Browsing Category

Junkyard Management

Junkyard Management, So you think you're a writer?,

Progress on the Book

Today is the last day of my writing sabbatical and I head home this afternoon. The book is coming together really well and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with David. We worked well together with many laughs and almost no disagreements. And the result is we have a solid working outline, more stories than we know what to do with, and all the Scripture references to back up the lessons in the stories.

One other positive step is a highly respected thought leader has agreed to write the foreward. I’m not sharing who it is just yet because so much …

Junkyard Management,

Book Update

For some time now I’ve been thinking about a book and drafting ideas. A few months ago I hired a ghost writer, David, to help. And next week I begin the formal process of working with him.

In advance of our time together David gave me homework assignments to write stories, ideas, chapter outlines, etc. Which was fairly easy because I’ve been doing that a long time.

What surprised me was how much I’d written. It was around 35,000 words! To get a handle on all of this David created a word cloud to see what jumped out. Here it …

Book Reviews, Junkyard Management, Random Thoughts,

Journey of Hope

What is hope? The meaning of hope has been on my mind lately, so I’ve decided to think more on the topic in 2015. It seems both healthy and timely.

We live in an era when millions of good things are happening, yet we grow weary with despair. We worry about our broken political system, the rise of extremism, the violence in our schools, the pervasiveness of greed in our culture, the wealth disparity, high taxes, ISIS, the Byzantine health care system, immigration reform, Putin/Russian aggression, measles outbreaks, and out of control social media.

It’s endless what we can find …

Goble Properties, Junkyard Management,

How to Get Rich

The question comes in all kinds of forms. Sometimes subtle, sometimes direct, sometimes wrapped in noble hopes of changing the world, sometimes in naked self interest. However it’s asked, it is one of the most common questions I hear.

“How can I get rich?”

The answer is complicated and spiritually loaded. Context is everything. But this is a blog, and blogs need to stay simple. So at the risk of sounding triumphalist, here you go. Ten tips on how to get rich:

1) Get as much education as you can reasonably afford and realistically achieve. It’s not only for the …

Junkyard Management, Random Thoughts, The SOLD Project, Uncategorized,

How Did Jesus Handle Change?

I first met Ken Wytsma in Northern Thailand as we traveled with The SOLD Project. We quickly became friends and he has recently agreed to join the SOLD Board of Directors. Ken is the founder of The Justice Conference, the President of Kilns College, and is the lead pastor of the church he planted in Antioch, Oregon. And that’s just for starters. Like me, he doesn’t know how to do just one thing at a time. That’s probably why we quickly became friends.

Ken headshot I’ve always enjoyed Ken’s writing (check out his book Pursuing Justice) and recently …

Book Reviews, Goble Properties, Junkyard Management,

Are Corporations People?

Are corporations people? When the Supreme Court made their famous Citizens United ruling, this question set off a firestorm. The flames were renewed, at least partially, with the Hobby Lobby decision.

I have opinions from the perspective of a small business owner, of course, but my opinion isn’t all that important. I have little to add beyond what you can read elsewhere.

That said, I will share one insight worth mentioning.

Corporations tend to have a life of their own. This corporate heartbeat is created by the founder and perpetuated by others in the company.

But like anything with a …

Junkyard Management,

How to Use The F Word in Business To Deliver Better Results

In our first meeting Shawn Parr overpowered me with creative ideas, keen questions, and solid advice. It was the early days for PathLight, and a few hours with Shawn had a profound influence on how we express our mission. My past experience with “marketing guys” has always been mixed. But with Shawn it was and remains a joy. He wrote this article for LinkedIn and it felt right to share it here. Besides, he drives a cool truck.

I’ve seen the curse of the “whack-a-mole” raise its ugly head more frequently than normal in recent months. While it’s the …

Family, Junkyard Management,

Down But Not Out

My son Jedd is the guest blogger today. He recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund Ember, an incredible night photography tool for the iPhone. Since many of my readers supported this effort, it seemed best to have Jedd share the latest news and plans. Junkyard dogs don’t give up, and his Grandpa would be proud.
——-
As most of you know, a couple of weeks ago we concluded our Kickstarter campaign without hitting the goal. We know how many of you wanted to see the Ember become a reality and we’re so thankful for all our backers. We’re …