Leading a small group discussion?

Here are some elements to help you organize your discussion questions taken from my Your Unfinished Business (available as paperback and Kindle) study guides. They give you different ways to help participants tackle the discussion topic.

• Consider: A warm-up period to help the group start thinking about the discussion topic.
• Understand: Discussion of the key verse and related Bible verses to help the group learn spiritual truths related to the discussion topic.
• Apply: A quotation from the book and related questions to challenge the group to apply what they’ve learned.

Leading a small group Bible or book study?

Here are some tips from my Your Unfinished Business (available as paperback and Kindle) study guides.

• What’s said in the small group stays in the small group. Sharing personal thoughts can be an experience in vulnerability, so help each other by keeping confidences (within legal boundaries of course).
• Not everyone will say much. Sometimes, someone may want to listen more than speak, so don’t create expectations that everyone has to speak all the time.
• But don’t monopolize the discussion either. At times silence can be a useful time for people to think things through.

Print versus digital: Which is better?

This looks like a topic that will keep pundits employed for quite a while. Via Education Advisory Board, report concluded digital may be fine for short, to the point material, but print was better for longer, more complex material. One question not answered is whether those characteristics of digital and print were inherent in the medium or whether writers could  adjust their writing styles to take advantage of digital media.

Let's assume a couple of points:

The report's conclusions are correct for now.

Points in the report:

• "…students said print is aesthetically more pleasing, that it gives them a sense of place in the text, strains their eyes less, and doesn't encourage multitasking as much as digital texts do."
• "…they enjoyed digital reading because it's easier to read in the dark, saves paper, allows them to multitask, and makes it easier to find 'quick information.'"

My experience:

• I didn't sense  difference between print and digital for materials with a strong narrative flow. Novels and biographies come to mind.
• I have found printed materials more useful for having a feel for the scope of the piece. Non-fiction like professional and academic books come to mind. It's much easier to flip back to the table contents and other locations to have a feel where the particular section fits in the overall item.
• So far, print has it over digital for marginalia. While digital books like Amazon's Kindle format make it possible to highlight, digital books don't allow for marginalia. Some people like to sketch diagrams of what they read. I like to mark up the page so it looks more like an outline that helps me keep everything in context.
• Unrelated to the topic at hand but important to writers: print makes it possible for authors and readers to interact in a personal way. For example, authors are happy to autograph books for their readers.

In spite of it all, I have been making the switch to digital reading.

• I have moved a lot, and all those book boxes are heavy.
• Print requires much more shelf space. I've gotten rid of many, many books because I've had no room.
• I like having my library with me at all times. For example, I'll read at the airport while waiting for my plane and also during the flight, and I can switch to another book easily if I want to.

How to replicate marginalia with digital books? When reading on a desktop computer or tablet, I open Microsoft OneNote and use it to outline, doodle, etc. OneNote has great organizing features that allow me to track with chapters and sections. If I'm reading a print book, I can even take a photo of an interesting page and save it in OneNote.

Calling and intuition

Via Business Insider, intuition can be a help in making decisions quickly. How can you develop your intuition? One way to do it is to have a strong sense of calling.  Let's talk about calling first.

In Conversations About Calling (hardcover, paperback, Kindle), Valerie Myers defined calling as a "transcendent and generative ethical system that seeks to produce 'good work' - ethical and increasingly excellent results." In other works, your calling drives you to accomplish great and noble things. That means calling integrates the different dimensions of your life under a common theme.

Calling as a system that produces good work means you have framework for decision-making. The system part means you have a worldview that helps you make sense of what you experience and what the world should look like when you produce that good work. When you have a framework, decision-making becomes more intuitive because you already have some boundaries and criteria that have become an automatic part of thinking.  

The old value-add?

Back in the day, I always heard the term "value-add," as the kind of extra a seller threw in to show the product or service was worth the price being asked. An article argues those small extras appeal to Millennials, especially in the beauty markets. Other popular spending categories included cell phones and Uber rides.

Points:

• A proxy for the Fountain of Youth? "...American consumers are transfixed on youth (something makeup can provide)."

• Small things give a big feeling? "...spending money on makeup can feel like a 'small indulgence.'"

• Goliath beaten by a bunch of Davids? "...while department stores used to be a key destination for beauty many of the mainstream players have been outsmarted by specialists."
• All about the experience? "...they [specialty stores] sell experiences - something millennials love."

Enthusiasts will say Millennials have transcended material desires, so little things will suffice. Cynics may say Millennials go for this because they can't afford larger luxuries due to overly high expectations collide with student debt and underemployment.

I'm not sure either one is the only reason.  Called engagement marketing, the approach of getting consumers to participate with the brand has been spreading among sellers. Agencies specialize in creating experiences that lead to buyer engagement. Maybe the observation about Millennials is one manifestation of that approach.

Validating people

Via Business Insider, this little video is about what to give fathers on Fathers Day. The psychologist challenges viewers to not give gifts. Instead, give validation. For example, thank Dad for being there when you needed him.

Come to think of it, this could apply to what we can do for other people. We can validate our colleagues at work, our other family members at home, and our neighbors in the community.

What does it take besides saying something nice? It takes understanding of what the person does to have an impact in order to find the right words to say. For example, at work, we can say, "Thank you for stepping up and doing that particular task. There was no else to do it, and it got us through this particular part of the project." Notice how the thanks is tied to a specific act.

We can also validate people for what they've done over time. A friend told a story about an old Little League coach of his who was impressed when my friend's father thanked the coach for taking the time to spend with the boys on that team. The coach said most parents complained, but my friend's father was one of the few who recognized the value of what the coach was doing.

Happy Father's Day.

Thriving in an automated workplace

Via McKinsey, a core workplace issue is how to thrive in an automated workplace. It's pretty optimistic. Some background the article provided:

• Occupations won't be automated out of existence in the near term. But up to 45% of activities will become fully automated, leading to job redefinition.

• Benefits of automating activities is 3-10 times the cost.

• Fewer than 5% of occupations will be fully automated by current technology, but 60% of occupations can automate at least 30% of activities.

• Paradoxically, activities in high-wage occupations (e.g., 20% of a CEO's activities) can also be automated, but certain lower-wage occupations can't be easily automated, e.g., home health aides, landscapers, maintenance workers.

• What sets humans apart, so they say, is creativity and emotional intelligence. However, only 4% of activities require creativity, and 29% require emotional intelligence.

What does this mean for the future?

• Jobs need to be redefined to absorb automation of activities.
• New job forms can engage people in more creative and innovative activities.

Other thoughts: Christians in the workplace have an additional opportunity. Determining and pursuing God's calling can't be automated. A calling creates a vision of an end state, and reaching that end state requires creativity, innovation, and integration. Those areas are still the province of humans.