• After reading 4-Hour Workweek and The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working, I’m convinced that email, as necessary as it is, largely exists to artificially bolster our confidence in how productive we are. Set 1-2 times per day where you’ll answer email and leave it off the rest of the day. You’ll be amazed at how many “urgent problems” take care of themselves.
• What happened to the Vikings? Apparently Chilly is getting in fights with his players. Also, Oakland is dirty. Glad they aren’t in my market.
• Just learned that the good folks from Freedom Blend Coffee custom-made sample bags for us to include in the swag bags at the Social Media Summit. I liked them before. I like them even more now.
• Josh Larson and his latest project, weiv, is poised to blow up. Mark my words, by this time next year his schedule will be so full, we’ll be lucky to get him at next year’s Summit.
• Do not try and solve conflict over Twitter. You look silly, foolish, and childish. Anyone with half a brain can see what you’re doing.
• I updated our About page. Check it out and let me know what you think.
• What are some of your family Thanksgiving traditions? My brother and I engage in what we’ve affectionately dubbed “The Nog Off”.
• You are three emails, phone calls or conversations from changing your life. Who do you need to contact today?
• I met with the Social Media Summit Dream Team last week to recap the event. This group is some of the sharpest minds I’ve ever had the privilege to work with. I got them all Action Method Cahiers. Action Method fueled the Summit.
• What’s the latest and greatest in your world, deviants?

Is your church, organization or business ready for a 14-year-old?

I was talking with a friend who shared a story I want to give to you. My friend was at a conference, listening to a speaker on the future of the church. The speaker said, “I know a 14-year-old who is the smartest person in this room.” He then had the highly-embarrassed young man stand up and wave to the crowd.

“This young man,” he continued, “is who your organization should be targeting right now. You need to make all of your decisions, base all of your strategy on how he lives his life. Communication, spending, socialization, everything.”

The speaker went on to suggest that everyone over the age of 30 needed to seek out a teenager and ask them to be a “reverse mentor” of sorts. Ask a teenager how their world works and use that knowledge to shape the future of their organization. A reverse mentor to teach older generations how the world will work in a short span of time.

Personally, I think this is brilliant. I think a lot of decisions people make in business, organizations and churches are based on what’s working now instead of what will be working five, 10 and even 20 years down the road. We forsake the long term for the short term.

What makes this sting is when the current decision makers are long gone, those 14-year-olds will move into their places. They’ll be faced with an organization that functioned well in the “Way Things Used to Be”, not “How Things Currently Are.” They’ll have to dig out of a hole they didn’t create. No one will have set them up for success.

• The Social Media Summit set off a wave of ripples that I never expected. If you are wanting to launch/build/execute a big dream in your life, you owe it to yourself to try. At least try. There’s no telling what’s on the other side of that effort.
• I may be biased, but I think my wife’s blog is pretty great.
• Have you ever read the Behance staff blog? It’s great. Like, great. Please check it out. They moderate comments–I love that. Is it possible to have a crush on a corporation? If so, Behance … I’m looking at you.
• Did you know that I have a personal blog over at JustinWise.net? I’m moving posts on social media and blogging tips over to that site. BeDeviant will continue to focus on faith and cultural relevancy.
• In my neck of the woods, trick-or-treaters come the night before Halloween. We call it beggar’s night. Anyone else? Or is this a distinctly Des Moines thing?
• Speaking of trick-or-treaters, we had a boy, couldn’t have been more than 10, show up on our door dressed as a pimp. A pimp! Cane and everything.
• I can’t wait to tell you all about some of the projects we have cooking for 2011. It’s really going to be quite a year.
• The response to the Deviant Apprenticeship was a little greater than I anticipated. I’m still gathering some thoughts to send to everyone who’s interested.
• What was the last book you read?
• We put together a subscribe page for BeDeviant thanks to a helpful hint from friend John. Have you had a chance to visit it? Check it out and get hooked up with everything that’s going on here.
• Des Moines is becoming our home more and more these days. I love it here. I love the community and the opportunities that seem to spring up here daily. Plus, we take care of our own. Here’s the Twitter feed dedicated to a former Des Moineser who passed away yesterday. RIP, Jason Schippers.
• Amped to be a part of LifeServe and Exponential. Giddyup!
• What’s the latest and greatest in your world, deviants?

I have had a song in my head all day long. It’s been driving me nuts. I had the melody, but couldn’t remember any lyrics. I was powerless against the Siren song of this wondrous tune!

Then I had an idea. I prayed. I asked God to help me remember the name of the song. Alas, nothing came to mind.

I sat down at my computer and fired up my normal go-to tune provider, Pandora. This particular station that I had cued up was from St. Germain’s “Sure Thing”. Normally it provides a good blend of ambient/acid jazz, french pop and the like. I’ve had it on for the last month and it’s solid. A true gem of my own creation.

As I’m still mourning the loss of the earworm that had been stuck in my head, I failed to realize what was happening in the earphones attached to my head. Lo and behold, the song I had been pining for all day long–neigh, needing all day long–was flowing from Pandora in all its brilliance. Out of the hundreds of thousands of songs Pandora could have chosen to play at that very moment in time, it played the one I wanted.

I had been saved.

Now, some could choose to look at this situation and dismiss it as coincidence. They may even be right. Totally conceivable.

But others … Others could choose to see this as something else. Something deeper…..

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Too many young leaders die young.

