In their June 2012 edition, Fast Company magazine identifies their Top 100 Most Creative People In Business. The following are thoughts and insights from many of those listed. They are making me re-think certain aspects of local church leadership.
I would be interested in hearing from pastors and church leaders on the application of these ideas.
- Motivation For Why We Exist -  “When I look at China’s environmental problems, the real barrier is not lack of technology or money. It’s lack of motivation.” – Ma Jun, Director of Public and Environmental Affairs for China
- Unlocking Potential – “Our number one competitor is ourselves. It’s our ability to change. And the way you unlock potential is to find a new way to compete, ideally in a way that’s never been done before, so it’s seen as new.” – Ron Johnson, CEO of JCPenny
- Properly Leveraging Your Energy – “Either you’re working hard trying to make it happen, or you’re working three times as hard trying to keep it happening. There’s a difference between lifting something up and holding something up. There’s two different degrees of strength.” – Ceelo Green
- Know Your Audience – “How do you sell the most senior leadership on platforms like Twitter when you first have to explain what a tweet is, how it works, and what it means? I’ve seen so many presentations aim too high or be too basic. Tailoring your presentation to your audience is the first, most critical piece.” – SVP of American Express Leslie Berland
- Recognize Top Performers – “My 12-year-old son is into tae kwon do. I saw this incredible pride when he got a new color belt – ‘Dad, I made it to blue!’ That just struck me. We’re propelled by recognition.” – VP of Nike Stefan Olander
- Tell Stories and Use Technology As You Do It – “If you’re trying to build a 21st-century movement, you really need amazing narrative storytelling to popularize the issue. Then you also need great user-experience design – a navigable website, an easy-to-share video – to help ensure that your work goes viral.” – Founder of Purpose Jeremy Heimans
- Innovate In Areas Where You Serve Every Day – “You spend more time changing your kid’s bum every single day than anything else. Why not have it be more pleasant?…I do love my the planet, but the health of my child comes first…We felt like the disposable-diaper industry was the greatest area of opportunity for innovation.” – Jessica Alba, Actress and Cofounder of The Honest Company
- Build Trust With Visitors Through Social Media – “I think now, more than ever, there’s a lot of inherent trust between strangers on the Internet that has never existed before.” – Founder of Skillshare Michael Karnjanaprakorn
- Ask Questions, Serve Others – “The whole world hasn’t been waiting for you to log on. You need to bring the world to you. The top two things: Ask a question and try to help someone.” – Twitter’s Claire Diaz-Ortiz
- Create Useable Content – “RT’ing is the lazy man’s tweet. You’re not creating content.” – Diaz-Ortiz. I don’t completely agree with this statement.
- Ministry Is Too Complex. It Requires Different Solutions – “The tendency in any organization is to look for the five steps to do anything and make it a system. But that’s not how to look at a complex world.” – Matthew Schmidt, Assistant Professor, Political Science, School of Advanced Military Studies
- Define Reality – “Why on earth would you spend money on Super Bowl ads when players are drinking our products during the entire game?” – Gatorade president Sarah Robb O’Hagan
- Surround Yourself With Great Thinkers – “You’re only going to win if you have better ideas, better persuasion, and better ability to organize people.” – Lawyer Marvin Ammori
- Create Opportunities For High-Capacity Volunteers To Serve With Their Minds – “If you’re a banker or designer and your volunteer experience involves painting a house instead of applying your talents, you probably don’t feel your time was well spent.” – Rachel Chong, Founder and CEO of Catchafire
Pastors and church leaders, what new thoughts or techniques have you recently implemented? What were the results?
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