I was playing with my kids today - building things out of Lego blocks, when I realized something. Each child has a different level of tolerance for the way we store our blocks (all thrown into one large bin).

My oldest is able to look for blocks on her own. My middle child asks me to help her find what she's looking for. And the youngest asks me to find every block for him.

But the one thing they all had in common is the search - sometimes a 5-10 minute search for the piece they needed.

At one point I recalled how my brother and I used to sort every Lego block into categories, shapes and colors for just this reason.

Why Am I Telling You This?
Our websites are just like Lego blocks. People are looking through them to find something, or to complete tasks. And if we just "dump" all the blocks out there and make them hunt for things, the less tolerant will simply leave.

Why? Because Navigation Architecture Matters!

If you've never sat down and restructured your site for usability, now is the perfect time.

Strip away all the glut, put first things first and get people where they need to go in two clicks or less if at all possible.

Believe me, they'll thank you for it.

This past weekend we spent a few days at the lake. When we returned home, we were greeted with something out of the ordinary - our neighbor's lawn looked like it had been scalped and there were piles of grass clippings all over the place.

This may mean nothing to you, but to us it meant something was terribly wrong with the world. You see our neighbor is militant about the status of his lawn. He edges regularly, keeps it trimmed nicely and always sweeps up the clippings when done.

Come to find out they were on vacation and a distant relative was helping them out by doing the lawn care. If you can call it that...

You see it is painfully obvious to us that our neighbor and his cousin are NOT on the same page. The cousin thinks it is okay to burn the lawn by cutting it too low and that clippings all over the place apparently spruce up the neighborhood.

Bring It Back To Your Team
Seems like something we should be aware of in our teams and departments. Are we operating on the same page? Do we all aspire to the same level of excellence and defend that standard?

Our team has evolved into this reality. In the past we dealt with issues related to the harmony of the team, but recently things have started to click along pretty well. Everyone is pulling hard in the same direction. We all understand the value of excellence and strive to maintain it.

Of course we don't always hit the mark but at least we're aiming for it and helping each other when we're a little off target.

I love the team I do life with at Granger!

During a weekend message our Senior Pastor, Mark Beeson, explained that information on the web is Instant, Global and Permanent.

In this case, he is referring to the things you publish, post, submit, tweet, upload, etc.

But did you know that people could be watching you even before you make it public?

I found a good example of this today when working with a couple of our IT gurus - Jason Powell and Matt Metzger.

Jason sent us a link to userfly.com - a new tool that allows you to capture visitors movements on your site.

Matt plugged it into his blog to test it out and sure enough a person lands on the site, userfly memorizes their every movement up until they exit the site. From the userfly console you can watch a screencast of the person's screen, mouse movements and clicks.

Amazing!

But This Scenario Got Me Thinking
A user goes to your blog, and decides to leave a comment. As they are typing and revising the comment so it's appropriate, userfly is capturing the entire thing. When the user hits "publish," the final, polished comment is there for the world. But in fact, I could go back and see exactly what the user was about to say... :)

Scared yet? Should be. Chances are most website owners and bloggers are not monitoring their websites with this level of detail. But it should scare you just to know that the technology is available. Who knows what is being recorded on the web. Just like the millions of video cameras in the world today capturing things we're unaware of, so too on the web, the cameras are rolling.

Listen up Kiddo's, we aren't in Kansas anymore...

I have a soft spot in my heart for a few things. Watches, Sports gear (of any kind), The North Face, and shoes.

Keen has won me over when it comes to the everyday. But Vibram just pushed the envelope wide open with their Five Fingers line of shoes.

I've always wondered what it would be like to wear a pair of shoes that made you check frequently to see if they were actually on your feet.

Back in high school I wanted wrestling shoes. Not because I was a wrestler - but because they had such thin soles.

Now I can't officially recommend these shoes because I haven't even held a pair.

But you better believe I'm going to look for them and give them a shot.

I was sitting on the porcelain throne the other day (sorry for the disturbing image that creates in your mind) when I noticed something about the pants I was wearing.

