Leading Missions

Good Words on Vows - Ray Orllund

2011-06-30T10:23:00.000-06:00

Pastor Ortlund (senior) was pastor of Lake Avenue Congregational Church in Pasadena, California and was pastor to Ralph and Roberta Winter when I worked at the US Center for World Missions. His son wrote about his father's vows on his blog. http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/rayortlund/2011/06/29/my-dads-five-vows/On 19 June 2003 my dad wrote down these five vows that he made before the Lord:1.

Christian Computing Magazine -- The economics of online distribution

2011-06-27T09:01:00.000-06:00

I've been an avid reader of Christian Computing Magazine since it came out about 20 years ago. The online publication is going through a transition from PDF to "Flash" distribution. This reminded me of our calculation about halting the publication of the U.S. edition of our mission's magazine about 15 years ago. As a journalist who has edited several magazines distributed to the Christian

An experiment on this Blog

2011-06-27T08:29:00.000-06:00

I just realized that it's been at least two weeks since my last post. I'm going to try to use this blog for the next week to post most, if not all, of my web work, including searches, articles, etc. This discipline will help me keep track of what I'm working on and how I'm using my time. You are welcome to help me keep track of the meanderings.

Social Networking Goes "In-House"

2011-06-27T08:25:00.000-06:00

Recognizing the impact of social networking (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) more and more companies are creating tools that enable people in the organization to share things with others in the organization. Here's a New York Times article on this phenomenon: Companies Are Erecting In-House Social Networks http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/27/technology/27social.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha26

Viewing Keynote Files in PowerPoint

2011-06-09T11:21:00.000-06:00

Today I had an need to view a file created in Macintosh Keynote (the Mac presentation program) in Microsoft PowerPoint. I found several messages from Apple saying that you couldn't do this. Fortunately, I found www.zamzar.com which lets you upload a Keynote (.key) file and then e-mails back to you the file in PowerPoint format (.ppt). Helpful thing to know if you have a PC and need to access

Great Resources from ASTD 2011

2011-05-27T12:00:00.001-06:00

Here is a web page that lists great resources from the 2011 convention of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) http://misadventuresinlearning.blogspot.com/2011/05/astd-ice-2011-astd2011-backchannel.html My note: the term "backchannel" refers to an online conversation that takes place during some online or in-person event. Here's the "authoritative" Wikipedia definition:

The New Reality in Leadership Communication

2011-05-26T10:47:00.001-06:00

From trainleadersjune2010-1276697302212-phpapp02.ppt People don't just "believe what you say, because you say it." They have a wide variety of sources for input and are becoming more discerning about what to believe and why. This is partially a result of the growing influence of "social media" which greatly expands the ability of people to "publish." and diminishes the gap between "publisher" and

Still More on Using Social Media in Training from Jane Bozarth's Book

2011-05-10T09:42:00.000-06:00

Here is the third installment of my notes and clippings from the opening chapters of Jane Bozarth's book Social Media for Trainers: Techniques for Enhancing and Extending Learning. 2010 John Wiley and Sons. Following this introduction, the remainder of this book is devoted to an introduction to some major social media tools, providing both information about the tool and a how-to for getting

Jane Bozarth on Converting Classroom Programs to Online

2011-05-09T14:24:00.001-06:00

Many of us are not designing programs for online learning but converting our traditional training for usage online. Here's a brief article by Dr. Jane Bozarth on the conversion process. _________________________“Find out which aspects of the classroom program are most successful ... and which aspects fail. Talk with learners and the classroom instructors, and review any evaluation or follow-up

From Daniel Pink’s forward to “The New Social Learning.”

