Part 3 – Review of Culture Making by Andy Crouch
(Continued from Review – Part 2)
Another of Crouch’s insights is the principle of “3-12-120”. He argues that power is the ability to introduce a cultural good and that this inevitably starts with a small passionate team, you and a couple others.
Whether it’s an entrepreneur with a wife and friend, CEO+CFO+COO, or the President, Chief of Staff, and a couple cabinet members, everything starts on the smallest level. From there a few others are needed to round out an idea or perform key roles – the 12. Then a wider community, the 120, as the idea gains momentum. Crouch uses the book itself as an illustration: 3 – him, publisher, editor; 12 – editorial director, publicist, several designers, a few reviewers; 120 – key friends that help with content, producers at magazines, endorsers, newspapers, advertisers, etc.
He says the key is that the starting group is “absolutely” small. It must be just a few. The 12 and 120 are relative and could be smaller or larger depending on the existing organization. Of course, the 3-12-120 pattern relates to biblical patterns. Jesus had 3 “inner-circle” disciples: Peter, James, John; then the 12 disciples; then a larger group of about 120 that traveled with Him. These 120 were gathered at Pentecost and formed the initial church.
The encouraging point is that anything significant starts very small. So your idea having “just a couple others who like it” is not an excuse, it’s a requirement!
continued in Part 4
See it at Amazon: Culture Making