June 21, 2015
By Eddie Pipkin
You’ve probably never heard of Alex Kipman. He’s the engineer behind one of the ‘wow’ developments in tech devices right now, a gizmo that Microsoft is developing called the HoloLens. According to Time Magazine, the HoloLens is a virtual reality headset that “effectively projects 3-D holograms directly in front of the user in a seamless blend of fantasy and reality” and was recently demonstrated for what the Time writers called a “stunned press corps.” It’s pretty amazing. Videos show teachers using holograms that appear to be hovering in the room and interactive and visible to all the students in the room wearing the HoloLens headsets. (Here’s a link to Microsoft’s breathless promotional video: http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+hololens&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=D4D3D9BEFE3FAE094CE0D4D3D9BEFE3FAE094CE0.)
It’s Alex Kipman’s job to shepherd and bring to life these kinds of bold ideas. His actual job title for Microsoft’s Xbox division is “Director of Incubation,” and he headed up a previous little project called the Xbox Kinect, which used sensors to revolutionize the way gamers use their own body motions to interact directly with video games.
Tech companies don’t survive and thrive without creativity and innovation, and neither do congregations. Do you have a “Director of Incubation” as part of your leadership?
Sure, we have Trustees Chairs and Finance Chairs and Staff-Parish Chairs, ad infinitum, the necessary structures to keep our congregations organized and operating with integrity. But within our leadership structures is there a built-in focus and celebration on creativity? Do we have a process for generating and empowering new ideas and new ways of thinking?
Microsoft is actually a pretty great example for church leaders to cons