FIRST IN LAST OUT
COLLABORATING WITH CREATIVES | Todd Elliott
New Year , New Goals , New Opportunities … in that spirit let ’ s talk about Collaboration !
Being involved in production means that part of your artistry comes from making it efficient . Church tech and production people view much of our world in terms of being efficient . Standardize a process so we can learn how to do it and repeat it with consistency . Create deadlines so we have time to complete the task with equal excellence every time . We ask for a 100 % -accurate service order 10 days in advance so we can have the best chance of executing with excellence .
In God ’ s perfect plan , he created us this way . He also created idea people . “ Artistic ” people . Musicians . They don ’ t think in terms of efficiency . They think in terms of possibility .
While we want to streamline the process , and know exactly what is happening , creative ideas come from a very different place and can be challenging to nail down . Idea people always want to do new things , which means we haven ’ t figured out how to do it yet . It also means it will take more time than if we just did it the same as last week . Creativity is inefficient in almost every way — the opposite of how the technical mind works .
On so many levels , production just wants the information so we can execute it . From the idea side , they have to work through a creative process so an idea can become fully realized . In the realm of the technical and creative arts , we have to work out this tension with each other . Creativity takes time . To execute an idea takes time . Neither one is more important than the other , and both are required to accomplish the goal .
In my early years of ministry , I would usually deal with this tension by giving in to whatever the creative people came up with , regardless of how it affected my world . Much of this came from feeling like I was there to just serve artists and that I wasn ’ t one myself . The other part came from my assumption that people knew what they were asking for . I wasn ’ t working through this tension ; I was ignoring it . My next step was to set up rigid boundaries that I wouldn ’ t let break , no matter the circumstances . This wasn ’ t working out the tension either .
So how can this be solved ? Well honestly , it can ’ t ; we can only work on it . And that involves relationship + communication + understanding your unique contribution to the body of Christ , but also your teammate ’ s unique contribution as well .
We need to figure out how to understand each other ’ s process . We are called to work very closely together with this entire group of people we are potentially at odds with right from the start . However , when you get down to the bottom of it , we all want the same thing . For production , we want to be involved in something cool and creative and to do a great job executing . In programming , they want to create something next level and moving , and they want us to do a great job executing .
Nobody understands your production world and process unless you communicate it to them . Personally , for me , for years I felt like a “ victim ”. I felt like no one understood me or cared to understand the process I needed to succeed . Little did I know there were people on the other side of the table who were often feeling the exact same way . All this time I was waiting for someone to understand me and my world . It hadn ’ t even occurred to me that I could be the one to reach out . Not only could I help others understand my world , but I could understand what the people around me were dealing with .
There is usually an unfortunate gap that separates us from the people God has called us to work with the closest . This is natural because God made each of us unique and different . But this gap is widened by misunderstandings , miscommunications and assumptions .
In the new season , this new year , here are some questions you may want to consider wrestling though , if this article resonates with you : 1 . What are steps you can take to improve your relationship with the people you serve with ?
2 . Name specific people and individual conversations that you need to have as a result of reading this .
3 . What are some past hurts where you need to experience healing ?
Be the first person to reach across the table to begin building a healthy , collaborative environment .
Todd Elliott Writer , speaker , technical artist in the local church and founder of FILO . Formerly the Technical Arts Director at Willow Creek Community Church , he started FILO in 2015 to help other technical artists become more effective so that the local church can be more effective . In his free time he enjoys being inspired by Winston Churchill speeches and visiting the gravesites of U . S . presidents . Residing near Chicago , he and his wife Bissy have three kids and a dog ... none of whom are into production . filo . org
What is FILO ? FILO ( First In Last Out ) is for technical artists who serve the local church , designed to provide skill development , community and inspiration to equip technical artists to become effective contributors to their local church .
When we ’ re more effective , the church is more effective . Whether volunteer or staff , FILO aims to provide skill development , community and inspiration to help equip technical artists to become effective contributors to their local church . FILO is a combination of the FILO Conference , FILO Blog , FILO Podcast , and personalized FILO Coaching .