ENGAGING THOUGHT
Have you ever had a full-blown conversation with someone...inside your head? It's amazing how detailed and thorough those conversations can be. So much so, that we sometimes find ourselves "remembering" what we said or how they responded - at least until we recall the conversation with them later and they stare at us blankly, wondering if we forgot our medication. Maybe I'm the only one who does this.
I have the great privilege of leading a missional community of Christ-followers and, as such, spend a fair amount of time praying and planning and imagining the future. I spend loads of time preparing for upcoming events or programs - to the point that I forget that others may not have a clue what I'm talking about when I mention something coming up. In my mind we've all been planning and prepping and anticipating - after all I've been ruminating on it for months, evolving the strategy and making changes before it (whatever "it" is) goes public. I have to remind myself that not everyone has been along for the ride from idea-inception to strategy, planning, modifying, scheduling, etc.. What is abundantly clear to me is likely not so clear to them.
As we describe the DREAM God has for our lives to others we need to remember that they haven't been pondering and praying about our DREAM. They haven't been inside our hearts and minds as we wrestle with and identify, define and refine the DREAM. We carry within us the entire "back-story" that has brought us to this point of resolution and pursuit - but the person we are sharing it with hasn't. Thus, it becomes critical that we really ask the tough questions about the DREAM as others perceive it. I'm not talking about caving to public-opinion here, but we'd be foolish not to consider how others understand the DREAM.
For the last couple days we've been analyzing if specific words or phrases within our plan convey the right meaning; now we need to ask if the DREAM as whole thing really makes sense as we've written it out. Is it truly clear enough? Can the uninitiated, innocent by-stander grasp what it is we are pursuing and why we are pursuing it? These are the type of questions we need to ask of our written plan. Perhaps we need to imagine that someone finds a copy of our DREAM's written plan on the ground and, after picking it up, they read it (without you there to qualify or explain): will they be able to capture the vision?
Ask for any thoughts or suggestions they might have as to making the DREAM more clearly understandable. Take away their suggestions or questions and see if you need to rewrite or adjust some elements of your plan. It might be a good idea to write a couple versions and contemplate them for a few days before deciding which you think is the right one.
NOTE: Be certain to choose carefully who will help you with today's ACTION STEP. You obviously don't want a grumpy pessimist, but you also want to avoid the uncritical cheerleader. Pick someone who will take the task seriously and give you real, useful input.
I have the great privilege of leading a missional community of Christ-followers and, as such, spend a fair amount of time praying and planning and imagining the future. I spend loads of time preparing for upcoming events or programs - to the point that I forget that others may not have a clue what I'm talking about when I mention something coming up. In my mind we've all been planning and prepping and anticipating - after all I've been ruminating on it for months, evolving the strategy and making changes before it (whatever "it" is) goes public. I have to remind myself that not everyone has been along for the ride from idea-inception to strategy, planning, modifying, scheduling, etc.. What is abundantly clear to me is likely not so clear to them.
As we describe the DREAM God has for our lives to others we need to remember that they haven't been pondering and praying about our DREAM. They haven't been inside our hearts and minds as we wrestle with and identify, define and refine the DREAM. We carry within us the entire "back-story" that has brought us to this point of resolution and pursuit - but the person we are sharing it with hasn't. Thus, it becomes critical that we really ask the tough questions about the DREAM as others perceive it. I'm not talking about caving to public-opinion here, but we'd be foolish not to consider how others understand the DREAM.
For the last couple days we've been analyzing if specific words or phrases within our plan convey the right meaning; now we need to ask if the DREAM as whole thing really makes sense as we've written it out. Is it truly clear enough? Can the uninitiated, innocent by-stander grasp what it is we are pursuing and why we are pursuing it? These are the type of questions we need to ask of our written plan. Perhaps we need to imagine that someone finds a copy of our DREAM's written plan on the ground and, after picking it up, they read it (without you there to qualify or explain): will they be able to capture the vision?
ACTION STEP
Your goal at this stage of the process is to start refining the DREAM to a very concise and, hopefully, accurate statement of what your pursuit will look like. Don't fret about having it perfect, you'll modify it at times along the way.
For today's ACTION STEP you'll want to show your written plan to a couple people and see what their initial impression is - don't worry about explaining too much, just see how they react to it and if they have specific questions about it. PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THEIR QUESTIONS!!! This could be a critical indicator of spots where you need to bring more clarity to your plan and strategy.
NOTE: Be certain to choose carefully who will help you with today's ACTION STEP. You obviously don't want a grumpy pessimist, but you also want to avoid the uncritical cheerleader. Pick someone who will take the task seriously and give you real, useful input.
Tomorrow we identify who has a vested interest in our DREAM.
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