Instead of the rough, unfinished edges inside the pants, there were wrapped and finished edges. Even though it is never seen by anyone but the person wearing them.

I made sure the brand name was showing because I wanted to give props to a company that is apparently interested in excellence. Good job Union Bay.

Illustrates Excellence
This is a no-brainer for me. I can't help but look at illustrations like this and retrofit them to make sense to web design and web strategy.

In this case my question should be obvious:

Are our websites rough around the edges? Or do we take the time to 'wrap' and 'finish' the edges of our sites for our visitors?

There are many parts of our websites that visitors won't see - unless we don't take the time to develop these site components with excellence. Here are just a few of those "unseen" areas:

• Are images optimized correctly for fast download speeds?
• Are forms created well so people aren't filling out information we don't need?
• Can visitors get to (almost) every page on the our websites in two clicks or less?
• Is the site search intuitive so that it won't bring back numerous inconsequential pages?
• Is the content "web happy" so people aren't reading through chapters of information to find what they are looking for?
• Does the site flow well? Is there a logical and practical navigation strategy so people always feel like they are in control and not the website?
• Are the basics in the footer? People typically look for things like address, contact info and quick links in the footers of our websites.
• Many more...

That was a short list, but always be on the lookout for ways to keep our websites from becoming rough around the edges...

The Problem: The Zune Marketplace is quickly gaining popularity due to it's subscription based service for music. Download as much music as you like for $14.99/month and keep ten of these songs (DRM free) each month as well.

I love my subscription. I can download as much or as little as I want every month. I don't have to wonder if I'll like the music, I simply download the entire album and if I don't like certain songs I just delete them.

But it's the podcast section that I just can't figure out. I mean they have podcasts, you can subscribe to them. And you can even search for them fairly easily. They have categories and the sync process is as seamless as any iTunes functionality.

But when it comes to submitting one, you better be prepared to get frustrated. Here's why:

• When you enter the rss feed link it simply tells you it was submitted
  
• You get no confirmation email or message in your "social" Inbox
• You get no updates as to when the podcast might be accepted and included in the Marketplace
• You get no notification when it has been added to the Marketplace

Lack of Excellence: If you're going to keep up with your competition, you need to do it at least as well as they are doing it - and preferably better!

There is no reason why the "system" can't send out email notifications along the way. Implement an eCommerce solution if you have to, that tracks the submission as if it were a product sold for free. But at least make an attempt. We shouldn't have to do all the leg work to find out if our podcast has been accepted or not.

People like to be in the know. If you keep them in the dark throughout the entire process they'll get tired, irritated and begin asking, "What were they thinking?"

I was thinking the other day that life is often less fair than we hope or think it should be.

Similar to the incongruency that leads people to ask the following questions:

"Why do bad things happen to good people?"
"Why do good things happen to bad people?"

Here are the two opposing circumstances I was pondering the other day:

Right Choices Often Yield Wrong Results
Some of you probably know that I have back problems. I've been through the physical therapy, the drugs, the MRI etc. And for a while now I've been making right choices like drinking a lot of water, staying away from coffee, exercising 2-3 times per week, strengthening my core and trying to sit and stand more straight.

Needless to say I don't feel that much better. I feel 10 years younger due to the exercise but my back feels like it belongs to an 80 year old man.

Wrong Choices Often Yield Right Results
The unfortunate opposite is that when people do things that are wrong, or for the wrong reasons they often succeed in life. Here are two examples (keep in mind I worked in the mental health field for years):

• I saw a report on TV the other night that a small town close to us is doing very well economically. They have jobs, the local establishments (gas stations, restaurants, etc.) are doing well and everything seems to be on the up and up. Why you ask? Because there is a large casino there. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not condemning gambling. But I find it fascinating that something that causes so much pain and heartache in so many peoples lives (those addicted and those who lose everything when lured by the desire to better themselves) is actually making their community a better place economically...
• Bars and liquor stores often wind up in the poorest neighborhoods and are frequented a lot when times are hard. I find it sad that something like alcohol (which can't make your life better in any way, can't fix relationships and can't help you find a job) should do so well in the community.

