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I can’t specialize.

What I realized recently is that I can’t specialize. 

There are a lot of things that I’m interested in, care about, pursue, practice, create, love, learn about…But I can’t specialize. My interests are too broad. I launched a blog about food a couple of months ago, and now it sits dormant…Why? Because some other shiny object was dangled in my face. Life got busy. I got invested in other projects.

I still love to cook and more than cook, experiment in the kitchen, but I can’t specialize.

“Wise people” always say to find the one thing that you love and devote yourself to it.

But you know, I don’t want to be great at one thing. I want to kick ass at a multitude of things. I want to cook, and travel, and read to my kids, and date my wife, and shoot pictures, and design, and study, and build, and program, and solve. And to be honest, I think I’ve been created capable of doing all of that really well.

I can’t specialize.

I’m not going to be a great designer, but I will be really good.

I’m not going to be a great writer, but I will be really good.

I’m not going to be a great cook, but I will be really good.

I’m not going to be a great many things, but I will do really good things.

All props and power to the specialists, but I’m not like you.

- – - – - -

All that being said, I’m resurrecting this little blog. This will once again house my interests. Dropping the specialty sites. Bringing it all under one umbrella. Screw the narrow branding, the SEO, the unified story.

I am who I am and I’ll say what I say to whoever is listening on this channel.

REDESIGN COMING SOON.

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Dream first, Create Later.

DREAMING of trying to move on to orbital, and then, DREAMING about maybe having hotels in space one day, DREAMING about maybe one day having intercontinental flights…and if you don’t dream, you don’t achieve anything, so from our DREAMS we try to inspire engineers and technicians to make our dreams become realities.
– Richard Branson at the opening of Spaceport America.

Did you know Virgin Galactic is planning commercial flights into space next year? My kids’ generation will be the first to experience travel to space as a form of leisure travel. This is the stuff you dream about when you’re a kid looking up at the stars…and you eventually lose sight of because people expect you to grow up someday.

Richard Branson never stops dreaming. He’s a big dreaming kid in a stale grown up world…and he continues to be one of the most innovative entrepreneurial minds of our time.

Because one man dreams. Because of an attitude that says, dream first, create later.

Too often, we create things out of necessity. You know the old saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”

Perhaps Dreams are the mother of innovation. The way we will change the world is by dreaming of what could be, then creating the means to achieve.

As a designer, I so often rush into the creating process. No plan, no foresight, no dreams about the end product. The work I’ve done that has really made an impact has been birthed from a dream first, followed by the execution later.

Take time to dream first and create later.

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Innovate09 Kem Meyer

Kem always brings us back to the basics of communication.

Communication is not about sending the right message, it’s all about getting the right response.

How to clarify your message for the right response.

1. Check your ego
2. Get an image consultant
3. Keep it simple

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Simplicty & Impact – Innovate09, Tim Stevens

Just upfront, I want to say that this talk from Tim Stevens was right on. It was balanced and wise.

Who gives a rip if your idea is original?

Talking about recycling ideas.

We’re all trying to make an impact for God’s Kingdom. How are we going to do it. So many church leaders feel like they have to do the next new thing. New and original are great, but it might not be the most important question.

We don’t ask the question, “Is this original…but we ask, Is this effective?”

Somebody visiting your church today is just sampling. They are new. They are a fresh face with a possibly fresher faith. They need you to help them get to their next step.

So all this made me think of this talk Shawn Wood gave at MinistryCom a few years ago. I think it’s highly appropriate when talking about Recycled vs Original Content.

The point is, what does it take to have a high impact? And what is the least amount of work to have the highest amount of impact. So, find the sweet spot. Don’t get hung up on needing to be original every time. Find the place to have the greatest impact for Christ in the least complicated manner.

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Full-Court Press

Malcolm Gladwell’s recent article in the New Yorker highlights the Full-Court Press. How a rag-tag team of middle school daughters of Silicon Valley programmers, went to a national basketball championship game, because of an outsiders strategy: Effort trumps force, and responding in real time.

Gladwell follows the story with coach Ranadive, a father to one of the girls on the team. Ranadive didn’t take the usual approach to winning basketball games. He wasn’t a basketball player himself. Most of his team were made up of first year players. There were no plays that were executed. No star towering center to dominate the lane. And no long-range shooting guard to sink shots from the outside. Rather, the approach was all about not wasting space and time.

The girls executed a full court press, every defensive minute of every game. The didn’t play the usual game of shoot and retreat. The never let up. They were, at their core, relentless.

Gladwell remarks of the strategy “Playing insurgent basketball didn’t guarantee victory. It was simply the best chance an underdog had of beating Goliath.”

It’s all about effort. When your opponent moves slow, you counter with speed. When your opponent relaxes, you counter with drive. Relentless pursuit can trump brute force.

So, how can the church implement the Full-Court Press?

• Relentless pursuit of relationships (our culture wants us to get something out of relationships. I think it’s wise to think about giving something to relationships).
• Relentless pursuit of relevance (if we don’t speak the language, we will fumble our connection possibilities).
• Relentless pursuit of breaking conventional rules (When convention keeps the game the same, defy it and change the rules).
• Relentless pursuit of the one we love most (When we pursue God, people will follow).

When we engage people, in their language, with a relentless pursuit that redefines the conventional rules, because of the love God has for us, we advance the kingdom of God.

David was a shepherd. He didn’t know he was supposed to bring a sword to fight off a Philistine in a duel. He brought a staff and slingshot. He changed the rules of the game. When Goliath slowly advanced, David sprinted. He didn’t cut off his head, and yet, Goliath lay dead.

God promises a great reverse. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. The peacemakers and the meek will sit atop the kingdom. It’s not the relentless pursuit of perfection, but the relentless pursuit that wins out. A game changing attitude that responds in real-time to the real needs of people.

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Two Ted Talks for Designers / Communications Peeps.

20+ minutes long, so, not a casual viewing, but if you’ve got 20 minutes, take a peek.

David Carson on Humor and Design

Paula Scher on Play and Design

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3 Word Goal for 2009…

After seeing the now famous post on 3 word goals, Sarah and I have come up with ours.

Hers:
ADOPT - Work towards baby #3…
LESS – Spend less, consume less, want less, 
DISCIPLINE – pray and invest daily in God. Consistency in Parenting and loving my husband

Mine:
CONNECT- Engage more in people this year. Real relationships.
LESS – Spend Less, Consume Less
MORE – Save More, Give More, Live More. Spend more time with my family.

2009. The year of the Scheller.

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Thoughts on voting and the prophetic journey towards reconciliation.

Many people have probably heard me say, “I use my vote to vote for something, not against something.” 

Staying true to that axiom, for the first time in three elections, I didn’t vote for Ralph Nader. I actually voted for a major party candidate for the presidency. 

Two things that will win my vote no matter what the rest of your platform is:

1. I feel like your telling me the truth. No BS. I vote for the most honest person in the room. The one who has nothing to lose and is a straight shooter. The one who doesn’t just play the game of fame politics, but is driven to achieve goals that are self-actualized in the character of the individual. 
2. Your definition of “Life” is from the womb to the tomb! Abortion is a hot issue, especially for Christians. But in my neighborhood, so is being a teen mom (in 2004, North Minneapolis had the highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation). Life is not just about bringing kids into the world, it’s about what are we going to do with them once they’re here. How will we care? How will we show it? What will we do to support young moms? I tend to think that poverty is the reason the abortion rate is so high, not just because women have the right to have them. A whole-life policy is what we need, not just regulation and restriction. 

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Say Anything

Sometimes, saying nothing, is saying everything.