ARE:A Renewal Enterprise

No Excuses

Although we meet together by phone at least weekly and use online technology to work collaboratively, because our team is international, we are physically in the same space together only a few times a year. So it was a blast to kick off our tour all together in Chicago a few weeks ago. We were struck once again by what a strong bunch of personalities we have assembled, each one as unique and powerful as the next. No whiners or cry babies here. That could be why, as a team, we are so passionate about helping people be who they are and see what they have for the sake of doing what matters. Few things are more frustrating than people and organizations who choose to wear the cloak of victimhood, uttering one version or another of The Great Excuse: "...if only we had more [fill-in-the-blank with money, people, time, etc.] we could  [be bigger, try something new, take that risk, etc.]." The result? Impotence and apathy. 

Grrrrrr. 

Learning the Hard Way (is still learning)

  Phew! After six months of thinking, writing, creating, producing, and preparing for our 2009 "Treasure in Clay Jars" tour, we can say that what we feel on the day after our kickoff is mostly relieved! The fact that it happened at all in this kind of time frame is nothing short of a miracle. According to the 50 or so folks who participated in that first workshop (held yesterday in Chicago), it didn't just "happen"; it was, in fact, pretty good. But it wasn't good enough, as far as we're concerned. We spent several hours pouring over the evaluations last night and debriefing the event. We heard some good things and some hard things from our guests and from each other; we're going to share both with you.

ARE Launches ARE Books(TM)!

You may wonder what we've been up to and think that it must not include writing. But if you think we've taken a vacation from writing you'd be very, very wrong.

The team at A Renewal Enterprise has been furiously writing in order to get as many of the new books in our Renewable Organization for Faith Based Groups series ready for our fall tour. It has been a team effort where the team has discussed, outlined and written in collaborative ways - using Google docs as a collaborative platform to let several people work on the same book at the same time. It has been a dynamic and creative time for the team and we've discovered an excitement for our work that is amazing!

It looks like we'll have 7 new books out in print by early October including the overview book for our work, called The Future Starts Now: The Renewable Organization^TM for Faith-Based Groups. Watch for it because if you think that what God is up to in the world matters and that an effective church will want to be involved out there, you'll discover that this book genuinely breaks some new ground.

We have also decided that in order to release these books, ARE needs a publishing imprint. Today we filed to register ARE Books^TM as an imprint for A Renewal Enterprise. We're a publisher now! And the first set of resources to come off the press will be ready by early October in time for our Fall Tour of the US and Canada.

We are pumped about what we've developed and think we have some things to share that are cutting edge and different than anything else out there. If you live near one of the cities in our Fall Tour, you may want to check out the Treasure in Clay Jars: Renewable Organizations^TM for Faith-based Groups workshops and look for our materials. We'll be launching our new resources, opening our online store, and be a publisher - all in the next few weeks! Whew!

Freedom to Get the Results You Want

A follower of Jesus, the Apostle Paul wrote, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Most people in the United States think of it as “The land of the free.” And in most cultures and deep within most peoples’ hearts is a longing for freedom. In fact, the search for more and more real experiences of true freedom drive many efforts, both good and bad, throughout our world. But for your church, or agency or business what does that mean? And are there practical implications that could influence how you lead the people in your organization and how they do and experience their work? “

Being Productive Over the Summer

 Summer is a time when many organizations move into a “pause mode.” Using the school year as a model many groups expect summer to be a time when people will be using more of their vacation time and so take it for granted that there will be some coasting for a few months. In fact, in organizations where this pattern exists, many people look forward to the change of pace and they lower their expectations to match. Many of our clients find themselves in this annual cycle.

But what if the mindset was a bit different? Summer is officially upon us but there is still work to be done! How can you take advantage of this time to both enjoy the summer and all that it brings and still get more done this year than last year?

License To Change

Do you have what it takes to bring change to the organization you care about? According to the work of Dominic Abrams, a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent, you have an extra special opportunity to bring change if you are a new leader. New leaders have what Abrams and his team call an "innovation credit." 

People who are already members of a group, including leaders who have been a part of the system for awhile, are expected to conform to the group's norms. In other words, they're expected to do things a certain way just because 'that's how we've always done them.' 

But new leaders have a special license to shake things up, at least at first. In fact, people expect them to. Often, groups will bring in new leadership because they know they need it and it's harder for old leadership to make it happen. 

Don't Wait 100 Days

It's an epidemic spreading more quickly than the swine flu - everybody everywhere it seems has been infected with an itch to evaluate, critique, and comment on President Obama's first "100 days." And they can't stop scratching it. Is this unfair to the new president? Maybe. We all know the challenges he - and we all - face are going to take more than a few months to address. It does seem a little unfair for a bunch of armchair quarterbacks to be second guessing the guy on the field who's doing his best to keep the ball moving down the field under the worst possible circumstances.

But we hope the president himself is doing a little reflecting on these first "100 days." In fact, we hope he's taking stock of how things are going in order to readjust, recalibrate, and redirect a lot more often than every 100 days.

Leadership: What One Group Is Trying

No matter what you do, you know that a key to your group being effective includes good leadership. Leaders who find ways to operate using renewable practices, help people see what they have in new ways, and actually get something done are rarer than they could be. Some assume that leaders are born and wish more leaders showed up with certain traits in place. But we are seeing that leadership can be caught/taught and that everyone can increase his or her effectiveness as a leader.

Are You Relational Enough to Get Things Done?

Some of the members of our team are trained coaches who are working with people to help them be their best. The coaches on A.R.E.'s team are part of groups like CoachNet and the International Coach Federation. These groups provide high quality training and tools to insure coaching standards and effectiveness. If you are reading this, you may want to contact us and inquire about getting a coach to assist you in thinking through the work you do.

Do You Have The Help You Need?

At a time when almost everybody is thinking about cutting back on whatever seems non-essential, it might seem like a bad idea to look outside of your organization for help. Well, not necessarily. In fact, now is exactly the right time to be making decisions that will help your organization become more vital, more purposeful, more impactful. That doesn't necessarily mean you need outside help to do it. But it might. 

How do you know if you're ready for the kind of help a consultant or a coach can offer?