Have you picked up the supplement to Good to Great yet? I know, it doesn’t seem like you should have to pay $8.96 for a 36-page booklet. In this case, though, I strongly recommend you bite the bullet and scurry over to Amazon to order the Good to Great and the Social Sectors "monograph" Jim Collins has created. While you’re there, make sure you also order the original Good to Great book if you haven’t read that already. The monograph really won’t make sense unless you’ve read the book…which also happens to be one of my favorites of all time.

Here are some of my favorite lines from the new monograph:

• "To throw our hands up and say, ‘But we cannot measure performance in the social sectors the way you can in a business’ is simply lack of discipline."
• "Level 5 leaders differ from Level 4 leaders in that they are ambitious first and foremost for the cause, the movement, the mission, the work–not themselves–and they have the will to do whatever it takes (whatever it takes) to make good on that ambition."
• "…do whatever you can to get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people into the right seats."
• "You must be able to answer the question, "How does focusing on what we can do best tie directly to our resource engine, and how does our resource engine directly reinforce what we can do best?’"
• "Restricted giving misses a fundamental point: to make the greatest impact on society requires first and foremost a great organization, not a single great program…the best thing supporters can do is to give resources that enable the institution’s leaders to do their work the best way they know how.

And pay particular attention to this last one: "Social sector leaders pride themselves on "doing good" for the world, but to be of maximum service requires a ferocious focus on doing good only if it fits with your Hedgehog Concept [what you're passionate about, best in the world at, and what drives your resource engine]. To do the most good requires saying "no" to pressures to stray, and the discipline to stop doing what does not fit."

In case you haven’t figured it out, I love books. Just wish I took more time to read them. That’s a regret I have in my life. I’m constantly wishing I was reading more than I do. Maybe you all can hold be accountable to that in 2006. Until then, I’ve sorted through all the books I’ve read since I started blogging in April and these are:

Tony’s Top 5 Reads from 2005

1. 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner and Lane Jones
2. Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus
3. Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham
4. First Impressions: Creating Wow Experiences in Your Church by Mark Waltz
5. Buzzmarketing by Mark Hughes

How about you? What were your favorite reads of 2005?

Note to Andy Stanley: I’ve noticed you’re posting comments on blogs all over the Web now. What’s it going to take to get you to leave a comment on my blog? I’m hoping that naming your book the "Best of 2005" will at least give me a shot at getting some of that Stanley love. How about sharing your favorite reads of 2005?

There are very few books that have made me laugh out loud, and this is one of them. You have to pick up a copy of flashBANG by Mark Steele. Mark is the president and executive creative of Steelehouse Productions. According to his blog, he and his wife, Kaysie, are also the new college pastors at Believers Church in Tulsa, OK.

flashBANG is a series of stories about Mark’s life. No, I take that back. It’s a series of conversations between Mark and God. No, I take that back, it’s a series of conversations between Mark and himself. OK, it’s all of those. Among other things, you’ll read about a wayward hamster, paralysis, a presidential inauguration gone awry, shock therapy and door-to-door cologne sales. As Mark skillfully weaves together each of his stories, you’ll be laughing, laughing, laughing, and then, POW, he’ll reveal a spiritual truth. Which might stink, I guess, if you were just into the book for a good laugh. If that’s the case, you might not like this book at all.

Clever writing. Hilarious. Full of truth. Check out the book. And, make sure you visit the flashBANG website. There’s lots of fun stuff there as well.

I picked up Seth Godin and "The Group of 33′s" new book, The Big Moo, and devoured it on my flight to and from Calgary a couple of weeks ago. It’s packed with quick stories that will help you discover the joy of "remarkable."

If you’re hunting for the big moo, innovation that completely changes the game, this is your book. It’s filled with fun insights from people like Tom Peters, Malcolm Gladwell and Guy Kawasaki…only you don’t know who is writing what…well, in most cases–Tom Peters always seems to give himself away. Here are a few of my favorite nuggets from the book:

• "…growth means change, change means risk, and risk could mean death. Nobody wants to screw up and ruin a good thing, so the organization just sits there, motionless."
• "…once you’re a commodity, you lose. In the short run, listening to the buyers and becoming boring can be profitable. In the long run, though, doesn’t it make sense to ignore your customers and stay remarkable instead?"
• "Every organization that gets into trouble falters because it waited too long to do the stuff that should have been done a long time ago."
• "If you develop a reputation as the person who is always pushing the envelope, challenging the organization to go to the next level, and using your influence to get good stuff done, you’ve got the world’s best job security… And if you surround yourself with a team that depends on you to lead them to the next big thing, you all benefit."
• "If you want to do anything new in the marketplace, you’ve got to get as serious, rigorous, and creative about renewing yourself as any other aspect of your business."
• "The enemy of new ideas is the familiar. So go someplace new."
• "Companies that are good at being edgy will always find a way to thrive."
• "…the secret to success lies not in strategy, but in galvanizing a team to implement the strategy."

