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I love books and I don’t care who knows it. “The books you read and the people you meet will determine where you are in five years.” __ Charlie ‘Tremendous’ Jones. Books are second only to relationships when it comes to the trajectory of our lives. I set out with a goal of reading 52 books this year. In case you’re wondering, an 8.5 hour plane ride across the Atlantic last week helped me get back on track, and I’ve officially completed 28 books, putting me on pace to hit 52 for the year. [Full disclosure: A couple books are pretty short, around 100 pages, so that’s lame, but I’ll work on getting my page count up, ok, you guys?] So, I thought it was time for some musings on books.  ...

Explaining a new idea without context can be smash-your-head-against-the-wall frustrating. There are too many things you want to say, too many options of what to explain, too many directions to go. I recently read the free ebook The Myth of the Garage by Chip and Dan Heath. They included an essay that describes anchoring, a solution to our aimless elaborations without boundaries. How do you spread a new idea–fast–and get people to pay attention? Innovations require lots of explaining…Explanations require lots of attention, but attention is scarce. So don’t explain. Instead, anchor your communication in what people already know… [A]nchoring is easier than explaining from scratch… Anchoring is latching your idea to something that already exists and using that as a launching pad. Of course, you can’t just say “We’re like Starbucks.” You need what the Heath brothers call “a twist.” The only downside to anchoring is that, by hooking into existing ideas, it creates sameness. But to sell something you need difference. It doesn’t work to say, “Introducing Gleemy toothpaste–it’s perfectly interchangeable with Crest!” That’s why a good innovation story couples an anchor with a twist. When you’re dreaming of a new product, organization or mission, context is key. Give an example, an anchor, for people to latch onto so they can see where you’re going. ...

It’s easy for me to think my way is the correct way (which is clearly linked to my impatience and pride). Obviously, my way isn’t always right, isn’t the only right way, and isn’t necessarily the best way. When you’re leading, I think the best way to empower team members is to give them clear expectations about where you’re heading and what you hope to achieve (vision) while also giving them the freedom to work how they feel best (flexibility). Sometimes people do things in ways we don’t think is best. That’s when letting them stay flexible is hard. A sudden urge to micro-manage boils up when they say things we don’t agree with. Or if they act in ways we wouldn’t act. Sometimes they are wrong. They need to be corrected. Someone (you, if you’re the leader) needs to talk with them. Other times the way they do or say something that gets under your skin. It bothers you and rubs you the wrong way. But it’s actually not fundamentally wrong or hurtful or even in need of correction. It’s just preference. ...

In the American school system, you’re rewarded for being the best question answerer. For memorizing multiplication charts, the year the Lusitania sunk, how to spell onomatopoeia. Those aren’t bad things to know, they just aren’t the most helpful types of things to keep in the deep recesses of your memory. A quick calculation, Google search or dictionary reference–all of which now fit inside our pockets with smartphones–can give us the answers we’re looking for. Unfortunately, we’re rarely rewarded for being the best question askers–a far less common skill and one that will serve you for a lifetime. Anyone with an internet connection can find the right answer. Few people can asking well-crafted questions that drive conversations, create genuine connections and get to the root of problems. We haven’t been trained to be good question askers, and we as a society need to fix that. No one likes a know-it-all. Everyone loves a listener. I think question asking is a key to humility as well, because it shows you care what others think. Question asking is the easiest-to-develop yet most-under-valued skill in communication. Asking great questions is the key to understanding people, gaining their trust, developing deep relationships and creating real friendships. It’s an invaluable business skill as well, especially in sales. I’m not a question asking expert, but I want to be. So, I’ve started observing how great question askers do what they do. I’m working on this process of asking better questions, and here are a few things I’ve notice that the best question askers do. ...

