In Danny Meyer’s book on the “transforming hospitality of business”, Meyer uses an illustration of a light bulb with the goal to attract as many moths as possible:
“Now what if you learned that 49% of the reason moths were attracted to a bulb was for the quality of its light (brightness being the task of the bulb) and 51 percent of the attraction was to the warmth projected by the bulb (heat being connected with the feeling of the bulb).
It’s remarkable to me how many businesses shine brightly when it comes to acing the tasks but emanate all the warmth of a cool fluorescent light. That explains how a flawless four-star restaurant can actually attract fewer loyal fans than a two- and three-star place with soul.
In business, I want to be overcome with moths....." 1
As church leaders and members, we need to reflect on this illustration. We must be a scintillating string of one-hundred-watt light bulbs whose product is the sum of 51 percent feeling and 49 percent task.
If we do, we will realize that very often we focus so much on the tasks (brightness) that we are oftentimes simply "blinding" people who we should be attracting with "warmth" or the feeling that we engender in people in our encounters with them.
In the church, I want to be overcome with moths
1 Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business Danny Meyer: Harper Collins 2006
The Boomer Blogger
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business
At age twenty-seven, Danny Meyer, with a good idea and scant experience, opened what would become one of New York City's most revered restaurants-- Union Square Cafe.
Little more than twenty years later, Danny is the CEO of one of the world's most dynamic restaurant organizations, which includes eleven unique dining establishments, each at the top of its game. How has he done it? How has he consistently beaten the odds and set the competitive bar in one of the toughest trades around?
In his book(Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business), he shares the lessons he's learned while developing the winning recipe for doing the business he calls "enlightened hospitality."
This innovative philosophy emphasizes putting the power of hospitality to work in a new and counterintuitive way: The first and most important application of hospitality is to the people who work for you, and then, in descending order of priority, to the guests, the community, the suppliers, and the investors. This way of prioritizing stands the more traditional business models on their heads, but Danny considers it the foundation of every success that he and his restaurants have achieved.
Some of his other insights:
Hospitality is present when something happens "for" you. It is absent when something happens "to" you. These two simple concepts-- "for" and "to"-- express it all.
Context, context, context, trumps the outdated location, location, location.
Shared ownership develops when guests talk about a restaurant as if it's "theirs," That sense of affiliation builds trust and invariably leads to repeat business.
Err on the side of generosity: You get more by first giving more.
Wherever your center lies, know it, name it, believe in it. When you cede your core values to someone else, it's time to quit.
Little more than twenty years later, Danny is the CEO of one of the world's most dynamic restaurant organizations, which includes eleven unique dining establishments, each at the top of its game. How has he done it? How has he consistently beaten the odds and set the competitive bar in one of the toughest trades around?
In his book(Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business), he shares the lessons he's learned while developing the winning recipe for doing the business he calls "enlightened hospitality."
This innovative philosophy emphasizes putting the power of hospitality to work in a new and counterintuitive way: The first and most important application of hospitality is to the people who work for you, and then, in descending order of priority, to the guests, the community, the suppliers, and the investors. This way of prioritizing stands the more traditional business models on their heads, but Danny considers it the foundation of every success that he and his restaurants have achieved.
Some of his other insights:
Hospitality is present when something happens "for" you. It is absent when something happens "to" you. These two simple concepts-- "for" and "to"-- express it all.
Context, context, context, trumps the outdated location, location, location.
Shared ownership develops when guests talk about a restaurant as if it's "theirs," That sense of affiliation builds trust and invariably leads to repeat business.
Err on the side of generosity: You get more by first giving more.
Wherever your center lies, know it, name it, believe in it. When you cede your core values to someone else, it's time to quit.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
English 101 : Pay Attention To The Prepositions
“Hospitality is present when something happens for you. It is absent when something happens to you. These two simple concepts—for and to--express it all.” 1
I have been thinking about this one a lot lately: How much of church life is experienced by the average, ordinary person out there as “to” instead of “for” them? We do stuff “to” people all the time? We preach to them, we sing to them, we make announcements to them?
How much different would our ministry be received if everything we do was “for” ministry? A pastor friend of mine said something like this to me years ago, though I never thought of it as practicing “hospitality” at the time. He said, “We don’t preach “to” a people, we preach for them. We offer the word of God to give expression the work of the Spirit at work within a community of faith.”
In what ways can all that we do as Christians be experienced by people as our being “for” them, the way God gave his life “for” them? What would it mean for us to express our ministry in a way that makes everyone who comes in contact with us feel as if “these people are for me, they are on my side?”
