- 27 years ago, I was sitting in the balcony and I heard Bill talk and I was ruined. I was holy dissatisfied.
- Our church is almost 22 years ago. We’ve been evaluating. If we had to do it all over again, what would we do all over again?
- Often we don’t do an autopsy on our successes; we often just autopsy on our failures.
- Lessons from the first 20 years on the Andy Stanley Podcast.
- Why did our organization grow so fast? We’re not growing that fast any more. We had a uniquely better product.
- Finding or creating a uniquely better product is difficult.
- If you have the only hot dog stand in town, your hot dogs don’t have to be that good. We weren’t the best, but we had a uniquely better product.
- Segway is not unique; it’s a one-of-a-kind thing.
- You are doing something so unique in your category that it gets people’s attention.
- By better, we mean it does what it is suppose to do better than the competition.
- It can’t just be unique; it can be better; when it’s uniquely better, people show up.
- We created an engaging church experience for the entire family, especially for men.
- We are not unique any more. We are constantly trying to get better. We are no longer uniquely better.
- Somebody in your industry is messing with the rules to the prevailing model. Every industry has a prevailing model. Every industry has shared assumptions. Shared assumptions get you into trouble. Every industry is stuck.
- Discovering uniquely better is virtually impossible. Odds are you won’t discover uniquely better. Recognizing uniquely better is possible.
- Uniquely better is often the byproduct of circumstances that successful organizations are trying to avoid.
- Multisite church was an example. It began as a solution to a problem. Now it’s a church planting strategy.
- Willow Creek was so unique that other churches couldn’t believe that it was better.
- Our best hope, since we’re probably not going to manufacture the next big thing, is to create organizations that recognize rather than resist uniquely better.
- You have to be a student, not a critic.
- I remember when we started, there were pastors standing in the back of the auditorium with their arms crossed saying, “This can’t be of God. Look at all these people.”
- I will never criticize something I do not understand. When I feel my emotions going that way, I’m just going to stop.
- We need naturally resist things we don’t understand or we can’t control.
- The moment you start criticizing, you stop learning. When you stop learning, you quit leading. When you quit leading, all the other leaders under you will go somewhere else.
- “The next generation product and idea almost never comes from the previous generation. ” – Al Reis
- Keep your eyes and mind wide open.
- Listen to outsiders. Listen to outsiders. Listen to outsiders.
- Listen to people who are not in our industry. Listen to people who don’t understand what we do.
- Outsiders aren’t bound by our assumptions. “That won’t work because… (ASSUMPTION) …”
- Close-minded leaders close minds.
- The reason you’re looking for a new job or new house is because you work for a close-minded leader.
- You will close the eyes and the minds of those around you.
- If you do this, you’re next generation will leave and take their ideas with them. Your status quo leaders will stay and defend the status quo until its too late.
- How do you respond to staff who make suggestions based on what they’ve seen at other organizations, especially when its a competitor?
- When is the last time your organization embraced a big idea that wasn’t your idea?
- When is the last time you weren’t sure about an initiative but gave the go ahead any way?
- “We must pay attention to the frontiers of our ignorance.” – Sam Harris
- Being the leader and leading are two different things.
- Replace How? with Wow!
- The moment someone says the “h” word all creative forces die.
- If someone has an idea, how much does it cost you to say “wow.” You lose nothing by saying wow. You may lose the next generation idea by asking how.
- Wow ideas to life, don’t how them to death. You can “how” an idea right out the door.
- Nothing is in gained if you don’t know what your people are dreaming about.
- Married women in the room: this how/wow idea, your husband comes home with a new idea. Somehow you think God has put you in our lives to “how” our ideas to death. Don’t worry. We almost never follow through with anything.
- Parents: be careful with our kids. The world will put enough hows in front of them; they don’t need that. Let’s just be wow parents. Your greatest contribution to the world may not be something you do, but someone you raise.
- Ask the uniquely better questions.
- Is this unique?
- What would make it unique?
- Is it better?
- Is it better…really?
- Someone out there is working on it. Will we positioned to recognize it?
Thank you for doing this every year!!