Perfectly Safe Systems
One of the books on my summer reading list is The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure. While I’m not quite finished with...
Latest posts
Multi-Site: Agency or Autonomy?
As noted before, there are as many ways to structure multi-site churches as there are multi-site churches. But there is one conversation that persistently arises in almost any multi-site model, and that’s the question of...
What If the Problem is You?
I recognize that I came off the top rope in that post title. I’m not mad at you, really. But like a good parent, I’m not mad, I’m just…frustrated. Frustrated as I go into retail...
Top Ten Quotes: Wisdom at Work
Chip Conley was a legend in the hotel industry. He had served as CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality for 26 years. At age 52, a young tech wizard invited him to leave it all...
How to Give Guests What They Want
Circle the ol’ Guest Services block a few times, and you’ll eventually have a fender-bender with the problem of pragmatism: aren’t we simply pandering to the base desires of the people we’re serving? Because let’s...
People Over Policies: part 2
In a recent post, I said that policies exist to help our teams do our jobs, but they must be to the benefit of our guests. In other words, a policy that we hide behind...
People Over Policies: part 1
Churches love policies almost as much as they love covered dish suppers: No food or drinks in the auditoriumNo one is seated during a reflective momentUshers must wear coats and tiesAny salmonella in the potato...
First-Time Guest follow up
You just landed on an every-once-in-a-while series called Primer Posts, a curated collection of my favorite articles and books on one particular topic. These are the resources I usually point to when people ask about getting started...
4 Reasons Leaders Don’t Reproduce Leaders
Many of us carry the title of leader, but we don’t often hold the posture of a leader. In other words, we’re more comfortable doing rather than developing. But a real leader will intentionally develop...
Two Weekenders Remain for 2022!
If you’ve never been a part of our Guest Services Weekender, you still have two more chances this calendar year: Thursday, July 28: join leaders from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and DelawareSunday, October 23:...
