Rich Kao

E-mail, in my mind, is still the killer app.  Yes, we've got IM, blogs, facebook, twitter, Skype, and more coming down the pike, but e-mail still remains the workhorse king.  It actually helps you get work done, and it actually helps you MANAGE organizations.  I am living proof that virtual organizations work and that the world has indeed become flat, as Thomas Friedman has so eloquently posited. 

Here's my story.  I run five organizations (5S, SCI, CTP, HISG, GH) from my "command central" at home.  I pastor a church, and head four other non-profit organizations.  My church has office space, but they are all taken up by our staff.  So I operate out  my 12 x 15 study (with nice cathedral ceiling and bookshelves).  Between these organizations, I have people working in the US (four different cities - New York, Atlanta, Nashville, Minneapolis) and staff in China (two major cities) and Canada (Vancouver based).  That's operations, administrative, and ministry personnel in seven different cities across the world.  Our working head count is 15 people.   How does this happen?  By e-mail!  I communicate and manage work flow, logistics, ministry responsibilities and projects by e-mail, (followed by the phone, and then by face-to-face meetings).  It's absolutely incredible that in the 21st century we can do this and do it well.  It cuts down on overhead, office space, commutes (it's green), and much, much more.  Course, you don't have the daily face-to-face interaction, but the relationships are maintained by regular phone calls and in person visits. 

It's pretty amazing that organizations can function like this at a distance, with people in separate places; virtually.  And the best part is this is being leveraged for the Kingdom.  This is our new "Roman Roads."  Paul leveraged the roads and trade routes of his day to expand the kingdom, and us modern day servants are doing the same - leveraging the new digital roads for Jesus!