Thinkpak - A Brainstorming Card Deck

 

Issue No. 261 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Nov. 26, 2012) features not a book, but a deck of 56 cards with nine “NATO-approved” ways to trigger new ideas. Plus, check out my Management Buckets website with dozens of resources and downloadable worksheets for your staff meetings. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Involuntary Ideas On most teams, you can divide the room into two groups: those “Idea-a-Second” somewhat-crazy, but fun people—and then the “I’m-Not-Very-Creative” gang of introverts. Where are you? Today when many organizations, departments and teams are struggling to do more with less, the need for fresh ideas is even greater. But here’s good news: Thinkpak (a brainstorming card deck) can help!   Michael Michalko, also the author of Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques, is described as “one of the most highly acclaimed creativity experts in the world. As an officer in the U.S. Army, Michael organized a team of NATO intelligence specialists and international academics in Frankfurt, Germany, to research, collect, and categorize all known inventive-thinking methods.”   The problem says Michalko, “If you always think the way you’ve always thought, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”   The solution: “Everything new is really an addition to or modification of something that already existed. To create a new idea, product, service, process, breakthrough, or whatever else you need, just take a subject and change it into something.”   S.C.A.M.P.E.R. So this creativity guru recommends you “S.C.A.M.P.E.R” and leverage the nine principal ways of changing a subject:    Substitute something.    Combine it with something else.    Adapt something to it.    Modify or Magnify it.    Put it to some other use.    Eliminate something.    Reverse or Rearrange it.   The Thinkpak brainstorming card deck has 56 cards including two instructional cards, four or five cards for each of the nine key processes, plus seven cards with creative ways to evaluate ideas.  It’s a brilliant instant brainstorming system. But caution! It could be dangerous to your boring, status quo!   The Thinkpak cards contain “idea-triggering questions based on these nine principles. The questions are designed to focus your attention on your subject in different ways and give you different means of interpreting what you are focusing on. These different ways of focusing will break your habitual thought patterns and let you look at your subject in fresh ways.”   Did our biblical heroes have access to these Thinkpak cards? Maybe! Think Noah’s Ark, water-into-wine, and the Red Sea crossing. So I started thinking about the entrepreneurial hole-in-the-roof healing (Luke 5:19-25), and it gave me an idea for a new and innovative ministry, “Hole in the Roof.” (Rats! Other entrepreneurs already snagged the .com and .org websites!)   In the fast-reading 52-page instructional mini-booklet, the author continues, “You’ll generate a quantity of ideas quickly, including ideas that you wouldn’t have otherwise considered. Once you apply the Thinkpak questions to your subject or situation, ideas begin to appear almost involuntarily.”   I used the cards at a strategic planning retreat this month. Fun broke out! Especially when the leaders of one entity played the “Reverse It” card—and suggested they trade real estate with the other entity!   Each of the nine principles is illustrated with a memorable story, like the Walkman radio. Sony engineers attempted to design a small portable stereo tape recorder. Nothing worked. Then Masaru Ibuka, honorary chairman of Sony, leveraged several creativity principles to find success—recalling a separate project to design lightweight portable headphones.   The Sony chief brainstormer asked, “What if you combine the headphones with the tape player and eliminate the recorder function altogether?” At the time, by combining, eliminating and reversing, the Walkman became Sony’s top selling electronic product of all time.  Steve Jobs should have been grateful!   Fire Your Board! Speaking of eliminating, Thinkpak shares the story of the chairperson of a nonprofit board that “wanted to energize her board members out of their lethargy.” So she asked the members to imagine that they were all fired. “Then she asked them to reapply for the board. This shocked the board members and forced them to rethink their knowledge and competencies,” and most important, what they needed to bring to the table to truly be effective board members.   Should you modify or magnify something? One entrepreneur hands out business cards with one rounded corner, with a tagline, “25 percent safer than most other business cards.” Clients keep his card and show others.   Ray Kroc, after buying the first McDonald’s stand, stored his spuds in the basement but couldn’t get the french fries to taste right. The original McDonald family had exposed their potatoes to desert winds that cured the potatoes. SCAMPER Solution: “Modify the storage area. Kroc cured the potatoes by installing large electric fans in the basement.”   Kroc also employed the Rearrange It approach to differentiate his hamburger stand from all the other box-shaped burger joints. Presto: Golden Arches!   So to breathe fresh air into your team’s ventilating system (now…there’s an idea!), SCAMPER over to Amazon and delegate this creativity tool to a team member. Click on this link for Thinkpak: A Brainstorming Card Deck, by Michael Michalko. