However, I listened to one on Saturday that has shaken me. The pure beauty of the innovation and thinking outside of the box both excites me and challenges me. It made me wish and pray for this kind of innovative thought for ministry. In this talk, Luis von Ahn explains how he’s leveraging the masses for incredibly massive collaborative projects, even when the masses have no idea how they are contributing.

Louis talks about his involvement in creating CAPTCHA. You know, the odd numbers and letters on websites when logging in to a website or buying something online. The point of CAPTCHA is to keep nefarious programs from logging into a site thousands of times or buying out all of a product. After CAPTCHA caught on, a process that takes about 10 seconds of your time, it is calculated that humanity as a whole wastes about 500,000 hours of their time EVERY DAY. Louis actually felt bad about this and started thinking about how to recapture those 10 seconds and do something great with that time, which adds up to 500,000 hours daily. What he came up with was brilliant and it was called reCAPTCHA.

You’ve seen this as now when entering a CAPTCHA, you have to enter two words. Here’s what you’re actually doing. One of the words is the code word that verifies that you are in fact human, but the other word is a single scanned word from a printed book. When you type in that word (as dozens of other people randomly are also typing in that same word), you are actually digitizing printed books. Books that do not exist in digital form are scanned and the images of the words are being typed out by us (the additional CAPTCHA word) and all these words are being put back in the correct order and the end result is an entire book being digitized by the masses. The end result is that reCAPTCHA is digitizing 1.5 million books a year. That is collaboration on a whole new level. You should watch the video and see how they’re using a new project to translate the internet into multiple languages in a highly accurate and collaborative movement with amazing speed.

Ideas like this truly inspire me. I see so many great things happening in ministry and kidmin specifically, but I also see that so many things haven’t yet been created or innovated. Somehow, I feel we should spend more time than we do dreaming up what doesn’t yet exist instead of always being overwhelmed by the task at hand. Just a thought. What do you think?

In case you’re not able to view the video above, you can find it here.

There are only a few pictures, but it is amazing how a set of googlie eyes makes a por-a-potty urinal look lovable. Maybe that’s a stretch.

This fall I lead a breakout at Kidmin on Technology in Ministry and my main point was not just introducing a bunch of applications designed for ministry or talking about technology that needs to be created for ministry, but how existing technology can be tweaked for ministry. I shared that sometimes it’s just the smalled adjustment that changes everything. You’ll find yourself saying, I never even thought to use that tool to that.

This is true in other things as well. It’s called the Pareto Principle or Pareto’s Law. This is where 20% of effort produces 80% of the end product. This law is seen everywhere… even in church where usually somewhere around 20% of the congregation provides 80% of the money and 20% of people do 80% of the work.

Don’t under-estimate the 20%. As you walk through your ministry and see things that aren’t working or need an overhaul, chances are that you could make a minor tweak and see significant improvements right away. It may not be the end-all solution, but sometimes you have to let go of perfection and go with it until you have the time or resources to get it right.

Just like how googlie eyes can make a big difference, so can small changes and tweaks. When you walk around and inspect your ministry this weekend, look for more little things that pay big dividends.

This post; however, I want to wrap up a theme that’s emerged this week. I’ve been in Kidmin long enough to see that a real change has taken place. When I started 1997, there were not a lot of resources. Sunday School was king and no one was talking about small groups. Kids music consisted of Arky Arky and Father Abraham, the same songs I sang as a kid 10-12 years earlier (wow, I was a young CP). A decade later, we have a flood of resources and there’s never been a better time to be a children’s pastor. However, I still see two flavors of Kidmin. One tends to still be hanging on to some of the older ways of doing things. They may not be doing Arky Arky anymore, but there are systems and processes that haven’t changed in ten years. Then there is another side that is reinventing what Kidmin looks like. It’s not just the style of music or technology used or way of presenting the message (although that is part of it), but it is the philosophy underneath. It is leadership driven. It’s using creative and innovative ways of leveraging influence in the lives of the kids through schools, teachers and parents to make a lasting impact.

This second flavor of Kidmin is still the minority. Although some of the biggest and loudest ministries in the world are home to these types of ministries, the average church in the average town hasn’t made this transition yet. That’s where this revolution needs to begin. That’s where the change needs to happen. So if you’re a current Children’s Pastor, it would do you well to evaluate where your ministry stands. Does it need a revolution? Is your ministry creatively using innovative strategies to make an impact, or does it use what it’s always been using? Are you getting ready to go into Children’s Ministry? Decide now what kind of Children’s Pastor you want to be. Don’t let the church you go to or the church you think you want to work at dictate what kind of Children’s Pastor you’re going to be. You always have a choice.

