A definitive Seth Godin overview!

If you've ever wanted to have a handy introduction to the thought and work of Seth Godin then check out the post below that comes from JD Meier's blog (original post here).  The original post is entitled 'Lessons learned from Seth Godin'.  I have copied JD's post here.  Please refer back to his site for comments. 

Thanks JD!  What an incredible post!

Busy does not equal important. Measured doesn’t mean mattered.” – Seth Godin

There’s a hidden message in this post – it’s your free prize inside.  Whether you find the free prize or not, this post will make you think.  About your life.  About work.  About just about everything.  Why?  Because it’s a distillation of lessons from a man named Seth.  Seth Godin is an author, an agent of change, a meaning maker, and an Idea Merchant.

I have to say, this was my most challenging “greatness distilled” post to date.  Seth is a fountain of insight, and I wanted to do more than show the tip of the iceberg.  At the same time, I wanted to take the balcony view, look across his forest of ideas, and make a map of the most meaningful insights.  I won’t claim victory, but I smile inside as I think in the spirit of Seth, I won’t let perfect get in the way of the good.  I’m hoping people will share their lessons from Seth with me, and the map will go beyond my sketch and take a life of its own.  For now, this is my “Seth on a page.”

As you explore Seth’s work, find what you can use for the business of life, or the game of work.  If you walk away with the goal of finding 3 ah-has, you’ll change your frame … and a key to life is that if you change your frame, you change your game.

