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Ready or Not: Kingdom Innovation for a Brave New World
There was a time when Christians pioneered the future-from business to church, mathematics to justice reform. Along the way, that redemptive, adaptive movement began to gild in gold the victories of the past, leaving us change averse and frozen in time.
But ready or not, the invitation is for kingdom leaders to reclaim their calling to innovate.
Weaving together stories with surprising twists, studies with striking conclusions, and spellbinding cultural analysis, Doug Paul unlocks the five phases of kingdom innovation. Practical, hope-filled, and endlessly readable, Ready or Not reveals that whenever God's people have leaned into innovation, the world has shifted on its axis.
But ready or not, the invitation is for kingdom leaders to reclaim their calling to innovate.
Weaving together stories with surprising twists, studies with striking conclusions, and spellbinding cultural analysis, Doug Paul unlocks the five phases of kingdom innovation. Practical, hope-filled, and endlessly readable, Ready or Not reveals that whenever God's people have leaned into innovation, the world has shifted on its axis.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 6, 2020
39 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 15, 2025
Ready or Not grabbed me from the start—not just because of its message, but because of how it delivered it. The storytelling style reminded me of Malcolm Gladwell: rich with narrative, grounded in history, and packed with relevance. That made the book not just an engaging read, but one that stuck with me.
One core theme that really resonated was the emphasis on testing small before scaling big—something that’s directly connected to my work at ONOW. We’ve seen firsthand how refining ideas with small groups before a full launch often determines the success or failure of a program. In both nonprofits and churches, it’s tempting to roll out a grand vision without real-world testing or honest feedback. But as the authors argue, innovation thrives in the small spaces first. Without that iterative approach, even the best ideas can fall flat.
The story of Henry Ford was particularly eye-opening. We often celebrate Ford as the father of innovation, but Ready or Not flips that narrative to show how his success with the Model T almost cost him everything. His unwillingness to adapt to changing needs is a sobering reminder that yesterday’s success can be tomorrow’s blind spot. The same goes for the story of Sears, which dominated its era only to lose its edge by failing to evolve with the digital shift. These examples serve as strong metaphors for churches and ministries still clinging to models that worked decades ago but are now out of step with culture. Context is critical—and ignoring it can be fatal.
The book also challenged my thinking around leadership in the nonprofit and faith sectors. Too often, we’re good at honoring history but bad at paying attention to the present. I’ve seen churches hold onto programming styles from the 1940s, or nonprofits use engagement models that made sense five years ago but no longer reflect the realities of digital exhaustion, isolation, and cultural fragmentation. There’s a danger in mistaking past methods for biblical mandates. That distinction matters deeply if we hope to build communities that speak to today’s world—not just yesterday’s.
While the book didn’t give me a specific “how-to” list, it did reaffirm the importance of one practice I believe in deeply: evaluation. Too many teams skip that step. They finish a program, celebrate that it’s done, and move on—without asking what worked, what didn’t, or if the whole thing needs to be rethought. Postmortems (even for successful efforts) are where real innovation is born, and Ready or Not reinforces that truth.
In the end, this is a book I’d wholeheartedly recommend to ministry teams, nonprofit leaders, or even small businesses wrestling with how to innovate well. It’s not just theory—it gives you language, stories, and frameworks that make it easier to have the right conversations with your team. This isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about building sustainable models of change rooted in reality. And that’s the kind of innovation the world needs more of.
One core theme that really resonated was the emphasis on testing small before scaling big—something that’s directly connected to my work at ONOW. We’ve seen firsthand how refining ideas with small groups before a full launch often determines the success or failure of a program. In both nonprofits and churches, it’s tempting to roll out a grand vision without real-world testing or honest feedback. But as the authors argue, innovation thrives in the small spaces first. Without that iterative approach, even the best ideas can fall flat.
The story of Henry Ford was particularly eye-opening. We often celebrate Ford as the father of innovation, but Ready or Not flips that narrative to show how his success with the Model T almost cost him everything. His unwillingness to adapt to changing needs is a sobering reminder that yesterday’s success can be tomorrow’s blind spot. The same goes for the story of Sears, which dominated its era only to lose its edge by failing to evolve with the digital shift. These examples serve as strong metaphors for churches and ministries still clinging to models that worked decades ago but are now out of step with culture. Context is critical—and ignoring it can be fatal.
The book also challenged my thinking around leadership in the nonprofit and faith sectors. Too often, we’re good at honoring history but bad at paying attention to the present. I’ve seen churches hold onto programming styles from the 1940s, or nonprofits use engagement models that made sense five years ago but no longer reflect the realities of digital exhaustion, isolation, and cultural fragmentation. There’s a danger in mistaking past methods for biblical mandates. That distinction matters deeply if we hope to build communities that speak to today’s world—not just yesterday’s.
