Do you have toddlers…or maybe had young kids in the late 1990’s or early 2000’s? If so, then you will most likely be familiar with VeggieTales. This was/is one of the most successful Christian video series for children ever produced. They sold more than 50 million (with an “M”) videos in an 11 year span of time placing their videos in 1 of every 3 American households with young children. I know that at one time, we owned everyone of their videos. I told Lisa we were buying them for the kids….but I loved them just as much….they were down right funny, but with great Biblical truths.

The creator of VeggieTales, Phil Vischer, has recently released a book entitled “Me, Myself, & and Bob.” For those of you not familiar with his cornucopia of vegetables, Bob is the tomato and Larry is the cucumber. These 2 lovable characters were the foundation of the entire VeggieTales series. Larry was the whimsical and sometimes “air headed” part of the duo, while Bob was the level headed brains behind the stories.

OK…back to Phil…

The book tell the story of the unprecedented rise and untimely fall of Big Idea…which was Phil’s company that produced VeggieTales. The book is somewhere between an autobiography, a business book, and a spiritual awakening manuscript. I will not spoil the book for you as I am sure you will want to run out and buy it, but let me share some of the lessons from the book. First, the “Thing I learned” section:

1. Never Loose sight of the numbers

• Especially when the business I was starting was supposed to be a ministry
• Just as dead men make lousy ministers, dead organizations make lousy ministries
• The balance between creative inspiration and good stewardship of resources is vital to any successful enterprise

2. Ignore the voice that says, “You deserve it.”

• Whenever I travel, I now rent compact cars and stay at the the Hampton Inn
• I have learned that once I start upgrading my travel accommodations, I’ll start upgrading everything else too. Everything will become more expensive. Once I, as the leader, start spending more money than necessary, everyone else will too. They’re watching.
• “Can’t take that job. Not enough money in it.” The more I limit my opportunities, the sooner my organization will cease to exist.

3. If you are successful identifying a need and create a product that meets it in a unique way, you are the expert.

• When it comes down to your product and the way it meets the needs of your audience, I’ll say it one more time, you are the expert.

4. Know yourself.

• Lesson 3 can get me into all sorts of trouble if I don’t have a good grasp of my strengths and weaknesses.

5. Bigger is no longer better

• A larger staff meant higher permanent overhead, and higher permanent overhead actually reduced the range of opportunities we could pursue.
• Real impact today comes from building great relationships, not huge organizations.  More overhead equals less flexibility to pursue unexpected opportunities.
• Smaller – and smarter – is better

6. If I had to do it all over again, I would let my business model determine my pay scale

• The point is this, some things are more important than money. Don’t give up on a great idea just because the business model doesn’t support “market” pay scales.

7. Build a team that rows in the same direction.

• Per Jim Collins, companies that last do so largely by building their mission and values into their cultures.

The above 7 lessons are directly from Chapter 20 of the book…now let me add a few quotes from the book that struck me:

If God gives you a dream, and the dream comes to life and God shows up in it, and then the dream dies, it may be that God wants to see what is more important to you – the dream or Him.

According to C.S. Lewis,  ”He who has God plus things has nothing more than he who has God alone.”

If I am a Christian – if I have given Christ lordship of my life – where I am in five years is none of my business. Where I am in twenty years is none of my business. Where I am tomorrow is none of my business. So our plan at Jellyfish (his new company) is to make no long range plans unless God gives them explicitly.

Henry Blackaby says one of the easiest and best ways to experience God is to identify where he is working and join him there.

The impact God has planned for us doesn’t occur when we’re pursuing impact. It occurs when we’re pursuing God.

The book is worth the read…and to share.  Amazing what you can learn from a cucumber and tomato

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