25 Lessons Learned from Seth Godin
Seth is full of lessons and insights.  Here are 25 lessons to chew on:

1. Have a bunch of good runs before the sun sets. Seth says — “Life is like skiing.  Just like skiing, the goal is not to get to the bottom of the hill. It’s to have a bunch of good runs before the sun sets.”
2. Be remarkable.  Boring is invisible.  Remarkable products and remarkable people get talked about.  Seth on remarkable — “How can you squander even one more day not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?”
3. Success is a skill.  Seth’s philosophy on success is — “it’s possible to enjoy your job, to do the right thing, to be transparent, to give more than you get and to be successful, all at the same time.”  It takes work.   Surround yourself with people who are succeeding.   You become who you hang with.  By surrounding yourself with people who are succeeding, you’ll learn what’s working and what’s not.  You can model their success and open doors that you might otherwise not see.  Seth on successful people – “”Successful people rarely confuse a can-do attitude with a smart plan. But they realize that one without the other is unlikely to get you very far.”
4. Being the best is the best place to be.  It’s better to be the best.   People pick the market leaders and they narrow their choices to the top.  Seth says, “Being the best in the world is seriously underrated.”   According to Seth, best in the world is relative – “It’s best for them, right now based on what they believe and in their world, the one they have access to.”  In the Dip, Seth shares 7 reasons why you might fail to become the best in the world:  1.) You run out of time, 2.) you run out of money, 3.) you get scared, 4.) you’re not serious about it, 5.) you lose interest or enthusiasm and settle for being mediocre, 6.) you focus on the short term instead of the long, 7.) you pick the wrong thing at which to be the best in the world.
5. Be missed.  Seth on how to be missed — “Connect, create meaning, make a difference, matter, be missed.”
6. Everybody is an expert about something.  You’re an expert at something.  Make meaning.  A SQUIDOO lens is a way to make meaning for others.  Seth on lenses – “A lens gives context. When it succeeds, it delivers meaning.”
7. Success is a hierarchy.   Seth teaches us the hierarchy of success: 1.) Attitude, 2.) Approach 3.) Goals 4.) Strategy 5.) Tactics 6.) Execution
8. Don’t do A as a calculated tactic to get B.  Do A because you believe in it.  Seth on success – “If we define success as the ability to make a living doing what I do, I’d say the following: 1.) No ulterior motive. I rarely do A as a calculated tactic to get B. I do A because I believe in A, or it excites me or it’s the right thing to do. That’s it. No secret agendas, 2.) I don’t think my audience owes me anything. It’s always their turn, 3.) I’m in a hurry to make mistakes and get feedback and get that next idea out there. I’m not in a hurry, at all, to finish the “bigger” project, to get to the finish line, 4.) I do things where I actually think I’m right, as opposed to where I think succeeding will make me successful. When you think you’re right, it’s more fun and your passion shows through, 5.) I’ve tried to pare down my day so that the stuff I actually do is pretty well leveraged. That and I show up. Showing up is underrated.”
9. Be in it for the long haul.  Things rarely come easy.  Make the journey worth it.  Chip away at success.  Seth says — “Listen instead to your real customers, to your vision and make something for the long haul. Because that’s how long it’s going to take, guys.”
10. Quit the right things and lean into the right Dips.  Winners quit the right things all the time.  Recognize when you’re in a Dip.  Pick the right Dips.  In the Dip, Seth teaches us 3 curves: 1) the Dip, 2) the Cul-De-Sac, and 3) the Cliff.  The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery.  The Dip is where success happens.  Stick it out, only if you’re going to get the benefits of being the best in the world.  The Cul-De-Sac is where you work and work and work, but nothing much changes.  These are dead-end jobs.  The Cliff is a situation where you can’t quit until you fall off.  If you’re in a Cul-De-Sac or Cliff, you need to quit.  You need to quit these so you can refocus on something with promise.
11. Decide if you’re a freelancer or entrepreneur.  In the Bootstrapper’s Bible, Seth teaches us that a freelancer sells their talents.  While they may have a few employees, they’re doing a job without a boss, but not running a business.  There’s no exit strategy or pot of gold, but they make their own hours and be their own boss.  Examples include layout artists, writers, consultants, film editors, landscapers, architects, translators, and musicians.  Seth writes that an entrepreneur is trying to build something bigger than themselves.  They take calculated risk and focus on growth.  An entrepreneur is willing to receive little pay, work long hours, and take on great risk in exchange for the freedom to make something big, something that has real market value.
12. It’s like walking through a maze.   Seth on building a business from scratch — “Learn as you go.  Change as you go.  Building a business from scratch is like walking through a maze with many, many doors.  Once you open one, 100 new doors present themselves.  As you move your way through the maze, you need to stop and check your location.  Look at a map.  If you’re in the wrong place move.  But if you’ve discovered a new place, there’s nothing wrong with exploiting it.”
13. Everyone is not your customer.  Seth teaches us the key to failure – “the key to failure is trying to please everyone.”  Listen to your real customers.  It’s not the media, the investors, or the early adopters.  Seth on everyone is not your customer – “The media wants overnight successes (so they have someone to tear down). Ignore them. Ignore the early adopter critics that never have enough to play with. Ignore your investors that want proven tactics and predictable instant results. Listen instead to your real customers …”  Seth on figuring out what your customers really want — “Most people have no clue what they want, and if you ask them, you’ll get a lame answer. Most people don’t know they want Pretty Woman or Slumdog Millionaire. They don’t know they want Purple Cow or one of your killer articles. So if you want to have an impact, all you can do is lead. You can’t ask.”
14. Feed, grow, and satisfy the tribe.  Build your tribe.  According to Seth, “You can lead a tribe of people, connect them, commit to them and create a movement.”  Seth on building your tribe – “It adds to that the fact that what people really want is the ability to connect to each other, not to companies. So the permission is used to build a tribe, to build people who want to hear from the company because it helps them connect, it helps them find each other, it gives them a story to tell and something to talk about. Everything the organization does is to feed and grow and satisfy the tribe.”
15. Small is the new big.  Focus on relevant, specialized, and unique.  It’s the difference that makes the difference.   According to Seth, small helps you be remarkable – “Small means that you will outsource the boring, low-impact stuff like manufacturing and shipping and billing and packing to others, while you keep the power because you invent the remarkable and tell stories to people who want to hear them.”
16. Find the new scarce.  Where there’s scarcity, there’s value.
17. It’s the FREE PRIZE INSIDE.  Seth teaches us how to create a remarkable product – “The thing that makes something remarkable isn’t usually directly related to the original purpose of the product or service. It’s the FREE PRIZE INSIDE, the extra stuff, the stylish bonus, the design or the remarkable service or pricing that makes people talk about it and spread the word.”
18. The third century is about ideas.  We went from farms to factories to ideas.  Seth on the third century – “Fact is, the first 100 years of our country’s history were about who could build the biggest, most efficient farm. And the second century focused on the race to build factories. Welcome to the third century, folks.”
19. Spread your ideas. Be an idea merchant.  Spread your ideas.  Seth on being an idea merchant — “If you can get people to accept and embrace and adore and cherish your ideas, you win. You win financially, you gain power and you change the world in which we live.”   According to Seth, spreading is a formula of 8 variables: Sneezers, Hive, Velocity, Vector, Medium, Smoothness, Persistence and Amplifier.
20. Don’t wait for perfect. Test your ideas.  Learn and respond.  Don’t wait for perfect to land in your lap, and don’t let it get in the way of sharing a good idea.  Seth on testing ideas – “I’m in a hurry to make mistakes and get feedback and get that next idea out there.”  Seth on perfect — “Waiting for perfect is never as smart as making progress.”  Seth on doing it well now, is better than perfect later — “The minute you start walking down a path toward a yak shaving party, it’s worth making a compromise. Doing it well now is much better than doing it perfectly later.”
21. Don’t get paid to alter your behavior.  Be authentic.  There are two types of sneezers – the promiscuous sneezers and the powerful sneezers.  Promiscuous sneezers can be motivated by money and rewards to sell ideas to a hive.  Powerful sneezers have authority by setting a trend and can’t be bought.  A powerful sneezer can be worth many more times a promiscuous sneezer. Seth on staying a powerful sneezer — “After I left Yahoo!, I had many opportunities to serve on boards and do endorsements. I  chose not to. Why? Because I didn’t want to squander the powerful sneezing points I’d earned by writing my last book. … In every case, you’re getting paid to alter your behavior. That makes you more promiscuous and less powerful.”
22. The goal of reading is to choose what to change.  Find 3 take aways when you read a business book.   Seth on how to read a business book – “Decide, before you start, that you’re going to change three things about what you do all day at work.  Then, as you’re reading, find the three things and do it. The goal of the reading, then, isn’t to persuade you to change, it’s to help you choose what to change.”
23. The world changes whether you like it or not.   The world’s getting bigger and smaller.  Seth on how the world is changing – “The world’s getting bigger because you can look everywhere, but it’s also getting smaller because categories are getting specialized.”
24. The game of marketing has changed.  It’s not price – it’s relevancy, difference, and value.  Marketing is now tribal leadership.  Small is the new big.  Fire customers that aren’t right for your business.  Attention is an asset.  Permission marketing works better than spam – “Selling to people who actually want to hear from you is more effective than interrupting strangers who don’t.”  You take word-of-mouth marketing to the next level with IdeaViruses.  Tell the stories people want to believe.  Products that are remarkable get talked about.     Be authentic.  You can’t fool people.  According to Seth — “You can’t fool all the people, not even most of the time.  And people, once unfooled, talk about the experience.”  Marketing is an investment.  Seth says, “If you are marketing from a fairly static annual budget, you’re viewing marketing as an expense.  Good marketers realize that it is an investment.”
25. Feed, grow, and satisfy your business.   Plan for the money.   If there’s no money, you’re out of the game.  In the Bootstrapper’s Bible, Seth shares 9 rules to take care of your business: 1.) find people who care about cash less than you do, 2.) survival is success, 3.) success leads to more success 4.) redo the mission statement and the business plan every three months, 5.) associate with winners, 6.) beware of shared ownership, 7.) advertise, 8.) get mentored, and 9.) observe those little birds that clean the teeth of very big hippos.

