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Leadership & Personal Development Resources
The 1 Culture Flaw Killing Innovation at Your Company
Somehow, many of us have come to believe that Church requires a perfect performance. Every time. I’m struck again, and again, how the church can mirror the business world, and how we are reminded of gospel values when we see what’s working in that world. Ironic. A couple of quotes from this article that I hope may resonate:
Psychological safety — the belief that you won’t be punished for speaking up, taking a risk, or making a mistake — isn’t a soft concept. It’s a business strategy. Google’s Project Aristotle (https://rework.withgoogle.com/intl/en/guides/understand-team-effectiveness), one of the most extensive studies on team performance ever conducted, found that psychological safety was the single most important factor in what made a team effective. Not talent. Not resources. Safety.
The businesses winning right now aren’t the ones with the fewest mistakes. They’re the ones who have built cultures where mistakes are examined rather than hidden, where a failed experiment is a worthwhile investment, and where the question after something doesn’t work isn’t who’s responsible but what did we learn?
How ready are we to try new approaches? To experiment? To be willing to fail, and to learn?
And, ultimately, to grow.
The article can be accessed here: https://www.inc.com/leigh-henderson/the-one-culture-flaw-killing-innovation-at-your-company/91381291
Communication Problems – Why Employees Miss What Seems Obvious
This excellent Forbes article may best be summarised in a simple exercise. I invite you to go to this link (it’s a YouTube video) and simply follow the instructions on the screen – BEFORE you read the article. It’s a test in selective attention. Find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo
I was chatting after church on Sunday with a colleague. She related something that had happened in a church she had been visiting the previous week, and I commented that it was very similar to something that I had observed over a period of time in another context. I made a judgement statement on what I had noticed, and immediately was met with a most peculiar pushback. My colleague had identified an ambiguity in what I had said – it could be read in two diametrically opposed ways, while I was only thinking of one. It took me a few beats to understand what she was saying. And she was quite correct. I simply assumed that her mind had seen the issue in exactly the same way that my mind did. I suspect ‘I’m out of sync’ more often than I realise. Accurate communication may be more assumed than actually realised.
The article also has a warning about AI – at least, in the way in which we use it. One of the issues that arise is the default to being satisfied with an answer that takes the least amount of effort. This is not the fault of AI – the problem is in how our brains work.
Well worth the read, this article encourages us to take a second look, to remain curious, and not settle on the first things that come to mind. It can be accessed here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dianehamilton/2026/08/03/communication-problems-why-employees-miss-what-seems-obvious/
Have we become addicted to busyness?
This easily accessible article probes on whether what we are doing gives us a real sense of value – meeting us where we are, and prodding us with the questions like: Am I doing work that matters to me? Is this the life I want? What would success look like now?
Or are we just filling in the time? The article can be accessed here: https://www.smartbrief.com/original/have-we-become-addicted-to-busyness
We Sold Our Company for 8 Figures. Then We Realized We Were Running Our Business Better Than Our Marriage
Yep, it’s easy to neglect the most important relationships in our lives. The author gives an honest reflection on his own life – and, taking a ‘business like’ approach schedules time to make sure this most important relationship is nurtured. The article can be accessed here: https://www.inc.com/dave-kerpen/sold-company-8-figures-running-business-marriage-co-founders-startups/91383595
Homilies and Preaching Resources
My response to the lectionary Gospel for the 16th of August – based on Matthew 15 vs 21-28 is titled ‘If we don’t ask, the answer is always “no”’. It focusses on Jesus’ foray into Gentile territory where he’s confronted by a Canaanite woman seeking healing for her daughter. Given all that’s currently happening in the Middle East – particularly between Israel and the Palestinians, this may be one message that rattles a few cages. It can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUWzKRBXmP0&t=9s
Gospel Conversations – out of the Dunedin Anglican Diocese. They host a conversation of (usually) 4 Theologians / Practitioners. The site with all its options can be accessed here: https://www.calledsouth.org.nz/gospel-conversations/. Led by Michael Godfrey, rather than the Gospel text, this year they are generally focusing on other parts of the Lectionary. For this coming Sunday, they consider Isaiah 56 bs 6-8 exploring ‘Isaiah’s vision of God’s house as “a house of prayer for all peoples”. Together they reflect on God’s call to welcome those once considered outsiders, and what it means for today’s Church to become a place of prayer, joy and belonging for all’. It can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDmqp8VvKec
Rev Darryn Hickling (Methodist colleague leading the Rolleston Project) has posted an Instagram reflection focussing on Matthew 15 vs 21-28, and titled ‘The Woman who changed Jesus mind’. It can be accessed here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Db2rJ7xBJv1/?igsh=ODQ2ZmlwbWN2eDFv
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Once again, use the videos as you will.
Engaging the Text – Yeah, Naah – this hasn’t worked out as I had hoped. Back to the drawing board.
Finally
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Ngā manaakitanga
Andrew Doubleday
UCANZ Ministry Facilitator