swarms
Seven Features of Swarms
Swarms have several features which make them different from other organizations. In this book, we’ll cover seven specific features that mark swarms:
• Team-led: people are led by a common vision, not a person.
• Connected: people are related to each other and to others.
• Territorial: people live in a place, but can be globally connected
• Transforming: people change the place [...]
Elephants and Ants
Indonesians have a proverb: “Gajah bertarung lawan gajah, pelanduk mati di tengah-tengah.” In English, it means: When elephants battle elephants, deers die in their midst. We can surely appreciate this. What can an ant—however super he may be—do against the larger powers of the world?
No single ant can make a difference. Together with many other [...]
Learning from failure
Today Steve Addison wrote about our planning for failure. I remember many years back giving a talk–which was not well received at all, I have to admit–about “planning for failure.” Many of the Americans in the audience felt that I did not have enough faith and power, but it was probably my own failure–to communicate–that [...]
Be accountable
Swarmish, decentralized, relational, peer-led networks and partnerships depend on the balance between failure and accountability. Swarms demand that we experiment–that we try, try again–yet also that we are accountable, so that we don’t consistently repeat the same mistakes. Here’s an excellent post on accountability.
Be accountable
Swarmish, decentralized, relational, peer-led networks and partnerships depend on the balance between failure and accountability. Swarms demand that we experiment–that we try, try again–yet also that we are accountable, so that we don’t consistently repeat the same mistakes. Here’s an excellent post on accountability.
How network-effective are you?
Beth
has a great post on the difference between personal productivity and
network productivity, with good analysis and an interesting question. This is increasingly important in an increasingly socially connected world, particularly for people who do things as part of networks (e.g. Perspectives, mission mobilizers, Ethne, partnerships, etc).
Organic vs. Viral
Kevin Marks has written a very useful analogy about viral and organic strategies. Useful for any Internet evangelism effort, and also for other outreaches.
How to swarmishly make a difference to 100,000 people.
Earlier today I sent out an email asking for people to suggest case studies of how ministries have successfully impacted 1,000 people.
I did this because I have written a lot about our need for more workers to reach the unreached. Elsewhere I have written of the need for 50,000 teams by 2050. This is based [...]
A promise to keep: the first step to becoming a swarming team
by Justin Long
For the past year, I have been studying swarming. I have been compiling everything I can find on the subject, and looking for mission applications. In the course of this I’ve read dozens of books and hundreds of articles, compiled a half dozen powerpoints, talked to people at conferences, shared in workshops, heard [...]
Pictures of the Goal: what a pioneer team looks like
What does a pioneer team capable of impacting 100,000 people look like, and what does it do?
Categories
Most Emailed
- How new missionaries choose their country of service: do we need a change? - 13 emails
- Google Motion Chart: Global Population by Religion, 1800-2025 - 9 emails
- The Chinese are Coming - 9 emails
- For Profit Structures in Mission Movements - 8 emails
- Second Coming in 2015! - 6 emails