2011-05-06T17:52:00.000-06:00

“In business terms, most people—myself included—think of Twitter, Facebook and other social media as tools for marketing. But now that I’ve read this smart and incisive book, I realize that…the deepest, most enduring impact of social media might be on learning. …Learning is a fundamentally social act…sociability has always greased the gears of learning. Our inherent drive to learn together can be

More on Using Social Media in Training from Jane Bozarth

2011-05-06T07:58:00.001-06:00

Expert observers now think in terms of Web 1.0 (one-way communication) and Web 2.0 using technological advances to make communication more interactive. "(Web 1.0) Programmer-created web pages, graphics, Flash Experts create content Individuals visit web pages, read content Tightly controlled “sites” One way communication (one to many) Britannica Online Publish Firewalls, hierarchies Stable

Using Social Media in Training - 1

2011-05-02T10:27:00.000-06:00

Earlier this year, I volunteered to facilitate a session on “Using Social Media in Training” at the Personnel Workshop. I knew that my actual, “on the ground” experience with social media was thin, but I also knew that social media had the potential to significantly change the way that we could interact with participants in our training sessions, and I wanted to expand my knowledge and

Copies, Copying, Copyright and Copy Wrongs

2010-12-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

One issue that often confronts us is whether and how to use materials what we've discovered in our work. In the course of recently responding to an e-mail on this question, I wrote... ---------------------------------------------- The Leadership Challenge licenses their materials for use by other organizations at a cost of something like $100 to $200 per participant. You can contact them at

Flash Mobs, Body of Christ and Mission Leader Training

2010-12-01T11:28:00.000-07:00

Today’s Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE Today, Jeannie sent me a link to a flash mob video from a store in Canada. I had read about flash mobs, but was not aware of the video files that show some of their more public venures, singing, dancing and freeze action posing in a public place. The first thing I thought when I saw this was isn’t this an amazing picture of the function of

Drucker: Beware the Undoable Job

2010-12-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

What implications does this have for ministry job descriptions? Beware the Undoable Jobfrom What's Best Next by Matt Drucker: “[The effective executive is] forever on guard against the ‘impossible’ job, the job that simply is not for normal human beings. Such jobs are common. They usually look exceedingly logical on paper. But they cannot be filled. One man of proven performance capacity

Planning Days, Weeks and Years and Tasks

2010-10-23T10:57:00.000-06:00

I've been working on some personal planning recently, and I was reminded of something I learned many years ago. God has explicitly given us three time periods that mark our lives: Days (morning and evening, Day One..." Weeks (six days you will labor and the seventh day..." Years (all of Israel's festivals are built around the annual calendar) That's not to say that monthly, quarterly, bi-annual,

Strategic and Action Planning for Ministry

2010-09-18T12:01:00.000-06:00

Today I completed a draft learning assignment for World Team on Strategic and action planning. (Gospel Leadership Profile) (5) Leadership Competencies The wisdom to know how and when to skillfully use leadership competences to reproduce themselves. Strategic planning: Focus on effective Spirit-led planning that results in a team accomplishing ministry goals. (Gospel Leadership Profile)This

Three Essential Management Skills

2010-09-13T11:18:00.000-06:00

This post is a repeat from several months ago. I've cleaned up the formatting a bit to make it more presentable. Three Essential Management Skills The late Stephen F. Holbrook was a godly management trainer who went to be with the Lord about fifteen years ago. His work on the three key management processes was so clear and powerful, that after hearing him speak on them once in an one-day IFMA

Church Planting and Church Renewal

2010-09-13T11:02:00.000-06:00

It occurred to me this morning that it's probably a mistake to consider Acts 2 as the beginning of a church-planting movement. Actually, considering the religious background of both the 12, the 120 and the 3,000, it would probably be more appropriate to consider Pentecost as a church renewal movement. I suspect that in many cases, the biggest block to church planting in areas with a cultural

A "Developed-mental" Mindset

2010-09-12T09:56:00.000-06:00

This weekend is the beginning of the 2010 NFL season. I usually try to follow the Tom Brady and the Boston Patriots, though now that Tim Tebow is a Denver Bronco, I’ll probably follow the home team a bit more closely, especially if his playing time increases. However, I’m writing about something I read in a blog about the Patriots. It’s a quotation from Kyle Love, an undrafted free agents who is

Self Awareness

2010-09-04T14:15:00.000-06:00

I've had some recent experiences that have heightened my self-awareness. I've been working mainly off my StrengthFinders strengths of Input Learner Activator Strategic Command But I'm also aware of my Myers-Briggs Type Indicator of Introverted iNtuition Thinking Processing And, of course the granddaddy of them all: the DiSC where I typically test as a Driver But the big question for me at

A-B-C's of Getting Things Done

2010-06-09T10:34:00.002-06:00

Someone recently pointed out that three of our major approaches to thinking about time come from the A-B-C's of time management. They were referring to: A--David Allen of Getting Things Done--who contributed "next-action-step thinking." B--Tony Buzan who has popularized "mind-mapping" as a premier project management approach. C--Stephen Covey whose seven habits force us to "begin with the end in

Leading Up

2010-06-09T09:41:00.000-06:00

Sometimes we have difficulty in getting people who don't work for us to respond to us. This is especially true (and sensitive) when these people are over us in organizational authority. One possible way of dealing with someone whose approval or response is necessary for me to continue with my work is to phrase your request like this: "Unless I hear from you by Friday noon, here is what I'm

Rebooting Myself

2010-03-12T13:51:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I returned home from two weeks of travel and ministry in Asia. While there, I managed to acquire a "root-kit" that really trashes your hard drive. As a result, Wednesday morning I began to re-assemble the various pieces and trails of my life from multiple sources: written, electronic, brainscan, etc. Since my regular ministry is leader development and leadership coaching for

Three Key Management Processes

2010-02-19T09:08:00.000-07:00

The late Stephen F. Holbrook was a godly management trainer who went to be with the Lord about fifteen years ago. His work on the three key management processes was so clear and powerful, that after hearing him speak on them once in an one-day IFMA workshop in the late 1980’s I’ve used and taught his principles and processes ever since. Here is the essence of what I understand Holbrook taught:

Know Thyself & Develop Thyself

2010-02-16T11:46:00.002-07:00

Because of the factors of time and distance, most leader development for people who are leaders in missions is really self development. We should be investing in helping people become self-developers, rather than relying on training programs which are delivered too far away and too far apart to have the real impact we desire in the lives of our leaders. Some of the things we need to take into

Reality and the Pictures of It

2010-02-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

The one thing, perhaps more than any other, that I've learned from my two most influential teachers is that God has created the heavens and earth that we can see in order to teach us about the invisible reality that we cannot see. Mr. Hatch told us about Jesus walking along with his disciples, pointing to a vine beside the path, saying, "You see that vine, that's not a vine, that's a picture of

2010-02-13T10:31:00.002-07:00

Enhancing the Effectiveness of All MembersCore Ideas: OMF Leaders have primary responsibility for equipping people for effective ministry, facilitating their learning as adults.1. Who? (Who are these learners?) Approximately 40 newly appointed OMF organizational leaders with a wide variety of professional and ministry experience. Some might be classified as “reluctant” leaders, but all are

Enhancing Effectiveness of All Our Members

2010-02-13T10:27:00.003-07:00

Enhancing the Effectiveness of All MembersCore Ideas: OMF Leaders have primary responsibility for equipping people for effective ministry, facilitating their learning as adults.A. Principles and Practices of Learning for Adult LearnersWe want to be sure that training we do in OMF is designed to meet the unique challenges and needs of adult learners.1. Quick Quiz2. What do you know/

Simple Truths about Performance

2010-02-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

Simple Truths about Performance 1. People who produce good results feel good about themselves. It’s hard to keep up good morale and have people feel satisfied if the results they are getting aren’t making a difference. Both people and results are important. Overemphasizing either one can cause problems.2. To help people perform well, an effective performance management system (

