Tag: creative

What will your last words be?

November 30, 2012 / / 0 Comments

What will your last words be?

Will they be something eloquent? Or more like the last words of a redneck:

Hey y’all. Watch this!

Ever think about the legacy you’re going to leave? And whether your last words will be worth quoting…or worth forgetting?

It’s easy to focus on people’s last words. Looking throughout history, there have been a lot of people worth quoting on their deathbed, in their final hours.

It’s easy to get lulled into thinking that our last words are the most important of our lives. That what really matters is what we will say on our way to heaven.

I love the focus of this video, though, that our team at Longhollow put together.

A good life lived will be better heard than famous last words.

p.s. Jason Dyba is a creative genius.

Famous Last Words from Long Hollow Creative on Vimeo.

 

 

Creating art with my son

May 5, 2012 / / 2 Comments

image credit: Creation Swap user http://creationswap.com/joshyates

We created art today,

my son & I crafting a masterpiece.

Weaving figure 8s, sweeping our brushes across,

we dominated the back yard.

 

We created art today.

He used the green, I the orange.

No blade stood a chance

as we blanketed every square inch of our canvas.

 

We created art today

amidst a stifling heat.

We left, covered in green bits of canvas

from which we had crafted.

 

We created art today,

art of the best kind.

Art that gives you hope

and makes you laugh.

 

We created art today,

art that displays real life.

And spotlights the best this life can offer.

Art that beckons others’ enjoyment.

 

We created art today

and we’ll do it again next week.

When the long blades call out

for a father and son to create a masterpiece.

 

 

5 ways to break through creative roadblocks

June 26, 2011 / / 6 Comments

I’ve been behind a creative roadblock since yesterday.

image via NBC33

I ran into it on Monday.  But because of the looming deadline of when the project has to be complete, I powered on through the block.

Except that I didn’t really power through it.

I thought that if I spent enough time, and put forth enough effort, the ideas would eventually come.  They’d eventually surface after hours and hours of failed attempts.

The roadblock persisted.

But now the roadblock’s gone.  And in the process, I learned how I got passed it.

5 action steps to get  the creative juices flowing again

1. Talk with another teammate.

A fresh set of eyes can do wonders to point out holes you’re missing.  I talked with another staff member, and immediately he helped me decipher a step forward I could take.  He saw things I didn’t.  He wasn’t bogged down with it like I was.

2. Stop working on it.

This is counterintuitive, I know, especially with a looming deadline.  But I had to take my eyes off of the project…get away from it, and think about something else.  And you know what happened?  When I returned the next day, I knocked out in an hour what would’ve taken me an entire afternoon to complete had I kept pressing through.

3. Step back and zoom out.

When I returned to the project, I tried to look at the project as a whole.  I had focused in on minute details for so long, that when I zoomed out to see the whole project, the holes I was trying to patch were seen quickly and easily.  Seeing the entire project is key to moving forward creatively.

4. Produce a hard copy.

I had been doing all of my work on a computer, digitally.  There was something that happened, though, when I could look at a physical page and evaluate it.  It felt different.  I could spread each of the pages out in front of me, and look at the whole project at a single glance.  And being able to physically “touch” the project changed things up enough to shake me out of my funk.

5. Do something physical.

Go for a run.  Work in the garage.  Walk around the mall.  For me, I worked in my backyard.  I wasn’t actively thinking about the project I still had to complete, but the act of physical labor helped clear my head, exhaust my body, and, somehow, prepare me to get through the roadblock.

Question: What do you do when you’re blocked?

 

Cultivating the drone

March 20, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Do you celebrate volunteers who do exactly what you ask them to do?

Or do you encourage creativity, outside-the-box thinking, and pursuing God-given passions?

Teaching people to punch a button is easy.  Raising up (and giving space to) leaders who are creative and innovative is not.

Raising up creative leaders is:

1. Messy – When you ask somebody to think outside of the box, it ceases to be “clean, concise, and manageable.”

2. Decentralized – It’s difficult to have a two-hour training on this stuff.  It’s more about cultivating an environment than about transferring information.  And allowing creativity to permeate each person (rather than having those you lead simply parrot back a response) means that you won’t be the sole trainer.

3. Slow – Since it’s not chiefly about transferring information, it takes much longer.

4. Difficult to replicate – Many times, this process differs from person to person.  Creativity is unique to the individual, and thus not exactly duplicate-able.

5. Risky – Asking people to think outside the box means that they may go off in a direction that you didn’t intend.

However, I think that it’s worth dealing with each of the above.  Because in the long run, organizations that embrace and encourage creativity will produce innovators who work through plaguing problems, promote development, and help a company (or a church) sustain long-term growth.

If you’re content doing things the same way you’ve always done them, then you’re going to raise up leaders with that same value.

 

Reactive or Proactive?

June 15, 2009 / / 3 Comments

Little Ceaser'sdominos

-VS-

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In your ministry and leadership, do you merely copy others?

Recently, there has been a bit of competition raised right outside of our office building.  Little Caeser’s Pizza has just moved in, and they’re offering “$5 Hot-N-Ready” pizza.   They even offer a drive-thru window!  Simply drive up, tell them what kind of pizza(s) you want, and they give them to you, ready-to-go, on the spot.  Two doors down from Little Caeser’s there is a Domino’s Pizza.  It’s been there for a number of years, and seems to have experienced a reasonabe level of succes (at least based on the frequency that their delivery cars are coming and going).  They do what they’re good at: making their pizzas and delivering them.  Little Caeser’s is doing what they’re good at: making pizzas that you pick up instantly.  Is one right and the other wrong?

Soon after Little Caeser’s opened, Domino’s began offering a “$4.99 Ready To Go” pizza.  Sounds like a rip-off to me.

Some churches look at other churches throughout the country, notice a reasonable amount of success, and try to duplicate that.  Sorry, but it doesn’t quite work that way.  You are called to minister the Gospel to your people in your community.  Just because Saddleback does small group this certain way and it works in southern California doesn’t mean that you need to do it the exact same way and expect the same results in rural Idaho.  Just because Louie Giglio preaches a certain way and has success doing it doesn’t mean that you need to copy him.  John Piper has been wildly successful, but duplicating what he does (style, mannerisms, inflections, verbage, etc.) is unwise and ensures no level of success.  Going through the same small group curriculum that the Smiths used and loved doesn’t mean that that’s what you should do.  Maybe you should use the same material…or maybe you should look for a curriculum that helps to shepherd your group where they are at spiritually at this point in time.

Be creative.  Think differently.  Lead in the way that God has gifted you.  Don’t just copy what others are doing.

 

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