Top 10 Seth Godin Quotes
Here are my top 10 favorite quotes by Seth:

1. “Expectations are the engines of our perceptions.”
2. “Ideas in secret die. They need light and air or they starve to death.”
3. “Go ahead, do something impossible. “
4. “You can’t shrink your way to greatness! “
5. “Don’t try to please everyone. There are countless people who don’t want one, haven’t heard of one or actively hate it. So what?”
6. “Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, you ought to set up a life you don’t need to escape from.”
7. “Why waste a sentence saying nothing? “
8. “If you could do tomorrow over again, would you?”
9. “Change is not a threat, it’s an opportunity. Survival is not the goal, transformative success is.”
10. “Are you a serial idea-starting person? The goal is to be an idea-shipping person.”

Quotes Organized by Category
I’ve included some of my favorite Seth Godin quotes below.  For simple scanning, I’ve organized them using the following categories: General, Business, Change, Greatness, Ideas, Leadership/ Management, Marketing, Mediocrity / Status Quo, Strategy.

Category	Quotes
General	“A long walk and calm conversation are an incredible combination if you want to build a bridge.” “Be with the ones you love (and the ones that love you.) Ignore everyone else.” “If religion comprises rules you follow, faith is demonstrated by the actions you take.” “If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do work that matters, this is it.” “If there’s time for an emergency, why isn’t there time for brilliance, generosity or learning? “ “If you could do tomorrow over again, would you? “ “If you have no wish, how can it possibly come true? “ “If you’re not proud of where you work, go work somewhere else. “ “Just saying yes because you can’t bear the short-term pain of saying no is not going to help you do the work.” “Knowing what to do is very, very different than actually doing it.” “Positive thinking is hard. Worth it, though.” “Put aside your need for a step-by-step manual and instead realize that analogies are your best friend. “ “Saying no to loud people gives you the resources to say yes to important opportunities. “ “We notice what we choose to notice.” “Who gets to decide what you want?” “Why waste a sentence saying nothing? “ “You are not your resume, you are your work. “ “You can be right or you can have empathy. You can’t do both.”
Business	“As an organization grows and succeeds, it sows the seeds of its own demise by getting boring.” “Choose your customers, choose your future.” “Choose your customers. Fire the ones that hurt your ability to deliver the right story to the others.” “Developing expertise or assets that are not easily copied is essential; otherwise you’re just a middleman. “ “Don’t try to be the ‘next’. Instead, try to be the other, the changer, the new. “ “Everyone is not your customer. “ “Fire the committee. No great website in history has been conceived of by more than three people. Not one. This is a deal breaker.” “Give up control and give it away … The more you give your idea away, the more your company is going to be worth. “ “If your organization requires success before commitment, it will never have either. “ “In a world of free, everyone can play.” “It’s better to make a decision, even the wrong one, than to be in limbo.” “Lack of resources (payroll), time and competing priorities are why so many nonprofits haven’t done well. It’s that simple.” “Make a decision. It doesn’t have to be a wise decision or a perfect one. Just make one.” “Once you have permission to talk to someone, finding new products or services for them is a smart way to grow.” “One way to think about running a successful business is to figure out what the least you can do is, and do that. “ “Playing safe is very risky. “ “The application process changes the list of who applies. Your applicants reflect your methods.” “The best time to do great customer service is when a customer is upset.” “The market and the consumer and idea trump the system.” “Your best customers are worth far more than your average customers.”
Change	“Change almost never fails because it’s too early. It almost always fails because it’s too late.” “Change is not a threat, it’s an opportunity. Survival is not the goal, transformative success is.” “If you want to dig a big hole, you need to stay in one place.” “Little changes cost you. Big changes benefit you by changing the game, but only if you go first.” “No, everything is not going to be okay. It never is. It isn’t okay now. Change, by definition, changes things” “Sometimes we spend more time than we should defending the old thing, instead of working to take advantage of the new thing.”
Greatness	“Art is what we’re doing when we do our best work.” “Be personal. Be relevant. Be specific.” “Becoming a superstar takes about 10,000 hours of hard work.” “Doing justice to the work is your task, not setting a world record. “ “Go ahead, do something impossible.” “If there isn’t a good reason, go home. If there is, then do something … loud, now, and memorable.” “Tribes makes our lives better, and leading a tribe is the best life of all. “ “When kids grow up wanting to be you, you matter.” “When the legacy you leave behind lasts for hours, days or a lifetime, you matter.” “When the room brightens when you walk in, you matter.” “When you see the world as it is, but insist on making it more like it could be, you matter.” “You can’t shrink your way to greatness! “
Ideas	“Are you a serial idea-starting person? The goal is to be an idea-shipping person. “ “Big ideas are little ideas that no-one killed too soon. “ “Ideas in secret die. They need light and air or they starve to death. “ “No organization ever created an innovation. People innovate, not companies.” “There’s no correlation between how good your idea is and how likely your organization will be to embrace it. “ “You can’t have good ideas unless you’re willing to generate a lot of bad ones.”
Leadership / Management	“Are you a serial idea-starting person? The goal is to be an idea-shipping person. “ “If you’re not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it’s almost certain you’re not reaching your potential as a leader. “ “Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead.” “Leadership on the other hand, is about creating change you believe in.” “’Teamwork’ is the word that bosses use when they actually mean ‘Do what I say’” “The easiest thing is to react. The second easiest thing is to respond. But the hardest thing is to initiate. – When people ask you to tell them what to do, resist.”
Marketing	“Advertising is just a symptom, a tactic. Marketing is about far more than that.” “Bullhorns are overrated: having ten times as many Twitter followers generates approximately zero times as much value. “ “But this is a remarkable egg, an egg worth talking about, an egg worth crossing the street for, an egg worth writing about. “ “Good marketers measure. “ “Good marketers tell stories. “ “If you can’t make money from attention, you should do something else for a living. “ “If you can’t sell to 1 in 1000, why market to a million? “ “If you’re a marketer who doesn’t know how to invent, design, influence, adapt, and ultimately discard products, then you’re no longer a marketer. You’re deadwood.“ “Low price is a great way to sell a commodity. That’s not marketing though, that’s efficiency.” “Market-driven design builds the success of the product’s marketing into the product itself.” “Marketing is the way your people answer the phone, the typesetting on your bills and your return policy.” “Marketing management is now tribal leadership. “ “Most of the time, creative entrepreneurs lose interest long before their marketing message loses its power. “ “People don’t believe what you tell them. They rarely believe what you show them. They often believe what their friends tell them. They always believe what they tell themselves. “ “People rarely buy what they need. They buy what they want.” “Perhaps marketing is about to transition to a new kind of profession, one that requires insight, dedication and smarts. “ “Relying too much on proof distracts you from the real mission–which is emotional connection.” “Selling to people who actually want to hear from you is more effective than interrupting strangers who don’t. “ “The best marketing strategy is to destroy your industry before your competition does. “ “The reason it seems that price is all your customers care about is that you haven’t given them anything else to care about. “ “You can win with consistent benefits, delivered over time. You win by incrementally earning share, attention and trust.”
Mediocrity / Status Quo	“’Good enough’ stopped being good enough a long time ago. so why not be great? “ “If you make a difference, people will gravitate to you. They want to engage, to interact and to get you more involved.” “It’s uncomfortable to challenge the status quo.” “It’s uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle.” “In our desire to please everyone, it’s very easy to end up being invisible or mediocre.” “Once you free yourself from the need for perfect acceptance, it’s a lot easier to launch work that matters.” “Successful people are the ones who are breaking the rules. “ “The reason they want you to fit in… is that once you do, then they can ignore you. “The status quo is leaving the building, and quickly.” “You can raise the bar or you can wait for others to raise it, but it’s getting raised regardless. “ “You don’t have to settle. It’s a choice you get to make every day.”
Strategy	“Don’t have any meetings about your web strategy. Just do stuff. First you have to fail, then you can improve. “ “The scalable, profitable strategy is to change the game, not to become the most average.”

