Aligning Dreaming Planning Organizing Serving Celebrating Learning Ministry Communicorps

Think about a dance song you know. Concentrate on the beat. Let it run a little in your head. Thump, thump, thump, uhhh--got it? Good, keep it going while you read this. Move your feet to it. Tap it out. Now maybe a little head-bob. Maybe your shoulders can get into it as well. Ah--there it is. Congratulations, you have a groove. Keep groovin' for a minute...

What does this have to do with innovation? Simple, really. Innovation is the fact that everybody who listens to the same beat you have in your head, right now, can have a different groove. The music can be the same, but the groove is unique to everyone.

Your groove. Take a look at your groove. You've got moves--even if you're white and have no rhythm whatsoever, you still have a groove. Albeit sad, but it's there nonetheless. Where did it come from? Maybe your mom taught you some ballroom steps before the junior high dance. Maybe you woke up to Soul Train every day for a few years. Maybe you saw the movie Footloose and were inspired.

Now, your groove is the rhythm of your life. It influences everything you do. Which is why all the ideas you have are a reflection of your groove. Whenever a song plays in your head, you move the same way to it. Like right now. Seem familiar? Right--because it's your groove.

A new groove. Innovation is learning a new groove. It's playing the same music, but letting someone else show you their moves. It's combining their moves and your moves for even more new moves. Innovation is life remixed. There's something familiar there, but there's also something fresh--original. Different.

Innovation is constantly exploring new grooves. It's befriending others who can dance to a different step--and learning from them. It's the willingness to take something that works and turn it upside down to find something else that works. It's being original because you can be.

  See "Planning" section for more tips on "innovation"...

  The next "I": Integration...

  The Six "I's": Putting It Together...


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  Dream a Little Dream
Take a trip through your imagination. Frolic in the mind and pick up an idea or two. Go ahead and daydream. It's okay. Nobody is looking. Close your eyes.

Mind Control Lightbulbs Think outside the box

  Posterpalooza!
The poster is a great idea and theme tool for use in promoting ministries and events. Here are just a few samples.

Copyright Gene Mason. All rights reserved. 032710

 

Why being new is important:

It's attention-getting. Without engagement--attention--on the part of the audience, there is no communication. Getting attention is the first thing in any conversation. Saying something new, or in a new way, is a sure-fire way to garner attention for your message.

It's refreshing. You know that feeling you get when you expect something and are pleasantly surprised when you get the unexpected? That's what innovation does.

It pushes things forward. Nothing leads to stagnation more than accepting the status quo. You don't always have to be new, but always looking for new pushes you to find better ways of doing things.

Failure to innovate will kill you eventually. At some point, you must innovate, or the project or organization will die. Life does not stand still. Neither can you.

Putting It All Together:

What's all this about? The result of a solid communications ministry affects all areas of the church positively, growing His Kingdom through service. Here's how to put it all together...