Some Other Books on my Reading List

2010-02-12T13:07:00.001-07:00

Organic Disciple-making: Mentoring Others Into Spiritual Maturity by Dennis McCallum. This is one of the best books on making disciples I have read since I was involved with The Navigators during my military service in the 1960's and 70's. Great step-by-step instructions as well as a great introduction to the what, why, when and how of initiating and conducting a discipleship ministry. Strategic

What I'm Reading February 2010

2010-02-11T19:07:00.000-07:00

Here are the books on my reading list at this point: Becoming a Coaching Leader by Daniel Harkavy: I read the Kindle version of this book and wanted to be able to use it more fully in my own leadership coaching, so I've purchased the hardback version. Training on Trial by Jim Kirkpatrick and Wendy Kayser Kirkpatrick. The Kirkpatricks come from good training stock--his father was the developer of

Here's another take on the Apple iPad

2010-01-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

http://www.challies.com/archives/articles/ipad-the-greatest-disappointment-in-human-history.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+challies/XhEt+(Challies+Dot+Com)&utm_content=Google+Reader

A Personally Guided Tour of Al Mohler's Study

2010-01-27T13:58:00.002-07:00

http://vimeo.com/8693850

Apple's new iPad and the Kindle DX

2010-01-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

I've been following the introduction of the new Apple iPad today. Since I've been an early adoptor and enthusiast for the Kindle, I though I would share a few thoughts about this new addition to the "slate family" of tools. 1. There's no question that the iPad is beautiful. Apple always excels at product design. 2. Bringing out a color iPad at the same price as the 16-shade greyscale Kindle DX is

More Free Business Book Summaries

2010-01-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.businesssummaries.com has free summaries of eight popular business books

New Site for Business Book Summaries

2010-01-27T10:46:00.001-07:00

This fits into the "now why didn't I think of that?" category. I just found the web site called "Squeezed books". It contains user contributed business book summaries. Though the quality is uneven, it's good enough to help me glean insights from other authors, as well as point out titles that I might be interested in reading or buying. Sign up at http://www.squeezedbooks.com/account/signup

New Books to Read and Listen To

2010-01-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

I just received three books I'd ordered: Topgrading by Bradford D. Smart. This book was recommended as a "must read" by Steve Moore, CEO and President of The Mission Exchange. Jack Welch has been a model I've admired for his emphasis on leader development while CEO at General Electric. Welch's approach to leader development came from Smart, and so I wanted to know as much as I can about the

Reasons Virtual Teams Fail

2010-01-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

Many ministries have cut costs by transitioning to virtual teams. I found this article on Why Virtual Teams Fail to contain much wisdom that needs to be considered by ministry leaders who are considering moving toward virtual teams. http://www.greatwebmeetings.com/files/docs/3reasonswhitepaperfinal.pdf

The West Point Way of Leadership (Book Excerpts)

2010-01-21T08:25:00.002-07:00

Amazon.com introduces Dr. Larry Donnithorne’s book this way: “West Point has bred more CEO’s than any business school, and the leadership skills taught there are truly matters of life and death. Bolder than Sun Tzu, savvier than Gracian—this is the book on learning to lead.” My old boss, Dr. Ralph D. Winter, often described the structure of mission organizations by contrasting their “

Stand Your Ground: Building Honorable Leaders the West Point Way

2010-01-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

(from the Kindle book description) Management professor and West Point graduate Evan Offstein approached leaders at the United States Military Academy (USMA) with two primary questions: (1) How does West Point develop its leaders? (2) Can other individuals and organizations apply these methods effectively? Two years later, after conducting extensive on-site research at West Point and with

My Most Helpful Resource for Organizational Leader Developement

2010-01-19T15:47:00.001-07:00

I've spent the past few days locating and listing the books I have that deal with the subject of organizational leader development. That exercise reminded me that it has been some time since I've reviewed the most helpful book I used when working with Dr. Dan Bacon on designing the leader development program for OMF International. That book was "Building Leaders" by Dr. Jay Conger of University