Catalog of Seth’s Resources (Sites, Books, Videos)
Seth has a wide range of resources, from blog posts to books.  For simple scanning, I organized Seth’s collection of resources into the following buckets: sites, books, eBooks, videos, and popular posts.

Category	Items
Key Links	Seth’s Blog Seth Godin.com Seth Godin (Wikipedia) SQUIDOO Lenses Seth Goden Small is the New Big the Dip
Books	All Marketers Are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World Free Prize Inside: How to Make a Purple Cow Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing out of Sync? Permission Marketing : Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers Purple Cow, New Edition: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable–Includes new bonus chapter Small Is the New Big: and 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas Survival Is Not Enough: Why Smart Companies Abandon Worry and Embrace Change The Big Red Fez: How To Make Any Web Site Better The Big Moo: Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us Unleashing the Ideavirus
e-Books	Everyone’s an Expert (about something) Flipping the Funnel Knock Knock Money for nothing, traffic ebook The Bootstrapper’s Bible The Tribes Casebook Tribes Q&A Unleashing the IdeaVirus Who’s There
Videos	Seth Godin at Gel 2006 Seth Godin on Standing Out (Ted Talk) Seth Godin on All Marketers are Liars (Google Author Series) The Mindset of a Winner (Selling Power)
Popular Posts	Top 3 The Hierarchy of Success The Spirit of the Game The Web Doesn’t Care More … Beware the CEO Blog Building an Albatross Can’t vs. Won’t Different Kinds of Traffic Do You Deserve It? Don’t Shave That Yak How to Get Traffic for Your Blog How to Make Money Using the Internet Make Something Happen Malcolm is Wrong Memo to the Very Small One, a Few, Most, or All Scarcity Seven Tips to Build for Meaning Small is the New Big The Forces of Mediocrity The Intangibles The Long Tail and the Dip The New Digital Divide Tribe Management Two Kinds of Writing Understanding the Funnel What do You Know What Makes an Idea Viral You Should Write an eBook

If you've made it to this point then good on ya!  I'd love to hear your thoughts on Seth Godin!

How to start a movement (for Christian ministry)

I have been a long time 'fan' of Seth Godin and so enjoyed his book 'Tribes' which discusses how to set up and lead a community of common interest (whether it be an idea, a ministry movement, or some kind of project).

A few days ago my friend Roger Scholtz posted the following video from the TED conference, 'How to start a movement'.

I think it is crucial that persons in ministry understand the importance of social dynamics and how to work within those (and in spite of them) to achieve the aims of Christ's Gospel and the establishment of His Kingdom of grace.

If you have the bandwidth and can watch this video I would love to hear your thoughts (on the video in general, the concepts discussed, and the relationship between this video and the Christian ministry).

Update on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 10:41PM by Dr Dion Forster

'The first follower is what turns a lone nut into a leader' ~ Derek Sivers (how to start a movement).

