When you combine 2 very different ideas, you can come up with either innovation or disaster, something that's great or something not so good. Sorta a flashback to that old ad exclaiming, "You've put chocolate in my peanut butter!" or "You've put peanut butter in my chocolate!"
One of the fabulous hybrid ideas I heard last week in Dallas was how a random combination turned out something valuable. In a collaborative exercise, several church leaders were given 2 random disparate ideas: a gumball machine and a list of ministry opportunities. What could you do with that?
That group created a gumball machine that would dispense ministry opportunities. Each of the church's ministry opportunities could be written on a sheet of paper and put into one of those clear plastic containers. And someone looking to serve can turn the knob on the gumball machine, and get a ministry opportunity!
The other day, I came across this website for the Urbana tri-ennial student conference hosted by InterVarsity. On its volunteer site, they've combined their database of volunteer service opportunities with an online shopping cart. After a volunteer browses the many service opportunities based on her/his interest and availability, that'd be placed into the service opportunity cart. Great way to put the itinerary together for the volunteer, and a great way for Urbana to track who is doing what when! Brilliant!
What's a creative combo idea that you've seen implemented? Would love to hear it! Add a comment below.
// DJ CHUANG, DIrector at Leadership Network
Comments