AUDIENCE: Pastors, Administrative Pastors

Acclaimed church leader, blogger, founder and chief strategic officer of The Unstuck Group, Tony Morgan unpacks the lifecycle of a typical church, identifies characteristics of each phase, and provides practical next steps a church can take to move towards sustained health. Think about your church for a moment. Is it growing? Is it diminishing? Is it somewhere in between? Acclaimed church leader, blogger, and founder and chief strategic officer of The Unstuck Group, Tony Morgan has identified the seven stages of a church's lifecycle that range from the hopeful and optimistic days of launch, to the stagnating last stages of life support. Regardless of the stage in which you find your church, it carries with it the world's greatest mission—to "go and make disciples of all the nations . . ." With eternity at stake the Church should be doing most everything within its power to see lives changed forever. The Church should strive for the pinnacle of the lifecycle, where they are continually making new disciples and experiencing what Morgan refers to as "sustained health." In The Unstuck Church, Morgan unpacks each phase of the church lifecycle, and offers specific and strategic next steps the church leader can take to find it's way to sustained health . . . and finally become unstuck. The Unstuck Church is a call for honest an assessment of where your church sits on the lifecycle, and a challenge to move beyond it.

Simons presents the seven key questions a manager and his team must continually ask. Drawing on decades of research into performance management systems and organization design, "Seven Strategy Questions" is a no-nonsense, must-read resource for all leaders in any organization.

Leverage big data and demand into sustainable profitable growth Optimizing Growth is a handbook for how to succeed in the age of big data. Today’s business environment looks dramatically different than it did even a decade ago, and it continues to evolve at an increasing rate; macroeconomic shifts, consumer trends, technological advances, and changing competitive dynamics are accelerating the pace of change, and businesses are struggling to grow amidst the turbulence. This book provides insightful guidance, real-world success stories and practical tools to achieve growth in this new era, utilizing big data to achieve a deeper understanding of demand, customers, competitors, and opportunity. With disruption around every corner, growth now demands innovative new approaches and an improved capacity to meet customer needs; by gaining a stronger grasp of demand, businesses can elevate performance from “survive” to “thrive.” This book provides the approaches, analytics, frameworks, and organizational capabilities required to gain competitive advantage, and describes the new mindset required to leverage these tools into sustainable growth. Develop a deeper understanding of your business’s growth factors Re-sync your thinking to gain greater leverage against disruption Delve deeper into demand, and boost fulfillment capabilities Capture more growth opportunities using precision analytics frameworks The one thing that will never change about business is the goal of growth—but the paths to growth change continuously. New opportunities forge new routes to the top, while others become obsolete—does your company know the difference? The ability to differentiate between fads and genuine evolution is more critical than ever before. Optimizing Growth provides deep knowledge of what’s out there, and a clear framework for forging ahead.