Movements are critical to Christian ministry.  Theologically we can trace this  back to the central importance of relationship in God's economy for the world (we are created in the image of God who is a relationship of three persons). Of course the ministry of Jesus illustrates this truth more clearly than any sermon ever could.  The carpenter from Nazareth who dies a premature death in the prime of his life starts a movement that transforms all of society from that moment onward.

Watch this short 3 minute video and let me know what you think...

Perhaps one of the great problems with contemporary ministry is that we have too many leaders and not enough 'first followers'.

What do you think?

Living a more intentional life

Yesterday morning a cycling friend said something that I hear just about every week; "Dion, I need to do something more significant with my life! I'm longing for something that will bring me greater fulfillment. I want to know that I'm making a difference in the world.  I'm simply not satisfied working for a salary".

Of course we discussed the reality that everyone has to face some parts of life that are mundane, not glamorous or filled with social recognition and easy access to the peace that comes from being 'on purpose'.  However, I did also speak to him about a simple little lesson that I have learnt from Bob Buford's book Half Time.

To find true significance you don't necessarily need to change what you're doing.  Rather, you might just need to change how you do what you're doing.

In other words, you don't need to give up your job, or go and live in a monastery, or become a missionary or social activist in order to make a difference and feel that your life and work are worthwhile to society!  You might be able to make a huge, tangible, difference right where you are!

I don't know about you, but life gets so busy, I am faced with some many pressures, demands, expectations and simple daily tasks that I often don't get the opportunity to live life on a deeper level.  My good intentions simply pass me by and I end up living with a measure of guilt and frustration.  Sometimes I need support, sometimes it's understanding, sometimes wisdom, and at other times I need accountability.  I have many friends, but very few deep and significant relationships that can offer me these forms of support and challenge.  There are very few people, and places, where I can be entirely vulnerable about my challenges, fears, expectations and hopes without worrying that I will be judged, or betrayed.  This group of 8 guys has allowed me to live life with greater blessing.  We've been meeting for the past year (4 hours, once a month).  Watch the video below for more details about the concept, structure and content of our meetings.

Well, I have found that the simple structure of Forum, that myself and friend, Dr Vonnie Mostert (a clinical psychologist), set up has been invaluable.  You can read more about the concept here at the Network of Christian Forums website.  There are already more than a dozen such groups of women and men across South Africa and the world.

If you're inetersted in more information about the Network, perhaps for yourself, or perhaps as a structure to support Christians in your Church or business then please drop us a line.

The video below was recorded by my friend Steve Johnstone the international coordinator of the Unashamedly Ethical campaign.  He uses it as a promotional video for forums in the Unashamedly Ethical community.

I'd love to hear of any other tools or structures that you use to live life with greater meaning and intention.

Lastly, if you're interested in some reading material on living life with greater intention, purpose and blessing, please check out my new book 'Transform your work life:  Turn your ordinary day into an extraordinary calling'.

African relational ontology, individual identity, and Christian theology

Yup, the title of this post is a mouthful... It happens to be the title of an academic article that I wrote some time ago that is being published.  

The article will be published in the July / August edition of the SPCK Journal 'Theology'.  This is by far the most prestigious journal in which I have had the privilege to publish an article.  I am truly amazed that it was accepted, and humbled to have it there.

Perhaps the title was so obscure that they thought it was worth a chance!?  The full title of the article is

African relational ontology, individual identity, and Christian theology: An African theological contribution towards an integrated relational ontological identity (Theology, July/August 2010 Vol CXIII No 874 ISSN 0040-571 X).

The article comes from a body of research that I conducted over a period of some years in which I investigated the problem of individual identity (what does it mean to be 'me').  How is my identity formed in relation to other persons and my context?  And what aspects of the Kosmos can be relied upon to validate who I truly am?  Do I rely on my appearance, or my experiences, or is there something more concrete and substantial to 'true identity'?

 

This article focusses on the importance of relationships and intersubjective identity as the locus of understanding who we are as human persons. It relates these important social aspects of our identity to three prominent Christian doctrines (the doctrine of God, the doctrine of Christian anthropology and the doctrine of soteriology (salvation) - it is something of a systematic approach).  

I have another article from this same body of research that contains more of the neuroscience and psychology of identity that will be published in the South African Journal HTS later this year.  And then I am still working on the book 'Why you may not be who you think you are.  Adventures in neuroscience, artificial intelligence and philosophy' (I am under contract to Cambridge Scholars Press for this book).

Here's the abstract for this article in 'Theology'.

African theology has a great deal to contribute to the theological discourse on human identity. Relationships are central to the formation, expression and understanding of who an individual person is. The African philosophy of ubuntu, more accurately expressed as umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (a person is a person through other persons), affirms the critical under- standing that identity arises out of intersubjective interactions between persons. This paper discusses how concepts of identity in African philosophy and religion can enhance our theological understanding of individual identity. Hence this research presents an African theological approach to identity that is systematized in relation to the doctrine of God, the doctrine of Christian anthropology and the doctrine of salvation.

If you're interested in reading more about my research in this area, and various other thoughts on neuroscience, identity and Christian theology please follow this link.

Live blogging the Mighty Men of God 2010

If you're interested to see some of what is taking place in Greytown at the Mighty Men of God weekend I'll try to post pictures and short videos. Please check the following URL's

http://www.twitter.com/digitaldion
http://www.friendfeed.com/digitaldion
And for video http://www.qik.com/digitaldion or http://digitaldion.tumblr.com

With over 400 thousand men cell phone access to the Internet is not always that reliable, but I'll try to post tweets, pictures and videos as I'm able.

For the geeks, I'm using an iPhone 3GS with echofon for tweets, qik for video and the tumblr app for other updates.

