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I enjoy reading Stephen Brewster’s website. If you aren’t already…put it in your daily RSS – it is a GREAT read for creatives and worship leaders/pastors. Recently, he had an article about the “1 thing you can do in your organization to be more creative” and one of his points hit a strong chord with me:
Start inviting people into conversations. That simple. Bring in people who are not normally part of your “world”. They will provide a unique lens and filter to your situation.
It resonated so fondly with me based on a recent interview I heard on NPR Radio with the ad agency who came up with last year’s famous Star Wars “Darth Vader-Kid” VW commercial. I sat listening to the lead from the ad agency talk about the process they go through figuring out what direction to take in a commercial. The interviewer asked:
“(INTERVIEWER): Do you sit down with a panel of people from the public and see what resonates with them or do you rely on your own people or a combination of both?
(AD AGENCY): No…we pretty much trust our own guys to do it ourselves.”
Wow! That’s strong. It got me thinking about how the process goes with ad agencies and how quickly these guys on the outside of a business can make magic happen. While I am a worship leader, my mainstream job is with a television show on a major television network. I thought about how an outside agency might come in and, within a matter of hours take a fresh approach at marketing our show – something that we feel we know inside and out. Brewster’s point is dead on the money.
The same applies to our churches. We are a part of our worship services each week and can sometimes become lost in the “ritual”, if you will. Imagine what would happen if you asked someone from your congregation what changes they would make? To take it a whole step further and applying Brewster’s thoughts…what would happen if you brought in someone that has nothing to do with the church whatsoever to evaluate your service?
I’m game for discussion. Let’s think outside of the box folks. What are your ideas?
