Recipe For Getting Better At Anything

It’s been said we only see 60% of ourselves. Turn your head to the side as far as it goes. You still can’t see your back. We all have blind spots. Weaknesses we’re not aware of. Other people see them but are sometimes hesitant to tell us about them. Telling the truth in love is difficult and risky, so important things often go unsaid.

As a result, we can remain unaware of our shortcomings. Businesses continue to produce sub-standard results. Relationships remain strained. Society accepts the status quo. Churches stay busy but don’t produce meaningful results. Things could be better, but because we lack awareness, they continue being sub-par.

We all need help. We may not like to admit it but it’s true. Whether it’s in interpersonal relationships, technical skills, physical well-being or business principles, asking for and receiving help is vital to maintain health. Thank goodness for experts. Counselors, teachers, advisors, personal trainers, and consultants all specialize in assessing specific situations and helping make things better.

Every successful outcome needs the right components. When my wife makes chocolate chip cookies, she adds the right ingredients, uses her baking skills, and produces delicious results. These cookies are amazing. The same is true in making anything that’s good. Here are seven steps to improving anything and the key ingredient to each step.

Assessing Your Current Reality
They say you don’t know what you don’t know. So, seeing a clear and accurate picture of your current reality is the first step in getting better. The key ingredient here is the value of continuous improvement. Genuinely seeking to get better is the foundation on which the improvement process is built.

Realizing There’s An Issue
Once you’ve assessed the reality of your situation, there will always be at least one area that needs to get better. There may be more but it’s good to focus only on the major issue. The key ingredient here is emotional intelligence, which is the ability to see and appropriately respond to the reality that is going on around you. In other words, you need to possess the maturity to be aware of your issues. Continue reading

3 Simple Questions To Help Address Complex Issues

A co-worker once told me that very complex issues are best addressed by asking and answering very basic questions. There’s a lot of truth and wisdom in his statement. In fact, you might say the more complex the issue, the simpler the question needs to be. Simple questions get to the root of the issue, and I’ve learned to ask 3 simple questions when addressing complex issues that I’d like to share with you.

What business are we in?
The story is often told of an early 20th century drill bit company that was struggling to keep up with the changing drill bit industry, competition, and new technology. One day, the CEO asked employees, “What business are we in?” They all replied they were in the business of making drill bits. All but one. One young employee stood up and said, “No, we’re actually in the business of making holes.” This breakthrough thinking eventually led to the development of laser technology. Continue reading

Three Kinds of Church Staff Members

I once heard someone say, “There are three kinds of people in the world. Those who know how to count…and those who don’t.” In fact, many divide people into three different categories. You know: Those who make things happen. Those who watch things happen. And those who say, “What happened?”

Categorizing people, while typically based on generalizations, and having the potential to lean towards stereotyping, often makes sense. It helps us simplify things. So it is with employees at your church. Here are three kinds of critical church staff people, and thoughts on how best to utilize each type.

Experts
Experts get things done. They are those extremely competent staff people who are highly trained and very skilled at what they do. If you want something done, give it
to them. They tend to be a bit more task oriented than people focused, but they get the job done efficiently and professionally. They produce exceptional results. Continue reading