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions: 1) Where do you dream up your best ideas? One company, referenced in Thinkpak, created a special room with educational toys, games, videos and bean bag chairs—and included baby photos of every team member; a reminder that we are all born with creativity. 2) Exercise: You’re the team leader to solve the problem of lagging staff morale. So combine Thinkpak with StrengthsFinder. Some, with Harmony strengths, will executive a task much differently than those with Activator strengths. How do you leverage each person’s strengths to create new ideas? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Elevate Execution Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit One of the big ideas in Chapter 19, The Printing Bucket, in my book, Mastering the Management Buckets, is to use the printed piece (or website, video or podcast) to elevate execution. Just use the power of the printing deadline (last day for input!) to get the entire team focused.   Companies, nonprofits and churches all have the same disease.  The senior team focuses on vision and the junior team executes.  While this sounds good, it often relegates the incredibly important functions of the Printing Bucket to team members who are burdened with major responsibility, yet no authority.   The solution, of course, is to elevate execution.  In Execution, the book he co-authored with Ram Charan, Chairman Larry Bossidy writes, “My job at Honeywell International these days is to restore the discipline to a company that had lost it. Many people regard execution as detail work that’s beneath the dignity of a business leader. That’s wrong.  To the contrary, it’s a leader’s most important job.”   So at your next senior management team meeting, think differently about the Printing Bucket.  Elevate printing by describing how the printing deadlines will help you improve execution.    Read Chapter 19 for more details and check out the resources on the Printing Bucket webpage, including two internal forms to speed your proofing, printing and mailing processes.        MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  • WEBSITE: Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations • PODCASTS: John Pearson's Buckets Podcasts  NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here at John Pearson's Buckets Blog ECFA Blog on “Governance of Christ-centered Organizations”   Add your thoughts to John's latest blog post, "Two Tools for Improving Board Communication" and check out the new ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 1: Recruiting Board Members (DVD and Viewing Guides).

A Talent for Giving

 

Issue No. 691 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Sept. 18, 2026) expands the “time, talent, and treasure” axiom. Warning! You’ll need to buy 20 copies of this book! Plus, click here for back issues posted at the new location for John Pearson’s Buckets Blog, including my review of Enough: Finding Deep Contentment in an Anxious and Fearful World, by R. Scott Rodin. And check out these bite-sized book summaries (7- to 9-minute videos)—perfect for your weekly staff meeting.   Suggestion: Send the book, A Talent for Giving, to 20 business leaders and invite them onto a Zoom call conversation about entrepreneurial giving. (Graphic: ChatGPT)   The Giver’s Lazy Option! If I were still a CEO of a nonprofit organization (which would make me 20 years younger), I would buy 20 copies of A Talent for Giving and send this book to 20 key people—with an invite to a Zoom conversation on entrepreneurial giving. Must-read:   A Talent for Giving:  Creating a More Generous Society That Benefits Everyone by John Studzinski (Sept. 17, 2026 – paperback)   The author, an American-British investment banker and philanthropist, is on a crusade to inspire donors to become entrepreneurial partners. He writes: “By simply giving money to charity you are, in a way, conveniently forgetting about it. You can click the ‘Pay’ button and get on with your day. With a single neat transaction your donation is out of the way and now you can leave the charitable work and the worry to someone else.” John Studzinski, CBE, adds: “In a way, it's a lazy option, though hopefully a safe one. If your money is going to a reputable well-run charity that knows what it's doing, it's reasonable to assume it will be put to good, purposeful use. How often, though, do you actually follow up on what is happening to money you've donated?” If…I were to invite 20 entrepreneurs (including young wanna-be entrepreneurs) onto a Zoom conversation, I would ask five of them to each pick their favorite chapter and share a five-minute summary. (Generous Starbucks cards for stopping at the buzzer!). I have five favorite chapters! Chapter 5: “The Ts of Entrepreneurial Giving.” You’ve likely mentored others on Time, Talent, and Treasure. Likely heard a sermon or 20 on that theme (just before the church building fund drive). But the author urges entrepreneurs to go beyond the 3 Ts. Way beyond! Count ‘em: “Talent, Time, Treasure, Trust, Temperament, Tenderness, Temerity—Tenacity—Toughness, Ties—Teams—Tribes, Two, Technology, Trial, and Transmission.” (Trust me, this will preach!) Fun comparison: see Steve Macchia’s 5 Ts in his book, Crafting a Rule of Life.   Chapter 1: “Giving: It’s All About You.” The author is a big fan of lifelong learning. (I agree. That’s why I’m still reading and reviewing books.) He shares a poignant word that Mother Teresa of Calcutta “once, unforgettably, said to me: ‘You can only change the world one person at a time.’”  But…is it “all about you?” Studzinski responds, “Ambition and humility are not mutually exclusive: we will achieve more if we don’t overreach ourselves.” Chapter 2: “Beyond the Selfie.” Read why the author prefers the word “giving” to the word “philanthropy.” He adds, “It has its place, but is too big and too heavy for this book, too loaded with conventions, implications and assumptions.”  