Less Dreaming, Appreciations and John Basedow (He’s Gonna Show You How!)

Scott Belsky’s latest book, Making Ideas Happen, is making me dream less. For the record, that’s a good thing. I think it should be required reading for all church workers for that very reason. Less “pie-in-the-sky” dreaming and more “hand-to-the-plow” action.

Those of us in ministry have a nasty habit of brainstorming a stock pile of ideas to further the reality of Christ and then sitting back on our haunches. “You do it!” we seem to say to God. We believe falsely that if we simply conjure up the idea in our heads, God has some sort of obligation to magically materialize those dreams right before our eyes. We turn following God into a spiritualized version of John Basedow–”If you can dream it, you can achieve it!” Yuck.

Less Dreaming, More Doing

In Making Ideas Happen, Belsky’s thesis revolves around the continuing theme of “Less Dreaming, More Doing.” He makes a powerful argument that sometimes brainstorming ideas, dreaming about what “could be”, actually gets in the way of making a small percentage of those ideas a reality.

I agree.

What’s easier: fixing a leaky faucet or thinking about ways to fix that same leaky faucet. Exactly.

One of the “doing over dreaming” concepts that Belsky unpacks late in the book is “appreciations.” He talks about his experience with famed storyteller Jay O’Callahan. O’Callahan only offers critiques by way of “appreciations,” simply stating what he most appreciated about the story he just heard.

No criticism.
No finger-wagging.
Just appreciations.

Who Do You Appreciate?

The “appreciation” approach is profoundly Christ-centered. I’m not sure if Belsky or O’Callahan realize that, but it’s true. Appreciations always accentuate the positive. They always look forward. Appreciations trust that by accentuating the positive the storyteller will naturally play towards their strengths. What is strong will become stronger. What is weak will be overshadowed by the strengths. Solid.

So with that, I thought I’d unleash some of my own appreciations. I encourage you to share some of your own in the comments below!

I appreciate the work that my friends Ken and Erin are doing in Afghanistan. They have sacrificed more than I can imagine.

I appreciate the website ThrowMountains.com. A movement like this is sorely needed amongst young people. They have chosen a narrow path.

I appreciate the online community at Lutheran Church of Hope.

I appreciate the risks that Ben Arment takes on a daily basis. They pay off, even if he doesn’t realize it.

I appreciate my son. He literally smiles at me every time I see him.

I appreciate Scott Belsky for making me think about who I appreciate.

What about you?