Holistek by Mike Gold

International Shelby Conference 2009

I just wanted to take a few moments to thank those who sat in on my breakout session at this years International Shelby Conference 2009. As promised I am posting notes and from my session here.

Download information sociology model slides with transcript

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Calling for Someone to Write Open DAM

For some time now I have had a growing passion for Digital Asset Management...or DAM for short. Now before I continue on with this post, I feel the need to promise you that I will spare you any junior high level jokes about the D.A.M. acronym like DAM systems are coming to the church...or...I finally get to say DAM in church and feel good about it. During the start of our DAM project at Willow I have said them and heard them all.

As boring as the topic sounds, the fact is, the subject of Digital Asset Management is a pretty big deal for organizations these days. In the days of what I would call, "analogue" media asset creation, few organizations could afford to create high quality media content. Now the same professional quality assets that used to require high priced equipment, rare specialized skill and expensive distribution channels can be created at a fraction of the price...thank You Apple and thank you Mr. Gore :).

Lower cost pro level tools for creating digital media assets along with exponential growth in internet and social media distribution platforms has lead to more people gaining pro level skills which has lead to greater accessibility for organizations to create and distribute these assets through various digital content channels.

Organizations seem to be taking advantage of this greater access to media asset creation. Video, audio, still images and documents are being created and distributed at record pace. High quality digital media asset creation is no-longer reserved for large media organizations. What used to be reserved for a high-end media companies can be produced by an indivdual and distributed on Vimeo or YouTube at a fraction of the cost and cost.

However, please note, the term fraction is a relative term. Lower cost has increased access to media asset creation and distribution. However, doing media access creation well still requires quite an investment, in time, talent and money. For example, it might have taken several million dollars for an organization to produce 5 promotional videos a few years ago. The same several million dollars might produce 100 promotional videos today and have a greater impact.

In my wanders with digital asset consultants and providers over the past few years it has been interesting for me to hear stories of how organizations are making investments in media asset creation. My question about all of this activity is this...What are organizations doing to manage their growing investments in the digital media assets they create?

This question started to haunt me at Willow Creek several years ago now. I observed that we were investing a tremendous amount of resources in packaging highly valuable and relevant Biblical truths into audio and visual media assets. While we were placing a tremendous value on these assets we were doing very little to protect, manage and ultimately position them so they could be strategically leveraged and maximized. Furthermore, I thought it was interesting how we along with many other organizations would invest significant resources in tools to manage finances and other assets that were valuable to our organization, but we were investing very little to manage and maximize our digital assets even though they were some of the most valuable and strategic assets we possessed.

It was at that time I started to look for a solution to help us in this area. For a long time I had a difficulty getting buy-in from leadership on the subject. But I knew that if we didn't get moving on a plan for DAM we would eventual be overwhelmed by a demand for content and be poorly prepared to deliver. Eventually, our leadership responded by investing in a Digital Asset Management Platform and a full-time staff member to help us manage and pull a process together.

Looking back over the past 9 months we now have over 14764 assets in our DAM. Before we had this system most of these assets were scattered through out our organization on various tapes, firewire drives and servers. We have a long way to go, however, I am excited to see that we are still committed to this DAM concept. The system and process for Digital Asset Management is securely in the hands of Greg Sanderson, our Digital Asset Manager. Greg has a great vision for the potential of DAM and I credit him for the success of our DAM initiative.

Now as I reflect on all of this...I thought it might be fun to share one of the presentations I prepared in early 2007 as a way to cast a vision for DAM to Willow Leadership and summarize requirements for vendors (See Below). If you can get through my cheesy opening, and 2 year old stats, my heart is simply to share this info in hopes that someone will take it and run with it as I strongly believe that the core of this vision is just as relevant today as it was in 2006-2007.

Digital asset management is expensive and proprietary. I believe that it would absolutely rock the industry to see someone rise up to create an Open Source Digital Asset Management Platform on the scale as what Digium accomplished in the telecom world with Asterisk.