Chapter 4: “Talents, Parables, and Growth.” The author begins with the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 and wakes us up with this: “…but you might be surprised by the straight-talking tone it takes.” He adds that the parable “does not make comfortable reading for any of us. It is an exercise in tough love, highlighting the risks if we fail to recognize the true nature of our gifts.” Rarely do those Sunday “stewardship sermons” feature the boss in the parable. Studzinski: “The boss is clearly a man who has talents in the modern sense. For a start, he is successful in material terms. He is also an astute judge of his staff's abilities, as he demonstrates in the way he allocates the money in line with each servant's potential. But that doesn't mean he has nothing to learn about nurturing talent.” Chapter 6: “Trailblazing.” Gut-check? The author shares wisdom if your entrepreneurial genes persuade you to “launch your own project or create your own organization.” He cautions: “You won't be doing this to satisfy your ego and to show the world you can go it alone. It will be because you believe it is the best way of solving a problem you have identified—and because no one else seems to have come up with precisely the solution you have in mind. Essentially, you see your solution as a way to start changing the world one person at a time.” John Studzinski speaks from experience. He’s both a visionary and very hands-on (in an appropriate way). Check out the Genesis Foundation and The Passage. He credits Cardinal Basil Hume (1923-1999), then Archbishop of Westminster, for his patient mentoring. The author unequivocally writes about his own “faith in God and its expression through my identity as a Catholic.” 3 MORE. I’ve already mentioned my five favorite chapters, but I actually have more! If you volunteer to highlight a chapter in a Zoom conversation, check out these options:    • Chapter 8: “Trust Is Key.” He writes, “If the charity in question is entrepreneurial in its thinking, it will take the opportunity to find out more about you too.” (See also why Studzinski volunteers regularly.)    • Chapter 9: “The Time of Your Life.” Learn why the author became a perfectionist at “ladling soup dead-center with no splashes” at age six! Studzinski is contrarian also: Why the glib equation, “time is money,” is not helpful.    • Chapter 10: “Hunting for Buried Treasure.” Do you agree? “…my belief is that there is an entrepreneur to be unearthed in nearly all of us.” And this? “Only when you enrich it with time and talent does money become treasure.” (See my reviews of Entrepreneurial Leadership, Entrepreneurial StrengthsFinder, and my article on entrepreneurial wisdom, published by CLA. Plus, stay tuned for my review of The Social Entrepreneur.) This book reminded of the blurb I clipped in 1983 from the summer brochure of the Montrose Bible Conference in Pennsylvania. The article noted that the ministry was “sustained by the prayers of God’s people and their financial gifts. The latter are fully tax-deductible!” On heaven’s side, apparently, we’ll see the impact of our prayers. And you’ll love this: On the first page of more than 20 endorsements for the book—including current and former prime ministers of Australia, Canada, and the UK—there’s a sweet recommendation from Aves Finn-Dean, a fifth grader! “A Talent for Giving is the handbook kids need today. It's not a boring lecture. It's a simple plan for finding ways to give in your life. It inspired me to create a new fundraiser at our school in California, and I bet it will help you to give, or give more. You could start by giving this book to a friend!” The book is also endorsed by Ken Langone, co-founder of The Home Depot; Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo; Michael Bloomberg, and the presidents of the J. Paul Getty Trust and the Ford Foundation. TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title for A Talent for Giving: Creating a More Generous Society That Benefits Everyone, by John Studzinski. Listen on Libro (4 hours, 24 minutes). And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.     View the new series, John Pearson's Buckets Podcast, with AI-generated summaries of John's book reviews (short and snappy: just 7 to 9 minutes each). View the podcast summarizing my blog post, “Clear Thinking Masterclass” (my 2023 book-of-the-year).   YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS: 1) Warning, says John Stuzdinski: “If you’re looking for the easy option, entrepreneurial giving might not be for you." (Must-read: Chapter 12, “Toughing It Out.”) He also reminds us, “Let us not become weary in doing good…” (Galatian 6:9). Are you, as the Message reads, allowing yourself “…to get fatigued doing good”? 2) The author acknowledges Charles Handy (1932-2024) “who continually inspired me to consider philanthropy as a way of life.” (Read my review of Handy’s book, Myself and Other More Important Matters.) Handy’s contrarian request to a client: “…could you arrange for us to have an hour alone with each of the four most interesting people in Calcutta?" QUESTION: Who would you like an hour with?  