People who do things the wrong way are fools and people who get in my way are even worse. That’s a nasty thought, but it’s undoubtedly one that crosses my mind more often than I’d care to admit. [It looks worse in text than it does when it runs through my mind, but we all know it’s equally horrifying either way.] I’ve long-confessed that I’m impatient. My honesty about my lack of patience made my feel ok that I was a ticking time bomb. As I reflected back on my time overseas in Slovenia, I realized that one blatant sin that summed up my whole year was impatience. Impatience with students when they didn’t believe the gospel. Impatience with Christian students who didn’t want to grow or share their faith. Impatience with my wife when she didn’t meet unspoken expectations I didn’t even realize I had. Impatience with God when he didn’t answer prayers according to my timing. Impatience with myself when sin continued to creep up or self-improvement didn’t come as quickly as I hoped. I listened to a sermon that is as old as I am (nearly to the day!) by John Piper entitled, “Battling the Unbelief of Impatience.” The title alone struck me. I had never heard impatience framed that way–not believing faithfully in God. Here’s a quote from Piper to set the tone. “Patience in doing the will of God is not an optional Christian virtue because faith is not optional and impatience is the fruit of unbelief. It is no minor skirmish.” Ouch. Impatience is a big deal. **It’s a faith issue. ...

What gets measured gets improved. I’m reasonably obsessed with personality tests, measurements, data, information and using those tools to make better decisions. Unfortunately, I have a tendency to collect data and then do nothing with it [*”Some day I will,”* I assure myself] or to flat out collect the wrong data.  **I normally measure the success of my day by how many things I accomplished and how many things I left unfinished. **I never check off all the boxes on any given day because I’m constantly thinking of more things I need (or would like) to do. Instead of evaluating my day by the number of boxes checked and list items crossed off, I felt led to completely change my method of evaluation. At the end of each day, I’ve started to ask myself these two questions. ...

Email is a necessary evil and a wonderful tool for communication. It’s not going anywhere anytime soon. I wanted email to waste less of my time and be more effective. I’ve created a system that I wanted to share to help you filter your email to save time, see the important stuff and still not miss out on good but less urgent things (like sales from your favorite brands). Here’s what I do. This process is for anyone using Gmail or a Google Apps account, but I’d imagine (or hope) similar ideas could be applied to other email services. I’ll share the general guidelines first and then get into the nitty gritty.  Regaining Control of Your Inbox Through Filters and Labels ...

We’re all guided by what we value and what we prioritize. Unfortunately, we can be quick to forget what is most important to us and let our priorities get out of line. A few weeks ago, I shared my morning manifesto–12 points that I read over each morning to remind me of how I want to live my life. I think it’s a great practice to keep our priorities at the forefront of what we do. Below I created a process for you to create your very own morning manifesto. I promise it’s worth the initial time investment. Once you make your manifesto, could you share it with us in the comments? I’d love to see what you came up with. ...

Great content deserves to be read and shared. The problem is, it can be difficult to find and cumbersome to pass along. Often our processes slow us down and keep us from sharing what the world needs to see and read. Here’s how to find and curate some of the most interesting links on the web, no matter what your interests are.  1. Twitter This is where it all begins for me. Twitter is, bar-none, the best tool for discovering great content. Facebook is good for discovering who is having a bad day or who just got engaged, but as far as brain-stimulation, going to Facebook rather than Twitter to learn something is like going a circus instead of reading a book. Here’s how I curated my list of great people to follow on Twitter. I follow very sparingly, and I even have a more select, private list of people who share the best content, all the time. If you don’t know any thought leaders in the area you’re interested in, check out Twitter’s suggested list of people to follow and work from there. You can also link your email account to Twitter to find people who interact with on the web. Don’t assume that everyone you know is a good sharer on Twitter, but hopefully some sharp people you know are using the tool well. ...

Every day I talk with students who ask nearly impossible questions about Jesus, Christianity and the Bible. I don’t have all the answers (and I never will). Thankfully, that’s not what God requires of Christians to share our faith. This isn’t a perfect process, but it is a way to equip yourself in answering questions like “How can we trust the Bible?” and “Was Jesus really God?” Instead of answering specific questions, I’d rather share ways to prepare to answer tough questions and pass along a few resources you can start checking out today.  The Process...