Again, not condemning these two practices which many responsible people do in moderation. But I just found it odd as I was whining about my back and how even with the good choices I'm making, I'm not seeing results.

I guess I just have to remember that things on earth are rarely as they should be. I'll have to wait for heaven to experience that...

Follow up post to It Must be People AND Process.

To summarize: Tammy's computer had been slow for months. I could set her laptop right next to mine, enter a web address neither computer had been to before and hit enter. My laptop would bring it up immediately and hers would lag or even fail to load the page (even on a completely new install of Windows 7!).

Dell walked me through numerous phone calls, troubleshooting diagnostics and eventually sent a guy to replace my mother board and memory. Nothing worked. In fact the courtesy call from Dell after the replacement suggested that if I was still having problems I should call Comcast, because it was most definitely NOT an issue with the computer...

Because of this I began a process of testing in different locations. I took both laptops to the church - no noticeable difference in speed. I then connected to a neighbors wireless with no noticeable difference in speed. And yet in our house her computer dragged like crazy.

Eventually I unplugged the brand new D-Link Wireless N router and hooked up my old D-Link Wireless G router. Amazingly both computers seem to be running smoothly.

My Dilemma
There is part of me that feels like I need to call the people at Dell back and apologize for some heated conversations I had with the tech department. But then there is the other side of me that is just as upset with Dell.

After all, looking back at my explanation of the problem, why did no one ask about my wireless setup?

I can only assume it was because they were "minding their own business." After all, It isn't Dell's job to make sure people have their wireless routers set up correctly - right?

I never thought to check settings on the router, because every other computer in the house was running well. How could one computer not like the router? (This is still something I'm having to look into...will probably require a support call with D-Link...)

In Conclusion
In this situation I'm thinking Dell lost out big time. A few simple questions about my network and the wireless settings I was using could have saved them a house call, a mother board and new memory.

If you're in the service delivery field, try thinking bigger picture next time. It may not be your product to support, but if it saves you time and money in the long run, maybe it's worth the time and effort. DON'T simply mind your own business...

Our annual conference at Granger Community Church is fast approaching.

Each year we look forward to meeting with hundreds of churches and over a thousand leaders in the church world to share innovative new ways to reach people for Christ.

This has been a hard year for everyone. Because of this, "Exposed" is the backdrop in front of which we'll discuss the failing economy and how it has impacted us at Granger.

Enjoy great teaching and incredible arts along with targeted Breakout Sessions and Casual Q&A sessions where you can sit down with Granger staffers and ask your questions.

If you're as excited as I am you'll want to keep up with the buzz by subscribing to the Countdown2Innovate Video Podcast. Tim Stevens and Kem Meyer will keep you in the loop and will keep you rolling at the same time with their short video interviews about the conference.

Other fun stuff: Visit the Who's In? page to see churches that have already signed up. Grab badges to put on your site or blog. And find the links to our Twitter and Facebook accounts.

See you all there!

Isn't it funny how HUGE a role communication plays in your workplace?

If it's missing we say, "There was a breakdown in communication."

If there is too much communication we say, "There are too many cooks in the kitchen."

So how do you deal with communication in your workplace? Meetings, phone calls, texts, IM, Twitter, hallway conversations, etc. How do you manage all that and still stay productive?

At Granger, we've shifted our focus quite a bit. When I first started working at the church it wasn't unheard of to have multiple meetings per day - every day. After all, you need to meet in order to get stuff done, right? Well, as it turns out, you can meet so much that nothing gets done. You come up with all sorts of good ideas that never get realized.

The Issue with Meetings
Here's what it all boils down to. In every company, business, department or church there are three types of people:

1. The Dreamers: Those that cast vision, see the big picture and have the next big idea. Highly capable of dreaming and speaking but rarely part of the day to day.
   
2. The Middlemen: Those who have the ability to add value to the vision and fine tune the big picture while at the same time playing an active role in the follow through. Able to troubleshoot and complete tasks.
   