MORE RESOURCES ON GENEROSITY AND GIVING: [   ] Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast (Sept. 8, 2026) - “The Giving Disruption Coming for the Church: Pat Gelsinger on AI and Mental Health” (Note: The segment on giving begins at about 55 minutes.) [   ] The Generosity Factor: Discover the Joy of Giving Your Time, Talent, and Treasure, by Ken Blanchard and S. Truett Cathy (Read my review—and note several other generosity resources.) [   ] The Donor Bucket: six resources. [   ] Being Generous, by Theodore Roosevelt Malloch (read my review) [   ] The Sweet Spot for Success: Finding the Place Where Your Talent and Passions Meet, by Pat Williams with Jim Denney          SECOND READS: Fresh Solutions From Classic Books You have changed—and your problems have changed—since you read this the first time! Book #59 of 99: How to Work a Room  For your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by featuring Book #59 of 99 in our series, “Second Reads.” The big idea: REREAD TO LEAD! Discover how your favorite books (and articles) still have more to teach you and the people you’re coaching and mentoring. How to Work a Room  (25th Anniversary Edition): The Ultimate Guide to Making Lasting Connections—in Person and Online by Susan RoAne (Dec. 31, 2013)   Wow! How did I miss this stunningly practical book? While I was dithering and missing important connections (in person and online), more than a million others bought this book and have learned How to Work a Room! Guy Kawasaki recommends you buy three copies!    • Read my review (Issue No. 285, Sept. 9, 2013)    • Order from Amazon.    • Management Bucket #19 of 20: The Printing (aka Communication) Bucket The practical tricks and tactics ooze out—and with 400 pages—start with the 11-page table of contents (why doesn’t every author provide this level of detail at the front end?). Oh, my. What to read first?    • Five roadblocks and five remedies when working a room    • Prepare Your Small Talk    • Name Tags That Pull    • Great Opening Lines    • Five Fundamental Laws of Casual Conversation    • Fatal Flaws of Casual Conversation    • The Ten Commandments of Connecting    • Working the World: Trains and Boats and Planes    • Plus: check out the author’s recommended reading and listening list   CLICK HERE FOR BOOKS BY JOHN     View the AI-generated summary of “Mistake #2: Reading…But Not Learning. I’ve always been a reader, but not a lifelong learner” (7 minutes). See the workbook, Mastering Mistake Making: My 25 Memorable Mistakes—and What I Learned (10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning Workbook), by John Pearson with Jason Pearson. NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here at John Pearson's Buckets Blog. Stretching Leadership Capacity View the AI-generated summary (8 minutes) of John’s review of the book, Leadership Briefs: Shaping Organizational Culture to Stretch Leadership Capacity, by Dick Daniels. Read John's review. BONUS! As of today, 30 video podcasts (7 to 9 minutes each) are posted here. Perfect life-long learning snippets for your weekly staff meeting. MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  • WEBSITE: Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations • PODCASTS: John Pearson's Buckets Podcasts Leadership Briefs (2nd Ed.) Read John's updated review of Leadership Briefs: Shaping Organizational Culture to Stretch Leadership Capacity, by Dick Daniels (John's 2015 Book-of-the-Year). Now in 2026, Daniels just released the second edition with a very helpful new preface, new introduction, and a graphic of the six-stage “Culture & Capacity Model.” Read the updated review, “When Do You Stop Leading?”

The Generosity Factor

 

Issue No. 511 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (March 31, 2022) highlights a quick-reading business parable by Ken Blanchard and S. Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A. And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies), click here for over 500 book reviews, and click here for my new blog, Pails in Comparison (PIC), with shorter book reviews of my latest “PICs.” I asked Ken Blanchard to mention our conference theme in his keynote, but he would not accept my thank you gift! LOL! Ken Blanchard Wouldn’t Take My Money! Picture this! Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager and the author/co-author of more than 60 books, is 10 minutes into his keynote address at Christian Management Association’s 1997 national convention in San Diego. He mentions the conference theme, “Management Survival/Leadership Revival,” and then winks at me. (I’m in the front row.) Just Blanchard, me, and his Raving Fans co-author, Sheldon Boyles, were in on the joke. My keynote speaker invitation letter to this bestselling author and management guru included this request: “If you’d be gracious enough to mention our conference theme in your keynote, I’ll give you $20 cash!” Blanchard concluded his outstanding talk and joined me in the front row. I whispered my thanks. “Fantastic presentation—and here’s the $20 for mentioning our theme. Thank you!” Blanchard refused the cash. “Put it in the offering,” he laughed. He had previously refused our honorarium. Instead, he invested heart and soul into the lives of ministry leaders and managers from across the country that evening. We learned that he did enjoy In-N-Out Burgers back then, so I slipped him a gift card with our thanks.  Now 25 years later, I was reminded again of Ken Blanchard’s generosity. Back in 2002, I read The Generosity Factor: Discover the Joy of Giving Your Time, Talent, and Treasure, by Ken Blanchard and S. Truett Cathy. I immediately bought more copies to give to friends.  Blanchard (now 82) and S. Truett Cathy (1921-2014) practiced what they preached! Cathy (founder of Chick-fil-A) was a memorable keynote speaker at Christian Management Association’s 2003 national conference in Colorado Springs. (CMA is now CLA.) He came to give, not take. Every person in the audience received a gift card for a tasty Chick-fil-A sandwich!  