Wow, so many really great innovation products and services launched today. What a great time to be alive!

Forget the iPad, TechCrunch launches the CrunchPad. It requires a little work on your end, but it’s significantly cheaper and comes works with HTML5 and Flash. Eat your heart out iPad.

Google officially changes it’s name today. I never saw this coming and I think it might take some time to catch on, but I’ve got to give them credit for being out there like this!

In other Google news, YouTube has allowed you to stream videos in 360p and 480p, now you have the option to steam it in TEXTp. This new method of streaming not only promotes literacy, but it saves YouTube 1$ a second in bandwidth costs. Awesome, huh?

Lastly, Starbucks made a monumental move by offering two new drink sizes, the Plenta and Micra. This is a result of the company listening to what customers were asking. This is probably why Starbucks continues to be so wildly successful!

First of all, I noticed the advertising in the security check-point trays. Since 9-11, going through security has changed everything about air travel. We wait in line and just about literally undress to go through the check-point. It’s been nine years since all of this changed for us, but it wasn’t until this trip that I found advertising in my little security tray. Good job Haynes. Thousands upon thousands of people see this advertisement every day at the Nashville airport, why didn’t someone do this earlier?

Only 3-5 minutes after coming out of security I passed by a Redbox. Duh! Redbox has just about taken over DVD rentals here in the United States, why is this the first one I’ve seen in an Airport. This is about the smartest thing I’ve every seen in an airport. I remember thinking it was pretty cool when those DVD and DVD Player rental companies set up shop in airports, but there was always that uncertainty of whether they’d have a kiosk in the airport you were flying to. Redbox is everywhere. Rent at the airport in Nashville, return at the McDonalds in Tampa. Watch a good flick while you wait for your flight to board. It’s a beautiful time we live in.

Last but not least, my return flight was the first wi-fi enabled flight I’ve taken. I know it’s been around here and there for a last year or two, but in flight wi-fi seems to be pretty widespread now. How amazing is it that you can check your facebook, blog and return email all at 30,000 feet. These are amazing times!

It had only been six months since the last time I’d flown somewhere. Six months. Then I hop on another air plane and here I see and experience all these changes, these innovations.

I must say that I love the speed at which things are changing. In a few days the iPad will be publically available. In a few more months, there will be a new iPhone. Over the next few years we’ll all have 3D TVs. Things are innovating and changing at such a rapid pace. I love it.

However, I’m not sure I’m happy with the rate of innovation and change in the church. Yes, what we do is timeless and significant, but there’s more than enough room for innovation. I can’t remember the last time I heard or read something that made the hair on my arms stand on end. What’s some new stuff you’re doing or new stuff you’ve heard about? Do tell!

Well, OK Go is at it again. This time with a new song set to Rube Goldberg Machine (think Mousetrap). I can’t decide if I like it more than the treadmills or not, but I’ve watched it three times already. That probably equal success for OK Go, right? It’s so creative. I remember seeing this kind of thing on TV as a kid as well as playing Mousetrap and trying to come up with my own version. I think this video should really appeal to boys and I expect we’ll see the internet swarming with similarly inspired remakes.

So leaders, we’re not that entirely different. We’ve got a message like OK Go has a song that we want others to hear. How are we going to tell it differently?

Just in case you’ve been living under a rock the past 5 years, here’s the treadmill song:

Essentially, Google Wave is an attempt to innovate email. Although we typically think of email, the internet and all things web as cutting edge and innovative. However, many parts of the internet, including email are old and outdated, based on systems and technologies that are far outdated. Google Wave is a new approach to email, IM and other stuff as well. In many ways, Google Wave is a new platform for collaboration. I’m very excited about this. Collaboration is very important to me and I’m always looking for ways to do it better.

Below is a five minute excerpt from Buzz Out Loud about Google Wave.

Also, here is the official Google video about Wave.

Regardless of whether they knew Microsoft’s and Sony’s plans, Nintendo has been hard at work perfecting their controller. This summer Nintendo is releasing the Wii Motion Plus, a remarkable imporvement to already popular Wiimote.

Again this causes me to ask questions. These three companies are in fierce competition and they’re investing significant time and resources to stay ahead of their peers. For them the bottom line is profit. However, we’re in the industry of changing lives. I’ve seen a lot of innovation in the 11+ years of being in ministry. However, I’m not sure I’ve seen innovation happen nealry quickly enough. If the only thing that’s changed in your minisry recently is your choice of curriculum, I’m not sure you’re innovating. What’t the next big thing that’s going to increase our impact on kids and families? What’t the next big thing for you?

