By: Jonita Fair-Payton on February 15, 2024
“Every wicked problem is a discrepancy between a present state, and a future, more desirable state.”[1] So Wicked This week’s reading could not have been more timely for me. I faced the most wicked problem that I could have imagined. In my role as Interim CEO, I have been tasked with making leadership decisions that…
By: Jana Dluehosh on February 14, 2024
“Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.” -Reinhold Niebuhr Problems are a problem. We have problems. We always have had problems; we always will have…you guessed it…problems. Many of us humans honestly spend most of…
By: Todd E Henley on February 14, 2024
MY NPO “Critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thought processes with a view to improving them.”1 Three results of a well-cultivated critical thinker: She raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely She thinks open mindedly within alternative systems of thought She is scrupulously careful not to misrepresent or distort…
By: Jenny Dooley on February 14, 2024
Better Together I like solving problems. Unless they’re mathematical! Those problems are best managed by someone more qualified. Actually, there are quite a few problems which I do not have the expertise to tackle and it would be foolish and potentially dangerous to attempt to do so on my own. However, that does not relieve…
By: Mathieu Yuill on February 14, 2024
I had a conversation the other day with a friend of mine who had just been promoted to the position of principle in an elementary school (in my area, that means Kindergarten to grade 8). She had previously served as a vice-principle and before that a teacher in various elementary grades. Only a week in…
By: Pam Lau on February 13, 2024
“The Tendency to avoid problems is the primary basis of all human illness.”[1] M. Scott Peck I started this doctoral program with many questions. One particular question on my mind was, what, if anything, about the way I lead with my voice today needs to change for me to be my most vulnerable, courageous self…
By: Kim Sanford on February 13, 2024
Parenting. There is perhaps no better example of living life on autopilot, trudging along in survival mode, foolishly trying the same solutions to problems but hoping for miraculously different results. I guess we’ve all been there. I certainly saw parenting problems on every single page of Joseph Bentley’s book Exploring Wicked Problems: What They Are…
By: Esther Edwards on February 12, 2024
“Wicked problems are ill-defined, ambiguous, complicated, interconnected situations packed with potential conflict.”[1] For many years, our church housed those without a home for one week each year. This began in our city after three people died of hypothermia in 2005. A church decided to open its doors and soon they had more people seeking shelter…
By: Kally Elliott on February 12, 2024
In their book, Exploring Wicked Problems, What they Are and Why They Are Important, Joseph Bentley and Michael Toth explain the difference between “wicked problems,” those that are “complex, messy and unpredictable” and “tame problems,” those that have solutions and can be solved.[1] Using climate change or global warming as an example for a wicked…
By: Tim Clark on February 12, 2024
I like setting up chairs. At our church I’ll sometimes go into a room that’s being prepared and help set up the chairs. Our operations team must think I’m a little bit obsessive about how those chairs get set up for meetings, but the truth is, I just enjoy doing it (I tell them that,…
By: John Fehlen on February 12, 2024
The dream of the 90’s is alive in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. In 1993, Bill Murray starred in the fantasy comedy Groundhog Day. It became one of the highest grossing films of 1993, and went on to be considered one of the greatest films of the 1990’s and one of the greatest comedy movies ever. I personal…
By: Travis Vaughn on February 12, 2024
In the course of four weeks, I had three conversations with three pastor-types that revolved around a common issue, yet with three different perspectives. The issue involves a crisis of leadership (e.g., pastoral and church planting leadership). It’s a wicked problem – “complex, messy, and unpredictable.”[1] It’s a problem that involves “ill-defined, ambiguous, complicated, interconnected…
By: Jennifer Vernam on February 12, 2024
“Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.[1]” Sometimes, when I meet people from other countries and they learn that I am an American, working in Change Management in the Healthcare Industry, I think I notice subtle nonverbal cues, like wry, knowing smiles or maybe…
By: Jana Dluehosh on February 9, 2024
Do you know what cancel culture is? Have you been mysteriously ghosted after a night out? Have you had a long-lost relative jump out of the woodwork and begin to attack your latest post? Well, The Canceling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott may be the book for you. Lukianoff comes…
By: Dinka Utomo on February 8, 2024
It’s time to bring back the old adage “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.” -Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott- Two delicate matters cannot be handled carelessly in our country: first, politics, particularly the election of the President and Vice President. Second, religion. However, it is more harmful if the two are combined. In a…
By: Adam Harris on February 8, 2024
When it comes to the First Amendment and freedom of speech, so many conflicting thoughts run through my head concerning “Cancel Culture”. I’m a huge fan of Jonathan Haidt, who wrote the forward for this week’s book, The Canceling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott. In fact, I would put Haidt’s…
By: Todd E Henley on February 8, 2024
In the book, Rethinking Leadership, Annabel Beerel said, “Leading in a time of crisis requires multiple skills. These include a calm demeanor, the courage to speak to reality, an ability to find clarity amid chaos, a capacity for deep empathy, and sensitive timing.”1 And we are in a crisis. The crisis of cancel culture. It…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on February 8, 2024
“Think of the dumbest thing you did as a teenager. Now, imagine if that moment were preserved forever in the permanent record, available for anyone to see.”[1] I am so grateful that social media was not a thing when I was in High School or in college. My high school days were filled with…
By: Scott Dickie on February 8, 2024
The Canceling of the American Mind (1) by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott is, in my view, a mid-level examination of a troublesome trend that is increasingly taking place in our culture. The book builds off of Lukainoff’s previous work with Jonathan Haidt, The Coddling of the American Mind (2), which, in part, explains one…
By: Cathy Glei on February 8, 2024
“Gone are the days when dumb, insensitive, or offensive teenage mishaps were forgotten or simply disappeared. Their extensive digital record makes Gen Z the most cancelable cohort, and that makes modern adolescence kind of nightmarish. The ever-present threat of being canceled harms friendships, undermines trust, and fosters paranoia. And it’s certainly not helping the record…