I don’t mean physical death (although we do lose too many good people to an early death), I mean a potential death. In other words, too many young leaders die on the vine because no one bothered to pick them.

I was struck by something a mentor and friend wrote recently:

The next generation’s world changers are currently working in your organization. But chances are, their talent is buried, half-realized, sitting under the weight of the routine responsibilities that you’ve heaped upon them.

For them to ever realize their potential, their only options are to A. be empowered and blessed by you at your initiative and loss, or B. make you angry by going and doing it anyway.

Yes, you’ve made a huge impact. You’ve been used mightily. But it doesn’t last forever. God’s favor works sort of like “the flavor of the month.” Even Moses had to make way for Joshua.

Calling All Leaders

He’s writing to the current leaders. The ones who are in power. The ones who have paid their dues and are calling the shots. He’s calling them out.

I cannot tell you how much this post meant to me. I’d encourage you to read it in full here. But in the meantime, I wanted to offer a practical response to this post. I wanted to do something about it.

I’m 30 years old at the time of this writing. Realistically, I have 10-15 years (although 15 may be pushing it) to do some siginificant, ground-breaking, earth-shaking work. Those are the years where I get to lead, make mistakes, figure out what works and focus on the things I’m really good at.

After 45, I hope to start passing the baton. Giving the young ones behind me the chances that the older people in my life gave me. Shifting from blazing the trail to guiding people along the path.

After reading the post I mentioned earlier, I thought, “Why not start now?” I couldn’t think of one good reason why I can’t pour everything I know about social media, ministry, church life, blogging, entrepreneurship and life in general into a few young leaders right now. This very moment. Start the process that I want to be a part of.

So that’s what I’m going to do.

The Deviant Apprenticeship Series

I’ll call it a Deviant apprenticeship program of sorts. I’m looking for one or two dedicated individuals who have a desire to learn, who are hungry to take the next step in their leadership abilities. Ideally I’d love to have people who want to focus on a career in social web and/or ministry. I want to start passing off what I know to young leaders who want to go far. Is that you?

Here’s how I look at it: I’ve started a quasi-successful blog, had the chance to speak at a few places, and planned a social media conference from scratch with the help of some amazing people. I’ve made a few mistakes along the way. I’d love to show one or two young leaders how to avoid making those same mistakes so they can go further and faster than I ever will.

If you’re interested, let me know. It won’t cost you anything other than some of your time and sacrificing the mediocrity in your life. Like I said, I’m only going to take one or two people, so if you’re interested let me know as soon as possible.

The Only Way

Don’t die young. It doesn’t have to be this opportunity, but find someone who will pour into you. Likewise, if you’re a little bit further down the road of life, don’t let your legacy die with you. Find a young one to pour into and let them go farther than you. It’s the only way.

Tom McFarlin is a coding prophet.

Kris Vallotton is a preaching prophet.

Sean Parker is entrepreneurial prophet.

Vince Marotte is a online church prophet.

Emily Carver is a photography prophetess.

David Wenzel is a creative cinematic prophet.

Cynthia Ware is a communications prophetess.

Josh Larson is a visual worship prophet.

Ariel Derrick is a turntable prophetess.

Seth Godin is a marketing prophet.

Nate Noble is a preaching prophet.

Jason Upton is a musical prophet.

You are a prophet. Of something.

Prophets are people–normal, everyday, walking-around men and women–who can see a few steps further down the road.

My question to you: What are you seeing?

• I saw the movie “Social Network” with my wife over the weekend. It’s as good (if not better) than advertised. Jesse Eisenberg makes Mark Zuckerberg into a perfect non-hero. Our children will watch this movie and be in awe that there was a time where Facebook didn’t exist.
• As soon as I got home from the movie, my wife and I searched Facebook for Erica Albright.
• I got my diploma over the weekend. It’s now official–I’m a Master of Divinity. If you listen closely, you can here the collective sigh of ultra-conservatives and religious legalists everywhere.
• Josh Larson has a perspective on visual worship in a way that most of us can’t quite grasp yet. He’s at least five steps further down the road than most of us.
• I’ve found a new favorite teacher. His name is Kris Vallotton and he will melt your mind.
• Buy local. As often as possible.
• I run my first half-marathon this weekend. Any tips?
• It’s October 11 and the high today in Des Moines is set to be 80 degrees. This is wrong on all levels. Where’s my chilly, see-my-breath-in-the-air mornings?
• I’m glad Michigan, USC and Alabama lost.
• I had the chance to do a quick drop-in on Doug Pagitt’s radio show up in the Twin Cities. You can listen to the whole show here. To hear my portion, put the marker under the “o” in “not quite right”. Thanks Doug!
• 12 days (!!!) until the Social Media Summit.
• Thrilled to see there’s still a portion of the archive section available at Lifted Radio. Backbreaking beats! House music at it’s finest. Enjoy!

I’ve had this quote from Kris Vallotton ruminating through my brain the last few days:

There are two types of people: those who do and those who criticize those who do.

No truer words were ever spoken. How often do we criticize and condemn those who attempt to do something with their lives? I know I’m guilty of mentally skewering the self-starters around me. Are you?

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I was inspired to do this video post after visiting with some friends at the #CIB meet-up this morning.

What do you love about your city? Further, does anyone outside of your church know that you live in the city you’re in? If not, you may want to check out the video below and get involved in some offline community. Take a peek.

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