Resourcefulness
On most Wednesday evenings from five to eight, you can find me at Twelve21, one of the youth groups my teens attend. Besides playing the games, eating the food, and participating in the small group discussions, I usually fill in on whatever instrument is missing during musical worship.
Often, I don’t know the song, can’t see the chord chart, and work on my listening skills to play along. It’s a blast!
I recently noticed a clever hack involving a music stand and vice-grip pliers.
When you combine metal with hard plastic, the first to go usually isn’t the metal. This particular broken stand can be found in some form in most worship spaces. I bet you have one or two either in your back room or on the platform at your church, don’t you?
How have you responded to it?
Replace it
Repair it
Ignore it (and just keep swiveling it back into position when it rotates)
I was intrigued by the repair job this stand was enjoying, which significantly increased its useful life. The most common fix for this type of workplace injury I’ve seen is…tape. But whether it’s masking tape, duct tape, electrical tape, or gaff tape, the “fix” is rarely satisfactory—if you wait long enough.
And there’s nothing quite like trying to get the sticky residue off your hands, and then guitar neck, and mic, and…sigh.
But this is not a clinic on music stand repair. It’s simply a metaphor to remind you to develop the essential skill of resourcefulness. I was fascinated to read several definitions:
the ability to cope with difficult situations or unusual problems
the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties
the ability to make decisions and act on your own
able to meet situations; capable of devising ways and means
able to deal skillfully and promptly with new situations and difficulties
the quality of being good at finding ways of doing things and solving problems
Did those definitions alone inspire your resourcefulness?
I hope you didn’t need to employ much resourcefulness in this week’s Easter services, but you will at some point soon.
How do we develop resourcefulness?
Embrace a growth mindset, not a fixed mindset
Yes, you can change—everything can. It’s still possible. Don’t give up hope just because it’s hard, because the answer hasn’t presented itself, or because you’ve failed… again. Get back in the saddle. You can do this!
Look for options C-Z, not just A or B
Any time you try to decide between only two possibilities, chances are you’re missing the real opportunity. It’s easy to get stuck in the A/B toggle. Take Chip and Dan Heath’s advice and “Widen your options.” https://www.adlibmusic.com/worship-fertilizer/301 Ask, “What else could be possible?”
Focus on what you CAN control, not on what you CAN’T
This one will alleviate so much stress! We are often heartsick because of deferred hope, which results from trying to control what’s outside our control. Discipline yourself to work on things that are in your sphere of influence.
Try a little harder
I hesitated to write this because of our propensity to strive - pulling ourselves up by our proverbial bootstraps and giving our best in our own strength. But sometimes, we wimp out too quickly. We’ve culturally lost the ability to suck it up and keep going, to push past the obstacles. Keep this pill handy for those moments when we need to suppress our enneagram sevens, say no to our comforts, and just wield greater strength.
Go without
Speaking of saying no to ourselves, there are certainly moments when resourcefulness requires self-denial. Restraint can be resourceful.
Put on your own oxygen mask first
Stay healthy—or, at the very least, take steps toward becoming healthy. Leadership is creational, meaning you create who you are and replicate what’s inside you. Focus on all those little things that keep you grounded, creative, sustainable, healthy, and resilient. If you ignore this for too long in the name of helping others, you’ll burn out.
Which one of those ideas resonated with you most about becoming more resourceful?
-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)
Resourcefulness (Nº 400)
