Innovation at Oregon Football

Caleb and I had an opportunity to see the Oregon Ducks (the new #1 team in college football) play U.S.C. at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday night. We had a great time watching what was a great game through the first 3 quarters. Although USC did not upset the undefeated Ducks, we were impressed with several things we saw from the Oregon team, a team which could become national champions. They are known for the uniforms and some off-the-field troubles, but here are some other interesting things we noticed:

1. They are extremely fast! Due to their playcalling innovation (posterboard instead of hand signals alone – see below), if you blink you will miss the next play.

2. Their offense is extremely fun to watch. As just a football fan, I have to admit, they are incredibly entertaining. Several times we had to watch the replay on the video screen because we bought the fake hand off and didn’t follow the guy that actually had the ball.

3. They never seemed to panic. Even as USC jumped ahead with two quick touchdowns at the beginning of the 3rd quarter, you could just tell that Oregon knew they were able to get back in the game quickly. They actually personified the quote from John Wooden: “Be quick, but don’t hurry.”

4. Before the game, the Oregon coaches lined up and took turns shaking the hands and hugging each of the other coaches. They seemed to have a genuine respect and camaraderie.

In a sport as old as football, innovations still make a big difference.

In what ways has your church, non-profit, or company introduced innovations that made a difference?

Teleseminar “Innovations & Insights from Mosaic” (9/15)

Our next LIVE, free teleseminar will feature me and Marcus “Goodie” Goodloe also from Mosaic in Los Angeles.  The topic is “Innovations and Insights from Mosaic.”

Wednesday, September 15th
1:00pm until 2:00pm Pacific Time
(4:00pm – 5:00pm Eastern)

Come and go as you can!  Sign up to win free resources (whether you can make the call or not)!

SIGN UP FOR THE TELESEMINAR HERE!

Resources to be given away during the Teleseminar include:

Listen to previous archived interviews here.

Has Listening to Church Attenders Led to the Decline of the Church? (re-post)

In my lifetime, I have been involved in some really traditional and really innovative expressions of the local church.  The main difference between the two tended to be the area of focus.  Traditional churches focused on those who were coming.  More innovative churches tend to focus on who hasn’t yet come.

For example, as a church leader in a church plant in Seattle, I began to realize I was so desperate for people to show up that I allowed our vision to be hijacked by people who had left other churches to come to ours. I ended up compromising our vision for a church that reaches out to focusing on the needs of the ones who were coming.

Learning from Gary Irby (church planting strategist for Seattle) and then later Erwin McManus (lead pastor at Mosaic), I came to realize my mistake. As church leaders, we need to make decisions based on who is not here yet rather than on who has been here the longest.

This principle is true in business as well.  According to Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business Professor, Author, & Innovation Expert:  “The Innovator’s Dilemma is about the failure of companies to stay atop their industries when they confront certain types of market and technological change. It’s not about the failure of simply any company, but of good companies…

It is about well-managed companies that have their competitive antennae up, listen astutely to their customers, invest aggressively in new technologies and yet still lose market dominance.”

So then, what is the solution?

According to Christensen we need to be willing to innovate to reach a new audience.  If not, our current audience will get older and pass away.  Ironically, they will also go to a new company willing to meet their needs better than we are.

I realize that the business world isn’t synonymous to ministry, but too often churchgoers do make decisions as if they are consumers rather than ministers.  For those of us who are church leaders, we have to make sure we avoid that same consumeristic trap.

For more notes on The Innovator’s Dilemma, send me an email at eric@gatewaychurch.com with “Innovator’s Dilemma Notes” in the subject.  I will also include you in future email newsletters which include free resources.

Lame Excuses for Not Innovating

Thanks to a tweet sent out by D.J. Chuang, I found The Top 100 Lamest Excuses for Not Innovating in 2009.

1. I don’t have the time.
2. I can’t get the funding.
3. My boss will never go for it.
4. Were not in the kind of business likely to innovate.
5. We won’t be able to get it past legal.
6. I’ve got too much on my plate.
7. I’ll be punished if I fail.
8. I’m just not not the creative type.
9. I’m already juggling way too many projects.
10. I’m too new around here.

For the full list and ideas to “go beyond these lame excuses,” go here.

The Origins Project Online!

Our new network has been born!

The Origins Project

Ancient Text. Present Context. Future Textures.

“For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God…” (Acts 5:38-39 NIV)

We are a community of followers of Jesus who are passionate about seeing people know God and experience life as He intended. As we are guided by the Scriptures, we will inspire one another to embrace innovation and creativity as a means to fulfill this mission.

Join the community and the conversation here.