Posts by Mark Howell
Soul Detox: an Important New DVD-Driven Study from Craig Groeschel
Every once in a while, a study comes along that just seems a perfect fit for the needs and interests of the culture. Soul Detox: Clean Living in a Contaminated World, based on Craig Groeschel’s newest book, is one of those studies. With built elements of a church-wide campaign, this is a study that many…
Read MoreDilbert on Clarifying the Win
Sometimes you just need to laugh. We talk a lot about clarifying the win and determining what you will call success. Here’s Dilbert on that important topic:
Read MoreWhat, Who, and What
Sometimes we all need a reminder. I first heard these three simple questions about 20 years ago in a workshop at Willow Creek. What business are you in? Who is your customer? What are you going to call success? Amazingly simple and profound at the same time. Have answers for these three “Drucker” questions? They…
Read MoreMissing the Future
Wondering what’s next or what it will take to __________? It might turn out to be something that you simply found a little uncomfortable. “More often than not, companies missed the future not because it was unknowable, but because it was disconcerting.” Gary Hamel, What Matters Now
Read MoreEver Noticed Reveal’s Crowd-to-Core Wrinkle?
I don’t know if you’ve ever looked at the Reveal study from this angle…but it turns out there’s a significant crowd-to-core wrinkle. I don’t know how many times I’d looked at it before I saw it, but once I noticed it…it’s very hard to miss. Here’s what I saw: As you probably know, Willow Creek’s…
Read MorePurpose or Pain: Two Antidotes for the Status Quo
You know your organization needs to change. You feel it on a regular basis. You sense it in the relevance disconnect. You might not be able to describe the reasons, but the stuckness is more palpable than ever before. Still, the status quo has a stranglehold on team members that can’t quite break free of…
Read MoreIs Your Preferred Future “Grand” Enough?
Have you worked through this exercise? fully diagnose the present; what’s going on in your organization (see my article Diagnosis: Brutal Honest about Your Present), use the present to understand the probable future (what your organization will look like in 10 years if nothing changes), hold a dream session where you consider the possible future…
Read MoreCoaching FAQ: How to Add Value to Experienced Small Group Leaders
“None of my experienced group leaders want a coach. In fact, some of them seem mad that I assigned them a coach. And on top of that, the coaches that I assigned to existing small group leaders are already thinking about quitting because they don’t think they’re needed.” Ever said something like that? If I…
Read MoreAre We There Yet? Milestones that Lead to the Preferred Future
We’ve talked about the diagram to the left many times. I want to revisit it today to point out one very important item. Way too important to skip past; so much ministry gets missed because of this one profound but simple detail. Wondering what it is? On the diagram it is referred to as “12…
Read MoreMe First, Don’t Talk to Strangers, and other Cultural Norms
Ever stopped to think about the cultural norms that stand in the way of the kind of life-change we hope will happen in the lives of people? We want so badly for unconnected people to find their way into a group. We know they need it if they’re ever going to experience the life giving…
Read More