In The Answer to How is Yes, Peter Block identifies six How? questions that he says are “always reasonable, but when asked too soon and taken too literally may actually postpone the future and keep us encased in our present way of thinking.” 1. How do you do it? “When I ask this question, I […]
The Answer to How is Yes
In The Answer to How is Yes, Peter Block writes that “transformation comes more from pursuing profound questions than seeking practical answers.” He argues that our culture is too obsessed with how? questions. “My premise is that this culture, and we as members of it, have yielded too easily to what is doable and practical […]
April 25, 2007 by 2 Comments
Without Disagreement, Nothing Can Be Learned
I’ve had the tag line “Without disagreement, nothing can be learned” on my blog for quite a while now. I can’t remember where it came from but I like it, even though I don’t think a blog is generally a good place to work through disagreement. You can say something disagreeable on a blog. You […]
April 19, 2007 by 10 Comments
Made to Stick: SUCCESs
Sticky ideas are understandable, memorable, and effective in changing thoughts and behavior. The Curse of Knowledge keeps our ideas from being sticky. The Heath brothers give us six qualities of sticky ideas. They’ve given us a cute little acronym to help them (ahem) stick: SUCCESs Simple–the core message that is compact and profound. It functions […]
April 16, 2007 by 3 Comments
Made to Stick: Simplicity
In Made to Stick, the Heath brothers unpack six principles that make an idea sticky. The first is Simplicity. They write, “How do we find the essential core of our ideas? To strip an idea down to its core, we must be masters of exclusion. We must relentlessly prioritize.” This is one of the hardest […]
April 12, 2007 by 16 Comments
Made to Stick: The Curse of Knowledge
I’ve been spending some time with what I think is a pretty important book. It’s important if you teach or preach or do fund raising or blog or do anything else that depends on the communication of a message. The book is Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath […]
April 11, 2007 by 5 Comments
Movies and Books
I’ve seen a couple of good movies in the last week: “Zodiac” and “Amazing Grace.” Two very different movies but both are well made and worth watching. A theme common to both movies is obsession and the toll it takes on those committed to a cause. Our staff is reading Slaves, Women and Homosexuals: Exploring […]
March 9, 2007 by 7 Comments
The World’s Religions
I’ve been teaching the High School class on Wednesday nights for the past couple of months. We’ve been playing “stump the preacher.” On the first night, they wrote down their questions that they’d love to see me tackle and I promised to give some straight answers. The questions ranged from make-me-proud smart alecky to dead […]
February 21, 2007 by 25 Comments
Review of Exiles
My review of Exiles has been posted over at New Wineskins.
February 9, 2007 by 3 Comments
Bruce Feiler’s Blog
I’ve enjoyed all of Bruce Feiler’s recent books. I’m also enjoying his blog. I’m recommending you give both a try.
February 7, 2007 by Leave a Comment
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons