Leadership in a new culture. Learning from Tod Bolsinger and "Canoeing the Mountains"

“Leadership is disappointing people at a rate they can absorb.”  So began Tod Bolsinger in a presentation he gave this past Thursday & Friday at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie.   

Bolsinger currently is vice president for vocation and formation at Fuller Theological Seminary.  In 2015 he published Canoeing the Mountains.  The book is a brilliant presentation of the principles of Adaptive Leadership that Bolsinger shared through the story of Lewis and Clark.  The key moment of the story of Lewis and Clark is when the expedition reached Lemhi Pass expecting to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean.  Instead they saw the Rocky Mountains.  They realized that the canoes they had with them would no longer be useful.  The expedition had to either adapt to their situation for which they were not prepared or fail in their mission.

This is the situation that church leaders—especially main-line church leaders—face today.  We are facing a culture for which we were not prepared to encounter.  The choice we have is similar to the one Lewis and Clark made.  We can either apply the principles of adaptive leadership or fail in our mission.

I read the Canoeing the Mountains shortly after it was published.  At the time I was wrestling with how to continue the momentum of starting a new church even as I encountered a vastly different world.  In 2009 I attended a New Church Development conference hosted by San Clemente Presbyterian church, the church Bolsinger served at the time as Head of Staff.  I have a high amount of respect for his insight and the lessons he communicates. 

I can’t do justice in a 800 word blog to all that Bolsinger said, but I can share the most important ideas.  Which is the point that Bolsinger borrowed from Jim Collins and communicated this past Thursday and Friday.  Once a leader has determined what must never change, the leader must be prepared to change everything else.  Just as if leaders are at Lemhi Pass, we must decide what is most important to carry forward on the journey into this culture; we then must be willing to let go of everything else.

Not an easy lesson for a church (on the whole) or church leaders who value traditions and who are more comfortable looking to the past instead of navigating a path to the future.

Bolsinger shared in the book the importance of knowing the difference between a technical problem and an adaptive problem.  “Technical problems are those where the solutions are available to and ‘within the repertoire’ of the community.  These solutions come from best practices, or are known and offered by an expert of implemented by a capable practitioner, professional or manager.”  (page 41 of Canoeing the Mountains.)   “Adaptive challenges, by contrast, are those that ‘cannot be solved with one’s existing knowledge and skills, requiring people to make a shift in their values, expectations, attitudes, or habits of behavior.’  These are systemic problems with no ready answers’ that arise from a changing environment and unchartered territory.  These are challenges leaders face when the world around them changes so rapidly that the planned strategies and approaches are rendered moot.” (page 42 of Canoeing the Mountains)

At the conference Bolsinger shared two adaptive principles from his book.  The first one is “people don’t resist change; they resist loss.”  The task of the leader is to take people through the loss into the future.  The second adaptive principle is “for change to last it must be a healthy adaptation of the DNA of the group.”

Other quotes from Bolsinger from his presentation that garnered stars in my notes are:

“At the moment of crisis, you will not rise to the occasion; you will default to your training.”

“Adaptive work is conservative work. We are conserving what is most important to go forward.”

“The task of the leader is to stay persistent [and I would add non-anxious] in the face of resistance.”

On Friday Bolsinger shared a powerful talk on the practices a spiritual leader needs to live through the inevitable sabotage that the leader will inevitably experience.  He encouraged everyone present to have a coach, a counselor and a spiritual director. (I’m one for three and am committed to being three for three in the next six months.)  He shared his own story of learning how iron is transformed into art.  This tempering process happens only after the iron is put into heat so hot that skin will be torched with contact.  It’s this continual tempering process of forming and reforming that helps the leader be prepared for tasks at hand.   

I'm grateful to St. Andrew Lutheran church for bringing Bolsinger to the Twin Cities.  My own quibble with the event is I would have preferred to hear another lecture from Bolsinger instead of breaking into workshops led by local church leaders.  

I hope to continue my own exploration of being an adaptive leader in the context of the 21^st century. I know that if I can only carry one book it will be this one.

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Remembering Jeff Gravon on the ten year anniversary of his passing.