The demand for this couldn't be greater and the time is absolutely right for this idea...We need talent and energy.

ANY ONE UP TO IT?

Click Here to View DAM Concepts Presentation.

Justice - It's personal

I recently had an opportunity to talk about something very personal to me, the subject of Godly Justice.
This is only an observation, but it seems like the concept of social justice has become popular in recent years. I think that it is critical for those of us who follow Christ to understand that God has a perspective on this. There is a Godly justice that seeks to make things right when one person blocks another persons access to the blessings that God intends for everyone. It is my heart's desire to see more people who work in the field of technology rise to the opportunity to fulfill God's high calling of compassion and justice.

A couple notes about this video

I mention http://www.ncomputing.com in this video. I am inspired by their vision and their product. If anyone is interested in finding out more about Ncomputing. You can email Charlie Williams at: cwilliams@ncomputing.com

This video post is part of a longer talk I gave about people, Jesus, justice and technology at the 2009 Ministry Tech Conference.  I want to honor the efforts of a friend of mine, Terrell Sanders, He puts on these conferences to help leaders and professionals who serve Christ in the fields of communications and technology. You can find his ministry at http://www.ministrytech.org and http://www.ministrycom.org. After the conferences he packages and sells content to cover expenses. To be clear, I don't receive anything for mentioning his ministry here. I just want to write him a note of encouragment and pass on my gratitude for his heart and his ministry. If you are interested in supported Terrell's efforts you can purchase resources at http://ministrycom.org/store/

Just so I don't forget...

Did you ever have one of those God moments? You know...an experience...I moment...unmistakeably...God.

Well last week I had one of those moments with God.

...I was watching a show. It was just one of those somewhat predictable crime solving shows that I like to watch where the good guys win most of the time. This particular episode had a bunch of holocaust footage it...I wasn't expecting it. They showed a flashback in time where family of 4 all get shot in the head by Nazis. First the Dad , then each child, then the mom. It was completely graphic. After they showed that scene, they showed a bunch of actual photos from concentration camps at that time. I couldn't stop thinking of my own daughters and the shear tear terror that must have ripped through the hearts and mind of husbands, wives, fathers, daughters, mother and sons as they were separated forever. I simply can't imagine what it must have been like for a father to know that his little girl might be tortured and killed.  I guess you could say it wrecks me. I don't know why it always wrecks me. I realize that I have a Jewish heritage. But it happened at a different time in history. When I was a kid, my family experienced some minor antisemitism. But today...I live in complete comfort. My daughters are proud of their heritage...most importantly...we believe that Jesus was the messiah and that God has made his salvation available to all people. No favoritism. Complete reconciliation through Christ.

Still...I guess I can't help but think that something like Nazi Germany could still happen to my family...even today. Maybe it's irrational...I don't know. But pendulums swing wide in our world. It really doesn't seem to matter what kind of blood runs through our veins or what we believe. We can be, Black, Red, Yellow or White, African, Israeli, Indian, Native American, Palestinian, Irish, British, German, Asian, Latino, or Eskimo. Republican, Democrat, Socialist, Communist, Believer or Atheist. The point is...no one is immune to oppression and injustice.

It is so amazing to me that we have so many innovations and technologies to improve the quality of our lives...but...I am so sorry to say...that we really have not changed much...have we.

I just keep finding myself praying more and more...Jesus...please...please...come soon.

Anyway...until He comes I intend, with every fiber of my being, to be Jesus with skin on. To bring some kind of hope and love into this mess we call civilization. So if I have to bow or rise, follow or lead. I WILL NOT let anything make me sink. I am out of the boat and I will stay on the water. I will follow Christ and talk to anyone who will listen... I believe more than ever...that God through Christ is our only hope.

 I needed to write this down... This moment happened last week and at that time I wanted to capture it forever. I felt absolutely no fear. At that moment everything seemed petty in light of the gaping need our world has that only Christ can fill.

