I interrupt my rants about “good enough” today to tell you about free books.

I have the honor to be a presenter at Ben Arments STORY conference.  Ben is someone that I have respected as a church planter, leader and creative guru for many years.  Let’s just say I am stoked.

Ben has a little write-up on his blog explaining the details of this, but I wanted to let you know that if you register for STORY soon you will get a copy of “200 Pomegranates and an Audience of One“.

The “Best Rate” for STORY ends June 30.

Register here

Your auditorium is completely slammed.
You have put as many chairs possible in the place.
You are running two services on Saturday and five services on Sunday and you really can’t add any more.
You have a slightly outdated projector system. Everyone else is running 10k projectors in HD and you are still in SD, running 6k projectors.
10k projectors in HD is where the current “excellence” line lands (although we all know excellence is a moving target…as soon as you buy the 10k’s they will have fallen below that line!).

This is a great example of the “Excellence Myth” and the “Good Enough” principle in play.

The “Excellence Myth” says that if you will be more excellent, you will be more effective and more honoring to God.  It’s a myth.  People will use “excellent” scripture to prove this, but the truth is those scriptures were not talking about updated software, moving lights or lumens – they were talking about your life.
The “Good Enough” principle says that you cannot get another butt in a seat.  Butts in seats = changed lives, and the reason we do what we do is changed lives. Therefore, 6k projectors in SD really are good enough, because they are effective.

If our goal is excellent tech, the “Good Enough” principle does not work, and you better budget up cause it’s going to be a bumpy and expensive ride.

If our goal is to always do our “best,” then you will get fixated and obsessed with every detail and in return, you will not get a lot done.

But if our goal is truly to be effective, we will replace a lot less equipment, we will stop a lot sooner on projects (not to be lazy, but to be more productive) and we will find the “good enough” line for our church/organization…and we’ll hit it every time.

The key to the “Good Enough” principle is the “good enough” line.
It is like the moral compass of good enough.

Every person has a “good enough” line that must be submissive to the project’s line.
Every project has a “good enough” line that must be submissive to the team’s line.

Every team has a “good enough” line that must be submissive to the organization’s line.
Every organization then has to decide the “good enough” line and then go after it.

The “good enough” line represents that point at which getting better would no longer be effective.

It’s not just being obsessive or a perfectionist.
In fact, it is often the case that we reach “good enough”  long before we get even close to “perfection.” 
Sometimes the “good enough” line for an organization is less than that of an individual. That is when my true motives will show.

In my experience of observing some very successful people, the “good enough” line is very high in a few areas, but much lower in most areas.

In my life I want to be an excellent follower of Christ, an excellent husband, and an excellent leader and writer.  In these areas my “good enough” line is VERY high, and would be in the top of the effective zone–or what some would call the “excellence zone.”

However, I will choose to be a “good enough” small group leader, a “good enough” friend, a “good enough” counselor, a “good enough” singer, a “good enough” blogger, a “good enough” networker with other church staff, a “good enough” Bible scholar, a “good enough”….you get the point.

I may not know much, but I do know this.  I cannot be great at everything.  If I try, I will not be great at the things that matter most to me.  So I have drawn a “good enough” line on everything I do.  I will not do any more than that, unless that line is moved by God, my wife or my organization.

Good enough is not always good enough.
Sometimes we should be great.  Even excellent.

But often times it is being good enough at most things that allows us to be great at something.

In 200 Pomegranates and an Audience of One I wrote about the fact that as artists (and we are ALL artists–read the book), we are often guilty of trying to be great at so many things (like everything) that we end up leading lives of mediocrity.  So in our attempt to be great, we are actually mediocre.
However if we can decide to be great at something, to do something to invest in people that will last as we play to an audience of One, we will finish something of greatness.

To be great at something we have to be good enough at most things.
I know that is a hard thing to swallow for the “Excellence Generation” that we live in now, but it’s just truth.

You may have to be a “good enough” cook so that you can be a great mom.
You may have to be a “good enough” golfer so that you can be a great dad.
You may have to be a g”ood enough” friend so that you can be a great husband.
You may have  a “good enough” yard so that you can be a great volunteer on Saturdays.

There are also some choices that churches can make to go from great to “good enough” that we will look at in the coming posts…

So, last week Kem Meyer had a Blog Tour for her book, “Less Clutter. Less Noise” and I am honored to host the “after-party”! Let’s Get it started…

We are going to have a couple of party rules:

1.  A party is about a conversation. So join in on two conversations.
- Leave a review of Kem’s book on Amazon.com and have a conversation with the world.
- Leave a comment or question here in the comments. Kem will be dropping in and she would love to chat.

2.  What has been your favorite application of “Less Clutter. Less Noise” in your ministry?  Write a blog about it, send the link to shawn@shawnwoodwrites.com and I will keep a list of your blog posts here!

Now that we set the ground rules, let’s invite Kem in for a little chat, live video chat style:

Here are the questions I asked Kem and her response:
1. Kem, 26 cities in one day…wow that is pretty cluttered? I would have expected the simple one blog stop approach from Mrs. No clutter – why so many blogs?

2. Writing a book is pretty easy, I mean who can’t form 50,000 words into sentences that make sense right? What is difficult is raising kids…what is one principle from the book that you use with raising your three children?

3. So, tony Morgan? What’s up with that guy? He seems pretty noisy. Let’s pretend people are not listening…there is a chapter in the book that basically was birthed from a dark place of working with Tony isn’t there?

4. What was the most surprising question asked on the tour and as a follow up, what is one thing you wanted to say on the tour but had to wait till the “after-party” to say!

