• The Process of Winning

    The Process of Winning

    I remember a few years back about 10 years ago a speaker at the Willow Creek Leadership Conference saying there were two types of organizations that see huge gains.

    1. The organization that buys talent. (Like when the Florida Marlins won the World Series)
    2. The organization that grows talent. (The speaker compared that to the farm system of the Boston Red Sox.)

    The implications were simple. You could go out and buy talent and win in the short-term or you could build an organization that cultivates talent.

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  • Everyone is a minority somehow

    Everyone is a minority somehow

    In a pluralistic society everyone is a minority somehow. 

    By minority, I mean that in an academic way. Meaning not a people group universally identified as a minority group but a group. We most often think of that in terms or race.

    I mean our society is now acknowledging groups of self-identified people who have formed their own ad-hoc tribe around an affinity to create a minority.

    Some examples…

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  • College Basketball Rankings – Week 19

    College Basketball Rankings – Week 19

    This is basically my last week of doing the rankings. Next weekend I’ll do much the similar background work but turn my attention to individual NCAA match-ups and team stats.

    Week 19 Rankings

    1. Florida
    2. Wichita State
    3. Villanova
    4. Arizona
    5. Duke
    6. Virginia
    7. Wisconsin
    8. San Diego State
    9. Louisville
    10. Kansas
    11. Creighton
    12. Michigan
    13. Syracuse
    14. Cincinnati
    15. Iowa State
    16. New Mexico
    17. North Carolina
    18. Saint Louis
    19. Oklahoma
    20. UConn
    21. Michigan State
    22. VCU
    23. Memphis
    24. Gonzoga
    25. Kentucky

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  • Here’s to the curious

    Here’s to the curious

    Have you ever woken up with the thought, “I wonder why sardines do that?” and then spent four hours on a Saturday watching videos on YouTube, tracking down the latest on sardine research, or wondering about the first people who decided sardines needed to be paired with mustard? 

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  • Blogging 201 is today at 11 AM PST

    Blogging 201 is today at 11 AM PST

    Reminder: Today at 11:00 AM Pacific time I’m hosting a free webinar entitled: Blogging 201:  Generating Content They’ll Love.

    Here’s the description.

    In this 45 minute webinar we’ll cover the following topics:
    + Topic generation
    + Establishing a writing routine
    + Writing for impact and engagement
    + Identifying your voice
    + Copyright and excerpting etiquette
    + Blog Post Titles, Featured Images, and Social Sharing
    + Basic search engines happy

    This webinar is free open to anyone, so make sure to invite your friends.

    RSVP here

  • Data Points

    Data Points

    donutlgA lot of businesses are successful for reasons they don’t quite grasp. They’ve just stumbled upon something that works and they’ve gone from there. Krispy Kreme is that company in my mind. They had something rare, people showing up with a light comes on for hot & fresh donuts. It was a uniquely southern thing. They’d grown for a generation. They had strong fundamentals.

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  • Youth ministry is ultimately a calling to faithfulness

    Youth ministry is ultimately a calling to faithfulness

    When I was in Michigan for Open Grand Rapids I had the chance of catching up with some families in Romeo. I left that time really, really encouraged.

    For some, it was the first time I’d seen them in almost 6 years. But you know what? For everyone, it felt like a couple weeks when we were last together.

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  • College Basketball Rankings – Week 18

    College Basketball Rankings – Week 18

    Week 18 College Basketball Rankings

    1. Florida
    2. Arizona
    3. Wichita State
    4. Duke
    5. Villanova
    6. Kansas
    7. Syracuse
    8. Virginia
    9. San Diego State
    10. Louisville
    11. Wisconsin
    12. Michigan
    13. North Carolina
    14. Cincinnati
    15. Creighton
    16. UConn
    17. New Mexico
    18. Iowa State
    19. Michigan State
    20. Kentucky
    21. Memphis
    22. SMU
    23. Gonzaga
    24. Green Bay
    25. Saint Louis

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  • The problem with “We do our own thing”

    The problem with “We do our own thing”

    Maybe it’s just because we’re now publishing curriculum? Or maybe it’s because after 4-5 years of trying I realized that buying curriculum is better than trying to do everything myself?

    But as I’m out, talking to youth workers, I hear a phrase over and over again when I ask about what they are teaching. “We do our own thing.”

    “Really? You write your own curriculum? Why?”

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  • 3 New Products from The Youth Cartel

    3 New Products from The Youth Cartel

    Our not-so-little-anymore publishing line has added three brand new products.

    It’s been fun to watch each of them develop, I’m always amazed to see something go from an idea, to a proposal, to a contract, to a draft, to a manuscript, to a finished project. It’s a crazy and fun process full of late nights, prayer, learning, and triumph. 

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