3. The Front Liners: Those that are getting it done. They flesh out the vision that has been passed down in the form of task lists and project scopes. Able to get numerous things done each day but typically stay out of the big picture stuff.

Sound familiar? Can you lump your people into these three categories?

What we did at the beginning was grab everyone on the team for every single meeting. Problem is, the Front Liners were getting stressed out. Not only were they being pulled off the assembly line for large amounts of time, but in the meetings they got to watch their task lists grow!

The Solution?
The Dreamers now have more high level meetings with other Dreamers. When they are ready to flesh out their ideas they meet with some of the Middlemen (this includes women of course...). And finally, when it's time to implement, there is either a short meeting where the Front Liners attend, or the Middlemen simply pull the Front Liners aside during the day and walk through the new project, task or process.

The cool thing is that this issue break down when it comes to other forms of communication. Our entire team is connected at any given time via email, text, IM and Twitter (notice I did NOT say by phone). This works well because it only interrupts the work flow if you allow it to. This way you can keep ideas flowing without interrupting the assembly line.

How about you? Feeling "meetinged to death"? Give this new strategy a try and see if it helps.

I purchased a Dell Studio 15 laptop (yes...pink) for my wife back in January. But over time it began to slow down and have issues that no 4 month old computer should have. Outlook wasn't happy, the fan ran constantly, IE8 would take WAY too long to load average web sites, etc.

So last week I began the troubleshooting process.

I started at home by re-installing Windows Vista 64bit OS with no success. Still slow.

I then worked with our IT guys here at Granger to install the free version of Windows 7 to see if that helped. However, it did not. Because of this the IT guys suggested I call Dell as it was most likely a hardware issue.

And so began my 3-day ordeal with Dell.

1. I talked with laptop support who ran an hour long test. Test failed because I had deleted a "diagnostic partition" when re-installing the OS.
2. When they learned this was an issue they transferred me to the software department. The software department ran me through a number of procedures like starting in safe mode and reverting all settings to default. Still no joy. So they transferred me back to the hardware department.
3. I was accidentally transferred to desktop hardware support and spent 20 minutes describing the problem to the wrong person who then transferred me to laptop hardware support.
4. Now I've come full circle and I'm worried that they will recognize me and send me back to software support. But this time it is something else. Since I installed Windows 7 they cannot help me. I need to put Vista 64 bit back on the machine before they can help me further.
5. I spend the rest of the day loading Vista 64 bit back on the computer.
6. This morning I call back laptop hardware support and say, "I'm good to go - have Vista 64 bit installed."
7. They walk me through a battery of tests and hardware checks (including taking the back off the laptop and removing and replacing memory cards in random variations.)
8. Interesting side note - the machine ran faster with one memory card (2GB) than with both installed (4GB)...
9. We then upgraded the BIOS to the most recent version. Still no changes in speed.

So we've now put over three days and countless hours into the machine and the final result:

Dell has decided to send someone to my house to replace the mother board, both memory cards and the hard drive...

Wow! What a process.

In Summary
I didn't have one person treat me poorly. They were all professional, took their time and went by the book to fix the problem. They called me "Sir" and said "please" and "thank you" a lot. They apologized for the time I was putting in and always asked if there was anything else they could do for me.

So why did I feel so drained? Because it was the Process that was faulty...not the People.

How often do we put on a big smile and be as nice as possible but never attempt to make the process more enjoyable for people?

Are we providing technical support for a website that drains the life out of people? If so, we need to make some changes quickly.

Maybe we should make this our goal:

Design a web experience that will ensure people are happy with the process. Then when they encounter the people they will be wowed and not just satisfied with the outcome.

I know I've mentioned Tammy before, probably in passing on a post about family or something to that end. But have I officially introduced you to her?

She's not only my wife and the mother of our three kids, but she's an amazing woman in her own right.

God TOTALLY knew what he was doing when He interrupted my long string of superficial relationships and asked me to grow up long enough to recognize what true love is all about.