Come soon lord Jesus...come soon

Holistek Leadership Spotlight - Fady Eldeiry

I was just thinking about a friend of mine who really inspires me with his heart for compassion and justice. His name is Fady Eldeiry.  Fady has a personal justice mission to build relational networks of people who come together to use their professional skills to be Jesus with skin on for our world in desparate need of hope. He is a brilliant technologist, a skillful social bridge builder, an energetic leader and he has an amazing vision for what could happen when people come together in community for a vision they believe in.

Fady has taken all of this passion and poured it in a ministry that he started called WePartner. I love the name of his ministry because it embodies his huge heart to come along side of people to accomplish great things. To Fady, the world is small but God is huge. If you caught him on his mobile phone, you would not be surprised to find him at a location around the world like Cambodia, South Africa or his homeland of Egypt where he has lead groups of I.T. professionals to install cutting edge technology to support churches and other Christian ministies and where he is currently partnering with Willow Creek's Global Leadership Summit to train Christian leaders and pastors all over the middle east.

Fady is an amazing example of someone who is pointing people to Christ by leveraging technology to connect people to hope. He is a leader to watch for our generation, I am proud to know him and I am proud to call him friend.

If you would like to learn more about Fady Eldeiry and how you can participate in and/or support his ministry efforts please check out his website at http://www.wepartner.org/. 

I have known Fady for quite a few years now. He is the real deal and his organization a kingdom worthy investment.

Axioms

Axiom - 9 dictionary results

ax⋅i⋅om  /ˈæksiəm/ 

–noun

1.	a self-evident truth that requires no proof.

2.	a universally accepted principle or rule.

3.	Logic, Mathematics. a proposition that is assumed without proof for the sake of studying the consequences that follow from it.

---

 
I recently hosted a little question and answer forum at the 2009 MinistryTECH conference in Colorado Springs, CO. http://www.minstrytech.org. Someone asked me if I had any Axioms that I followed to help me as a leader. I was very impressed by the question and shared my private Axiom journal with the group. I take credit for absolutely none of the axioms listed below. If I didn't list a source name or verse next to the Axiom then I simply forgot who I learned it from. I have been so blessed over the years to be mentored by so many great people. I can't say that I have met all of my mentors personally. However, I was challenged early in my walk with God to pray for and to seek His wisdom dilligently. My search for God's wisdom has lead me to some unlikely places and some unlikely people. Nevertheless, I do lean on these bits of truth with considerable weight as the situations of my life demand.

In honor of my wisdom seeking friend at the conference last week. I have posted many of the Axioms that have shaped my thinking over the years below. Right now with God calling me to take some significant steps of faith in my life. The 3 Axioms that I have been leaning on most lately are numbers 31, 40 and 44. 

My heart is that all would seek and be blessed by God's wisdom. I know God loves to pass it on. Perhaps the leader who asked the Axiom question didn't fully realize how significant it was. Seeking God's wisdom is the most intelligent thing a leader can do.

1. A fool is wise in his eyes. Solomon
2. Wisdom is more precious to a leader than anything else. He/She should seek it more than any other position or vantage point. Wisdom Comes from God Alone... Proverbs 1:7
3. Many seek an audience with a ruler, but it is from the LORD that man gets justice...Prov. 29:26
4. Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs... Proverbs. 10:12
5. He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers...Prov. 19:8
6. He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend.
   Prov. 22:11
7.  6But godliness with contentment is great gain... Tim 6:6
8. When it comes to teams, organizations, etc. Entropy is constant. Hybels
9. Leadership requires constant propulsion, Leaders can never glide and expect to maintain or gain altitude.
10. Energy is the most important asset a leader brings to the team.  Hybels
11. Effective leaders get their whole lives moving in one direction. Bennis
12. I must be able to handle failure, if I ever expect to handle success.
13. The tact of a cactus sends people away with tiny holes in their flesh. 
14. Never elevate a person to a level of responsibility that is beyond their level of character and integrity. 
15. Know the limitations of the plane you pilot. Don't do too many tight turns if the plane can't handle it. It's wing may fly off. Now apply that simple wisdom to your team.
16. If you need a plane that can handle tight turns build one. Now apply that wisdom to teams.
17. Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? A. Lincoln
18. Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. A Lincoln
19. Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.
    A Lincoln
20. Beware the barrenness of a busy life. Socrates.
21. Failing organizations are usually over-managed and under-led.  Bennis
22. Good leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of things, not at the periphery. Bennis
23. Capital L leaders make each person, item, issue, project and task they are focusing on seem like he, she or it  is the most important thing in the world at that moment even in the midst of enormous responsibility. Hybels.
24. A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.  -MLK
25. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere -MLK
26. To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. -MLK
27. All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming. Helen Keller
28. Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world. Helen K.
29. The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision.
    H. Keller
30. Don't let schooling interfere with your education. Mark Twain
31. Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain. Mark Twain.
32. If you try to make an apple into an orange, you get apple sauce.
33. A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble. Gandi
34. Be the change that you want to see in the world. ..Gandhi
35. An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind...Gandhi
36. A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people. Frederick Douglas
37. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. F Douglas
38. It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. F. Douglas
39. One and God make a majority. F Douglas
40. Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.
    FDouglas
41. You can't pursue comfort and conviction at the same time.
    