So…it was a joy to re-read The Generosity Factor—another business “parable” in the mode of The One Minute Manager and The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey (my favorite book in the Delegation Bucket).  WHO SHOULD READ THE GENEROSITY FACTOR? • CEOs and Senior Leaders—on the fast track, but maybe the wrong track. A less-than-humble business owner (the Broker) meets a thoughtfully generous business leader (the Executive). You’ll follow their conversations through the Four T’s: Time, Talent, Treasure, and Touch. • Not-Yet-All-In Givers—especially those who are grasping too tightly to their resources and may be blind to the needs around them (as was the Broker). • Pastors and Church Board Members—who perhaps build stewardship campaigns based on budget needs (“Today is Stewardship Sunday! Here’s the pledge card!”), versus teaching Biblical generosity because it’s…well…Biblical! • Chief Development Officers and fundraisers—who prioritize methodology over motives. The Generosity Factor is a critical reminder that true generosity is a commitment to all Four T’s. Just checking the “Treasure” box doesn’t let you off the hook for Time, Talent, and Touch. (You’ll miss the joy of generosity.) Along the way, you’ll also have a few nostalgic flashbacks to real life 20 years ago, including: palmtop computers, Yellow Pages, CNN Sports, Headline News (24/7), and more! The “Gratitude List” exercise is just as relevant in 2022. (Try it—and discern if your first draft is more God-directed than the Broker’s first draft. Yikes.) Another player in this parable is the Reporter—a timely reminder about the power of the written word and the opportunity to influence others. She shares an acronym that’s a pretty good summary of The Generosity Factor:    • He Owns It All.    • Every Day Is an Opportunity.    • Action Is Required.    • Remember Your Blessings.    • Thank Him. H.E.A.R.T. (That’ll preach!) Who in your circle of influence might appreciate reading this book? To order from Amazon, click on the title for The Generosity Factor: Discover the Joy of Giving Your Time, Talent, and Treasure, by Ken Blanchard and S. Truett Cathy. Listen to the book on Libro.fm (2 hours, 25 minutes).  P.S. Read my recent review of The Discerning Life, by Stephen Macchia. And to go deeper, read more about his wisdom-filled twist on the Three T’s. In his book, Crafting a Rule of Life, Macchia recommends you focus on Five T’s—Time, Trust, Temple, Treasure, and Talent. Check out the book’s resource-rich website here. YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS: 1) Dick Towner often mentions that one of his favorite generosity quotes is from Ben Patterson who observed, “There is no such thing as being right with God and wrong with your money.” What's one of your favorite generosity quotes? 2) Towner reminds pastors and church leaders: “Every church has a stewardship culture, either by design or by happenstance—a set of beliefs and values regarding an individual’s relationship to their money and possessions. A sub-biblical stewardship culture creates behavioral expectations for Christians that hinder a scriptural response to the culture’s mores about wealth and property.” (Noted in “The Church’s Leadership Role in Bringing Stewardship Front and Center” from the book, Revolution in Generosity, Wesley K. Willmer, General Editor.) Describe your church's stewardship culture.   The Donor Bucket chapter in Mastering the Management Buckets notes,“We believe that extravagant generosity is the biblical norm, not the exception."  Buckets Countdown: The Donor Bucket (#11)  Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook: Management Tools, Templates and Tips from John Pearson, with commentary by Jason Pearson (2nd Edition, 2018) - Order from Amazon. The Donor Bucket Core Competency: “We believe that extravagant generosity is the biblical norm, not the exception. We challenge donors to give liberally to kingdom causes. We urge prayerful giving to God’s work, not for tax benefits nor budget needs. We scrutinize our methodologies not against what works, but against God-honoring principles.” The well-chosen book given at appropriate times can spark generosity in both current givers and non-givers. Martin Luther said, "People go through three conversions: The conversion of their head, their heart and their pocketbook. Unfortunately, not all at the same time." What book will you order today for yourself or a friend? Check out these classics: [  ] The Treasure Principle, by Randy Alcorn. He writes: “God owns everything. I’m His money manager.” (read my review) [  ] Joy Giving, by Cameron Doolittle. I’ve never (never!) read a book that includes so many biblical insights from generous givers across the globe. (read my review) [  ] The Third Conversion, by R. Scott Rodin. He writes, “Never tell God what to do, and never tell God’s people what they are to give. You just might end up underestimating the generosity of both.” (read my review) [  ] Being Generous, by Theodore Roosevelt Malloch. “The story is told that when a friend heard that [C.S.] Lewis had given money to a beggar in Oxford, the friend remarked that he shouldn’t have done so because the beggar would only spend the money on alcoholic drink. Lewis replied, ‘If I kept the money, I would only have spent it on drink!’” (read my review) [  ] Revolution in Generosity, by Wes Willmer, General Editor. Three cheers for Willmer and his labor of love by inspiring 20 thinkers to contribute chapters to this important book. (read my review) [  ] Igniting a Life of Generosity, by Chris McDaniel. In my review, I ask, “What if…before your organization mailed the monthly appeal letter, hundreds and hundreds of generous givers—prompted by the Holy Spirit—sent in their checks and made online gifts BEFORE you asked for the contribution?” (read my review) [  ] 40 Day Spiritual Journey to a More Generous Life, by Brian Kluth. “No church ever has a money problem, only a faithfulness problem.” (Order from Amazon.) The 20 management buckets are perfect content for the lifelong learning segment in your weekly staff meetings (you do have weekly staff meetings, right?). Visit the 20 buckets webpage here. For a list of books I’ve reviewed in the Donor Bucket, visit the Book Bucket.  