Messy versus sloppy

Published on May 10, 2022 by Hannah Graham

Agility is a primary characteristic of the Learning Forte team. We work within each individual client’s context to best serve them in this ever-changing and shifting digital world. We have to be agile in our plan and our timeline. While that is great in concept, in practice, it can get messy. In a recent team meeting we reflected on the readiness of our Learning Hub, which led to a broader discussion about messy versus sloppy.

So what’s the difference?

Having spaghetti night with my 3 little boys is just plain sloppy. While it can be cute for a good picture, it is a disaster zone. You can’t see it in this picture but there is a drop cloth on the floor. There is no rhyme or reason. There is just mayhem and then it’s over. The end result is careless with no thought to iteration.

Messy is when we bring out the playdough, which in our household is usually an outdoor activity. Colors are smushed together. Bits and pieces fall to the floor. Tools are used and discarded. A smush of rainbow playdough is made into a ball, and then a turtle, and then lives its final life as an armadillo.

Messy is the chaos before creation. Nothing we make will ever be perfect (not a program design, not a seminary course curriculum, not a vacation bible school) because it is made by humans. The Holy Spirit continues to inspire us to take something that we deem is “done” or “settled” and give it new life.

We are called to live into the messy process of creation. Part of that is then stepping into a brave space to share that creation – that youth retreat curriculum, that online course, that website, that thing you might deem is messy. Others will see your creation and echo the words of the original Creator by saying “it is very good.”