SIMON PHIPPS

I read a brilliant article recently talking about why organisations don't learn.  In the article the authors discuss several biases that affect a companies ability to learn. One of these was a bias towards success . The authors spoke about how a bias towards success leads to a fear of failure .  Success is good.  Failure is bad. For most of us this just seems like common sense. Who wants to fail? But what the authors speak of, is that when we are afraid of failure, innovation dies. When we are afraid of failure we will no longer take risks , when we are afraid of failure, we will not try anything new . Our entire growth as human beings is about doing things differently, about experimenting in our environments, about trying new things.  Essentially this is what children do, and this is why they learn so much. They are constantly probing and trying. Their imaginations act as virtual worlds where they can experiment with cause and ...

"Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." - Henry Van Dyke I read this quote recently and found it so profound. In my latest blog post i spoke about our need to create .  I think that one of the main reasons that we do not pursue our creative inclinations is due to fear. Fear of inadequacy , fear of failure , fear of criticism . I recently heard an interview with Elizabeth Gilbert , author of Eat, Pray, Love. In the interview she asked a series of questions: when did you stop dancing? When did you stop drawing? When did you stop [ insert whatever you once enjoyed here ]? Chances are it was when you were no longer a child, when you started to care what people think. We often don't want to add to the great noise of information and creation on the internet; we are afraid to share what we create. But nobody would say of the forest that too many birds sing, that the c...

Recently I was listening to the Speaker Rob Bell . He mentioned the concept that God, in some sense left the creation of the world unfinished, and that through our acts of creation we are continuing the creation of the world. Regardless of the truth of this idea, I think that each of us has an innate need to be involved in the creative process. That each of us has a desire to create things that have a level of permanence. Whether this be art, or music, dance, or courses, clothing, or crafts, marketing campaigns, or food. Hannah Arendt the political theorist in her book 'the human condition' divides human activity into 3 categories: labor, work, and action . Labor being our biological processes, our respiratory system, things that are used and consumed , things that have no permanence . Work being those things that we do that extend beyond our selves. They have a beginning and end , and have a permanence in our world, i.e. things that we create . ...

As a teenager I would attend conferences. At these conferences the speakers would tell us that we would grow up to do incredible things. To become great entrepreneurs, to lead big churches, to have large ministries.  They told us that we would change the world . In many ways I don't think that this was particular to churches, but was an extension of western thought in general. As I and others have grown up, I have discussed and witnessed a great sense of underwhelming ; that none of us have achieved these great things that were spoken over us. We were taught to expect greatness , rather than live with the ordinary . The other day i heard Pete Rollins talk about this very issues. He spoke about the idea that we should try to achieve our dreams and goals , even if only for the express purpose of realising that our dreams will not make us any happie r or more content . It is not that having dreams or goals in and of itself is inherently wrong, inde...

At the heart of consumerism there is a deep level of greed. A desire for more - for better. Greed is never satisfied, a hunger that is never filled. "If only i had this, then my life would be better". It is a misplaced longing for a deeper connection, for purer relationships. Of course there are things that make our lives better and easier , but we must be able to weigh up this with the cost on others and the cost on the environment. this is where self-control comes in, it helps us to cut through the greed and desires and look to the heart of the problem, to weigh up our needs with the needs of others. It helps us to say "no, i don't need this, its just another thing".  In our culture of 'do what feels good, do what you want' self-control is difficult. It is hard to foster, and as with everything, it is easier to do in a community with other like minded people, so that we don't feel isolated. May we find ourselves in communit...

Gentleness - "The word is best translated 'meekness,' not as an indication of weakness, but of power and strength under control" Father In-law: "No matter what you do, it will never amount to anything more than a single drop in a limitless ocean ",  Son In-law: "What is an ocean  but a multitude of drops " - Cloud Atlas "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has" - Margaret Mead. When we begin to move away from consumerism, our steps seem so insignificant , our actions seems so pointless - We are but one standing against a current of mass marketing and shiny things - in danger of being swept away at any second. We fail to see how our small actions reverberate with a counter-cultural sound, we forget the power and strength of small things, we disdain the tiny mustard seed and do not notice the tree growing in its stead. ...

Throughout this blog series we have been looking at moving away from consumerism and looking at alternative lifestyles. Often when we begin looking at ethical simple living we start off zealous wanting to change the world and are eager to make changes in our lives. We are sickened by the treatment of fellow humans, we are disturbed by the potential impacts on our planet. As time goes by our fire wanes and we miss the level of consumerism that we see around us - for me at the moment this is Apple Music - I want it so bad! (I am not saying Apple Music is evil - just that I know that if I got it the financial implications at this time would involve compromising other ethical decisions that I have made). It involves a great deal of faithfulness on our part to stick with what we know is right - and Christs faithfulness to us acts as our guide. May we be faithful in our discipline to live an alternative lifestyle, may we stand against the hedonism's tha...