By Jon Hietbrink
As A.P.E. leaders our concern isn’t merely with the motivating the activity of A.P.E. ministry, but cultivating an environment where apostolic, prophetic, and evangelistic leaders can emerge and thrive—we are both builders and architects.
In his work, Where Good Ideas Come From, author Stephen Johnson does a masterful job of capturing the qualities of environments that produce the kind of innovation we desire in ministry, and I found his thoughts both quite helpful and provocative for us as A.P.E. leaders. Though there’s of course more that could be said, here are a few of my favorite takeaways in understanding the “architecture of innovation” and how we can capture it for the sake of the Kingdom.
Slow Hunches
First, Johnson reframes our thinking about how truly innovative ideas form, suggesting that instead of being “eureka moments” or flashes of brilliance, they are far more like a “slow hunches” that builds over time—like a puzzle that comes together slowly as pieces lock into place. As such, truly innovative environments create ample margin for people to explore the “adjacent possible”— realms of insight that lie just one step beyond our current understanding (as opposed to a quantum leap forward). Too often as leaders, we spend all our time on the ground DOING the ministry, and not enough time “up on the balcony” THINKING about what it is we’re actually doing. While I’m all for consistent embodiment, part of the discipline of leadership MUST be to withdraw to pray, think, and explore “slow hunches” that God may be building in our souls. Though it can feel counterintuitive, one of the most critical disciplines for leaders is to step back and do the kind of thought work no one else will do.
Liquid Networks
Second, Johnson borrows from the story of evolution to highlight the importance of “liquid networks”. In his process of formulating the theory of evolution, a key paradox that captured Darwin’s imagination was the sharp contrast between the relative absence of biodiversity in the air and on the shores of islands with the teeming ecosystem of the coral reef just below the surface of the water. He extrapolates from this analogy to characterize three kinds of networks— gaseous (where chaos reigns and there’s not enough density for life to form, like the atmosphere), solid (where there’s an overabundance of structure, such that it restricts the emergence of anything new—like granite), and liquid (where there’s a helpful combination of fluidity, chaos, order, and “churn”—like a coral reef hidden below the crashing waves). In my experience as a leader, I’ve often erred on either the gaseous or solid side of the equation. At points, the environments I’ve created have simply been too chaotic for life to thrive—I’ve led people to risk too much and go too fast, and the result isn’t beautiful, it’s burnout. At the same time, at times I’ve created “solid” environments where there are so many systems, structures, and protocols, that nothing new could possibly emerge. I’ve written earlier about how we need to “surf the edge of chaos” and I found this idea of gaseous, solid, and liquid networks to be a very accessible paradigm for explaining this idea.
Collaboration of Open Networks
Finally, in researching the history of innovations since the Middle Ages, Johnson makes a compelling case that the key to unlocking greater frequency and potency of innovation isn’t the competition of the capitalist market (where ideas are protected and proprietary for the sake of profit), but the collaboration of open networks (where ideas are shared and built upon for mutual benefit). Surely there’s a lesson to be learned here for us as members of the Body of Christ. While we’ve all likely had our fill of unity events geared largely toward those already IN the church, what might be unlocked if MISSION became a truly collaborative venture. What if, instead of merely considering what it means to grow OUR thing, we collaborated with other ministries and churches as full partners, committed together to “own the whole field” that’s been entrusted to us. How might the shape of my region change if instead of trying to do everything ourselves in isolation, we were to proactively marshal the resources of a VARIETY of campus ministries to establish an indigenous witnessing presence on all 250 campuses across our four states? If, instead of one church seeking to plan satellite campuses in isolation, the churches of a city were to band together and identify the truly unreached corners of the city, and covenant together to partner in mission there?
The fall of Christendom and the changing landscape of our society demands far more than the “tried and true” ideas of generations past. Missionary context demands missionary innovation, and as such, we must cultivate the kinds of environments where this kind of innovation can thrive—where slow hunches can build, networks can be liquid, and mission can be collaborative!
How might you apply these insights into the architecture of innovation?
- How might you create a system that allows “slow hunches” to develop for leaders around you
- Where is your network too solid? Too gaseous?
- Who might you reach out to for missional collaboration?
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