By: Jon Spellman on September 11, 2015
What More needs to be said?
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on September 10, 2015
Drawing Attention William Dyrness in his book, Visual Faith: Art, Theology and Worship in Dialogue, draws attention to the idea that there is a crisis in Christianity and its relationship to the Arts. Dyrness, in this intriguing text, ultimately is calling for a needed renewal. Dyrness writes, “We need a threefold renewal: a new vision for…
By: Mary Pandiani on September 9, 2015
When I taught Western Civilization to 10th graders quite a few years back, I loved talking about the middle ages and cathedrals, especially how stained-glass windows were the most significant medium for peasants/serfs to understand the gospel. The images, beautiful artwork, adorned the dark corridors of the oft-cold churches. Because Latin was a foreign language…
By: Nick Martineau on September 9, 2015
As long as I have lived in Kansas there has been an ongoing Kansas School Board debate about school funding. Like many other States, Kansas never seems to have enough funding and no more wants to raise taxes for education. A few years ago the School Board threatened to defund the theater/arts/music programs in our…
By: Dave Young on September 7, 2015
I think there are some Christians, in the ultra-conservative camp, who have an angst, an unspecified fear, of art. Emotions, after all, aren’t easily constrained, and if art does anything at all, it elicits an emotional response. An experience with something of beauty might feed my desire; desire awakened could arouse my passion—and that can’t…
By: Dawnel Volzke on September 5, 2015
My recent work has taken me into several Christian organizations that are struggling under financial pressures, and are experiencing declining customers or members. Their day-to-day operations aren’t driving successful outcomes. They’ve fallen into what Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great, calls “the Doom Loop”[1], or a downward spiral. Hence, these organizations are forced…
By: Brian Yost on September 5, 2015
While reading Jim Collin’s Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t, I found myself placing the material into three district categories; Things I Liked, Things I Found Curious, and Things I Struggled With. Things I Liked Two things that I particularly liked were the Hedgehog Concept and the “Not-To-Do” list.…
By: Travis Biglow on September 3, 2015
Good to Great by learning from a Hedgehog! September 3, 15 Many of the concepts in Good to Great and Good to Great and the Social Sectors are many that I am struggling with as a leader. It’s difficult to lead like the books say when you are in the building process and to not…
By: Jon Spellman on September 3, 2015
Self-awareness. Can an organization posses it? Collectively I mean. Or is it something that only individuals within the structures of an organization can have? Is an organization a living, breathing entity made up of components (people), capable of self-awareness? Is there somehow a way to find the collective consciousness of an organization? What about instincts?…
By: Mary Pandiani on September 3, 2015
When Good to Great came out in 2001, the hype of the book extended all the way to a growing church in Gig Harbor, Washington. Our Executive Pastor who loved all things Patrick Lencioni, Stephen Covey, and John Maxwell decided we, as a staff, needed to read the Jim Collins’ book together. The concepts of…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on September 3, 2015
Good Great Power Good to Great is a fascinating study of how companies who have settled into and exist with a good enough mentality, culture, and results can experience the awakening of becoming great. From a researched based study, author Jim Collins and an extensive team of researchers, assesses, evaluate, and compare twenty-eight companies to learn…
By: Nick Martineau on September 2, 2015
I remember reading Good to Great by Jim Collins during my Business undergrad days at Baylor. It’s a classic book and I wish I had a dime for every time I’ve heard someone say, “start by getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right…
By: Dave Young on August 31, 2015
I’m a sucker for contrarian insight and paradoxes; it seems Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, is as well. The author advocates that the best leaders—what he calls “L-5 leaders”—have a duality. They are “modest and willful, humble and fearless;” characteristics that don’t seem to fit together (although Moses comes to mind.) [1] Collins…
By: Travis Biglow on June 19, 2015
The Trilogy of Hong Kong June 18, 15 I was raised in the inner city of South L.A. (formally South Central Los Angeles) and at a high school that did not really get into world events. I graduated in 1981 and I can’t believe that Hong Kong was under British sovereignty until 1997. It is…
By: Dawnel Volzke on June 19, 2015
With an upcoming trip to Hong Kong, Louie’s book Hong Kong Culture: Word and Image, provides some context and a baseline of understanding that will help me to make sense of my experience. My knowledge of Hong Kong culture has come through my clouded American lens, and I’m sure is distorted by media exposure and…
By: Brian Yost on June 18, 2015
While reading Kam Louie’s book Hong Kong Culture: Word and Image, three inter-related thoughts kept coming to mind. The first was liminality, but since others from our cohort “called dibs”, I’ll just focus on the other two. Global City As I learn more about Hong Kong, I am reminded that large cities share certain…
By: Dave Young on June 18, 2015
Almost four years ago Maryanne and I had the opportunity to visit Hong Kong and get more of an insider’s view than typical tourists. I had an opportunity to candidate for an international church, and the elders packed our itinerary. For several days we looked at city sites, schools for our daughters, apartment complexes, and…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on June 17, 2015
In his book entitled, “Hong Kong Culture: Word and Image”, editor Kam Louie assembles an intriguing mosaic of a little city with a larger than life identity. Nicknamed “the City of Life”, Hong Kong is a city of juxtaposed make-up and landscape. From mountains to seas, from communism to capitalism, and from “east” to “west”, Hong Kong is…
By: Jon Spellman on June 17, 2015
This Book Makes Me Sad Kam Louie, Hong Kong Culture: Word and Image Like most of you, when I read an anthology, I find the interest level waxing and waning as I move from essay to essay based on the author’s style, area of focus or any number of other factors. Some evoke emotions like…
By: Nick Martineau on June 12, 2015
I purchased my plane tickets for Hong Kong last week. I’ll be heading out a few days early and visiting my Uncle in Nanning. When I sent him my itinerary he sent a quick email back saying, “I keep thinking about things I think you would find interesting…I would like you to see old…