Leaders Know How to Get Things Done

2010-01-19T14:44:00.000-07:00

I'm usually interested in how leaders make things happen, so I was delighted to see this news analysis piece in the New York Times about how Harry Reed is trying to change "health care as we know it," while trying to get re-elected in Nevada. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24reid-t.html?nl=us&emc=politicsemailemb2&pagewanted=all

The Ever Useful Evernote

2010-01-19T11:58:00.001-07:00

I'm a software junkie. And if that wasn't bad enough, my top strength (according to Donald Clifton's "StrengthFinders" inventory is "Input."*defined below Especially I'm a cheap software junkie. And if the product happens to be useful--so much the better. One program that "lives" pinned to my taskbar is "Evernote." Evernote is software that lets me (a) clip anything (article, picture, video,

Learning On the Job

2010-01-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

I found this article about President Obama's learning curve in his first year on the job to be quite helpful in highlighting issues any leader faces in assuming new levels of responsibility in a new position. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/18/AR2010011803594_pf.html

List of Leader Development Resources Posted Online

2010-01-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

I've just discovered a helpful resource for maintaining book lists. It's provided by Amazon for users of "linked in" the networking website. I've posted a list of the Kindle and "real" books I have on leader development subjects. If you would like to borrow one of the physical books, let me know. http://www.linkedin.com/osview/canvas?_ch_page_id=1&_ch_panel_id=1&_ch_app_id=20&_applicationId=

Leader Development is Self Development?

2010-01-18T10:11:00.002-07:00

Most of the emphasis I have seen in mission organizations has been in terms of asking what the agency can do to enhance the ministry of its leaders. However the reality that I've experienced is that because of many factors inherent in our work (time, distance, cost, etc.) the most leader development will be self development. So the challenge for mission agency leader developers is: what can we

Reflections on "The Starfish and the Spider"

2010-01-13T08:20:00.001-07:00

Today's New York Times carried an interesting piece of news analysis titled: "A Year of Terror Plots, Through a Second Prism." In this article, the author argues that too much credit is given to lone, relatively unconnected terrorists. Here is part of his argument. "... The term “Al Qaeda,” used as a catchall in many of the plots, blurs important distinctions. By most accounts, apart from

Long-Range Planning/Long-Term Thinking

2010-01-12T06:37:00.000-07:00

One person who has greatly influenced my thinking about organizations is Dr. Ted Engstrom, former president of Youth for Christ and later World Vision.. When he teamed up with Dr. Ed Dayton to do a series of management seminars for Christian leaders, they soon became known as the Ted and Ed show. As someone who benefited greatly from their work I remember being specially impressed with one axiom

My Word for 2010: Documentation

2010-01-08T13:37:00.002-07:00

I've been working this week on designing some training for World Team Asia that will be presented in Bali in March. I'm not planning to deliver the training, but to outline it and then work with a number of colleagues who will facilitate the learning tasks for their colleagues. It is our plan that each session will include a coaching component so that each participant will go away, not just with

The Most Helpful Resource for Developing an Organizational Leader Development Program

2009-12-22T12:51:00.001-07:00

The most helpful resource I've found for developing the LeaderLink and OMF Leader Development programs that I've found is the book Building Leaders by Jay Conger and Beth Benjamin (Jossey-Bass Publishers) http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787944696,descCd-authorInfo.html If you would like a 16-page summary I've developed from this book contact me at David.Dougherty@

Why mind mapping software should be the foundation of your personal productivity system

2009-12-22T12:32:00.002-07:00

Why mind mapping software should be the foundation of your personal productivity system Mind mapping software can significantly improve your effectiveness, so much so that you really ought to consider making it a key tool in your personal productivity arsenal. Here are 10 reasons why you should incorporate this technology into your workflow: See this post at: http://mindmappingsoftwareblog.com