Not even ten minutes into the presentation, I began to notice that this software looked and operated very similarly to another software I used at my last church that literally was the bane of my existence (another company that promised that they could do everything Fellowship One could do). Everything was going okay until the presenter got to check-in. This was where the presentation crashed and burned. Right from there, it was a “no go.” We kept asking him questions, asking why it operated the way it did. Eventually the guy responded (kiddingly.. kind of), “You guys are mean!” We decided to let him go further and talk about how it handled groups and the presentation continued to go down the toilet. It was a little embarrassing. The demo ended about 90 minutes early with both parties knowing that this wasn’t going to happen.

However, there were some things this presenter said that have been in my head ever since.

• When explaining why some things operated the ways they did he said, “listen, we’ve been in the business for 30 years, we know how this stuff works.” Rather than assuring me, this comment left me unsettled.
• Later he went on to say that the owner of the company, the guy who programed the software, is still there programming away. This statement bothered me as well.

The presenter was trying to sell me on their experience. However, it turned me off. What I saw looked like software that shipped with Windows 3.1 and when he said we’ve been in the business for 30 years, I heard “this product is 30 years old.” When it comes it comes to software, I’m more interested in the upstarts, the college students coding new programs on the bleeding edge. The second statement unsettled me too. My thoughts were, “why is this 50-60 year old guy still coding?” Why don’t they have some fresh out of college kid innovating the code? Heck, why don’t they have a band of 14 year old programing prodigies in India doing this stuff? What was meant to make me feel comfortable with a product chased me away. Actually, just looking at the product did that, it was these “reassuring statements” that made me laugh.

Here’s what has been making me think. With a little bit of pride, I share with people that I’ve been a Children’s Pastor for 11 years. I’ve got some incredible experience. I’ve learned the right way and the wrong way to do all kinds of things. I’ve seen this as a strength. I still think it is, but I need to be careful. With age and experience comes the tendency to cling to old ways, play it safe and repeat what’s been successful. Yes, with experience we have the tendency to become old farts.

I became a Children’s Pastor when I was 19. In many ways I was inexperienced and dumb as a post. I made some stupid decisions that could have gotten someone hurt (or me fired). However, I was good. I was on fire. I had the energy of a… well, 19 year old. There weren’t the resources we have today, so I had to be creative. To be completely honest, the ministry I led as a 19 year old was a heck of a lot more fun as the ministry I would lead as a 31 year old (okay, I’m not really a CP anymore… but you get the point). My good friend Josh (A.K.A. Korndog) who interned for me this summer is every bit as good as I was when I first got started… probably better. What’s his secret? Well, he’s gifted, talented and called, but he’s also 19. He’s not crusty. He’s innovative. When I hang around him and people like him, they draw these good things out of me too.

So, let me wrap this up. Experience is awesome. The best thing that comes from experience is wisdom, maybe a greater opportunity to lead and invest. However, without inovation, you’ll just be an old fart. Either tap into your younger and creative side or surround yourselves with those that think and are that way. Build inovation into the DNA of your ministry and pair it with some good experience and you’ve got a recipe for Awesomeness! You can take that to the bank!

One word. Innovation.

By reading my other posts, you might think I was a mac hater. By no means. I didn’t use my first Windows based PC until 1995. From the time I was 6 or 7, we had an Apple computer in our house. At school I used the Macs in the computer lab. For graduation, one. Once Steve Jobs came back as interim CEO, everything started to change. Six months before I sold my Mac, the first iMac came out. Who thought people would want computers in colors other than beige? During this time Mac introduced new technologies such as USB, Firewire, the absence of floppy disks. Not long after this was iTunes, the iPod, iLife and everything else. Innovation is the drum Apple has marched to for the last decade. Although I’m a PC guy (and happy to be one) I’m grateful for all that Apple has done. They’re leading change across the entire industry… which is such a good thing.

I know that Apple took a lot of flack when they dropped the floppy drive from their computers. How in the world are we supposed to save our files? Apple stood their ground because they saw the future… a future without floppy disks. At that time we thought they were crazy, now we see them as visionaries. The Air just came out a few months ago. Many are complaining about the fact that it doesn’t have a cd/dvd rom. Although I believe their primary motivation is form-factor and weight, are they seeing the future again? A world without CDs and DVDs? I think that maybe they do. I’ve heard many people explain that blue ray may have one the HD format war, but it will be short lived as the market is headed more toward virtual and downloaded media. Maybe Apple is on to something yet again.

So, I do like Apple. I don’t have any intention of owning a Mac anytime soon, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I own one again now that I’m spending more time using web-based software rather than OS based software.

Keep on innovating. It inspires me as well. That’s why I like Apple!

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