One of my favorite books/stories of all time, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway in stop motion.

Brilliant.

At IKON one of our staff values is Collaboration. We are working to make sure that nothing is created alone. We’re always working in a team of at least 3 people to create so that we are leveraging our community’s strengths and constantly equipping others to do the work of our community. So, all of our Sunday morning messages, classes, experiences, etc. from idea to finished product are created and edited by a team. Our entire Sunday morning experience from songs to scripture to creative elements are created and developed as a team. All of our curriculum from idea to finished product in our Family Groups are created and developed by a team. We want to be a community that creates together because we believe that our ideas (collectively) are better than your ideas (individually).

While we were on vacation last week, Tracy shared this excerpt with me from from Tina Fey’s new book Bossypants. I found it a great little essay not only for the rules of improvisation, but ultimately rules for better and stronger team collaboration.

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Excerpt from Bossypants by Tina Fey, p. 82-85:
“The first rule of improvisation is AGREE. Always agree and SAY YES. When you’re improvising, this means you are required to agree with whatever your partner has created. So if we’re improvising and I say, “Freeze, I have a gun,” and you say, “That’s not a gun. It’s your finger. You’re pointing your finger at me,” our improvised scene has ground to a halt. But if I say, “Freeze, I have a gun!” and you say, “The gun I gave you for Christmas! You bastard!” then we have started a scene because we have AGREED that my finger is in fact a Christmas gun.

Now, obviously in real life you’re not always going to agree with everything everyone says. But the Rule of Agreement reminds you to “respect what your partner has created” and to at least start from an open-minded place. Start with a YES and see where that takes you.

As an improviser, I always find it jarring when I meet someone in real life whose first answer is no. “No, we can’t do that.”"No, that’s not in the budget.” “No, I will not hold your hand for a dollar.” What kind of way is that to live?

The second rule of improvisation is not only to say yes, but YES, AND. You are supposed to agree and then add something of your own. If I start a scene with “I can’t believe it’s so hot in here,” and you just say, “Yeah…” we’re kind of at a standstill. But if I say, “I can’t believe it’s so hot in here,” and you say “What did you expect? We’re in hell.” Or if I say, “I can’t believe it’s so hot in here” and you say, “Yes, this can’t be good for the wax figures.” Or if I say, “I can’t believe it’s so hot in here,” and you say, “I told you we shouldn’t have crawled into this dogs mouth,” now we’re getting somewhere.

To me YES, AND means don’t be afraid to contribute. It’s your responsibility to contribute. Always make sure you’re adding something to the discussion. Your initiations are worthwhile.

The next rule is MAKE STATEMENTS. This is a positive way of saying, “Don’t ask questions all the time.” If we’re in a scene and I say, “Who are you? Where are we? What are we doing here? What’s in that box?” I’m putting pressure on you to come up with all the answers.

In other words: Whatever the problem, be part of the solution. Don’t just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles. We’ve all worked with that person. That person is a drag. It’s usually the same person around the office who says things like “There’s no calories in it if you eat it standing up!” and “I felt menaced when Terry raised her voice.”

MAKE STATEMENTS also applies to us women: Speak in statements instead of apologetic question. No one wants to go to a doctor who says, “I’m going to be your surgeon? I’m here to talk to you about your procedure? I was first in my class at Johns Hopkins, so?” Make statements with your actions and your voice.

Instead of saying “Where are we?” Make a statement like “Here we are in Spain, Dracula.” Okay, “Here we are in Spain, Dracula” may seem like a terrible start to a scene, but this leads us to the best rule:

THERE ARE NO MISTAKES, only opportunities. If I start a scene as what I think is very clearly a cop riding a bicycle, but you think I am a hamster in a hamster wheel, guess what? Now I’m a hamster in a hamster wheel. I’m not going to stop everything to explain that it was really supposed to be a bike. Who knows? Maybe I’ll ned up being a police hamster who’s been on “hamster wheel” duty because I’m “too much of a loose cannon” in the field. In improv there are no mistakes, only beautiful happy accidents. And many of the world’s greatest discoveries have been by accident. I mean, look at the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, or Botox.”

The nerve disease ALS left graffiti artist TEMPT paralyzed from head to toe, forced to communicate blink by blink. In a remarkable talk at TEDActive, entrepreneur Mick Ebeling shares how he and a team of collaborators built an open-source invention that gave the artist — and gives others in his circumstance — the means to make art again.

As I finished watching this short video, I couldn’t help but think: “This is what the Kingdom of God looks like.” I hope that as we continue to progress as a Church that we will be a people who are making these sorts of advancements and innovations with our talents, with our skills, and with our passions in order to be a generous people that make a difference in this world that will change the world for someone around us. We are the change-agents the world has been waiting for.

Let us be a people that allows the Kingdom of God break-in more and more through us and around us, creating hope and change wherever we go because of Jesus. Be inspired to be that kind of a people, and that kind of a church!

I love our artists at IKON! I love their creativity and how they continue to push the envelope in so many different ways, I love how they come together to collaborate on different projects and ideas, and I love the culture they’re helping to create in our community. I believe in our artists, and I believe they have the ability to change the world.

A few weeks ago, Jason Morrell (our Arts Advocate) and I got to talk with Adam Lehman from ArtFwd about our artists and the vision for what is possible in our community. Take a look at the interview and some of the amazing pieces of art our community has already been responsible for creating.

(The pic above is from our series “The Story of God”. This was Act 5 – the Resurrection of Jesus painted by Adam Dix… one of my favorite pieces ever!”)

A couple of weeks ago I was interviewed by Tim Fong for the Mass Ignition podcast about innovation in the church. We talked specifically about the arts and the key factor that art plays in any movement.

A few of the things we talked about:

• How someone who is not innovative came up with what seems innovative
  How to get ideas to bubble up
• What is the source of fear for churches to venture into the arts
• How to create change in the face of resistance

You can check out the podcast here: Mass Ignition.

Anything you’d add to the conversation?

P.S. – I love getting the opportunity to brag about the amazing artists that are a part of our community!

This is a beautiful time lapse of Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull on May 1st & 2nd set to the sound of former Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi by Sean Stiegemeier.

I’m sure that somewhere in the past I’ve posted this or linked to this video but I can’t help it. I have never been moved by poetry more, I have never been forced into longer moments of reflection and found myself more comfortable in the silence that follows than after listening to this piece….