FIRST IN LAST OUT
TECH TEAMS VS . THE 2ND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS | Todd Elliott
As an engineering student , we were all required to take the class Thermodynamics . Thanks to the drill sergeant professor , now over 20 years later , I can still remember that class . You might be wondering what my thermodynamics class has to do with production in the local church . Besides the fact that they make up the fundamental laws that our entire existence is based on , there is a point .
I had the privilege of serving on a team at a local church a little while ago . The team was made up of some pretty long-term volunteers . When I asked one team member how long they ’ d been serving , he said “ Only 8 years .” I think I laughed out loud ! ONLY 8 years ! As I got to know the other team members , they had all been serving for quite a while also . They knew how to do the task at hand and what was expected of them . They knew the rhythm of the services and how to do their collective assignment well . Being a new person to that team , I know that I would not have succeeded without them . One interesting note was that they had been without a consistent leader for quite a while . As good as these volunteers were , their lack of a leader showed . As someone from the outside looking in , I immediately thought of the 2nd law of Thermodynamics ( wouldn ’ t you ?):
A closed system will tend from order to disorder .
This idea is called entropy . It basically states that if left to itself , the energy contained in a system will reach a state of equilibrium . If it is moving it will eventually stop . If it is hot , it will eventually cool off . If something goes up , it will eventually come down . Without some new form of energy introduced from outside the system , things will eventually come to a stop . This is why leadership is so important to a team . Without leadership , without energy being introduced , things will tend to disorder . Without leadership , each member of the team will do what they think is best , and only expend the amount of energy they think is necessary .
Leadership acts as the outside force to keep the system moving . Like rocket fuel that keeps a rocket from succumbing to the effects of gravity , leadership provides the necessary force to allow a team to function at a high level .
This is one of the difficult parts of leadership . Without constant attention and continual injections of new energy , a team will slowly become less than diligent , to think something is “ good enough ”. Or worse it might slowly dissolve .
As tech people , it can sometimes be difficult to wear the leadership hat . But in reality , if you are responsible for a team of technical artists , it is your burden to carry . If you won ’ t take the
time to invest your energy to build the team or build into the team or hold the team to a high standard , then no one will .
In order for a leader to have the energy required to move a team along , he / she needs to be getting that energy from somewhere . It doesn ’ t just happen by itself . Two questions you should continuously be asking yourself as a leader :
• How are you keeping yourself going ?
• What outside forces are you letting push you forward ?
Without having good answers to these questions , it becomes almost impossible to expect the teams we are leading to be thriving .
Todd Elliott Todd is a writer , speaker , technical artist in the local church and founder of FILO , which stands for First In , Last Out . FILO was born out of his own need as a technical artist in the local church to be in community with other church tech people , to learn new ways of doing things and to be inspired that what he did mattered . The more FILO-type people he met , the more convinced he was that these are things we all need . That ’ s why FILO exists : to equip , encourage and inspire technical artists in the local church to become the best version of ourselves . 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 .
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