A video of the worship below

Be blessed today wherever you are! I'd love to hear any comments and feedback on the comments link below.

Dion

Final reflection on day 3 below.

I'll try to find some time tomorrow to post a decent reflection with some more photos and thoughts.  

I cam simply say that it was a worthwhile weekend for me and the guys that went with us.  I was truly blessed by the many men who were together - it was particularly encouraging that there were men of all different ages, races and theological perspectives together.  The challenge was simple and clear - men need to take up this responsibility in society.  I don't believe that this is a challenge to the role of persons who are not Christian, or a responsibilty that excludes any Christian grouping, or women (as some in the media have reported).  Rather, it was a simple challenge to men to work for social transformation, racial reconciliation, responsibility in their families.

Maximizing your work life - blessing in the 9 - 5 window.

I’m sure that you may have heard about the ‘least reached’ portion of the world called the 10/40 window?  This is a geographical region where there are no Christians, or very few Christians.  For many years churches and Christian ministries have focussed their energy and attention on getting missionaries into those areas to spread the Gospel of Christ.

 

You may be surprised to discover that there is a region much closer to where you are every day that is also classified as an ‘unreached’ group for the Gospel!  I call it the 9 to 5 window!  Of course I am referring to the place where you work each day – the reality is that the work place is one of the least reached and transformed regions of the world.

 

Of course there are many reasons for this.  Some people have come to believe that Christianity is something that belongs to a particular building (your church) or a particular time (Sunday morning).  However, what do you think Jesus meant when he prayed ‘…let your Kingdom come, let your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matthew 6:10)?  Of course Jesus wasn’t just praying that God’s Kingdom would be established in a particular place, or at particular times!  Jesus longs to be Lord of both the Church and the Marketplace!

 

So, the question is, who takes responsibility for the establishment of God’s Kingdom where you spend most of your day?  Who is God calling to transform your work place to reflect the values of His Kingdom?

 

Part of the answer can be found in the following verse: ‘go and make disciples of all nations…’ (Matthew 28:20).  Being a disciple of Jesus means that one is disciplined in the ways of Jesus.  Believing in Jesus as saviour is only the beginning (sure it is the most important start that any person could ever make, however it is just the beginning of what God longs for!)  You know I read this verse for many years and never realised that Jesus commands his disciples, and also commands you and me, to go and make disciples of all nations.

 

I was a Pastor of various Churches for almost 17 years.  As I think back on the teaching, preaching, and courses that I ran in those churches I came to realise that we spent quite a lot of time trying to help people to become disciples of Jesus.  However, we spent very little time trying to disciple those elements that make up a nation!

 

Have you ever considered that God may be calling you to be a minister in the marketplace?  It may just be that God has placed you in the office where you work, among the people that you encounter (co-workers, clients etc.) in order to disciple them, and the systems within which you work, in order to establish His Kingdom on that little bit of earth!

 

If you were to think about the people and things that you face regularly during your work week, what would God want to change?  Perhaps there is a particular policy in your company that is unethical.  Maybe there is some relationship between your boss and another co-worker that does not reflect Christ’s love.  Maybe there are some decisions that are being made that are unlawful, or hurtful, to your community.  I think God may be calling you to take responsibility for establishing His Kingdom in that place!

 

Doing this may not be as difficult as you imagine.  In the company where I serve, the Power Group of Companies, transformation began when one employee (a lady named Eleanor) decided to start praying for her bosses and her co-workers.  That was all she did!  Then eventually she got some others to join her in prayer, and from there some key influences and decision makers started changing small little things in the company during meetings and gatherings.  They prayed that God would bless and use their company to transform the industry and reach the nation.  This simple act, by a secretary, eventually led to the conversion of the CEO, Graham Power, who went on the start the largest prayer movement in all recorded history – the Global Day of Prayer.

 

Eleanor took responsibility for her work life and her work place, and through her God was able to reach into and transform one of the least reached places on earth, the 9 to 5 window!  Where is God calling you to take responsibility?

Please see my new book 'Transform your work life:  Turn your ordinary day into an extraordinary calling' for more information, practical ideas, and inspiring stories, of how people have found blessing - and become a greater blessing, during their work life.

Please join the facebook page for 'Transform your work life' here to interact with other Christians in the workplace and keep up to date with news about the book.

Sci-Fi meets society - my Artificial Intelligence research used...

I have mentioned elsewhere on my blog that I practice a simple discipline of NOT 'googling' myself (sometimes it is called 'vanity searching' - I think that is quite an accurate description).  It is a simple choice not to search for my name on the internet.  It is quite liberating not to worry about what others are saying, or not saying, about me!

However, even though I have chosen this, every now and then someone sends me a note about something I've written, or a comment that someone has made about my research or writing. I'm ashamed to admit that it feels quite good (what the Afrikaans would call 'lekker').  

This was the case with this particular entry.  A friend sent me a link to point out that my research on 'strong Artificial Intelligence' was quoted in an iTWeb article! Very cool!  

It was quite exciting to read the context in which my ideas were used.  The article is entitled 'Sci-fi meets society' and was written by Lezette Engelbrecht.  She contacted me some time ago with a few questions which I was pleased to answer via email (and point her to some of my research and publication in this area).  Thanks for using my thoughts Lezette - I appreciate it!

You can read the full article after the jump.

As artificially intelligent systems and machines progress, their interaction with society has raised issues of ethics and responsibility.

While advances in genetic engineering, nanotechnology and robotics have brought improvements in fields from construction to healthcare, industry players have warned of the future implications of increasingly “intelligent” machines.

Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, executive dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, at the University of Johannesburg, says ethics have to be considered in developing machine intelligence. “When you have autonomous machines that can evolve independent of their creators, who is responsible for their actions?”