While the book didn’t give me a specific “how-to” list, it did reaffirm the importance of one practice I believe in deeply: evaluation. Too many teams skip that step. They finish a program, celebrate that it’s done, and move on—without asking what worked, what didn’t, or if the whole thing needs to be rethought. Postmortems (even for successful efforts) are where real innovation is born, and Ready or Not reinforces that truth.
In the end, this is a book I’d wholeheartedly recommend to ministry teams, nonprofit leaders, or even small businesses wrestling with how to innovate well. It’s not just theory—it gives you language, stories, and frameworks that make it easier to have the right conversations with your team. This isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about building sustainable models of change rooted in reality. And that’s the kind of innovation the world needs more of.
October 6, 2020
Loving this new release by Doug Paul. It's got a Malcolm Gladwell vibe with snippets of both secular and Christian case studies throughout that he spends time framing through a kingdom lense. Then he pulls out kingdom principles from those.
A huge takeaway for me right now is how it's teaching me to partner with the Holy Spirit better as I get hunches and work them out over a period of time rather than expecting the Holy Spirit to give me a lightening bolt that I can adhere to forever. I'm leaning into this method as we innovate what our house church will look like during covid once the weather turns colder.
A huge takeaway for me right now is how it's teaching me to partner with the Holy Spirit better as I get hunches and work them out over a period of time rather than expecting the Holy Spirit to give me a lightening bolt that I can adhere to forever. I'm leaning into this method as we innovate what our house church will look like during covid once the weather turns colder.
October 7, 2020
Game changing book. There have been a few books the past couple years that have really shaped me (Alan Hirsch's Forgotten Ways, Tod Bolsinger's Canoeing the Mountains, etc.) and this now is added to that short list. If you like innovation and mission you are in for an absolute treat with this one.
With a mix of Malcolm Gladwell structure, Heath Brother's clarity, and Hirsch's mission focus I cannot recommend this book enough. It combines so many brilliant ideas and concepts together in such a digestible form. From Roger Martin's Design of Business to Christensen's Innovator's Dilemma to Eric Ries' The Lean Startup. The thing that amazed me about the book though was how Doug took these concepts and beautifully wove them into the idea of Kingdom innovation and made it so easy to read. Often things can feel too theoretical or divorced from Scripture but this book suffered from neither of those. It was incredibly practical and you can tell it was written by someone who has truly walked folks through the innovation process. The spirituality sections and Scripture connections were spot on.
What an important book for such a time as this. Going to be re reading this a couple times to unpack all the content.
With a mix of Malcolm Gladwell structure, Heath Brother's clarity, and Hirsch's mission focus I cannot recommend this book enough. It combines so many brilliant ideas and concepts together in such a digestible form. From Roger Martin's Design of Business to Christensen's Innovator's Dilemma to Eric Ries' The Lean Startup. The thing that amazed me about the book though was how Doug took these concepts and beautifully wove them into the idea of Kingdom innovation and made it so easy to read. Often things can feel too theoretical or divorced from Scripture but this book suffered from neither of those. It was incredibly practical and you can tell it was written by someone who has truly walked folks through the innovation process. The spirituality sections and Scripture connections were spot on.
What an important book for such a time as this. Going to be re reading this a couple times to unpack all the content.
October 6, 2020
I don't personally know many strategic leaders at the source of mission movements that envelop thousands of people. And I only know slightly more pastors serving quietly in one of the poorest neighborhoods in America. Doug Paul happens to be both.
Ready or Not lays out a credible design pathway for kingdom expressions that God uses to strike the need of the moment with power and precision. It repeatedly challenges our mindset, our practices, and even our hearts. (I personally am most challenged by the inescapable rhythm of plan, try, fail, tweak, over and over again until it catches fire—how badly do I feel I need to get it right the first time!)
Every leader needs to ponder what it means to practice these principles where God has placed them.
Ready or Not lays out a credible design pathway for kingdom expressions that God uses to strike the need of the moment with power and precision. It repeatedly challenges our mindset, our practices, and even our hearts. (I personally am most challenged by the inescapable rhythm of plan, try, fail, tweak, over and over again until it catches fire—how badly do I feel I need to get it right the first time!)
Every leader needs to ponder what it means to practice these principles where God has placed them.
March 5, 2021
I kept finding myself wanting to be skeptical of Paul's arguments but then realizing that I was falling into the very mental traps or fallacies that he was describing. A lot of our current church strategies simply aren't working anymore. They're super old ideas we just keep trying over and over again despite disappointing results! In the end, this is an incredibly encouraging and invigorating read for anyone who hopes to be a Christian leader. It contains the right mix of theology, practicality, and narrative to inform and inspire its reader.
October 21, 2020
An engaging read that uses story-telling and historical examples to explain simple principles of innovation that can be used in any context. Doug Paul explains how the church as a whole tends to neglect these innovative principles that are crucial to growing where God is calling ministries to go. I believe not only Christian pastors and leaders will benefit from his teachings, but any Christian who is involved in ministry and spiritual community can utilize these principles as well.
May 11, 2024
More of a business book than a Kingdom book.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews