I can tell the Global Leadership Summit is about to happen.  The nightmares have started.  Anytime a big event rolls around, I start having trouble sleeping and my dreams take some pretty interesting twists.

One of the bigger names at this year’s Summit is former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.  I just read her book, and it turns out she is an accomplished pianist.  With that little bit of information tucked back in the recesses of my brain, it made for an interesting Summit session during my REM.

My good friend Condi was playing some Brahms for the Summit, that just happened to be taking place in an old high school auditorium, crewed by a bunch of very novice high school techies.  Needless to say, mayhem ensued.  The funny thing, it wasn’t like crazy weird dream mayhem, it was mostly just normal production mayhem that comes from an inexperienced crew.  It reminded me of a few keys to a successful production:

Test everything beforehand.  This might see elementary, but is so key.  Making sure stuff works before the service or performance helps to minimize potential distractions.  At Willow, we do a line check, we test each mic, we walk through all the graphics, we test every video (and watch the whole thing), we walk through lighting cues.  This makes sure that we have done everything within our power to make the service go smoothly.

In the case of Ms. Rice’s performance, we didn’t have the correct piano, it wasn’t tuned and we had put it in the wrong spot on the stage so the lights weren’t aimed properly.

Don’t assume everyone knows what the production values should be.  In my dream, I spent quite a bit of time pulling my hair out over things like people not having their com headsets on during the performance, eating food in the green room during the performance instead of being backstage, and it seemed like one of the crew members was like the phantom of the opera and lived in the depths of the basement.  That guy was not helpful at all.  All of this was a good reminder that just because I have production values that I hold to, doesn’t mean that everybody has the same ones, or even knows what they should be.

In the dream, I spent a lot of time talking with the crew about production values after it was too late, and the session was over.  In the dream I remember thinking that there is so much I take for granted with the team I have now.  The staff and volunteers are so amazing at what they do, that we very rarely talk about the basics of production, they nail it most every time.  (Way to go Willow Production!)

Having production values that the whole team follows matters, and if you are a leader in the technical arts at your church, make sure you are telling your team about them before Condoleezza Rice takes the stage.

After months of putting Tina Fey’s book “Bossypants” on hold at the library, and forgetting to pick it up, I finally got around to reading it.  Hilarious and insightful and if you can handle a few F-bombs, I would recommend it.  Anyway, I was reminded of the rules of improv and how much I thought they could be applied to life as a technical artists.  I wrote about them earlier, so here’s a re-post.

I was talking with a co-worker  yesterday, and I was reflecting on how easy it is to be negative about what’s going on in my church.  Negative about leadership decisions.  Negative about direction.  Negative about people.  As a tech person, I think it is easy to be less than positive because things are always changing, or things are last minute, or I’m reacting  in fire drill fashion quite a bit.  It is easy to get cynical.

Many tech people I talk to call it being a realist.  That may be true, since we tend to look at things from a “how can this be accomplished” perspective.  However, in my earlier years, and sometimes even now, I would lead with “this can’t be done”, or “this is stupid” or “I don’t have time for your creative ideas”.

A different co-worker, later on the same day was talking about Tina Fey’s book “Bossy Pants” and her rules of improv and how they apply to everyday life.  I like them because they speak toward a more positive way handle situations that could really help us tech people, not just in how we approach life, but how we are then perceived by others.

 Start with Yes. –  So often the answer to someone’s idea can be no, simply because there aren’t enough resources of money or time to pull it off.  This shuts things down pretty quick and then forces the person with the idea to come up with something else.

Say yes, and… – If we are able to say yes, then offer a few solutions to pulling off the idea, often times a new, creative and more importantly, a doable idea comes to the surface.

Make statements, don’t ask questions all the time – If we are good tech people, our job is to ask questions to get to the root of what needs to happen.  However, working with non-tech people means that we need help them understand what can and can’t be done, not just assume they know that an idea is crazy difficult.