In February last year, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) held a series of discussions under the theme “long-term AI futures”, and reflected on the societal aspects of increased machine intelligence.

The AAAI is yet to issue a final report, but in an interim release, a subgroup highlighted the ethical and legal complexities involved if autonomous or semi-autonomous systems were one day charged with making high-level decisions, such as in medical therapy or the targeting of weapons.

The group also noted the potential psychological issues accompanying people's interaction with robotic systems that increasingly look and act like humans.

Just six months after the AAAI meeting, scientists at the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, in the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale of Lausanne, Switzerland, conducted an experiment in which robots learned to “lie” to each other, in an attempt to hoard a valuable resource.

The robots were programmed to seek out a beneficial resource and avoid a harmful one, and alert one another via light signals once they had found the good item. But they soon “evolved” to keep their lights off when they found the good resource – in direct contradiction of their original instruction.

According to AI researcher Dion Forster, the problem, as suggested by Ray Kurzweil, is that when people design self-aggregating machines, such systems could produce stronger, more intricate and effective machines.

“When this is linked to evolution, humans may no longer be the strongest and most sentient beings. For example, we already know machines are generally better at mathematics than humans are, so we have evolved to rely on machines to do complex calculation for us.

“What will happen when other functions of human activity, such as knowledge or wisdom, are superseded in the same manner?” (read the rest of the article here...)

The mission shaped Church and the Alpha course.

Over the last two days I had the joy of attending the Alpha South Africa seminar at Camps Bay United Church. 

Today I spoke on the topic 'Forming a Mission shaped Church' at the conference.  A number of the people asked me for the powerpoint slides and the video that I used.

The basic line or reasoning that I took was the following.

1.  Christianity is shifting from traditional Western Churches (and even in some senses from traditional Western theology) to the South and the East.

2. This shift is both geographical (because of population growth and basic needs such as poverty, health, justice and need), and also theological (from propositions of faith to experiences of faith).  Please see the maps and reasoning in my slides.  For an explanation of this shift, some projections going forward, and some reasons for this shift, please read Philip Jenkins' great book 'The next Christendom' (you'll see an image of the cover in my slides).

3.  The Alpha course is quite well suited to changes in engaging persons with the message of the Gospel since it allows for interaction around the truths (as people engage with the topics, without having to be confronted constantly by 'clear and closed' truths).  It also facilitates community and relationships.  It is a truly wonderful instrument for the Gospel and the Kingdom of God.  I explain how the Church can become more 'missional' by referring to 5 mindset and worldview changes that we shall need to go through in order to engage the world where it is, rather than inviting the world to come to where the Church is.

So, here are my slides (Powerpoint 7MB)

Here's the video that I used (it highlights how the world is changing, and how we need to find new means with which to communicate and create engagement around the message and person of the Gospel). If you're interested in previous posts that I've made on new media and ministry please see my post here, or please see this post and the video on new media here.

Finally, I would encourage you to consider this great promotional video for the Alpha course (done by Bear Grylls - the ultimate 'survival' expert!)

Have you ever run Alpha in your Church, business, or been part of Alpha in a prison setting? I'd love to hear your feedback!  Thanks to all those who prepared the Alpha Conference.  You can find out about the Alpha Course here.

And, you can find out about Alpha in South Africa here.

The first Apple iPad in South Africa! (Perhaps?)

The 1st Apple iPad in South Africa (perhaps!) This is my friend Cois' iPad. I'm sorry that the video is taken sideways (and upside down!) please tilt your head ;-)  It could be user error... It's the first time that I've taken a video with my iPhone where it hasn't autocorrected the aspect ratio...

The iPad is amazing!  It would be an incredible tool for someone like myself who attends far too many meetings during the day (needing to have access to my schedule, my 5 email accounts, all my documents and spreadsheets, have a Bible and of course the ability to show promotional videos and copies of my books).  If I had one of these I could simply carry the one piece of hardware with me everywhere and have everything I need to get my job done!

Watch the video if you can and let me know what uses you could have for a device like this.  Who else wants an iPad!?

The role of the Church in reconciliation in South Africa

I was asked to write a brief article on the role of the Church in working towards reconciliation in South Africa during and after apartheid for the Lausanne World Pulse.  I had forgotten about that article until the daughter of a friend phoned me from Geneva this morning to say that she had read the article in preparation for some meetings. (for those who know Sidwell Mokghotu, it was Sid's daughter Fofo who phoned - she is doing an internship with the World Council of Churches in Geneva).  

I asked her for the URL - and there it was!

If you're interested in reading the article please follow this link.

Today is a very important day to remember our history of reconciliation and peace.  South Africa has come a long way since the end of Apartheid.  However, we still have a long way left to go!  Today is the funeral of the white supremacist leader of the AWB, Mr Eugene Terreblanche.  He was murdered on his farm over the Easter weekend.  His murder has raised racial tensions that have been fueled by the inflamatory and insensitive (even racist) statements of the leader of the ANC Youth League, Julius Malema.

Please could I encourage you to distribute the call to prayer (below), which was written by my friend Etienne Piek, as widely as possible?

In a time of trouble it is extremely important that the Church takes a stand for the Kingdom of God first and foremost. The Kingdom of God operates on the basis of the Word of God as the absolute truth. Therefore the principles of the Bible determine our behavior and attitude towards any issue we are facing. The Word of God is very clear concerning conflict situations:

1. Love your enemies, bless those who curse you and pray for those who abuse you (Luke 6:27,28). Speak the blessing of salvation in Christ to those who perpetrate evil.

2. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Rom 12:21; Rom 12:17). Think about what is proper, noble, aiming to be above reproach in the sight of everyone.

3. Beloved, never avenge yourselves but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” (Rom 12:19; Matt 5:39; Rom 2:1). Pray that the minds of people will not be filled with vengeance or hatred but to petition God for His righteousness and justice to be established.

4. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath, anger and clamour (loud quarrelling) and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Eph 4:30-32; Matt 6:12-15; Matt 18:21-35; Luk 23:34). As Jesus demonstrated forgiveness on the cross, so we as believers must also follow His example in forgiving those who wrong us. Let us forgive and so end the cycle of violence and retribution.

5. Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder … (Matt 15:19; Luk 6:45). Actively fill your heart with God’s word and meditate on His instructions for us at this time. Resist evil thoughts and allow the Holy Spirit to minister to your heart and mind, the mind of Christ.

6. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Eph 6:12). Pray and resist the evil forces behind racism, bloodshed, violence, rebellion, revenge and the spirit of witchcraft.

This is a unique opportunity for us as believers to unite to change the history of South Africa. God has not lost control, nor is He unaware of what is happening in our nation at this time. It is a time for each believer to allow the Holy Spirit to search our hearts, to let go of selfish interests and to beseech the Lord Jesus Christ to come to our aid. This is not the time to judge or to accuse, but to plead for God’s plans and purposes to be established in our nation. Let each of us empty ourselves, repent and willfully turn from all hatred, bitterness, judgment, racism or fear, and allow the Holy Spirit to use us as instruments of reconciliation and healing in this torn nation. Pray for the peace of God that surpasses all understanding to guard the hearts and minds of all South Africans (Phil 4:7), and pray for the God of peace to crush the evil one under our feet (Rom 16:20).

Join us in prayer for revival in the church. The church is still God’s answer (Eph 3:10) – but a church that lives in the power of the Holy Spirit, stands on the authority of the Word, putting Jesus Christ in the centre, praying for a lost and broken world, taking care of the poor and needy.

If you want more information on how to participate in a 40 days prayer initiative for revival in the church visit info@global24-7.org or info@jwipn.com.

Mobilise prayer groups in all possible places – your home, place of work, schools, factories, business, etc.

Respond to God’s call to the nations and join in a day of repentance and prayer on Pentecost Sunday, 23 May 2010. For details please contact info@globaldayofprayer.com or visit the website www.globaldayofprayer.com

Endorsed by: Jericho Walls International Prayer Network, Global Day of Prayer, NIRSA, Shalom Trust/MMC2010, Turn2God, Unashamedly Ethical, HeartCry and New Heart

Stop! For freedom's sake!

The prophet Isaiah said (40:28-31):

²⁸ Do you not know? 
       Have you not heard? 
       The LORD is the everlasting God, 
       the Creator of the ends of the earth. 
       He will not grow tired or weary, 
       and his understanding no one can fathom.

 ²⁹ He gives strength to the weary 
       and increases the power of the weak.

 ³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary, 
       and young men stumble and fall;

 ³¹ but those who hope in the LORD 
       will renew their strength. 
       They will soar on wings like eagles; 
       they will run and not grow weary, 
       they will walk and not be faint.

Listen to this wonderful quote:

Stop for one whole day every week, and you will remember what it means to be created in the image of God, who rested on the seventh day not from weariness but from complete freedom. The clear promise is that those who rest like God find themselves free like God, no longer slaves to the thousand compulsions that send others rushing toward their graves.

- Barbara Brown Taylor, from her book Leaving Church

Don't you love that line 'those who rest like God find themselves free like God, no longer slaves to the thousand compulsions that send others rushing toward their graves'.  Lovely!  I need rest!

Taking Jesus to work... Transform your work life!

Recently I was speaking to a friend about his work.  I could see that he was frustrated and worn out and I had been trying to encourage him to see how God could use him just where he was.  Somewhere along the line of our conversation he said, ‘I live for the weekends! I dread going to work on Monday, and when I’m at work I count the hours until it is Friday.  If I didn’t need the money I would stop working’.  As I was driving back to my office later that morning I thought, ‘how sad that he is wishing away most of his life! Surely there must be something more meaningful to your work-life than just hanging in there for a paycheck!’

I’m sure that there are many people who live for the weekend, and many more who simply work because they need the money!  The good news is that you don’t have to wish most of your life away.  God has a wonderful plan to make what you do from Monday to Friday one of the most fulfilling and exhilarating parts of your week. 

Look at this quote from Ed Silvoso:

‘Most Christians who on Sundays worship God to the tune of inspiring music fail to see that what they do during the week is also meant by God to be worship’ Ed Silvoso

And then there's this verse:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. – Colossians 3:23-24

In this episode of my radio program - The Ministry and Me (for Radio Pulpit) I discuss the notion of 'taking Jesus to work with you'.  You can download a copy of the audio from here (10MB MP3).

The recording is actually based on a chapter of a new book that Graham Power and I have written together called ‘Transform your work life:  Turn your ordinary day into an extraordinary calling’ - the whole book is about serving Jesus in your work life and in your work place.  It is currently being printed and will be launched at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on the 21st of May - if you're interested in attending the book launch as part of the Global Day of Prayer conference please drop me a line or leave a comment below.

In this episode we discuss the clear and simple principles of serving Jesus where you are right now, without missing the opportunities that God is giving you.  I share some clear and practical examples (mainly testimony from Graham Power’s life, and also some lessons that we’ve learnt in our company).

As always I'd love to hear your feedback, insights!  Please just leave a comment in the comment section below.

Also, if you'd like to be kept up to date on developments with the new book, or enter into some discussion on the book or the concept of ministry in your work life please join the facebook page for 'Transform your work life'.