It's not even our anniversary. But maybe that's the point. You're supposed to say nice things about each other on days like that. But how about July 14 at 4:56 in the afternoon? Shouldn't you feel the same way then?

Tammy is so many things to me. Trying to summarize them all would be less than accurate, so let me list just a few of the things I've seen recently that take my breath away:

• She does more in a day than I do in a week. Seriously...a full time job, three kids, a home, bills, a grumpy husband, and the list goes on...
• She is the glue in our relational world. Time and time again she keeps us connected to family and friends in ways I don't even dream about.
• She goes above and beyond for the kids. If it were up to me we'd stay at home 80% of the time. But Tammy sets up activities for the kids so we don't fall into that rut. This summer it was everything from Spring Hill Camps to soccer, swimming lessons and VBS.
• She supports me. Even when I get a bit off center and want to buy thousands of dollars worth of SCUBA equipment, she allows me the freedom to check off "bucket list" items with the boys.
• She still finds the time to sell jewelry through Lia Sophia and hold garage sales that take weeks to prepare for.
  
• And finally, she went camping this summer. Yes, she stepped WAY out of her comfort zone in upper Wisconsin and did amazingly well considering mother nature was a complete &*%$! and sent us rainy cold weather for the entire trip.

Those are just a few of the many reasons. I thank God every day for bringing her into my life.

Those of you that know Tammy will agree with me. Those of you that don't, should really get to know her.

I'm definitely NOT an expert on CMS.

However, I still get asked the question a lot - typically by people that read my blog or attend our workshops - typically from smaller churches or organizations that aren't ready to shell out big bucks for complete web design/development/CMS packages.

Luckily there is a middle road between a blog and full blown web development.

These robust online CMS options give you the ability to develop websites with typical html pages, blogs, photo galleries, eCommerce and more. This along with simple administration behind the scenes and you have a cheap alternative that looks fairly professional.

Obviously you don't have 100% control over the look/feel of the sites created by these CMS engines but it's a lot closer than trying to redesign a template on Blogger or TypePad.

For an excellent read on CMS: 10 Simple Rules for Choosing the Perfect CMS + Excellent Options.

Enjoy!

For those of you wondering:

• gccwired.com is completely designed from the ground up (including CMS) by our partners at aspireone.com (great team to work with).
• wiredchurches.com was just redone on the Drupal platform with Ubercart eCommerce running the store. We worked with Commerce Guys on this project and had a blast. Check them out if you're in the market for a good eCommerce solution.

I rented the movie Know1ng last night and was surprised a bit by the impact it had on me.

I just told you I love movies that answer The Big Three questions (see recent post) but I also love movies that are eschatological in nature. So I'll typically see them in the theater or as soon as the come out on video.

In this case I just missed it in the theater so when I saw it on On Demand I was quick to check it out.

Again, not a movie that accurately explains what happens at the end of time. But I don't mind. I'm solid in my end time beliefs so it fascinates me to see what people come up with when they have no guidance (like we do with the Bible).

Some takeaways (without ruining the plot of the film):

• Typical tension between those with religious views and those with scientific minds.
• Interesting take on the final event that extinguishes the human race.
• Interesting take on those NOT from this world and how they interact with the humans.
• Interesting take on the cyclical nature of humanity and the influence/guidance by those NOT of this world.
• Interesting take on the way the way those NOT of this world communicate and guide those on earth.

I loved the "M. Night Shyamalan" feel of the film - thriller and horror mix that really worked.

Made you think about the relationship between parent and child along with reminding you just how fragile life on earth really is.

I don't know about you, but it's hard for me to stay fired up about the end of time.

Luckily films like this come along and remind you just how relevant it really is.

I've gotta say, I'm a bit perplexed. When I think of social networking, I don't think of Coleman.

I mean I understand their slant on it. Just by using the words "social networking" they appear relevant and current.

Social networking today implies Internet connectedness so the thought of it meaning relationship building around a campsite is an interesting twist.

Can't say I'm impressed or irritated. Just saw the new campaign and thought it was worth mentioning...