51DzDoXkV3L._SS500_Last year just before the Orange Conference I spent some time at North Point hanging out at both the Alpharetta campus as well as at Buckhead. I spent a small fortune at the bookstore. While there, I picked up this little book, “Making Vision Stick” by Andy Stanley. It’s small, thin and something that can be wholly digested in one sitting. All I can say is this. Thank you Andy Stanley for writing this little book. Let me share with you a few reasons why I like this little 74 page book.

  • I’m not the fastest of readers. My life is busy, so I’ll sit down for an hour, read part of a book and then several days later I’ll sit down and read for another hour and over the period of days or weeks, I’ll finish up a book. Each time I sit down though, I have to catch up on what I last read. Not so with this book. Because you can read it from start to finish in one sitting, the impact is more powerful and succinct.
  • This book is so direct and to the point. I know, I’m being a hypocrite. I’m one of the wordiest guys I know. However, I wonder if most books could be condensed down to just 100 pages or so. This one is and I love it. Not much fluff, just straight and to the point.
  • It’s short enough that I’ll take the time to read it again and again and again. I put this book on my must read list for 2010. After finishing the book though, I’ve officially put it on my “read it every year” list. I’m actually planning to read it 5-6 times this year alone. I need to lead this way more than anything else this year.

Is that enough of a review to make you want to buy the book already? I haven’t even told you what it’s about yet. No worries, you can read the book in a little more time than it will take for you to read this review, so click here and order your copy.

Oh, you’re still reading? What I liked most about this book was how practical it is as well as the simple examples Andy has included how he’s lived these principles out at North Point. The fact that North Point as eleventy-million people doesn’t negate the fact that I can use these principles in my church of 4,500, my volunteer team of 300 or my small staff of 6. It’s so applicable.

Other than this book, the best teaching I’ve heard on vision and purpose is Craig Jutila. Craig offers very practical teaching on shaping a vision and mission statement and has been highly influential in my life and ministry. Craig’s appraoch is heavily “purpose driven” which is the context from which Craig operated for so many years. I was really only at a purpose driven church for 2 years, so outside of that, I’ve had to adapt what I learned from him to a non “purpose driven” approach. In this book, Andy doesn’t get into the weeds of mission, values and goals, but focuses solely on that vision you have and how to make it stick for everyone in the organization.

After clearly defining vision, Andy shares five things about how to make it stick:

  • State the vision simply
  • Cast the vision convincingly
  • Repeat the vision regularly
  • Celebrate the vision systematically
  • Embrace the vision personally

The books outlines how Andy has and continues to cast the North Point vision doing these very things over and over and over and over again.

No more details. Get the book and read it a couple of times. I’m convinced it will help you regardless of where you are.