A visual and interactive guide to building and communicating strategies that actually work YOUR STRATEGY HAS SEVEN SECONDS TO CAPTIVATE ITS AUDIENCE… So how are you going to present it? A big wordy document? A lengthy address? Slides full of bullet points? The best way to engage and involve people is through pictures. Strategy Builder shows you how to creatively combine the best strategy frameworks to orient and animate strategy discussion and development in your team. This visual, interactive guide, with illustrations by Visory, uses real world examples and practical tips to help you: Discover the five key foundations that every strategy should be built upon Draw compelling and unique pictures that capture your organization’s distinct strategies Develop your skills as a leader of strategy discussions Understand how to use interactive drawing to engage others and achieve ‘buy in’ Additional online resources available including Strategy Drawing Templates, plus Builder Slides and case studies materials for instructors. Locate the 'Companion Website' link towards the bottom of this page to access these materials. Test your strategic vision or develop a new strategic plan based on the best elements of key strategic frameworks by trying the FREE interactive Strategy Builder app, developed in association with StrategyBlocks, at www.strategicplan.com Praise for Strategy Builder: Cummings & Angwin are pioneers in introducing novel approaches in teaching and applying the principles of strategy --Robert M. Grant, Bocconi University, author of Contemporary Strategy Analysis In a complex, fast changing world, where we are bombarded by words, numbers and reports, the visual-first approach to strategy provided by Strategy Builder is immensely helpful for inspiring and communicating a clearer vision of how to move forward. -- Rachna Bhasin, VP Strategy, SiriusXM At last someone has grasped this idea and come up with a way to help us demonstrate strategic plans and ambitions in a creative new way. --Vikki Heywood CBE, Chair of The Royal Society for the Arts This wonderful book is the first to solve a near-universal problem: communicating strategic ideas is just as hard and just as important as coming up with them in the first place, and both are visual activities. The question is not “Do you understand?” but “Do you see?” --William Duggan, Professor, Columbia University, author Strategic Intuition This book shows how to draw an organization's strategy so you see what's been considered, what's not been considered, and how things are related,. Strategy building is presented as a fun and involving learning process.The approach is revolutionary in that it enables not only the development but also the easy sharing of strategic understanding. --Roger L.M. Dunbar, Emeritus Professor, Stern School of Business, New York University What a great idea! They layout is also really thoughtful; it makes you immediately want to get out a pencil and start doodling. --Adam Martin, Customer Solutions Director, The Brakes Group As a time pressed executive it was a delight to find a book that I can dip into to find the best strategic frameworks - those that have proved the test of time and academic scrutiny as being truly useful in the workplace. Even better for an inveterate scribbler: endorsement that a picture and ‘permission to play’ with ideas visually really does say a thousand words and more! --Sarah Mitson, Global Business Director, TNSGlobal This is an invaluable resource for any executive wanting to improve engagement in strategy development and communication. The accessible layout means that the book itself can play an active and inspiring role in strategy discussions. --Matt Thomas, Director, Braxton Associates, Strategy Consultants At last a book that grasps the implications of recent psychology: people think visually as well as verbally. The authors provide powerful visual devices that will both help managers conceive better strategies and enable their people to execute them more effectively. --Richard Whittington, Professor at Saïd Business School, Oxford University A powerful approach to make strategy more engaging again! Strategy Builder is landmark book is destined to make an important impact to the field of strategy, strategizing and strategic management. Executives across the board (and students of strategy) will find the core message of this book counterintuitive and compelling. The idea of "drawing" strategy may seem like child's play, yet all great strategists and philosophers know that it is through such "serious play" that allows us to see things differently so that we can see different things. --Robert Wright, Professor of Strategy, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Dan Sullivan and Catherine Nomura address the need for continuous personal growth, and show you how to lead a more fulfilling personal and work life. They provide encouragement, buttressed by personal stories about people who have faced the challenges or made the personal discoveries described in each chapter. The authors tell you how to live life with an inquiring mind and a desire to serve others. They offer 10 "laws" you can use to measure your success by assessing the ways you benefit others. If you need help making this constant journey at your own speed, slip this small book into your briefcase and consult it along the way. getAbstract recommends this quick read to stimulate your desire to accomplish great things.

Paint a Picture For Growth! Reach your community with the gospel! What if every church in America was creative, compelling, and culturally relevant? Imagine how many people these churches would reach with the gospel! In their third Simply Strategic book, bestselling authors Tim Stevens and Tony Morgan show you how to attune an unchanging message to a changing cultureain a way that attracts a crowd and helps you sustain growth year after year. # These in-the-trenches authors demonstrate that all of this can happenain your church. Stevens and Morgan show you how to: Become a student of your culture, # Give people a reason to attend, # Plan for growth, # Use secular music for redemptive purposes, # And more a 99 chapters of growth strategies! Reach out to an unchurched but spiritually hungry generation by applying the practical ideas in this bookaand watch your church grow!