Worksheet for Development Tasks

2009-12-22T12:29:00.003-07:00

Worksheet for Development Tasks and Development Projects Development area: Development goal: This goal is primarily concerned with: ___ Godly Character ___ Ministry Skills ___ Strategic Values Helping Forces Opposing Forces ____________--> <-- ______________ ____________--> <-- ______________ ____________ --> <-- ______________ ____________ --> <--_____________

Focusing on Strategic Values

2009-12-22T12:18:00.003-07:00

We noted elsewhere on this site that personal development flows in three channels: · Godly character · Ministry skills, and · Strategic Values We saw that godly character refers to progress toward Christ-likeness, and ministry skills means increasing effectiveness and productivity in using gifts and abilities to accomplish God’s purposes, strategic values have to do with

Developing Personal Development Tasks

2009-12-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some suggestions you may use to design personal/leadership development tasks. 1. Presentation· Workshop· Seminar· Conference· Speaker· Audio tape· Videotape· Take notes· Summarize· Relate to other input· Do your own presentation· Apply something2. Reading· Book (scan, ransack, study, etc.)·

Introduction to Personal Development: Planning to Grow and Change

2009-12-22T11:54:00.001-07:00

We all are familiar with the concept of personal development. We use a variety of terms and ideas to communicate the concept of growing or changing as we progress from birth to maturity. Sometimes we use this concept in the sense of physical or social development. We also use these ideas to refer to spiritual development or growth in ministry competencies. Using the following scriptures as a

A Marketing Approach to Personal Support Development

2009-12-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

A Marketing Approach to Personal Support Raising David Dougherty, OMF/World Team with Dr. Steve Hoke, CRM Introduction: From my first marketing class at Cal State San Bernardino back before joining OMF, I remember the primary difference between a sales approach and a marketing approach. 1. A sales approach begins with the product and focuses on benefits to the consumer of purchasing and

Carson Pue's Mentoring Leaders

2009-12-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

I have outlined a learning project for 2010 to read and create outline summaries for a number of books on organizational leadership--specifically focusing on the organizational development side of that subject. This is related to my interest in leader development for mission organizations because of my links to the LeaderLink program, and my role as a leadership coach for OMF International and

What’s So Special about Special Ops? From Strategy+Business magazine

2009-12-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

One of my major mentors in ministry and missions was Dr. Ralph D. Winter who I had the privilege of assisting as a staff member and staff leader at the U.S. Center for World Missions from 2001 - 2005. Dr. Winter's Modality/Sodality model has influenced the way much of the missions community has viewed organizations and organizational development. As a six-year veteran of the U.S. Army (between

How Web 2.0 is changing the way we work--from MIT scholar Andrew McAfee

2009-12-16T11:40:00.000-07:00

A major concern for leader development and organizational development in mission organizations is the cost of organizational development items. The emergence of internet technology has put many new features within the reach of organizations at low (or no) cost. Here's an example of a technology with some of the pros and cons that member and leader developers should be aware of and consider.

Leadership 2020--Jim Kouzes

2009-12-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

Note: I save a number of links and items in Evernote each day. It occurred to me that I should find a way to save these items in a format that could be shared with others. So I'm using this blog as a way to do that. Found at: http://www.leadershipchallenge.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-131339.html Leadership 2020 Introduction: Imagine the year is 2020. You are attending a ceremony honoring you as

Back in the Saddle Again

2009-11-04T14:26:00.000-07:00

Well, in spite of all my best intentions, I fell "off the wagon" in terms of my determination to resume blogging. Fortunately, reviewing a copy of old e-mail correspondence rmeinded me and I'm trying to resume my previous commitment.This past week I've been working on preparation (mainly reading papers) for the upcoming GMI board meeting. This is important since papers I'm reviewing are on the

What's Wrong with Me?

2009-06-25T09:12:00.000-06:00