By the way, there’s a big church that’s mentioned in one of the chapters. They’re doing some pretty remarkable stuff. Aren’t you curious to know what church it is? Guess you’ll have to read the book.

If you are in church leadership, I highly recommend 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner and Lane Jones. All three of these guys are on the leadership team at North Point Community Church in Atlanta. I think they’ve written the best book on church leadership that I’ve read since The Purpose-Driven Church by Rick Warren. The straightforward and insightful strategies they offer in this book could certainly be applied in any ministry setting. I felt like I was getting an insiders look at one of America’s fastest growing churches.

I won’t outline the seven practices here, because I really think you should buy the book. But, here are some of my favorite thoughts from what I read:

• "The tendency in business, or in church work for that matter, is to mistake activity for progress. We think that just because people are busy and doing a lot of stuff that we are being successful."
• "Don’t be so concerned about keeping the folks you’ve got, that you neglect the folks you’re trying to reach."
• "Unfortunately, churches have a reputation for doing ministry without an end in mind…the gravitational pull of a church is usually toward overprogramming."
• "Ministry becomes diluted because it is flowing in too many different directions. Years of adding and never subtracting have created layers of programs that all feel necessary."
• "Today’s church needs wise and courageous leaders who will simplify their activity and refocus their mission."
• "You can drastically improve how much people learn if you teach less."
• "Too many churches are hiding behind what is convenient and comfortable while an entire generation is being left in the dark."

I could go on and on. This is the type of book you should purchase for your entire team and take a chapter at a time to discuss. There are too many churches that are making ministry complicated and difficult. This book will open your eyes to how simpler may actually be better and make it easier for people to take their next steps toward Christ.

In case you missed the big announcement today, Brian and Terry launched their BloggingChurch.com site and announced their new book deal today. Congratulations guys! Hurry up and finish that book, so I can finally learn how to do this blog thing.

So, what does it take to get a pre-release copy of Seth Godin’s new book, The Big Moo? I’m on the lookout for a copy if anyone is in a charitable mood. Or would that be moooooooood?

Earlier this summer I wrapped up Andy Stanley’s The Best Question Ever. And, just to put your mind at ease up front, I’m not going to tell you what Andy thinks is the best question ever. You’ll have to pick up the book and read it for yourself.

Here, though, are some of Andy’s thoughts from the book that grabbed my attention:

• "You don’t sit around looking for reasons to do the right thing; it’s the bad decisions that require creative reasoning."
• "The random pursuits that interrupt our important routines don’t add up to anything."
• "There is nothing unique about your circumstances, your emotions, your desires, and your passions. And as long as you deceive yourself into thinking that you are the first to feel what you are feeling, you will chase those feelings to the neglect of wisdom."
• "No one rises above the need for wise counsel. No one. In fact, the more successful we become, the more we need it because there is usually more at stake in the decisions we must make."
• "Experience is a good teacher, especially if it is other people’s experience."

Andy’s book will help you bring clarity to the decisions you make in your life. I highly recommend you pick it up.

It’s official. My newest book with Tim Stevens, Simply Strategic Growth, has just been released and you can now purchase it on a computer near you through Amazon.com. Buy a copy for yourself. Buy several copies for your ministry teammates. Buy a copy for your mom. Buy a copy for your ministry teammates’ moms. We need to get that Amazon ranking on the move so that I can have at least one book ahead of Mark Waltz’s book.

The whole deal about figuring out God’s will has always been somewhat of a mystery for me. That’s why I was intrigued by Kyle Lake’s new book Understanding God’s Will: How to Hack the Equation without Formulas. You may not know Kyle yet, but you know the guy that leads worship at his church. Kyle is the pastor of University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas–home of the David Crowder Band. How fun would that be?

Here are some of my favorite lines from the book:

• "The God of the Scriptures seems more interested in relationship than performance."
• "The central question in life is not, ‘Have you discerned God’s will for your life–vocation, college, spouse, location?’ but, ‘Are you becoming a learner of Christ as you navigate life, career, family, dating/marriage, and relationships?’"
• "Herein lies a major misconception about God’s will–namely that God’s will is the path of least resistance…our mistake is to confuse an open door for an easy door."
• "Though we have intentionally chosen to follow God, that doesn’t mean our lives are exempt from disappointment, illness, conflict, and even unexpected tragedy. God’s will is not the path of least resistance!"
• "God’s primary will does not revolve around what you do, but who you are and who you are becoming."
• "No matter how each of us employs the king’s specific will for our lives, if we can’t connect it with the good of the kingdom, then we’ll most likely not experience the full meaning for which our lives were intended."

If you were hoping to find God’s will here, I’m sorry–there are no magic formulas. My offer at 1-800-ASK-TONY still stands, though. As always, I’d be glad to tell you what to do or where to go.