web building templates online, but building a site that connects and makes sense for your organization is something different. These guys have it figured out.

The Church Media Group will be doing an entire overhaul for Mike Walker Creative over the next weeks so stay tuned. There is some really cool stuff coming down the line!