42. Find the critics kernel of truth. hybels...
43. Seek Godly justice. Justice that makes things right when one person blocks another persons access to the blessings that God Intends for everyone. J. Perkins.
44. If you are clear that God is calling you to do something. Then you need to do it at all cost. M Neal.
45. Live by faith, not fear and you can walk on water. Matthew 14:33
46. let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16
47. You can't make big decisions unless you are willing to own up to big mistakes. 
48. If God has gifted you with leadership, If you don't intentionally learn to lead with Godly dilligence, you will intentionally lead people astray. B Smith
49. Freedom from effort in the present merely means that there has been effort stored up in the past. T Roosevelt.
50. When you apologize don't make excuses. Own it. They deserve better, you can do better. B smith.

Thankful

Today I was thankful to have the privilege of learning new things.

Thankful

Today I was thankful to have lunch with my daughters at their school.

The Discipline of Gratitude

The message in the following clip was hilarious, but sobering to me. We are a spoiled generation. Today I am deciding to choose joy and gratitude daily. Everyday, I am going to find at least one thing to be thankful for. I confess it is easy for me to be depressed. So many people I know are suffering. We have close friends who are dying of cancer, others who are fighting to stay alive, others who are in danger of losing their business. I am dealing with chronic pain in my hips. So many people are suffering with hunger, poverty and injustice around the world. It is so hard to see hope. Yet God has blessed us in so many ways. Everything is amazing and no one is happy because we all think God and the world owes us something. I must not fall into this trap. My wife and I must lead our kids away from this trap. So in a feeble way, I will write out at least one thing I am thankful for everyday. It sounds remedial and pathetic...like something a child would do in elementary school. Perhaps we all to go back to elementary school when it comes to Gratitude.

Martin Luther King

I have no words...just a prayer of hope and for courage to follow God's word half as Faithfully as this man. A true hero of the love of Christ and of the justice of our God.

Isaiah 58

True Fasting

 

1 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
       Raise your voice like a trumpet.
       Declare to my people their rebellion
       and to the house of Jacob their sins.

 2 For day after day they seek me out;
       they seem eager to know my ways,
       as if they were a nation that does what is right
       and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
       They ask me for just decisions
       and seem eager for God to come near them.

 3 'Why have we fasted,' they say,
       'and you have not seen it?
       Why have we humbled ourselves,
       and you have not noticed?'
       "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
       and exploit all your workers.

 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
       and in striking each other with wicked fists.
       You cannot fast as you do today
       and expect your voice to be heard on high.

 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
       only a day for a man to humble himself?
       Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed
       and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
       Is that what you call a fast,
       a day acceptable to the LORD ?

 6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
       to loose the chains of injustice
       and untie the cords of the yoke,
       to set the oppressed free
       and break every yoke?

 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
       and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
       when you see the naked, to clothe him,
       and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?