1..Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business Danny Meyer: Harper Collins 2006
The Boomer Blogger
I have been thinking about this one a lot lately: How much of church life is experienced by the average, ordinary person out there as “to” instead of “for” them? We do stuff “to” people all the time? We preach to them, we sing to them, we make announcements to them?
How much different would our ministry be received if everything we do was “for” ministry? A pastor friend of mine said something like this to me years ago, though I never thought of it as practicing “hospitality” at the time. He said, “We don’t preach “to” a people, we preach for them. We offer the word of God to give expression the work of the Spirit at work within a community of faith.”
In what ways can all that we do as Christians be experienced by people as our being “for” them, the way God gave his life “for” them? What would it mean for us to express our ministry in a way that makes everyone who comes in contact with us feel as if “these people are for me, they are on my side?”
1..Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business Danny Meyer: Harper Collins 2006
The Boomer Blogger
New Testament Hospitality : Part 3
In the New Testament, three apostles write repeatedly about the importance of hospitality (Rom 12:13; Heb 13:2; 1 Pet 4:9; 3 John 1:5; 1 Tim 2:3; Tit 1:8). But it is Jesus who lifts the importance of hospitality to a divine level.
“Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in…Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.”
(Matthew 25:34-36, 40)
These principles of Christian hospitality have been practiced since the time of Abraham, but in the modern age the church abandoned the traditional language of loving strangers in favor of a new dialect. We called it “seeker sensitivity.” The seeker church movement has taken the Abrahamic idea of hospitality (host first, ask questions later) and reversed it.
Now, thanks to the influence of business practices and marketing, the church tries to discover everything possible about its target guests and then hosts according to their predetermined expectations. The result has been a radical shift in the way Christians worship and express their devotion to Christ and a dehumanizing of Christian hospitality.
“Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in…Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.”
(Matthew 25:34-36, 40)
These principles of Christian hospitality have been practiced since the time of Abraham, but in the modern age the church abandoned the traditional language of loving strangers in favor of a new dialect. We called it “seeker sensitivity.” The seeker church movement has taken the Abrahamic idea of hospitality (host first, ask questions later) and reversed it.
Now, thanks to the influence of business practices and marketing, the church tries to discover everything possible about its target guests and then hosts according to their predetermined expectations. The result has been a radical shift in the way Christians worship and express their devotion to Christ and a dehumanizing of Christian hospitality.
Old Testament Hospitality : Part 2
In Genesis 18, Abraham went out to greet three strangers. He took this idea of hospitality a step further. When the visitor is an ordinary person of equal rank, the host merely rises. But Abraham welcomes the strangers by bowing low to the ground and he offers himself as their “servant” even though he was a very wealthy man with servants of his own.
Abraham asks no questions. He expects no payment. He places no conditions upon his hospitality. He merely welcomes these total strangers as honored guests worthy of his very best food, effort, and attention. Only later, after the strangers have eaten and rested, does Abraham engage in conversation and discover their true divine identity.
Throughout the Scriptures we find that God is concerned with the treatment of strangers. He commands his people to act fairly toward strangers (Exodus 22:21), to provide food for them (Leviticus 19:10), and to love them as one of their own (Leviticus 19:34).
The Boomer Blogger
Abraham asks no questions. He expects no payment. He places no conditions upon his hospitality. He merely welcomes these total strangers as honored guests worthy of his very best food, effort, and attention. Only later, after the strangers have eaten and rested, does Abraham engage in conversation and discover their true divine identity.
Throughout the Scriptures we find that God is concerned with the treatment of strangers. He commands his people to act fairly toward strangers (Exodus 22:21), to provide food for them (Leviticus 19:10), and to love them as one of their own (Leviticus 19:34).
The Boomer Blogger
Monday, January 28, 2008
Market Analysis vs Scriptural Principles : Part 1
Market research has replaced the Scriptural call to love strangers. As a result, the responsibility to be hospitable is no longer felt by individual members of the church. Every aspect, including the music, sermon, and worship service, has been test-engineered to do the job instead.
Market analysis has also shown that (many, some, few) people prefer to visit a church anonymously. Since such analysis cannot be wrong. seeker-driven churches have often avoided identifying newcomers. Jesus may be among us in the form of a stranger, but we would never know it unless he filled out a response card.