For supplementary resources, click on John's  "Bucket" book and workbook below:                   JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. If you lead a church or nonprofit (or serve on its board), have you taken time to discern the generosity messaging that you’re communicating? Helpful? Harmful? Biblical? Need help? Contact Jason at Pearpod. BIG MISTAKE! Not Understanding My Spiritual Gift Mix MISTAKE #18:  Read Mistake #18 for some insights on spiritual gifts—including the spiritual gift of giving. Like John in his early days, perhaps some of your givers have not connected the dots between theology and action.  Order from Amazon.  MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  • WEBSITE: Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations • PODCASTS: John Pearson's Buckets Podcasts

David and Goliath

 

Issue No. 289 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Dec. 4, 2013) features Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book—currently on multiple bestseller lists, including the #1 spot on the Los Angeles Times list.  Plus, check out my Management Buckets website with dozens of resources and downloadable worksheets for your staff meetings.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Are Disadvantages Really Advantages?  Whew! Where do I start to convince you to read this thought-provoking, entertaining, page-turning gem?  On the title pages of the books I read for these reviews, I usually list 10 to 20 page numbers—with the best stuff I want to talk about. This book: 45 bullet points, all worthy of long paragraphs. It’s pure torture knowing I can’t mention most of them. You gotta read this bestselling book! Malcolm Gladwell is a master at his craft with bestsellers like Outliers: The Story of Success, Blink and The Tipping Point. His latest, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, is classic Gladwell.  He writes, “David and Goliath is a book about what happens when ordinary people confront giants. By ‘giants,’ I mean powerful opponents of all kinds—from armies and mighty warriors to disability, misfortune, and oppression.  Each chapter tells the story of a different person—famous or unknown, ordinary or brilliant, who has faced an outsize challenge and been forced to respond. Should I play by the rules or follow my own instincts? Shall I persevere or give up? Should I strike back or forgive?” In these memorable stories (I’ve already shared half-a-dozen relevant vignettes with colleagues in the last 10 days), Gladwell explores two ideas: 1) sometimes “the act of facing overwhelming odds produces greatness and beauty,” and 2) we “consistently get these kinds of conflicts wrong. We misread them. We misinterpret them. Giants are not what we think they are.” So rather than a dozen spoiler alerts here…I’ll give you a True or False test. Mark “True” if you think the following notes are from David and Goliath. TRUE OR FALSE? #1. In the mid-1950s, Swedish furniture manufacturers boycotted IKEA, angry over their low prices. So in 1961, at the peak of the Cold War, IKEA’s founder did business with manufacturers in Poland—the equivalent today of “Walmart setting up shop in North Korea.” #2. Based on the statistical history of wars—the David vs. Goliath types—if Canada waged an unconventional war on the U.S., “history would suggest you ought to put your money on Canada.” #3. In discussing the relationship between parenting and wealth, “The scholars who research happiness suggest that more money stops making people happier at a family income of around $75,000 a year.” #4.  “The phenomenon of relative deprivation applied to education is called—appropriately enough—the ‘Big Fish—Little Pond Effect.’ The more elite an educational institution is, the worse students feel about their own academic abilities.” #5.  So…where should your kids attend college? Research on college grads concludes that “the best students from mediocre schools were almost always a better bet than good students from the very best schools.” Gladwell divides his stunning findings (told through page-turner true stories) into three parts: 1) “The Advantages of Disadvantages (and the Disadvantages of Advantages),” 2) “The Theory of Desirable Difficulty,” and 3) “The Limits of Power.” More True or False: #6. “We have a definition in our heads of what an advantage is—and the definition isn’t right. And what happens as a result? It means that we make mistakes. It means that we misread battles between underdogs and giants.” #7. In Gladwell’s up-close-and-personal interview with a world class attorney who has dyslexia, the lawyer talks about the advantages of his disadvantages. “Not being able to read a lot and learning by listening and asking questions means that I need to simplify issues to their basics. And that is very powerful, because in trial cases, judges and jurors—neither of them have the time or the ability to become experts in the subject. One of my strengths is presenting a case that they can understand.” #8. George Bernard Shaw