I love the Church.  I love working in church and I absolutely love thinking strategically about church.
God has been stirring something in my soul for a couple of years that swims slightly against the current of trends in the world I love: the “good enough” principle.  I first heard about this principle five years ago from my friend Larry Osborne at our first multi-site conference.

The principle goes like this:

There is a “good enough” line in every effort.  Once you reach the good enough line (which by the way is in the effective zone), any work done to become “excellent” at that point will be no more effective; in fact, sometimes it can even be ineffective because you will move your good enough line.

In the month of June, I am going to commit this blog to writing about the good enough principle and how we see it at work in the church…I hope you will join the conversation.

The writing, editing, some more editing, some more writing, and just a little more editing is officially done with Wasabi Gospel.

I have to admit that writing my second book was a little more challenging than the first. (By the way, if you have not heard I have another book that you could give a read now…)  But after a lot of hard toil I am really proud of the work that you will be able to read in August 2009.  I absolutely feel like God will be honored and Jesus made more famous with this book (even if in a small way), and that is the goal of every book I write.

Wasabi Gospel is about the startling words of Jesus in Scripture, but it also is about baring some part of my soul as an artist.  When you produce any work of art, there is a strange balance between it being a gift to God that is meant for an audience of One, and also being something you have written for others to read.

On one hand, you created something and you really, really want people to enjoy it.
On the other hand, if you pimp your book too much, it gets a little obnoxious and old.
But if you don’t tell anyone about the book, it will be a waste of time and effort, and the truth is anyone who writes a book, posts a blog or twitters thinks they have something worth reading. Why else would they write?

So with all that said, if you read my blog I am going to assume you want to know that Wasabi Gospel is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

You can help get in front of as many people as possible by being a part of a “book bomb” on Wednesday, 7-8-09 (easy to remember: 7, 8, 9!) and buying as many books as you can!  So mark your calendars now and plan on buying a book (or ten) on 7-08-09!  My goal is to get as much exposure as possible for the book, possibly even getting it into the #1 spot on all Christian books and the top 100 of all books for the day…

Also, periodically in the months of June and July, I will be posting some “wasabi bites” just to give you a taste.

I will keep you up-to-date on this blog and on my twitter feed…I just hope I don’t get obnoxious!

Weeds grow fast.
I honestly feel like they grow overnight sometimes.
If I skip even one week of pulling weeds and weed-eating, I will soon have a weed-infested yard.

The other day I was frustrated by the fact that the flowers I planted are growing at the speed of drool while, amazingly, my weeds are growing, well, like weeds…suddenly I was hit with a couple of weedy principles:

1.  When things happen too fast, they are usually not that valuable.
2.  If you don’t weed your life of “junk” regularly, you may be eaten up by the weeds.
3.  Bad habits are like weeds.  You think it’s just one–no big deal–and then all of a sudden, you’re overrun.
4.  Pulling weeds is not fun, but it is absolutely necessary.

Are there any weeds in your life?  Would you rather pull one today, or ten tomorrow?

I was recently sitting in the garage with my daughter Isabelle listening to “Crazy Praze” when I found myself singing these lyrics:

I just wanna be a sheep!
I just wanna be a sheep!
And I pray the Lord my soul to keep
I just wanna be a sheep! (Baa!)

It is not very often that we talk about sheepology or followership development.

Most books are written on leading. Not following.
Most conferences teach us to be in front, to innovate.  Not follow.
Most employers are looking for leaders.  Not followers.

I wonder if perhaps what the world needs is a few more followers.

Is there shame in following?  Is it a waster of a life?
Should we train people to follow as much as we train people to lead?
Are there roles and positions (perhaps even many roles and positions) that are best served by a follower and not a leader?

Here is a training principle: the fact that you are training me means I don’t know.

I witnessed something at my favorite local ice cream shop the other night that was quite interesting.  There was a new girl (she eventually told us it was her third day) working and she was obviously learning the ropes.  That’s cool.  Everyone is new at some point.  When she got to the register my wife pulled out a coupon (she is the coupon queen) and handed to the girl.  The new girl had a look of “uh-oh,” and stared blankly at the cash register.  You could tell that she would rather have had her toenails pulled off than utter the next words out of her mouth…”I need help,” she sheepishly said to the guy in the back of the store who was “training” her.

So, he yells from the back of the store, “(SIGH) Just hit 145, then push enter and clear and 145 again while holding down the third key from the left and the shift key and enter in the coupon code while hopping on one foot (SIGH).” (Well…not those exact words but that’s what it sounded like to me)

She hit 145 and enter and then got that look again.  “I have never done a coupon before,” she said. “I really need you to show me, please.” She looked at us and this is where she said, embarrassed, “It’s just my third day.”  “No issues,” we said. “It’s all good.”

Even bigger sigh from the back of the store.  “Move.”  Key punch.  Key punch.  Key punch. Hop. “See, just like I told you! (SIGH),” as he then returned to the back of the store where something very important must have been happening.  And I guess in his mind, New Girl was trained.

I was reminded of a few things that night…

1.  The Curse of Knowledge can cause us to see things in a completely skewed light.

It makes us say things like, ”Have you prayed about joining an anointed P.O.W.E.R.  group so you can live life together and grow in Christian community?”, rather than, “Have you thought about getting together with some other Christ-followers to eat some food and look at the Bible together?”

2.  When we train volunteers, we HAVE to assume they know nothing about the job.

The look in New Girl’s eyes was the same look I have seen in many a volunteer’s eyes when they first join a team.  I have also heard, way too many times, long-timers saying, “Yeah, we didn’t get trained either–we just learned on the job.”

3.  When we train out of an arrogance to show how much we know, rather than a humility to impart what we have been blessed to learn, nobody wins.

So, what is the best training you have ever received?  What made it great? 
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