why things stay the same

recently received my latest issue of fast company...a secular business magazine...and found this quote in the opening editorial - hope it'll challenge you to think for a moment...

"Emory University professor Gregory Berns writes...

our brains are biologically engineered to engage in repetitive thinking"

please understand that there is no acknowledgment of God in this statement...having realized that...

• perhaps this is why many pastor's sermons sound the same...uh oh, might get in trouble for that one - except that i too preach and have noticed this can happen in my own speaking
  
• perhaps this is why many leaders face crises moments in leadership with the same set of lenses - rather than seeing each crises as a stand-alone event allowed by God to forge character, tenacity and faith in us
• perhaps this is why sin "so easily entangles us" - because repetitive thinking is rote and doesn't really really require much thinking at all
• perhaps this is why the maintenance mindset is an easy trap to fall into
• perhaps...

the article goes on to quote a dutch designer who says, "assaulting sensibilities can build creative capital" - let me springboard off of that statement and say that i think it's imperative for leaders in any organization to find new sources of input (of course, prayer, bible, etc are the FIRST source of input) - but what about other input into our lives - such as: relationships, building friendships with others in other areas of expertise (just this past weekend we had supper with some friends of our...the dad/father is brilliant - a pilot, an IT security analyst expert and wants to be a medical doctor...i was fascinated as he and i talked about flying...thinking all along about what he is telling my and how it can crossover into other areas of life), other sources of input can be: podcasts, magazines, life-experiences, travel, documentaries, etc.

this is why i'm a big believer in exposure - exposing others to new situations, methods, etc so that thinking is shocked out of the repetitive nature and into a creative nature...

i was recently exchanging ideas with a pastor who is motivated to see his new church move beyond the 100 barrier...my counsel to him was this, "you've got to shock the system" - in other words, what you've done up to this point has worked...it's taken you from 0-75 attendees and you are solid in worship, teaching and fellowship. however, in order to go to the next level, something has to change - for him, specifically, one thing that needed to change was that he needed to lay down some responsibilities that he's carried since day 1, hand them over to some one else (i.e., pass along ministry) and carry only the things that he could as sr. pastor.