once said, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” #9. In response to Birmingham police jailing hundreds of children who skipped school to march in the Civil Rights demonstrations, Martin Luther King responded, “Jail helps you to rise about the miasma of everyday life. If they want some books, we will get them. I catch up on my reading every time I go to jail.” #10. A California father, incensed at his daughter’s brutal murder, champions the Three Strikes Law, while a Canadian couple—Mennonites—forgive and move on; “a very practical strategy based on the belief that there are profound limits to what the formal mechanisms of retribution can accomplish.” I could go on, with another 35 or more mind-grabbing and soul-whacking notes, but I gotta stop. I hope you’ll read this book. Give it for Christmas and you’ll receive appreciative thank you notes. (By the way, all 10 statements above are “True.”) And speaking of appreciation, my thanks to David Curry and Dean Curry who both recommended this book. To order this book from Amazon, click on the title for: David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions: 1) Business leaders will appreciate this book, but I’m guessing nonprofit and church leaders will love it.  They have “against all odds” challenges most days before breakfast.  So, have we been looking at “disadvantages/giants” incorrectly? Why might disadvantages actually be advantages? 2) During World War II, the Germans pretty much gave up on disassembling a safe haven for Jews in the French mountain community of Le Chambon.  Why? Gladwell says, “wiping out a town or a people or a movement is never as simple as it looks. The powerful are not as powerful as they seem—nor the weak as weak.”  Gladwell uses numerous Bible verses in his chapter headings. Why verses come to mind on this subject? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- No Time to Read? Think Again! One of the big ideas from Mastering the Management Buckets (Chapter 5, The Book Bucket)  is  that we don’t just talk about books—we actually read them! So think about a book reading contest in your organization in 2014. In 2006, U.S. President George W. Bush and Karl Rove, Former Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to President Bush, started an annual book-reading contest. That year, the President read 95 books, and Rove read 110. Bush also read through the Bible every year. “All of this,” Rove added, “while being the leader of the Free World!” For more reading insights and book recommendations, visit the Book Bucket webpage.        MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  • WEBSITE: Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations • PODCASTS: John Pearson's Buckets Podcasts Note: This is the NEW location for John Pearson's Buckets Blog. Slowly (!), the previous 650+ blogs posted (between 2006 and 2025) will gradually populate this blogsite, along with new book reviews each month. ECFA BLOG on “Governance of Christ-centered Organizations”   Add your thoughts to John's latest blog post for boards, "7 Reasons Why Strategic Plans Fail" and learn about "verbal draft purgatory!" PLUS! View the short video on the ECFA Governance Toolbox Series: No. 1: Recruiting Board Members and No. 2: Balancing Board Roles(DVD and Viewing Guides).

Entrepreneurial Leadership

 

Issue No. 279 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (June 10, 2013) includes a powerful book that addresses why entrepreneurs struggle with the church and vice versa. Plus, check out my Management Buckets website with dozens of resources and downloadable worksheets for your staff meetings.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Stop Squelching Entrepreneurs   Do you work with a serial entrepreneur, perhaps on your board or in your department—and you’re scratching your head wondering, “What makes this person tick and how can I leverage their gifts without going nuts myself?”—then have I got a book for you!   Rick Goossen and Paul Stevens have written a brilliant gift book to the church, Entrepreneurial Leadership: Finding Your Calling, Making a Difference. Two big issues jumped out immediately:    •Why entrepreneurs struggle in their relationship with the church.    •Why the church struggles with entrepreneurs.   “Let’s be frank,” Goossen and Stevens admit, “entrepreneurs are not always the easiest people to deal with. In fact entrepreneurs may be among the most challenging for any organization. They can be impatient, action-oriented and nonbureaucratic.”    They add, “The challenge for the church is to harness, rather than squelch, the energies and passions of entrepreneurs in their midst.”   Since 2004, Goossen has interviewed over 250 entrepreneurs, compiling massive data on the intersection of Christian faith and entrepreneurship. Probing entrepreneurs in Europe, Africa and North America, the “Entrepreneurial Leader Research Program” (ELRP) is unequaled in its depth and practical conclusions and is based on responses to the “Entrepreneurial Leader Questionnaire” (ELQ).  Note: the extensive 10-page ELQ is included in the appendix to the fifth in a series of books by Goossen, Entrepreneurial Leaders V: Reflections on Faith at Work (click here for a free download of this 132-page book).    Up front, the authors address the big question—is entrepreneurship inborn or can it be taught? They quote Peter Drucker (“Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice.”) and balance the sages with the practitioners (It can’t be taught. “You either have it in you or you don’t.”)   