I’m reading Cognitive Surplus for the third time…I have recommended it so many times in the last month that I figured I should take my own advice again.

I’ll say this about Cognitive Surplus: If you lead an organization that creates and distributes content to be consumed and you are not ready for the cognitive surplus reality than you and your organization have a bleak future. In short; if you have a career because you control a channel of communication to a given audience your days could be numbered if you don’t figure out how to make it participatory.

“…media is like a triathlon with three difference events: people like to consume, but they also like to produce, and to share.”

Think about how that effects you at a personal level as a leader or communicator.

If you do too much of anyone of those three things without enough of the other two you will marginalize yourself.

Too much content producing and you become a broadcaster. The newspaper industry is going through this discovery right before our eyes…we are now seeing it effect churches.

Too much content consuming and you simply aren’t in the game and are useless. Think spammer.

Too much content sharing and you are an irritant to your community and they will tune you out. People want fresh ideas not regurgitated thoughts.

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• Dictators and Pastors or Revolutions and Revivals

• Hydrocodone (combined with acetaminophen) — 131.2 million prescriptions
• Generic Zocor (simvastatin), a cholesterol-lowering statin drug — 94.1 million prescriptions
• Lisinopril (brand names include Prinivil and Zestril), a blood pressure drug — 87.4 million prescriptions
• Generic Synthroid (levothyroxine sodium), synthetic thyroid hormone — 70.5 million prescriptions
• Generic Norvasc (amlodipine besylate), an angina/blood pressure drug — 57.2 million prescriptions
• Generic Prilosec (omeprazole), an antacid drug — 53.4 million prescriptions (does not include over-the-counter sales)
• Azithromycin (brand names include Z-Pak and Zithromax), an antibiotic — 52.6 million prescriptions
• Amoxicillin (various brand names), an antibiotic — 52.3 million prescriptions
• Generic Glucophage (metformin), a diabetes drug — 48.3 million prescriptions
• Hydrochlorothiazide (various brand names), a water pill used to lower blood pressure — 47.8 million prescriptions.

A quick read through that list and it’s pretty blaring what major need Americans have. Seven of the ten are drugs directly related too or closely tied to conditions that are a result of bad diet. Granted some of them are also prescribed to fairly healthy elderly people dealing with issues that are more hereditary.

I’m not a health expert by any means but it is important to me and what I do to have a pulse of the people I intend to effect change in.

What can the church do to make a difference in this area? Locally? Nationally?

But even more so; why hasn’t the church been doing anything up until now?

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• March Madness and Leadership
• Managing vs. Leading
• Winning the little battles

You may have noticed that I’m a little stoked about the cultivate conference. It’s very unique in that it will touch on some of the big vision and cutting edge conversations that are happening right now in terms of communicating in and for the Church. Most gatherings that feature “new media” or “social media” conversations tend to just lump it all together into technology and serve up some 101 level content. Cultivate will be different.

Check out Tim on Twitter and at his blog.

More Cultivate posts and video

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• Blowing Up Cultivate! | Justin Wise

John spoke at Verge in 2009 and I just dug up this video. This talk is a look at the foundation of what Gateway Church is about.

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• John Burke | No Perfect People Allowed webcast – 9/14 1:00 PM Eastern
• I get to work with some really amazing people
• Verge | Missional Community Conference

Watch this. Learn. Be a better person and leader.

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• School kills creativity
• Isn’t this how we lead back when we were youth pastors?

I’m a college hoops fan. I eagerly await selection Sunday even more than Christmast. I can’t wait to fill out my bracket. Over the last few years we have seen an unusual amount of upsets. Not just early round upsets low ranked teams going deep in the tourney. This week end an 11 seed will play an 8 seed in the national semi final which means that one of them will be in the national championship game. This seems so far fetched that on ESPN.com there is literally only one person who has the final four right on their bracket.

What has changed? Why are perennial favorites dropping to mid majors and school we hardly know of?

Blue chips and veterans

You know the schools; the ones with the hall of fame coach and the blue chip recruits. The schools that every kids grows up wanting to play for.

They have gotten comfortable with their game. They run the same offense year in and year out. It’s old and it’s stale.

Young, fresh and creative

You might know his name already, Skaka Smart. 33 years old. He’s creative and he sees the court in a different way than the crafty veterans that we have always known. And guess what…it’s working!

I’m 33. Most days I feel like I’m looked at as just a kid. It’s a bummer. I feel like I’m in my prime of creativity and I have to fight for a chance to use my gifts.

I was at SXSW a couple weeks ago and the thing that occurred to me is that the people with the vision, leadership and chops that are changing culture right now are not in their 40s or even 30s, they are in their twenties.

I hope that when it is my turn to pass the keys to the next great mind…that I do it…before it’s too late.

If you liked what you just read you may like:

• Managing vs. Leading
• Winning the little battles
• New Leadership Essentials Pt. 3 – Conclusion

I’d write a witty intro for this video if it wasn’t already full of so much #win.

Exclusive interview with Seth Godin from GiANT Impact on Vimeo.

If you liked what you just read you may like:

• Winning the little battles
• New Leadership Essentials Pt. 3 – Conclusion
• New Leadership Essentials | Pt. 2 – fresh skills

During a great conversation yesterday on Love Wins I brought up a Ted talk that Melinda Gates gave back in September.

She is asking what non-profits can learn from Coca-Cola.

It’s clear that we shouldn’t make assumptions about what people believe based on a marketing piece. Thrown into the argument was the point that using over the top marketing tactics isn’t classy or is not ethical.

Melinda’s talk touches on this very issue and she touches on the marketing side of things beginning at 7:28 (for those that don’t want to watch the whole thing).

Here’s a Quote:

“We think that if people need something we don’t have to make them want that”

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• Love Wins, am I going crazy?
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