Begin with the End in Mind

"As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance." Daniel 12:13

When Daniel received this word from God, he had just been given a revelation about the end times. But as with many of those revelations, he didn't understand much of what he saw. He was trying to be a diligent God-follower and "get it right" but you can imagine the frustration when the pieces God was sharing didn't quite make sense. Daniel wanted to understand the "how" of the prophesy but in the end God was more interested in him focusing on the "why" and the "what now".

Then, as the last verse in the book of Daniel, God tries to calm Daniel down and focus him. I love the line "go your way till the end." God had shared what would happen in the end and why it must happen, now Daniel was supposed to live out his faith with expectation of that end.

I had lunch with a friend yesterday and we were talking about innovation in organizations. He shared with me an exercise he did during his masters studies that captured my imagination. The professor told the class that they should pick an age at which they think they might die (75, 80, 85, etc). Then he asked my friend and the rest of the people in the class to work their way backwards to today and try to plan out the goals they had for their lives.

My friend shared how powerful this exercise was to define values, goals and priorities. What is so special about beginning with the end in mind? Well for one it clarifies the picture quickly. When time is flowing out in front of us, then it seems like we have all the time in the world to accomplish what is on our heart. But when we start at the end and work back to today, then we have a limited space of time that we must invest wisely based on God's call on our lives.

This exercise also helps us to think through next steps. If we know where we are trying to end up, then it is easier to break it down and think through all the pieces that must come together. For example, if your goal is to innovate in how member care is carried out for missionaries from new sending countries, then you can begin to think through what experiences you must have to understand the challenges and the victories. You can think about the education you need. You can decide about the mentors you need in your life. Finally, you can think through the time it will take to build the relationships and connections that will give you a say in that particular area.

The amazing thing about this exercise is that a life becomes much shorter than we would ever imagine. From where many people sit, life flows out in front of them and there seems to be enough time to do just about anything. But when we really count our days and ask God to help us see how we should spend them, they become much more limited than we would ever realize.

As you consider the innovations that God has put on your heart, are you beginning with the end in mind? God promised Daniel that if he went his way based on all he had heard then he would receive an inheritance. What is "the way" that God is calling you to? Will you measure it and invest it for the Kingdom?

Giving Your Innovation a Stress Test

So we have a new concept in our dictionary thanks to the recession and its challenges - "Stress Test." We have heard the government talking about giving the banks a stress test to see if they are able to recover and serve their customers. This phrase is part of a long line of phrases that enter our vocabulary through the media. Think about the concept of a "carbon footprint" as another example. We could go on and on.

Well, since we have this new phrase in our media stream, why don't we use it to talk about innovation in mission. What does stress testing have to do with innovation? I'm glad you asked.

When we come up with a new idea and prototype it, the environment we are testing in is very limited. It is limited by those who are testing it as well as the volume of people who are experiencing it. This means that your idea is going to be encountered first by people a lot like you and only a few of them.

But if your idea takes off, then it will run into people very different than you and in large numbers. Here is where we usually make our mistake. When we do our prototypes and tests, we assume that if we received positive results we should expect these when we launch our idea to the wider world. That is an assumption that can ruin a good innovation.

So I am recommending that we stress test our innovations to see if they will hold up to the success we are praying for. Here are a few thoughts on how to do that:

1. Test your idea with those in your circle, but then do another test with part of your audience that is very different than you are. For example, if you are creating a small group material for churches, test it with those in your church but then find a church that is very different from yours to do another test.

2. Do some role playing to consider how you would handle bandwidth. When you do your tests, figure how many hours you spent providing service for your idea. Now multiply that by several hundred or thousands (taking into account automated systems and familiarity) and imagine how you will support your innovation. If you can't imagine doing it, then you need to build in some automated systems or get some more people involved.

3. Consider how you will handle both praise and criticism for your idea. Can you effectively take advantage of endorsements and fans and build on them? Can you provide interaction and explanations for those who will complain?

4. Define how you will judge success with your innovation. How will your service, tool, resource transform lives and engage people with Jesus? Are there elements of your process, product, delivery that will keep you from reaching that ultimate goal?

I could write many more stress test items, but you get the idea. The better you do at vetting your idea before you go live, the more effective you will be in serving those who God has called you to. So as you develop your idea, make sure you stress test it!