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I have learned from years of observing how Peter Drucker thinks how he transfers an insight from one field of knowledge to another. Over the holidays of peaceful reading at Still Point Farm, I came across this short paragraph about physics:
"Hermann Wely, one of the greatest of present-day physicists, the companion and continuer of the work of Einstein, is in the habit of saying in conversation that if ten or twelve specified individuals were to die suddenly, it is almost certain that the marvels of physics to-day would be lost for ever to humanity.
A preparation of many centuries has been needed in order to accommodate the mental organ to the abstract complexity of physical theory. Any event might annihilate such prodigious human possibilities, which in addition are the basis of future technical development."
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This is Peter's latest work - The Daily Drucker.
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As we think about our upcoming time together in Las Vegas, the leaders we will hear from, the ideas they are developing and teaching to other receptive church leaders, I want you to keep this insightful quote in mind for in it is the basis on which rests my sponsorship of Leadership Network's existence these past twenty years. It is our mission to find "the ten or twelve specified individuals" whose understanding of contemporary culture allows them to develop the innovations in form and practice that will shape the way other leaders, thousands of other leaders, think about how to do church in the early 21st century. Peter Drucker defines innovation as "change that makes a difference in performance."
Expect to meet change makers. In the early days of Leadership Network, it was Bill Hybels and Rick Warren. Now these two have enormous self-sufficient teaching ministries on their own. The Willow Creek Association has annual revenues of $27 million. Rick Warren's PurposeDrivenChurch and Purpose Driven Life have now sold over 70 million copies. You probably saw Rick's picture in Time Magazine's "Man of the Year" edition as one of 2004's leading news makers.
Who are the next few innovators whose ideas and techniques will move the Body of Christ forward and outward into communities for years to come? You will meet some of them on January 6 and 7, not only those who participate in the Burning Bush group (now 16), but those who are sharing ideas and forming innovation in our Innovative Practice Leadership Communities like Multi-Site Churches, Externally Focused Churches and Halftime in Churches, and whose ideas and practices will seed the next cluster of teaching events.
A few men can make a huge difference. And it is Leadership Network's mission to find these few, to connect them to others, to form "an industry" of their peers and to do what it takes to encourage them to put on teaching events for other leaders who want to extend God's Kingdom in our time. It doesn't take many and the small boost of encouragement we provide is leverage many times over.
Just look at the results so far in the five years of the Burning Bush program. It was and is the model and prototype for our Innovative Practice Leadership Communities.
The sixteen Burning Bush entrepreneurs have been responsible for over 1,000 new churches planted in the U.S. alone in five years and for hosting over 30,000 other organizations at in-person teaching events leading to implementation of new ideas in ministries effecting thousands, even millions.
So it has become my firm conviction that the way to affect multitudes is to Focus on the Few. That is also true in our Halftime work -- the other side of Leadership Network's work. It is not the primary focus on this trip. That said, I want to introduce you to a Halftimer who manages people's money from Monday through Thursday and is "Senior Directional Leader" (he doesn't preach, he leads) of a six-year-old church with 4,500 people attending each week in a midsize Midwestern town. Think of the expansion of leadership capacity that could take place in American churches if that idea were to spread.
"Other (seeds) fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
"For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance."
Matthew 13: 8, 12 NKJ
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