Secret Sauce

Category: Secret Sauce Explained

Before I add any details about the nature of Secret Sauce, let me explain myself. Every leader has some notion of what has worked well in the past and what they will absolutely remain committed to for the future. Let’s call it their secret sauce.

I have secret sauce. Heck, I have secret sauces. I have assumptions that prevent me from seeing objective, verifiable data accurately. For this reason I’ve started asking myself this question:

“What assumptions am I making today that prevent me from seeing the future accurately?”

Now I might not the answer to that until sometime in the future, but that’s the point of asking the question today. My insights will be based on the fruit, the pain, the promptings, etc that come from checking what I’m carrying around for Secret Sauce.

How does this apply to NEXT:CHURCHES? More to follow… But first here’s your chance to comment:

What assumptions are you making today that are hindering you from seeing accurately?

The Importance of Networks

In the article, “Why Size Matters”, authors Julie Wittes Schlack, Michael Jennings and Manila Austin list 6 reasons why people join online networks. The following is an article abstract with a link to the rest…

The Six Social Needs People Seek in Social Networks

1. Expressing personal identity: online social networks provide people with the ultimate tool for defining and redefining themselves, as evidenced in profile pages on Facebook and MySpace.

2. Status and self-esteem: the need for autonomy, recognition and achievement are essential to our sense of self-worth and are fulfilled in online communities, blogs, and social networks that provide a way to develop and manage a virtual reputation.

3. Giving and getting help: people have a need to both seek and provide help to others.Mutual assistance between strangers is a phenomenon that has been uniquely enabled by the Internet.

4. Affiliation and belonging: online communities are becoming the way people find, create and connect with others “just like me” – people who share similar tastes, sensibilities, orientations or interests.

5. Sense of community: a sense of belonging or affiliation alone is not equivalent to a true sense of community. Achieving a real sense of community requires long-lasting reciprocal relationships and a mutual commitment to the needs of the community as a whole.

6. Reassurance of value and self worth. People want to be reassured of their worth and value, and seek confirmation that what they say and do matters to others and has an impact on the world around them. Meeting all 5 + 1 of these social needs generally requires the level of intimacy and facilitation that are the hallmarks of smaller, invitation only online communities.

Which reason drives your involvement with an online community? What ways are would leaders in your ministry value?

Link:

http://www.communispace.com/research/abstract/?Type=Social%20Networking%20Landscape&Id=40