George Bernard Shaw wrote the play “Pygmalion” in 1913. It tells the story of Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics who bets his friend Colonel Pickering that he can successfully pass off a Cockney flower girl by the name of Eliza Doolittle as a refined society lady. He proposes to do this by teaching her how to speak with an upper class accent and training her in etiquette. In teaching Eliza to surround herself with expectations of a better life, he believed she would be inherently drawn toward becoming a woman of high society.

The story makes the point that expectations and environment play a critical role in outcomes; this came to be known as the Pygmalion Effect. Ministries and faith-based organizations in America can learn from this.

Read More »

Selfishness is a dirty word in Christendom. Well, at least publicly. It’s not that it isn’t the type of foul language that isn’t spoken in mixed company – quite the contrary: we use the term to criticize our opponents, our children, and maybe even ourselves from time to time. No, it is that type of particular profanity that is used regularly and often with the intent to shame others or to debase ourselves. We just cannot seem to stand it when someone acts in their own self-interest, especially when it requires them to not act in ours.

Which is, ironically, selfish.

Read More »

Coloring inside the lines has always been a huge frustration for me. Not that I wanted or even had the talent to recreate the bold lies within my Superman coloring book – I just grew extremely frustrated that “the lines” were the limit of where my creativity could go. What are these guidelines and who decided them? More importantly, why were each of the crayons the size of small submarines – large cylinders of heavy wax – and entirely too bulky to hold? Trying to color the “S” on Superman’s chest with these was exasperating! Even if coloring book rules were to be followed, how could I receive my gold star when the tools to use were not useful to me? Read More »

Competition is not something we do well as Christians.  It likely ranks in the Top 10 Worst Practices in the Body.  I take that back – we compete very strongly against our own, but hardly and rarely in the right way.  In terms of the market, or outside of denominations, though, we most often take our ball and go home, so to speak. Read More »

While sitting in my front lawn watching the sunset, I noticed something I haven’t often seen before. Every so often, in the failing light, I saw something flittering above the tree line. At first, I thought it was birds. Then, I realized it was bats.

These mysterious and often maligned creatures were just starting their day – or night. What would have been dinnertime for me was just right for their first meal of the day. As I studied them, I began to realize some very important principles. These were common facts of life to them, but they were startling examples of best practices in business to me. Read More »

If you were to judge the initial reaction of a random person to the word “advertisement,” chances are it would be negative: “Drink Coca-Cola,” “Eat McDonald’s,” “Drive a BMW.” It’s not a rare occasion that I find myself thinking, “My life is ruled by advertisers.” Whether you are watching television, listening to the radio, or perusing the Internet, advertisements can be frustrating and annoying. Read More »

Over the past month, I have been on the road visiting clients and prospects.  Many organizations I have seen  have stuck out to me for common sense attributes that should penetrate any business or ministry if they wish to succeed. Read More »

Is the concept of profit something we are compelled to do as an organization?

This is an in-depth question, which I plan to write more on myself, but I first wanted to share with you another’s thoughts, which got me to thinking on this question.

Click here to read Driessen’s Social Responsibility of Profits.

For over ten years I have been an outspoken advocate for ministries expanding their revenue models beyond the confines of a donor-based model.

Some time ago, when I was President of a publicly traded company working in the faith-based space, I was chided by many for “enriching the pockets of shareholders at the Lord’s expense.” This really bothered me and I spent a lot of prayer time seeking discernment in this area.

Soon after, I found myself waiting to meet the President of another well-known national ministry. While in his assistant’s office waiting to see him, I noticed that her office was about seven times larger than my own. Her office walls were lined in cherry wood, while mine had plasterboard walls. I am for or against one wall treatment or another; my question is regarding the practices of a nonprofit ministry versus a for-profit company. Where is the stewardship in expensing high costs using donor dollars, then being critical of a public company when they run leaner than you? Read More »

This week, the New Iron team is at the Christian Bookseller’s Association (CBA) annual trade show, the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS).  While it is my first time attending this event, there are multiple veterans of the industry present.  Businesses looking for access to the Christian audience are spending several days meeting with buyers and suppliers of products and services; top authors and publishers are here to promote; distributors are looking for top talent, and vice versa.

But many believe this year’s show is not as large as last year. Read More »