Importance: 50%
The Big Idea
The faulty idea that the best or most effective solution to distributing an idea is to cleanly package it up in a curriculum or book or journal and send it out as a polished product.
The biggest problem with this approach is that it completely closes off the collaboration loop. Anyone that is not a writer or editor has no ability to contribute or even dialogue with the authors in a meaningful manner. Instead the “other” is always a consumer either buying and endorsing the product wholesale or rejecting it.
In the instance of curriculum so often the packaging is either unusable within a particular ministry context without a lot of altering or things are taught in a very ridge way because “that’s the curriculum.” The impulse to being unhappy with a written product is not to work with anyone to make things better but is to scrap it all and make something “better” yourself. Again it becomes clear that this packaging trap kills honest collaboration between churches and pastors.
Not only that but packaging immediately lends itself to the temptation to make money or market it like any other product off the internet. This approach quickly leaves the realm of sharing good ideas and practices in good faith to being just one more get rich quick scheme or fame booster.
The counter balance to this would be: Collaborative Distribution.