A lot is going on in our household that could lead to blog topics. Amy and I went to see Nicola Benedetti play the violin this past Friday night at the Ordway; the football games yesterday were incredible (now the Saints now how the Vikings fans felt in 1975 when the Purple lost a playoff game on a ref’s decision), today is the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday (he is one of heroes.) And Chain of Lakes celebrated our first same-sex marriage yesterday. I talked about same-sex marriage at the conclusion of my sermon yesterday. Check it out at: https://vimeo.com/312403324

But today I can’t help but write about my friend, Jeff Gravon as today is the 10^th anniversary of his passing.

He was one of my longest friends.  I think our friendship started in second grade. Miss Anderson was our teacher. 

We both loved sports, we both loved to talk about sports, and we both loved to win.   In fifth grade we were on the same team in the famous Worthington YMCA flag football league.  He was the quarterback and I was the receiver.  We never lost a game in two years.

We would compete without fear against each other.  One year his baseball team played my baseball team in the famous and very important Worthington YMCA Junior League baseball playoffs.  Baseball wasn’t my best sport, but that day I had a hot hand at the plate.  I was belting everything.  His team got ahead, but in the last inning my team was rallying.  I came to the plate in the last inning of the game.  I knew that I was going to win the game for my team.  The other team knew that too.  So they brought Jeff in to pitch.  And on the first pitch he reared back and threw it and drilled me. He hit me on purpose.  He had no shame in doing this because this is what competitive boys did when they played to win.   The next batter struck out.  His team won, my team lost.

He was the most competitive people I ever knew. One year in grade school a choir competition was set up between the difference classes in our grade.  Each class sang a song; someone judged the winner. Jeff wanted our class to win the choir context. He gave us a pep talk before we sang. What is incredible about the story is Jeff couldn't even sing! He loved to compete just for the sake of competition.

We stayed friends after high school.   He moved to Missouri to be a basketball coach.  I went on to be a pastor and served a church in Plainview, Minnesota, near Rochester.  One day he called me out of the blue and said he was moving to Rochester.  He had met a woman and wanted to get married.  Would I marry him?  Sure.   So we had an impromptu, outdoor wedding at Silver Lake Park on a beautiful day of sunshine. 

He was one of the most devoted fathers I knew.  The woman he married had two children.  He treated those two kids like they were his own flesh and blood.  And then he had two children with his wife.   If his kids needed anything, whether they were his biological kids or his step-kids he was there. 

Jeff stood next to me in my wedding.  It was a glorious day.  He moved to New Prague, Minnesota to be the high school boys basketball coach.  Life was good.

           

And then one day he called and said, “I have cancer.”  Non Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  “Was it serious, I asked.”  Yes.    And it was serious. 

He would come to the Mayo Clinic and get chemotherapy treatment.  I would sit with him during his treatment, and we would talk about everything.  I reminded him of how he drilled me in the playoff game and how we were champions of the flag football.  We would talk about our favorite Minnesota sports teams. 

Because Jeff was a competitor he fought against his cancer with every ounce of his spirit.  He would do whatever it took to win.  He traveled all over the country to get treatment.  One doctor told him he needed to have his arm amputated.  He did. 

His fight against cancer garnered a lot of media attention here in the Twin Cities.  Some people in New Prague did a fundraiser that Tubby Smith attended; he was featured on a Channel 11 sports program.

He was in and out of the hospital.  One night while in the hospital he decided that he wanted to get out and coach his basketball team.  So he checked himself out of the hospital.  He went to the New Prague gym.  He coached his team.  They won.  He went to a party afterwards.  And then he went to his home.  And he collapsed.  He was taken to St. Mary’s hospital in Rochester.  And he died.  I got a call about 5 in the morning.  I went over to the hospital.  I prayed with his family.  They asked me if I would officiate the funeral.  Of course I would. 

He had two funerals—one in New Prague and one in Worthington.  Both funerals were packed.  I did them both. 

           

After he died his New Prague basketball team was so inspired that they made it to state for the first time in 13 years. 

The summer after he died I raised money and had a plaque installed at the Worthington Y in his honor along with a tree.  It seemed only right to remember him at the Y as it felt like the two of us spent most of our childhood there.

