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Technologies for a startup church

March 24, 2011 by Keith Seabourn 2 Comments

Dad, I’m pretty sure I’ll be asked to set up the church local area network (LAN) when I join Imago Dei church. I’ll probably set up some type of internet connection. What do you recommend for our startup church for file sharing, printer sharing, and internet connection?

My son is finishing his degree from Dallas Seminary and will join a startup church in Phoenix. He’s pretty sure his electrical engineering training from Texas Tech means he’ll be the technology guy.

You may be surprised at my answer.

I suggested that he not build much technology infrastructure. I suggested that they use cloud-based technologies like Google Apps (docs, calendar), Dropbox, WordPress.com, and others. I suggested that they purchase an internet service for their church office but no servers. Just use a wifi network. Purchase a network-capable printer or use a less expensive printer with an inexpensive print server. For my home network, I use a D-Link DP-300U device I purchased on eBay.

How would you have answered the question?

Operational and Strategic Technology

March 21, 2011 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

By 2014, Information Technology shops will begin to split into two units — operational and strategic — under separate leadership.

So claims an interesting video presentation by the Pink Elephant group, a leader in IT management. The entire video is interesting. This claim is made at the 7:56 point in the video.

We discussed this video at the recent Global Technology Leaders meeting in Thailand. It was an interesting discussion.

What is really interesting is that this shift has been happening in my own organization for several years. What the Pink video calls “strategic IT” is what we call Virtually-Led Movements technologies. These are the externally-facing technologies that enable accomplishing the mission in more direct ways. What the Pink video calls “operational IT” is still very important. I appreciate the internally-facing operational technologies every time that donations to my ministry are processed in a safe and timely manner, every time my salary and reimbursements are paid, every time the network allows me to print a document.

VLM technologies are critical to accomplishing the mission of Campus Crusade for Christ. Just my own small team has several of these technologies that we are implementing:

What do you think about their claim that the strategic and operational areas prosper best when under separate leadership?

Developing Leaders in Technology

March 9, 2011 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

Richard has been to every one. Oumar has been to most as have several others. At this last Global Technology Leaders meeting, we had 28 leaders from 12 of the 13 areas of the world.

When I was asked to pioneer the role of Chief Technology Officer for Campus Crusade for Christ, my assignment was to build technology capacity to help sustain and accelerate the mission. That responsibility is more about developing leaders than it is about installing servers or buying software. Since the beginning in 2001, we have identified potential leaders and developed their leadership abilities.

During these meetings, we:

Develop leadership competency in the four roles of a leader. Grow as those who understand how to lead effectively to employ technologies to sustain and accelerate the mission of CCCI.
Grow in personal and professional competency.
Work together to implement common solutions to common needs.
Learn from each other, both leadership skills and technical competencies.
Network with like-minded leaders through building strong relationships.

It is fun and stimulating to work with these creative leaders on real projects needed by our organization.

Leading with Information

February 25, 2011 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

“It is my observation that your organization doesn’t pay much attention to mission effectiveness.”

A business leader observed this with one of our top leaders in Campus Crusade for Christ. Many of us agree that he is correct. We pay attention to good relationships. We pay attention to strong spiritual life. We pay attention to good processes that win people to Christ, build them in their faith, and send them out.

But perhaps we don’t pay much attention to effectiveness. We do many things well. But we don’t measure our progress towards the mission very well.

It is hard to do. How do you measure transformed lives? Transformed communities? Personal holiness? Spiritual formation?

But it needs to be done.

That is why this group of people has met these last 3 days in Thailand. We have been tasked by Campus Crusade for Christ to help help develop a culture of using measurable information to make leadership decisions.

Our President, Steve Douglass, has said that we want to have the right information to make the right decisions. We do not necessarily need perfect and complete information. Rather, we need timely information.

We call it Leading with Information. And it needs to be done.

The internet is our mountain

February 15, 2011 by Keith Seabourn 2 Comments

I’ve been looking out over the beautiful mountains surrounding our conference room in Addis Ababa for the past several days. I’m sitting in the room training and strategizing on using the internet to expand our ability to reach everyone.

The words of Isaiah 40:9 have been a very real picture:

You who bring good news,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news,
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
Say to the towns,
“Here is your God!”

God was telling them to use what he had provided to accomplish his purposes. Use the high mountains to shout “Here is your God!”

During our time as God’s ambassador’s, God has given us the gift of the internet: social networks (Facebook, Twitter), simple websites (WordPress, Blogger), video and audio (YouTube, Vimeo), inexpensive phone (Skype). God is telling us:

Use these things God has provided
Lift up your voice. Be bold. Be “loud” in embracing these opportunities.
Do not be afraid
Show God to everyone

As one church leader said, Inhabit the digital universe with a believing heart and to help give a soul to the endless flow of communications on the internet.