Many posts on this blog have been copied from my other blogs

There are a lot of posts on my other blogs (Nonprofit Update and Attestation Update) that deal with the rapid change taking place around us. I have copied those posts into this blog to have them together. Posts before October 2011 were copied from those blogs to this one.  Enjoy reading!

Private sector rocket launches will resupply space station

SpaceX will launch it’s first space shot on a resupply flight to the space station in late November.  NASA gave technical approval to the launch.

Update – the SpaceX resupply mission was a success.

Why is this discussion in a blog about nonprofit issues? Three reasons.

First, is a superb illustration of stretching our brains. In the nonprofit sector we need to be intentionally thinking about the future. See my discussions here, here, here, here, here, and here.  Just the idea of private space flights will stretch our brain.

Continue reading “Private sector rocket launches will resupply space station”

Convergence report from La Piana Consulting, blurring boundaries – part 4

Previous posts here  and here mentioned four emerging trends identified by La Piana Consulting in their report called Convergence- How Five Trends Will Reshape the Social Sector.  Will now discuss the last trend they have noticed.

As mentioned previously, I will be quoting from their report a lot.

 “Sector boundaries are blurring” – Continue reading “Convergence report from La Piana Consulting, blurring boundaries – part 4”

Peering forward – We need to try really hard to see reality clearly

One of the questions raised by David Kinnaman in the article I discussed earlier is this: “Do you have practices in place to clearly see reality?”

It’s really hard to even ask that question.

Continue reading “Peering forward – We need to try really hard to see reality clearly”

Peering forward – We all need to be Futurists!

The last half of the article by La Piana Consulting in the Winter 2010 Outcomes has a section title that says Be a Futurist.  In this section they talk at length about how organizations can learn about the changes going on, study them, and then adapt. 

This will require studying the changes around us, listening to uncomfortable analysis, and putting forth the serious intellectual effort to grasp new things.  That is essentially becoming a futurist. 

Making that transition will be hard.  Continue reading “Peering forward – We all need to be Futurists!”

Peering Forward – Technology will change even faster

I’ve been talking about the Winter 2010 Outcomes from Christian Leadership Alliance. You would learn and stretch if you could take a few minutes and browse the issue.

Kevin Ring has a great article, Future-Proof Ministries that talks through some of the current and long-term tech issues.

Continue reading “Peering Forward – Technology will change even faster”

Peering Forward – How do we respond to developing trends?

Earlier discussed that we need to pay attention to the trends in our culture and then looked at some of those trends identified by David Kinnaman.

How do we respond to those trends?  Kinnaman raises four superb questions in his article.  I will quote his questions and share my thoughts.

Continue reading “Peering Forward – How do we respond to developing trends?”

Peering forward – We all need to become armchair futurists

Where our culture is headed and the resulting impact on ministries is the focus of the Winter 2010 issue of Outcomes from Christian Leadership Alliance.  Lots of great articles that I’ll talk about a while.

The rate of change around us makes me dizzy. 

Continue reading “Peering forward – We all need to become armchair futurists”

How do you present complex data? Look at these visualizations

Check out how to present multiple pieces of data from every country on the planet over a 40 year trend in such a way that anyone can get your point.  Professor Hans Rosling has a way of showing extremely complicated data so you can get the idea in a few minutes.

Some examples:

Continue reading “How do you present complex data? Look at these visualizations”