By: Brian Yost on September 18, 2015
In his book A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, Edwin H. Friedman takes a different approach than most books on leadership. I have read countless leadership books that are all about head knowledge and logical decision-making. I have also read many authors that recognize the spiritual aspect of…
By: Mary Pandiani on September 17, 2015
Some books, the good books, call you into conversation, even when you don’t necessarily agree with everything. Edwin Friedman’s book A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix does just that. His provocative approach that first intrigued me back in 2009 when I started the D.Min program with Len Sweet still…
By: Kevin Norwood on September 17, 2015
The Three C’s Clear Concise Comprehensive That is the mantra of my lead pastor. Communication must be the three C’s. He preaches it, speaks it and fully believes in it. There are even times that he stops what is going on in a meeting to emphasize these principles. I have worked with him for over…
By: Travis Biglow on September 17, 2015
The Nerve September 17, 15 When I read something that affects me I can remember more. As I read through this reading I actually felt like someone was talking to me. Where do I start? First off the idea of the systemic power of leadership completely got me off guard. I started reading and thinking…
By: Phil Goldsberry on September 17, 2015
As a young twenty-year-old pastor I was trying hard to “do” and “be” what others wanted. That was a lot of expectation to live up to. Most of the men on my Board were old enough to be my grandfather. I had graduated from Bible College, served as an Associate Pastor and Youth Pastor. I…
By: Pablo Morales on September 17, 2015
“What in the world! Is this a mistake? Wasn’t this book on critical thinking supposed to be a thick book like the others? Did I order the wrong book from Amazon? What could possibly be in this little booklet?” After this initial impression of the book, I looked at the index, took a general look…
By: Aaron Cole on September 17, 2015
The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking – Concepts and Tools by Richard Paul and Linda Elders is my kind of read. I loved how direct and to the point this book was. It said more in a few pages than most attempt in hundreds of pages. I found myself reading, processing, and reading some more.…
By: Colleen Batchelder on September 17, 2015
“Dig!” John’s voice echoed off the nearby cliffs. We all reached in – determined to steer the raft through the roaring rapids. Each wave crested above our heads; challenging our grip with each forceful blow. “We’re digging. We’re digging.” We muttered. Disgruntled looks shot across the small boat. We were tired. We were frustrated. We…
By: Aaron Peterson on September 17, 2015
In 1985 Sting released a single titled, “Russians.” While reading through Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts & Tools by Elder, I couldn’t stop singing the line from the song, “I hope the Russians love their children too.” By describing his dream, Sting was also challenging his hearers to practice critical thinking. As Elder states,…
By: Marc Andresen on September 17, 2015
I think we may be uncovering something of what our D Min faculty wants for us. It LOOKS like we’re learning how to read actively, analytically, and critically. But I think this is a ruse. We’re actually learning to be WRITERS with those traits and skills. Ok – so I have my tongue firmly planted…
By: Garfield Harvey on September 17, 2015
During my first semester of music school, I bought a pocket sized music dictionary that I carried around to help me understand music terminologies. I thought carrying the dictionary would make me smarter not because I knew all the answers but I knew where to find most of them. Whenever I tell people that, I…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on September 17, 2015
The Failure of “Niceness” I happened to be sitting in a restaurant in Sacramento, California with a man by the name of Paul Borden. Paul Borden was a church health and growth consultant who’s name and work was rapidly spreading across The Wesleyan Church denominiation. His work with churches was fast, furious, and produced direct…
By: Jon Spellman on September 16, 2015
“Kinder, gentler” American leaders… Is that what we need more of? Do we need leaders who are just real thoughtful and ponderous, you know, consensus seekers leading from the middle? I guess the answer to that is, if we’re happy with the overall direction of the leadership trends in America, YES! But if we look…
By: Dawnel Volzke on September 16, 2015
Edwin Friedman’s book, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix[1], sheds light on what I believe to be a major leadership crisis in today’s churches and organizations. Lately I’ve noticed that there has been so much emphasis placed on servant leadership, gaining consensus, and cultural sensitivity, that people in leadership roles…
By: Claire Appiah on September 15, 2015
Cultivating Critical Thinking Systematically In Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools, Richard Paul and Linda Elder have put together a miniature (and I do mean miniature) guide book that provides some very insightful material for the serious individual striving to be a critical thinker. They define critical thinking as, “the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking…
By: Dave Young on September 15, 2015
If I could open up a window into our church’s leadership meetings you would find that much of what we discuss, wrestle with, and act upon is about who we are, where we’re going, and how we get there. Without diving too deeply into our weeds, we’ve found ourselves continually having to rediscover our identity,…
By: Rose Anding on September 14, 2015
Student’s Supplement…
By: Phil Goldsberry on September 14, 2015
The adage that a “Picture is worth a thousand words” is embraceable and even believable. But when you begin to explore “ethnography” it is quite easy to question is what I am seeing the truth of the thousand words that I am getting ready to presuppose? Reading Doing Visual Ethnography by Sarah Pink challenges just…
By: Nick Martineau on September 14, 2015
Joy, anxiety, peace and many other feelings, are often passed on from person to person. Dr. Murray Bowen refers to this as “Triangles” and he claims it is the basic building block for any emotional system. In a “triangle” system the health of a family unit, or organizational system, depends upon the “triangles” capacity for…
By: Travis Biglow on September 13, 2015
Freedom of Art vs. Reality of Art? September 13, 15 First off my background is from a Catholic Church. And what is so striking to me is that I was inundated with Roman Catholic Art and Roman Catholic artifacts. These artifacts would forever stay in my mind and was actually something that compelled…
