Music Paradigm

I was thinking about my blog post from yesterday and brainstorming my own field (the music industry - more specifically, the Christian music industry) for paradigms. The first one I thought of...

1.     1. Music Piracy

(Before I begin, let it be known that I’ve had my share of illegal downloads, TRUST me. I’m speaking to myself here too).

People steal music. It’s a pattern. It happens. It’s the norm. Even people who spend their lives making a living off of music accept it.  This is a problem.

We’re raising a generation of people who think they have entitlement to anything and everything, whether it belongs to them or not.  For the youtube-iPod generation (my generation), everything is at our fingertips. A lot of people simply don’t or won’t pay for music anymore. Even Christians. And why should they? It’s as easy as a click of a button the music is stored safely in their music library. Why take the time to type in a password, and have your credit/debit card charged?

Well…obviously it’s ethically wrong….but for some reason, most people don’t think that way. Then again, it’s ethically wrong to drive five miles over the speed limit, but we do that anyway, don’t we?

It seems like laws are much tougher on stealing book texts and films. I realize that music files are easier to post...but something’s gotta give. Somebody’s gonna figure this thing out, or the music industry will continue to decline. Am I wrong on this?

Having good intentions isn't the same as being intentional

Having good intentions and being intentional aren’t the same thing.

The founders of America could have just had good intentions and hoped America turned out a successful democracy. However, they were intentional. They didn’t just believe/hope/dream. They were intentional. They acted. How?

They pushed themselves to go beyond their means. They directed America on a path to becoming (arguably) the greatest nation in the world, by setting up an unbeatable model of democracy. This came from making good decisions. This concept applies to organizations, teams and individuals. Direction, NOT intention, determines where you’ll end up. You can hope and dream and believe all you want, but if the decisions you’re making on a daily basis don’t reflect where you want to ultimately be in life, then you’re on you way to …well…somewhere else.

Rather than having good intentions, make good decisions.

Good intentions and being intentional aren’t the same thing.

 Oh, and happy birthday America.

Rethinking Paradigms

A paradigm is the typical example or pattern of something. A paradigm is something that we accept as the “norm.” Since there is already a paradigm in every industry/field/business/realm, we tend not to think outside of it. The ironic part is that, what is currently the paradigm in your given area, was NOT the paradigm at one point in the past, right? This means that someone had to think outside of the box - the box of what was generally accepted at the time, to develop what is currently the norm now – and chances are, it came against a lot of criticism before the paradigm took it’s place as the accepted pattern in that field. 

In every industry there are paradigms, and in nearly every industry those widely accepted patterns could be improved upon. 

One of the best examples I can think of is something that Andy Stanley (Pastor of North Point church in Atlanta, GA) brought up in one of his talks. He said that an accepted routine/pattern in the American church is for the person who speaks every Sunday to be the person who leads the church. Isn’t that true? I suppose this makes a great deal of sense if the person who preaches every Sunday is a great leader. However, if the speaker is an excellent communicator and teacher, but only an average leader/visionary, the chances are more likely that it will be an average church than an excellent one. And it works both ways. A pastor could be a great leader/planner/organizer, but not great at delivering from the stage. What’s the answer to this? Video church? Co-pastors? I don’t know! Maybe there’s not one… but I do think it’s a great example of a current pattern or PARADIGM, that is worth being looked at.

What is that paradigm that everyone accepts without thinking in your field? We live in a culture of constant change. That pattern will eventually be re-thought and revised to be more efficient by SOMEONE at SOME point. So it might as well be you, now. 

Because blogging is cool...

Blogs. Short for Weblogs, I’m assuming? I never understood that. As if “weblog” was just too long to say.

I don’t wanna be one those dudes who hides behind a computer screen and spouts off random negative opinions that no one reads (or if they do, they don’t really care). Nor do I wanna be one of those people who writes about current events/happenings in their life, like an online diary. I DO wanna be a positive outlet, and write down my thoughts and ideas of creativity here. It could make a lot of sense or it could be all over the place. Maybe someone will read. Maybe not. And that’s okay. I have a lot of thoughts and it’s therapeutic for me to write them down…even if no one reads them. But maybe you WILL read. And maybe you’ll agree…or maybe you’ll disagree. And that’s okay too! Here’s to hoping that something fun and positive will come from Caleb Grimm typing on a blog.

Oh…why the name? "Cool Beans"…it’s a phrase I’ve caught myself saying a lot lately. No real reason, but it’s easy to remember…and perhaps every time I say the phrase, it’ll remind me to update my blog. :) 

Now onto my first REAL post...