Accelerating profitable growth has been one of the long-standing challenges of business executives. Even today, with stock markets booming and M&A activity returning to record levels, organic growth is anemic for many companies. In our experience, the root cause is a lack of strategy in the organization's thinking, planning, and marketing. Many successful business leaders have built their careers on execution and efficiency but have relatively little experience making the strategic decisions that drive the top line. Lean, Six Sigma, and other efficiency-focused methodologies are fantastic at answering questions around how to do things better, but they are not suited to answer strategic questions around what they should do and why. Through our experience, we realized that there are a set of core principles and frameworks that can improve, sometimes dramatically, the selection and targeting of growth opportunities and importantly, turn good ideas into good businesses quickly and with more confidence. Over time we realized that there was nothing magical in the concepts we were using in our work. We do not claim to be mystical seers interpreting some strategy oracle that only we can understand. And that became our mission: to teach capable people at all levels of an organization how to apply strategic concepts themselves. There are significant advantages to embedding strategic thinking capabilities throughout the organization. 1. Some of the best organic growth ideas bubble up from lower levels of the organization. 2. Embedding strategic thinking skills creates a more discerning audience for top-down initiatives. 3. Leveraging this process over time will groom the next generation of general managers for success 4. Building organizational strategic capabilities can be a real differentiator in the B2B world. To accomplish this we developed Grassroots Strategy, a seminar-based approach that teaches good strategic thinking by having the participants apply what they're learning to actual challenges confronting their business. This book walks through the approach and concepts that we teach and apply during those seminars. The title of this book speaks to our perspective on strategy. The best strategies are not dictated from an "ivory tower." Rather, they are firmly rooted in the reality of the market and leverage the cross-functional experience and intelligence of the entire organization. And once they take root, these strategic principles not only lead to better targeted growth initiatives, they provide the healthy foundation that is needed for a growth culture to thrive. Throughout this book we take readers from strategy apprentice to journeyman strategic thinker. We will show you how to apply proven strategy concepts and tools within a framework that enables their use. With diligence and discipline, this process will separate the best growth ideas from the also-rans. And it will enable you to redirect resources and accelerate the best ideas to deliver results more quickly. How do we know this works? Well, our clients give us credit for hundreds of millions of dollars of incremental operating profit, and that's good enough for us. The number of companies that would benefit from our approach is far larger than those we can reach with our consulting practice. Although there is no substitute for the full, week-long Grassroots Strategy seminar experience, we created this book as a "do-it-yourself" guide for those who want to encourage strategic thinking within their organization from the ground up. Whatever your situation, this book is a convenient way to share these concepts with all teams and individuals seeking strategic growth. We hope you enjoy the journey.

The challenge facing Christianity today is not a lack of motivation or resources, but a failure of imagination.A growing number of people are disturbed by the values exhibited by the contemporary church. Worship has become entertainment, the church has become a shopping mall, and God has become a consumable product. Many sense that something is wrong, but they cannot imagine an alternative way. The Divine Commodity finally articulates what so many have been feeling and offers hope for the future of a post-consumer Christianity.Through Scripture, history, engaging narrative, and the inspiring art of Vincent van Gogh, The Divine Commodity explores spiritual practices that liberate our imaginations to live as Christ's people in a consumer culture opposed to the values of his kingdom. Each chapter shows how our formation as consumers has distorted an element of our faith. For example, the way churches have become corporations and how branding makes us more focused on image than reality. It then energizes an alternative vision for those seeking a more meaningful faith. Before we can hope to live differently, we must have our minds released from consumerism's grip and captivated once again by Christ.

Discover the Essence of Entrepreneurship and Propel Your Business to New Heights Embark on a transformative journey through the essential realms of entrepreneurship with Business. Simply, a comprehensive guide designed to demystify the complexities of starting and running a successful business. Crafted for aspiring entrepreneurs, seasoned business owners, and curious minds alike, this book is your ultimate roadmap to achieving unparalleled success in the competitive business landscape. From Conception to Legacy: Delve into the foundation of business success, starting with understanding your audience and crafting a solid business plan, to scaling your enterprise and navigating the intricate process of exiting your business. Every chapter in Business. Simply is meticulously structured to guide you through the stages of building a legacy, ensuring that each concept is not just learned but mastered. With Business. Simply, you'll explore how to develop captivating marketing strategies, adapt cutting-edge sales techniques, and manage your finances with precision and foresight. Understand the critical role of technology in streamlining your operations and safeguarding your company's future. Dive into the intricacies of human resources management, leadership, and customer service excellence. These sections are not just chapters but stepping stones to cultivating a robust corporate culture, fostering innovation, and driving your business toward exponential growth. Why This Book Stands Out: Unlike any other, Business. Simply brings forth a unique blend of traditional wisdom and contemporary insights. It encapsulates the essence of each business domain in a simple, actionable format. Every page prompts a call to action -- to think, plan, and execute with a focus on real-world applications, illustrated through compelling case studies and success (and failure) stories from across the globe. Whether you're plotting the course for a startup, seeking to invigorate an established company, or thirsting for knowledge on how to keep ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving market, Business. Simply equips you with the tools, strategies, and confidence to thrive. Elevate Your Entrepreneurial Journey: Let Business. Simply be your guide. Uncover the secrets to crafting a resilient brand, mastering the art of leadership, and leaving an indelible mark on the world of business. The path to success is paved with challenges, but with this book in hand, you're ready to turn every obstacle into an opportunity for growth. Step into the world of Business. Simply, where the complexities of entrepreneurship unfold into actionable wisdom. Your journey to business mastery starts here. Are you ready to transform your vision into reality?