 There are no mistakes, only opportunities – This sounds pretty cliche, but I really believe that for us to improve and get better as tech people, we need to push ourselves.  This means mistakes will happen.  What we do with the mistakes is what matters.  Will you repeat the same mistakes over and over or will you make adjustments to make sure you learn from mistakes.

How can you apply them to situations you face every day?  How could the rules of improv help how you work with others?  

 photo credit: Gage Skidmore

After writing my last post, I had to cut some content out, simply because there are too many facets involved with leading up, so I thought I’d turn it into two posts.

(insert lame pun here)

Going back to the podcast I recorded with the gents from Tech Arts Weekly, Duke DeJong pointed out that it is so easy for us technical people to talk about gear, but the real news is life change.

Leading up means I am putting my successes and failures in the context of ministry impact, which is something that pastors care about.  They care less about replacing projector lamps or getting a new sound system.  They care deeply about spending the church’s resources on things that will reach more people or help the people that are already there become more like Christ.

How is the work you are doing contributing to life change?  That’s what your leaders want/need to know about.

Van Metschke, the TD for South Hills Church was talking to us about one of his key volunteers and how their life had been changed through his involvement on the production team.  He really didn’t fit in anywhere else, and he has thrived using his gifts for the body of Christ.  He is now continuing his education to learn more about the technical arts, and while we were talking, Van received a text from him mentioning how his fellow students are commenting on how Christ shows through him.

The trouble for many of us is that we spend so much time with gear and dreaming about equipment upgrades, that it is easy to lose sight of what we should be spending time on:  developing people.  Pushing our teams to be more Christ-like.  Pushing them to accomplish things that they didn’t think were possible.  Showing them what production looks like in the context of the local church.

If we are only ever working on the gear side, that’s all we know how to communicate.

How much time are we spending focused on what really matters, so that we can communicate it to our leaders? 

Production leadership…in some ways it is an oxymoron.  You know, like jumbo shrimp and the tech person’s favorite passive aggressive.  Let me explain.

"jumbo shirmp"

Most people in the world of production, whether it is in the church or not, like to be behind the scenes.  Most of our jobs revolve around not being in the spotlight.  Even the function of our jobs is to be transparent.  Flying under the radar is something we do.  We are successful when nobody notices anything.

If you are a part of a larger organization, there comes a time when someone needs to stand up and become a leader of this group.  Leadership requires being out front.  Flying above the radar is necessary.  Learning to communicate to tech people and non-tech people alike is a must.

I was reminded of this concept last night while recording a podcast with the guys from the Tech Arts Network (check out the podcast here.)  We were talking about the idea of leading up, the concept of leading our leaders in what our teams need.

Because I am used to just doing my job without anyone noticing, I realized last night that I withhold the good news and the bad news from what is happening in my ministry from my leaders.  I don’t do this on purpose, it just falls into the “under the radar category”.  So many times I only interact with my leaders when I need something or when they need something.  There are very few instances when we have a conversation about the everyday stuff that is going on in the production ministry.

I think a big part of leading up is to engage with our pastors on a regular basis.  Not necessarily in a meeting or some kind of one on one time, but as we go.  A quick email about a volunteer who is going through a tough time, or when passing in the hall, mentioning that we had a volunteer appreciation night and how well it went.  As Mike Sessler mentioned in the podcast, going to a ministry directors meeting and not wanting to share the “pedestrian” details of what is happening in production, has got to end.

For the production ministry to thrive, it will require something outside of your comfort zone.  If you are in production in the local church, you are obviously passionate about what you do, otherwise there are better options for employment elsewhere.  That passion needs to come out in ways that help your leadership understand what is going on in your ministry.

We need to step out from behind our consoles and black shirts and learn how to be an advocate for our team.

God moves in all areas of ministry.  He can move and does move on our teams in unique ways. 

Our leaders want and need to hear about it…often.

My dad was an engineer at GM for 32 years.  He is one of the smartest people I know, a brilliant engineer, and when I was a kid, I thought what my dad got to do was the coolest.  I remember we used to start every family vacation with picking him up from work and taking one loop around the test track with our van loaded to the roof with stuff.  I always thought we would tip over as we went around those crazy banked turns.  It was awesome!