They land on five tenants of entrepreneurship:    • Innovation    • Seizing opportunities    • Gaining personal satisfaction through innovation    • Doing risk analysis    • Developing entrepreneurial habits   If you’re a long-time reader of Your Weekly Staff Meeting, perhaps you’ve noted the entrepreneurial theme in previous book reviews and articles such as:  Corporate Entrepreneurship: How to Create a Thriving Entrepreneurial Spirit Throughout Your Company (Robert D. Hisrich and Claudine Kearney), Entrepreneurship (Hisrich, Peters and Shepherd), PastorPreneur: Pastors and Entrepreneurs Answer the Call (John Jackson), and my article, “Entrepreneurial Wisdom: 5 Career-Saving Principles for Ministry Entrepreneurs.”    But what does all of this have to do with Christ-followers who are blessed with entrepreneurial leadership gifts? Here’s where Goossen and Stevens deliver a mammoth gift to our theology of work and entrepreneurship. If you’re a Jesus person, your understanding of entrepreneurship will be skewed without their insight. Newly plowed ground includes:    • Why they do not use the term “Christian entrepreneur” and what they mean by the “Christian” work heresy.    • The difference between humanist and Christian models of entrepreneurship.    • In discussing what leaders do, they cite biblical examples of good and bad leaders. (The bad list: King Saul, Diotrephes, and King Solomon. The good list: Nehemiah, Daniel, David, Paul and Jesus.)    • On “Soul & Spirituality” they discuss “the marketplace as a location for spiritual formation” and why “marketplace spirituality” is not an oxymoron.    • On the much debated topic, “Meaning & Work Ethic,” they are provocative with an Old Testament case study in “meaningless work.”     • Why good theology is a foundation for good entrepreneurship.    • On the issues of “Risk and Reward,” taste these tidbits: The Risk-Taking God, Reframing the Pursuit of Rewards, and The Temptations of Reward-Seeking.   Amazingly jam-packed with resource-rich footnotes (almost every page) that support their fresh and concise thinking, every chapter delivers. Example: “Five Understandings of Calling.” One myth:  “Calling is a one-time event.”   In their very practical treatment on “Practicing Entrepreneurial Leadership,” they tackle seven principles including: Knowing to What You Are Called, Engaging in Spiritual Disciplines, and Managing Your Own Ego.  (Good news: “The most quoted verse among Entrepreneurial Leaders is Micah 6:8.”)   In the “Sustaining Entrepreneurial Leadership” chapter, there are seven more principles—all keepers: 1) Sharing Faith Responsibly, 2) Avoiding Hypocrisy, 3) Dealing with Betrayal, 4) Balancing the Serpent and the Dove, 5) Handling Both Financial Rewards and Losses, 6) Giving Effectively, and 7) Managing the Work-Life Tension.   “Along with an entrepreneur’s wallet,” warn the authors, “comes his entrepreneurial spirit.”  And if all the entrepreneur senses is criticism in the use of his or her gifts, this will lead from “disenchantment to disenfranchisement.”   How can you not order a case of these books? Give this book to your entrepreneurial colleagues, pastors and nonprofit leaders who must address this egregious entrepreneur-church gap. It’s a perfect group study book: each chapter includes questions for reflection and discussion, plus a mini Bible study.    The book concludes with a powerful 26-line “Entrepreneurial Commission” so your church or ministry can mark the beginning of a new era: leveraging entrepreneurial gifts out of the spectator-heavy pews and into the world. (“Take wise risks knowing that your gracious God is inviting you so to do…”)   To order this book from Amazon, click on the title for: Entrepreneurial Leadership: Finding Your Calling, Making a Difference, by Richard J. Goossen and R. Paul Stevens.   ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions: 1) The authors write that “without some risk there will be no innovation. But successful entrepreneurs are neither risk-averse nor risk-addicted.” Tell us about an entrepreneur who has effectively integrated the Christian faith and entrepreneurship. Was his or her church a cheerleader or naysayer? 2) The authors share a discernment principle that “the will of God is not like a detailed blueprint but more like an empowering vision.” Do you agree? 3) In the chapter on “Finding Your Calling,” the authors note “that there is also not a single instance in the New Testament of a person being called supernaturally to be a religious professional.” What do you think about that? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- For more resources, visit the Budget Bucket webpage, including a resource for risk-averse or risk-addicted board members, Who's Minding the Money? An Investment Guide for Nonprofit Board Members, by Robert P. Fry Jr. MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  • WEBSITE: Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations • PODCASTS: John Pearson's Buckets Podcasts Note: This is the NEW location for John Pearson's Buckets Blog. Slowly (!), the previous 650+ blogs posted (between 2006 and 2025) will gradually populate this blogsite, along with new book reviews each month.        JOIN JOHN PEARSON: June 25, 2013 - ECFA WEBINAR: "Results from the 1st Annual Nonprofit Fundraising Survey" with John Pearson and Mark Dillon, Vice President of Advancement and Alumni Relations, Wheaton College, and author of Giving & Getting in the Kingdom.  . ECFA Blog on  “Governance of Christ-centered Organizations”   Add your thoughts to John's latest blog post for boards, "Graveyards and Succession Plans" and check out the ECFA Governance Toolbox Series: No. 1: Recruiting Board Members and No. 2: Balancing Board Roles(DVD and Viewing Guides).