My mom sent me this. A clipping from the Daily Herald in Chicago from 1965. It’s a write up on what my dad’s family did that week. So status updates aren’t that new. We just publish them faster.

• Friday night, Jess and I celebrated our 4th Anniversary. She’s been the most amazing wife and a natural at being a mother.
• We heard the heartbeat of baby #2 – Jess is 12 wks along!
• Watched Triage this weekend. 3/5 stars for me. Collin Ferrel plays the character well.
• Sunday at Restore we focused on the name of Jesus and tonight at small group we continued the conversation. His name isn’t for our selfish gain.
• Season 4 of Mad Men continued Sunday. Different feel. Don’s character seems to be the one evolving most thus far.
• Took Tristan to a John Deere dealership today because he’s still obsessed with lawnmowers.
• New music I’ve been listening to is Hillsong’s A Beautiful Exchange & Empire Of The Sun
• Something that stuck: In the 60′s, Boeing set out to engineer a plane that fit 131 passengers, flew non-stop from Miami to NY, and could land on runway 4-22 at LaGuardia (less than a mile long). The goal was met. The goal was very simple with concrete details: 131 people, Miami to NY, land on the 4-22. Communicate your message with memorable details.

I read Made To Stick last week on vacation. It’s been on my shelf for too long. Highly recommended for anyone needing to communicate sticky ideas.

The portion on Commander’s Intent has stuck with me most:

Commanders Intent is a military planning concept that essentially assumes that most planning is flawed because at the moment the enemy engages, the plan no longer applies.  The idea of Commanders Intent is describing a clear and specific enough objective such that when the enemy does engage, those on the front lines are clear enough about the end goal that they know how to adjust. In other words, what matters is the clarity of the desired outcome over a rigid process for how to achieve the outcome.

I filtered this book through the mission of the Church. How clear and simple is our mission for people? On any given weekend, when we push people toward a response, how simple and executable is it?

Decide what the Commander’s Intent is for an idea that needs to stick.