I don’t recall much about his actual job, but I do remember him complaining about designers a lot.  They were all so worried about what the car looked like, that they didn’t care about whether it would run or not.  When I stop and think about it, without a beautiful design, no one would probably be attracted to the car enough to buy it in the first place.  But on the flip side, if the car doesn’t run well, the word will get out and nobody will buy the car, regardless of how good it looks.

As a result, there are have been many cars that nobody remembers.

There is a values tug of war at play here.

I would argue that these forgettable cars were so altered by immovable values of each department that they end up with a car that nobody wants.  “I need this much space to make the transmission work.”  “I HAVE to have this space for my air duct design.”  “The headlight has to be shaped this exact way.”

When you have so many people demanding that their thing is the most important, you end up making decisions along the way that compromise the big idea.

Let’s translate all this into the local church service context that most of us are dealing with:  “I have to have the band as close together as possible.”  “I have to know the order of lyrics, exactly.”  “This service won’t work without a particular amount of time for the message.”

It is so important for each area to care deeply about what matters most to them.  If you are a lighting designer, you care most about lighting angles.  You don’t really care about message length, as long as the person giving the message is standing in exactly the right spot.  If you are an audio engineer, the lyrics don’t matter to you, as long as the vocalists know their part so that you can get the perfect mix.  If you are the video director, who cares about how long the message is, just give me the frickin’ graphics on time!

These are all extremes, but how can we all work together to create the best service possible?  How can we care deeply about our thing, but hold it loosely enough to make the most amazing experience?

I realize that so much of this depends on a vision.  Just like there needs to be a person who know what a car needs to become, someone has to own where this thing is going.  There has to be some sense of “we are all this together”, or else your loose grip will mean that the thing you care deeply about will be ripped from your grasp.

Let’s just say you have a clear idea of what the goal is.  Let’s pretend that you know exactly what the finished product is supposed to look like…just for a moment.

How tightly are you holding onto the thing that you care most deeply about?

How can you fight fiercely for the thing you care most deeply about, then let it go for the sake of the whole?

 This is the first foray into having a guest post.  I have asked Mike Sessler, a friend of mine and the Technical Director at Coast Hills Community Church, to add his voice to this blog, hoping that it helps you become a better technical artist.  He writes regularly for Church Production Mag and Live Sound as well as his own blog at www.churchtecharts.org. Listen to the regular podcast, Church Tech Weekly at www.churchtechweekly.com and follow him on Twitter @mikesessler.

When I first started as a church TD, I believed it was my job to be the expert in all forms of production technology. In fact, I felt it was my responsibility to be the expert. This was even reinforced by my boss. When I would tell her of some equipment I was thinking of buying or a change I was preparing to make, she would say, “OK, you’re the expert.”

It wasn’t long, however, before I learned—the hard way—that I wasn’t always the expert. I made a bad call on an equipment purchase and ended up wasting the church’s money. I was really bummed out. I felt like a failure. I eventually got over it, but it took a while.

I suspect I’m not alone in this. Many a church tech has gone into their job thinking they have to be the expert, without even pausing to consider what that means. But think about it for a minute; how could we possibly be the expert in live sound, and lighting, and presentation, and video, and IT and whatever else they throw at us? Any one of those disciplines requires a lifetime to master.

The great theologian Clint Eastwood, while playing the character of Dirty Harry once said, “A man’s got to know his limitations.” I think this holds very true in the world of church tech. Too often, either the church or the tech will put too much stock in their expertise, and end up making poor choices that ultimately cost the church a lot of money, not to mention deliver a great deal of frustration. Sometimes, it’s the church being cheap; other times it’s the hubris of the tech that gets in the way of good decisions.

As church techs, what we need to do is find the expert. And sometimes the expert is me. There are many times when I am confident I know enough about a particular situation, technology, process or problem that I can solve it. In those cases, I can move forward with confidence and come up with a great solution.

