Copying Isn't Exercising Creativity

During college I was pursuing an Art Education degree. Throughout my experience with art, I had never dabbled in painting. It was always drawing, either with pencil or ink. The semester came when I had to take a painting class, and I chose Watercolor. Watercolor is a painting technique that requires a lot of discipline. For example, once you go dark, you can’t go light. So, you have to work from back to front and light to dark. In addition to that, the difficulty came when we had to come up with original works, just for our exercises/daily assignments. This was a Tuesday-Thursday class, so to come up with an original painting from Tuesday to be ready by Thursday morning was usually pretty tough. If we ever did something that was not original to us, it would be an automatic failing grade!

Too often when we see something that someone else has done we want to mimic it. Using what they have already done means that it has already been done. Though that is simple, my point is that we limit ourselves (and maybe God) when we take the easier road to do something someone else had done.

When we do something someone else has done, now we’re the same. We lose the distinction. Imagine if every business that started with an “m” used the shape, maybe different color, of the McDonald’s® sign? There would be a nation filled with that shape and people wouldn’t know if they were seeing a McDonald’s® or a Montana Mikes®!

We tend to treat the things we try in the church like recipes we have exchanged. The problem is, the recipe uses standard and controlled ingredients. Flour is the same here or there, and so is baking powder. However, trying to copy what a church is doing down the street or across the country is limiting because we are not that church. Our town is not the same, our people are not the same, or our culture is not the same. We need to be creative in our approaches to outreach and ‘inreach’. We don't want to be the same as someone else. We don’t want to limit our creativity so much to just copy someone. Copying doesn’t allow us to exercise our creativity. Let’s get creative so that we can not be cast into the “sea of sameness” and not be limiting what God can do through us!

Points of Contact Presents Opportunity for Distinction

A business is in business to stay in business. If you are a part of a business, you are a person who has customers or potential customers. Any given month, could, potentially, be your last month. You are not in business because you presume your customers will always come to you (at least I hope you aren't). You know you have to put in effort to keep your customers and/or gain other customers. You may not be in business to "drive out" competition, but to make money. Even if you are in a business that may be one described as "job security", you still have certain "requirements" to keep your business afloat.

As a person who, in principle, is trying to help grow a "business", I decided to read a book that is intended for business people. Even though I am in the ministry business, this book has lots of applications. Since it is a business book, I thought I would share a bit of it with business people.

The book is titled "Collapse of Distinction" by Scott McKain. I am about halfway through the book and have really enjoyed every page of it. What I want to share with you is this, "Every point of contact with your customer provides an opportunity for distinction." Re-read that quote. That is just one of many lines I highlighted.

How you treat your customers really affects a lot. Too often we do not press the importance of how the point of contact can cause you to be distinct from someone else. If you provide an oil change, how are you different to that customer than the business that provides one down the street? If you sell houses, how are you different than any other Realtor? If you do accounting, how are you different than any other accountant? Do any of you send birthday cards to your clients, once you have their addresses? Have you ever thought about providing something free for first time customers? Doing taxes free the first year? Giving out free cups of coffee to Starbucks? Maybe even inviting a customer or potential customer over to your own house for dinner - not as a big party, either. Those are just some possibilities that may make you different than your customer.

You've got to make your business different in more ways that color scheme, title, or a few seasonings. Some stores presumed they were strong enough in their market without worrying about this no-name store that was starting up from Bentonville, Arkansas. You know what store that is...years later they are a staple in America...Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is distinct. McDonald's is distinct. Target is distinct. Starbuck's is distinct. However, they can't presume they will always be in business. They are constantly looking for ways to be distinct. Once they fail to "not be concerned" about other competitors, they will collapse. All businesses need to focus on how they can keep from being involved in a collapse of distinction.

If you'd like for me to discuss any more of the book with you, I'd be glad to. Feel free to contact me by leaving a comment or texting "ichthus" to 50500.