I set up a Facebook page in advance of that celebration which is still somewhat active. 

https://www.facebook.com/Jeff-Gravon-Memorial-Dedication-118679921515367/

I would love to call Jeff up today and talk about the two football games from yesterday.  He would understand the dynamics of the game. 

When people we love pass away we carry memories with us. Today I share these memories as a tribute to my friend.

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A Review of "On the Basis of Sex"

On New Year’s Day the two red-heads in my life and I drove to the Uptown Theater in Minneapolis to see “On the Basis of Sex.”  We were hoping to attend the movie at a theater closer to us, but we didn’t realize that the movie doesn’t have a wide release until this Friday, January 11.

I haven’t attended a show at the Uptown Theater for a long time.  This place is far different than the cookie-cutter theaters found in the suburbs.  Just walking into the lobby brings a feeling of history; people have attended shows at the Uptown since 1913.  After waiting in the crowded lobby the three of us entered a classic, large space.  My imagination took over as I wondered about all of the events that took place in the theater.  The lack of amenities actually sets the place apart as special.  No large parking lot to conveniently park?  No problem—this is what people experienced when going to a movie for years.  Seats that don’t go up and down? No problem—the experience connected you to people in the past.  Going to the Uptown was like participating in an active museum. 

“On the Basis of Sex” shares the story of Ruth Bader Ginsberg (RBG) early life as a lawyer.  The foil in the movie is sexism. Right away in the first scene we saw a group of men walking to class at Harvard Law School.  The fact that they were all men was unmistakable—until we saw RBG, played by Felicity Jones.

“On the Basis of Sex” is more than a movie.  It illustrates a cause.  Watching it is more than digesting something and then going home.  The movie drew in the viewer to cheer for RBG as she lived through the challenges of being a woman attending law school and then facing sexism in the legal system.  The audience watching the movie at the Uptown became active participants. When a man said something sexist, we booed.  When RBG shared an especially tart zinger, we cheered.  We could have been watching a vaudeville show from the 1920’s where the audience was expected to share our opinions out loud on each part of the show.

The sexism illustrated in the movie was appalling.  Despite needing to leave Harvard Law School because her husband was moving, Erwin Griswold, the Dean of Harvard Law School, played by Sam Waterston shared no understanding with her.  He wanted her to separate herself from her family and finish law school at Harvard.  After transferring to Columbia Law School and finishing at the top of her class, she still couldn’t find a job with a New York City firm.  She eventually had to accept an exile as a Law Professor at Rutgers University.

Eventually the movie landed on a story line by centering around a tax law case.  Charles Moritz had to hire a nurse to help him care for his aging mother.  He was denied a tax deduction because at the time a single man wasn't elgible for a tax deduction.  Discrimination?  Of course.  The case was brought to RBG and the fight for justice was on.

The story line became whether RBG could successfully defend Moritz in court, and if a crack in sex discrimination in the law could happen.  In working on the case RBG had to deal with the sexism of Mel Wulf, an ACLU lawyer played by Justin Theroux. I found this relationship to be the most interesting of the movie.  Even liberals aren’t immune to sexism.

                            

The movie had a good versus evil flavor.  And given the good versus evil paradigm that many liberals undoubtedly view the world, this movie will work for that audience. 

I wish the movie would have shared more of RBG’s story of becoming a Supreme Court justice and shared the challenges she has undoubtedly faced there.  Most of us don’t know and probably won’t remember the case of Charles Moritz.  We do know of the dissents that RBG has famously penned.  Stories about those dissents probably would have been more meaningful. 

One of the best scenes in the movie was when the real Ruth Bader Ginsberg actually walked up the steps of the Supreme Court Building.  This scene quieted the audience.  It felt like a wave of admiration came over all of us.  This is the story that I really wanted from the movie.  What led Bill Clinton to appoint her to the Supreme Court? What was it like for her to prepare for those hearings?  What did she experience as she’s written many famous dissents?  These are the questions I wish the movie had addressed.  Learning about an obscure tax case is certainly important, but delving into RBG’s legacy as a Supreme Court Justice would have been more helpful.

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