But other times, I am not the expert, or at least the right expert. Sometimes, I need to call in the heavy hitters. That is one of the great things about having a network of other church techs. I have guys I call on when I have lighting issues, or when I can’t get a Windows machine working properly. When I didn’t know which control network was best for my new lighting system, I called on an expert (actually three of them). The final decision was reached with their input and was far more informed than what I would have made on my own.

One reason I love going to trade shows is to meet people from manufacturers who really are experts in their field or with their equipment. I’ve had many a question answered because I picked up the phone or sent an email. Sometimes I even get to be the expert for someone else, and that’s a great feeling.

The point is, you don’t always have to be the expert—you can’t always be the expert—you just need to know where to find them. Taking the time to seek out the advice of others more knowledgeable than you is not a sign of weakness—it’s a sign of wisdom. Our job is not to prove how smart we are, it’s to make the best choices for our churches. So take the time to find the expert. You’ll be glad you did!

When I have a lot going on, it is easy for me to get depleted and sick of what I do and the people I am around, both my co-workers and my family.  To be running around, not taking any time to fill myself up with good things.  I don’t read my Bible.  I don’t pray.  I don’t think of others first.  In those times, I am overflowing with whatever is in my heart, which by itself can be a pretty dark place.  I know that without Christ as the center of my life, I am not much good to myself or anyone. 

As the pastor of the Baptist Church I attended in college would say “What’s down in the well, comes up in the bucket!”

I also know that life can be pretty tough, and without taking time to allow God to fill me up, it is really easy to lose hope. 

Right now, I am reading through Romans, and pretty much just read from major heading to major heading, and I try and read that much each day.  This morning however, the verse right before the section I was supposed to read caught my eye:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” – Romans 15:13

Wow.  What timing.  With tons of things going on that are out of my control, I have one thing that is in my control:  I can put my trust in God.

The God of hope wants to fill me with joy and peace.  All I need to do is put my trust in him.  I can overflow with hope, if I would just let go of the control of my circumstances, and allow God to have his way.  I know that I will not overflow with hope if it is left up to me.

In what ways are you hanging onto things you have no control over?

What are you overflowing with?

A few months ago, I received this photo of one of the pioneers of technology at Willow Creek.  It is circa 1976, or thereabouts. I was struck by several things in this picture.   How many audio consoles are side-carred together?  Is that duct tape holding stuff down?  I wonder if you could still get that shirt at Urban Outfitters?

Through the miracle of Facebook, I connected with the guy in this picture and asked if we could have lunch together.  He said yes, and as the date approached, I began compiling a list of questions to ask him.  I was interested in learning all about how production values got their start at Willow Creek, which eventually changed the landscape of how technology is now used in the local church.

Pretty soon into the conversation, I realized that my list of questions were irrelevant.  My preconceived ideas of why production mattered in the early years of the church were way off.  What was surprising is that what I learned wasn’t really new information.

You have to start somewhere.  From the picture it is obvious that Willow Creek didn’t have tons of gear, or necessarily the best or the exact right piece of equipment.  They were using what they could get their hands on, to most effectively communicate the message of Christ.  They were using what they had in ways that it probably wasn’t designed to do, but they stretched everything to again…most effectively communicate the message of Christ.

Relationship matters more than strategy.  When I asked what the strategy was for using technology, all I got in response was a blank stare.  There was no strategy.  At the beginning, it was two best friends trying to figure out ways to…effectively communicate the message of Christ.  It was the partnership of a programming person and a production person leveraging their individual uniqueness and their relationship to pull off something together.

These are things that I believe pretty strongly in, and was reminded again how much they matter.

Use what I have.  Do my very best with it.  Don’t wait for more equipment.

Relationships matter more than just about anything else.  For the fusion of the technical and creative      arts to really happen, we need to spend time on building relationships.

The same concepts that help start a church 30+ years ago, still are true today.

How can you spend your time investing in these two concepts?