This radical hospitality means a return to the Abrahamic principle of “host first, ask questions later.” Rather than trying to determine our target audience’s desires in advance, we should welcome strangers indiscriminately into our midst and honor them by authentically revealing who we are.
As St. Chrysostom, the 4th century pastor, said, “Hospitality is not manifested in the richness of our fare, but in the generosity of our attitude.”
The Boomer Blogger
Market analysis has also shown that (many, some, few) people prefer to visit a church anonymously. Since such analysis cannot be wrong. seeker-driven churches have often avoided identifying newcomers. Jesus may be among us in the form of a stranger, but we would never know it unless he filled out a response card.
This radical hospitality means a return to the Abrahamic principle of “host first, ask questions later.” Rather than trying to determine our target audience’s desires in advance, we should welcome strangers indiscriminately into our midst and honor them by authentically revealing who we are.
As St. Chrysostom, the 4th century pastor, said, “Hospitality is not manifested in the richness of our fare, but in the generosity of our attitude.”
The Boomer Blogger
New Language before New Paradigm
If we are going to be able to capture the attention of the 555,000 boomers (374,000 who are unchurched or church alumni) who are about to retire in the greater Cincinnati area, those of us who are active members must learn a new language.
There are no CDs or DVDs needed to learn this language. This language we must learn is the language of hospitality. Learning this language will allow us to love the unknown people in our area and, by the way, will cause you to love the unknown people in your area also.
In Biblical times, travelers in the desert areas of the Middle East depended on the hospitality of strangers for survival.
There are two rules to learning the language of hospitality:
1. Host first
2. Then ask questions.
Exercising this new language is not dependent on the guest’s identity – only their need.
As an unknown pastor notes: A worshipping community which is radically hospitable to outsiders is appealing to a spiritually-minded generation who can readily spot “spin and marketing.”
The Boomer Blogger
There are no CDs or DVDs needed to learn this language. This language we must learn is the language of hospitality. Learning this language will allow us to love the unknown people in our area and, by the way, will cause you to love the unknown people in your area also.
In Biblical times, travelers in the desert areas of the Middle East depended on the hospitality of strangers for survival.
There are two rules to learning the language of hospitality:
1. Host first
2. Then ask questions.
Exercising this new language is not dependent on the guest’s identity – only their need.
As an unknown pastor notes: A worshipping community which is radically hospitable to outsiders is appealing to a spiritually-minded generation who can readily spot “spin and marketing.”
The Boomer Blogger
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Intergenerational Services
Storytelling has, for countless centuries, been the primary mode of sharing and passing down information about heritage, tradition, moral decision making, group norms, values and critical thinking.
More often then not, villages were constructed such that dwellings surrounded a central gathering spot. This spot attracted a great deal of commerce and trading as well as important resources such as water, food and company.
Stories were often told in such places on a regular basis. It was common to have various children, parents or elders come to the town center to trade, catch up on the news and listen to the stories.
Often the stories were designed to make the young and old alike think about their lives, consider how to summon goodness, live healthfully and find contentment in one’s life.
These are the very things that a religious community tries to do. Because we rarely have town centers anymore, it is our nature to be more intentional about creating and caring for the communities where we find this kind of company, information and stories. Thus, we’ve built churches.
The Boomer Blogger
More often then not, villages were constructed such that dwellings surrounded a central gathering spot. This spot attracted a great deal of commerce and trading as well as important resources such as water, food and company.
Stories were often told in such places on a regular basis. It was common to have various children, parents or elders come to the town center to trade, catch up on the news and listen to the stories.
Often the stories were designed to make the young and old alike think about their lives, consider how to summon goodness, live healthfully and find contentment in one’s life.
These are the very things that a religious community tries to do. Because we rarely have town centers anymore, it is our nature to be more intentional about creating and caring for the communities where we find this kind of company, information and stories. Thus, we’ve built churches.
The Boomer Blogger
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Boomer Expectations
What do baby boomers expect to see in a church?
Answer: high-quality preaching, good music and social groups, says Lyle E. Schaller, an Illinois religious consultant.
Baby boomers also expect big meeting rooms, a quality kitchen, child care, ample parking and clean rest rooms.
Focus on the Family, July, 1999, p. 11
The Boomer Blogger
Answer: high-quality preaching, good music and social groups, says Lyle E. Schaller, an Illinois religious consultant.
Baby boomers also expect big meeting rooms, a quality kitchen, child care, ample parking and clean rest rooms.
Focus on the Family, July, 1999, p. 11
The Boomer Blogger
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