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What the Church Can Learn from Pixar

Pixar

Pixar is one of the most creative companies in the world.  They consistently push the boundaries of technology, release hit movies, and tell touching stories.  I have loved Pixar movies since I first saw Toy Story and I continue to love both their movies and their approach to being a creative organization.  In the Church we may not be creating movies, but a significant portion of our work is about telling the story of Christ and life change within our midst and finding creative ways to do so.  Because of this I think we can learn a lot from Pixar’s approach to fostering creativity.

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Waiting for Inspiration

Light bulb

The most difficult temptation to overcome in creativity is the idea that we must wait for inspiration.  There is not a creative person on the planet that doesn’t love the moments where an idea seemingly bursts out of nothing in the middle of the night.  These inspirational moments are important, but they are not the norm.  One of the most difficult things to do in the act of creation is to face an empty canvas on a day that you feel uninspired.  The choice you make when you face the blank canvas and have zero inspiration determines whether you will create mediocre art or great art.  You are left with two options:

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If you’re having trouble viewing the video, watch it here.

Where Good Ideas Come From

What’s Your Story?

NewSpring Church does some of the best testimony videos that I’ve ever seen.  I think that one of the best things that we can do to help people realize the mission of the Church is by capturing the stories of our people whose lives are being changed and making those known.  I’ve been following many of the videos produced by NewSpring in their “A Story” category and they all are phenomenal.

Where Do Ideas Come From?

light bulb

Where does an idea come from?  What is it that sparks the imagination so that it creates a painting, a screenplay, a poem, or a song?  I am fascinated at what it is that makes one day seem like a day where creativity spills out of my brain and other days it feels like scratching nails against a chalkboard.  I don’t think there is a trick to make your day an idea-filled day, but I have noticed a few places that seem to help me generate ideas.

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Piper and Chandler Preaching Interview

I recently watched this video of John Piper and Matt Chandler discussing preaching.  Matt Chandler is one of the best preachers that I listen to so I love any chance I get to hear his thoughts and wisdom on the subject of preaching God’s word. If you cannot see the embedded video, watch it here.

Preacher as Sermon Designer

Graphic Design Wall

When you see a glowing apple on the back of a laptop, what does that tell you about the computer?  When you drive by a restaraunt with golden arches in front of the building, what do you immediately know about the food being sold?  The branding and design help create an immediate association between the product and the context it is presented in.  Certain images, shapes, colors, and stories are intertwined with a product, such as a computer, so that when somebody sees a white computer with an apple on it, it is not just an average computer but it’s an Apple Macbook.

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Walt Disney & Steve Jobs on Family

Photo

Walt Disney and Steve Jobs; two men who have had an incredible impact on history we know it.  Stories that have touched our lives; life-long memories from family vacations.  Technological advancements that have changed the way that we consume media.  Both Steve Jobs and Walt Disney brilliantly led organizations that have had enormous impact on the world around them.  But in the midst of this impact there is an interesting difference in respects to these two men and their families.

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Ministry Lessons from Apple

Macbook

Apple is one of my favorite companies that exists, and Steve Jobs is one of my heroes.  I think that Apple is able to continually push their software and hardware far beyond what anybody else is able to do.  They continually deliver amazing products and because of the success of their organization and innovations, I think there is a lot we can learn from them that applies to leading in the both the ministry realm and the business realm.

People Don’t Know What They Need

Apple is known for not looking to their customers to figure out what they need to do.  They do what they think is going to be the best product for the end user and they are usually right.  When the iPhone first came out, people complained that it didn’t have a keyboard; now, people don’t care that there is no keyboard.

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Catalyst 2011: Session 10 – Andy Stanley

[This post is part of a series of posts of notes from Catalyst 2011]

Andy

Andy Stanley closed the conference by walking us through the importance of apprenticing.  He challenged us to answer the question, “What is your strategy for developing leaders?”  Andy pushed that not only should apprenticing be happening, but that we should be intentional about taking steps to make that happen.  He defined apprenticing as selecting, modeling, and coaching for the purpose of replacing yourself.

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