So About Catalyst

Here are some thoughts that I have from Catalyst West. Mostly, it's ways of thinking for me, not necessarily things to implement..... yet....

#1. Conqueror versus Explorer
The lab session on the Origins Day with Rick Y impacted me greatly. Specifically, it was his explanation of two different ways of strategic thinking - the entrepreneur versus the manager. I was impacted mostly with the thoughts of how we view resources, how we engage those resources and what our communities and teams become when we act in this way. [lab notes]

So the point is that I need to force myself to think this way and influence others to think this way when possible. This includes having adaptability as people show up in our organizations, having the mindset of a headhunter and the constant paradigm of creating the future instead of predicting it. It means when we meet someone who has something to offer, we engage them by making room for them to offer their talents. [Granted, this all has to fit somewhat with our DNA and our mission and values.]

I'm starting to think this way, even before this session. Two quick examples:
1. After spending a little time with a new friend GKlass, I thought to myself, "Wow, it would be fun to engage him at a deeper level." So I invited him to join me at Catalyst. [PS - He and MPM were the perfect people to take - tell you more about that later.]
2. We have a lot of college aged friends that we served with in SPACE that are now disengaged. So D and I have been exploring the idea of a little project for 2010. Of course, the project will be a lot of fun for us but it's just as important to us to provide these dear friends an opportunity. More on that later.

Find an environment that thinks the opposite - fixed resources where people have to fit to serve, low interest on the gifting of others, a static imagination of where the team is going - and we will find low engagement of people. Instead, our mission turns into a show and people attend rather than participate.

Some of this disparity in thinking is generational. But it doesn't have to be.

#2. First/Second/Third Space
+ Third space - when someone else invites you into their first space.
+ Everyone in your third space knows everything that you do in your first space.
When was the last time I was invited into someone's first space?

#3. There is no Scriptural basis for family as the nuclear family.
+ Extended family yes, nuclear family no.
What does this do to my family's idea of family?

#4. Successful elder teams see themselves as elders of the city or region, not just a church.
[From a personal off-the-grid conversation I had]
Hmm.

[Related: full Origins Catalyst notes]