Leveraging Change

This morning as I began my run it was dark outside, with just a hint of dawn in the eastern sky. As I plodded along the miles, the light pushed back the darkness, and by the end of my run it was light. Just like dawn is an ever-changing situation, we deal with ever-changing situations everyday.


As I ran, this definition of creativity came to me: Leveraging our ever-changing situations and resources to achieve a desired result.


Artists do it all the time. A painter does not begin with an infinite number of colors, but rather blends, thins, and adjusts brush strokes to get the desired look on the canvas.


The same goes for musicians. Music is an constantly changing landscape. For instance, there have been a few occasions where I found myself at the last minute without a bass player for a worship set. We adapted by adjusting the EQ on the keyboard and let the left hand cover the bass line.


Another time during a sound check for our Sunday morning worship, the power went out in the entire grid. No problem. I had three acoustic guitars in my office, another staff member had two and we had several guitar players on the team. I put our drummer and percussionist both on percussion, and we led an acoustic set with six guitars and two percussionists. It was one of the most intimate and powerful worship services we have ever had.


Race car drivers face hundreds of changing situations in a race. And the ones who creatively leverage them to their advantage win races.


Great leaders and business people do the same thing: they leverage situations and resources and make things happen.


Creativity: Leveraging our ever-changing situations and resources to achieve a desired result.


Question: When have you adapted your situations and resources, and what were the results? Share your story below.


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