A Minute to Think: Leading with Less in a Season of More

In August 2025, I attended the Global Leadership Summit and heard Juliet Funt speak about what she calls “leadership gluttony.” Although I had never heard of Funt before, her session became my favourite of the entire event. I have since listened to Juliet Funt’s book, A Minute to Think. Her GLS talk focused on one chapter of that book, Chapter 5, titled “The Simplification Questions: Reclaiming the Best by Removing the Rest.“

Funt’s message struck a chord—especially as I think of what is next for SEND International. We’ve recently experienced a leadership transition in several key roles, and new leaders bring fresh energy and ideas. While these new directions inspire hope, Funt urges us to pause and ask: What can we remove from the old to make space for the new?

Her book calls us to reclaim space in our lives, ministries, and leadership. It’s not a plea for more time off—it’s a call to focus on what matters most. Funt introduces the concept of white space: intentional, unscheduled time for reflection, creativity, and strategic clarity. I would add that we also need this time to hear the voice of our Lord.

Thinking is time well spent.

A Minute to Think, chapter 1.

In a culture that idolizes busyness, many dismiss white space as unproductive. In mission circles, we may protest that we don’t idolize busyness, but Western culture still influences us deeply. Often, we equate busyness with commitment. Funt challenges that assumption and insists that white space—time to think—is essential.

The Four Thieves of Time

Funt identifies four forces that often masquerade as virtues. When left unchecked, they sabotage our productivity and effectiveness as Kingdom workers.

• Drive – The compulsion to “do it all.” Drive can fuel achievement, but without limits, it leads to burnout.
• Excellence – The pursuit of perfection. High standards can stall progress and paralyze decision-making.
• Information – The hunger for more data. In our age of overload, we often feel we must know everything before we decide and act.
• Activity – The addiction to motion. Constant busyness may feel productive, but it often crowds out prayer, strategic thinking, and meaningful work.

Funt calls these compulsions “thieves.” They aren’t inherently bad—in fact, leadership circles often celebrate them. They may even reflect our strengths. But without boundaries, they become gluttons that are never satisfied. Funt warns that these compulsions rob us of clarity, focus, and effectiveness when we fail to manage them.

Despite the valuable essence of the thieves–Drive, Excellence, Information, and Activity–too often they’ve taught us and our companies to intensify everything and never let anything go. Their gluttony is crushing the dear and noble glimmer of greatness within us.

A Minute to Think, chapter 5.

The Four Simplification Questions

To counter these thieves, Funt offers four simplification questions—tools for applying a reductive mindset:

• Is there anything I can let go of? (to counter the Drive compulsion)
  This question invites us to release tasks, meetings, or responsibilities that no longer serve our mission.
• Where is “good enough,” good enough? (to counter the Excellence compulsion)
  Not everything requires perfection. Sometimes, “good enough” is exactly what’s needed.
• What do I truly need to know? (to counter the Information compulsion)
  This helps us filter out the noise and focus on the data that actually informs wise decisions.
• What deserves my attention? (to counter the Activity compulsion)
  Amid the whirlwind of tasks, this question helps us prioritize what truly matters.

These questions are deceptively simple—but when used consistently, they create space for better and more focused ministry.

Strategic Pauses and Hallucinated Urgency

Juliet Funt encourages us to insert strategic pauses—deliberate moments of stillness between tasks. These pauses allow us to recuperate, reflect, and recalibrate. They aren’t wasted time; they’re the oxygen that fuels thoughtful ministry and leadership.

One practical way to implement this is through what Funt calls the Wedge—a small slice of white space intentionally placed between activities. The Wedge gives us a moment to breathe, observe, and reset before diving into the next task. It helps prevent reactive decision-making and creates space for clarity and calm.

For example, you could schedule online meetings for 50 or 55 minutes instead of a full hour. I use an app called Calendly, which inserts a 10-minute buffer between meetings. That’s my Wedge for meetings. But we can also insert Wedges between a request and our response, or between having an idea and acting on it.

Funt also warns against hallucinated urgency—the false belief that everything must be done now. By categorizing urgency more accurately, we can unhook from the culture of immediacy and reclaim control over our time.

Why This Matters for SEND

Juliet Funt challenges us to lead and work with intention, to subtract before we add, and to make space for what matters most.

In SEND, we’re in a season of transition and innovation. New leadership means new initiatives, new goals, and new energy. But as we move forward, Funt’s message reminds us that addition without subtraction leads to overload.

As servants of Christ, seeking to live as representatives of the King, we must not let the glutton of activity control us. We must ask:

• What initiatives truly align with our mission and calling?
• What ministries should we celebrate and then lay to rest because they no longer serve as effectively?
• What meetings, reports, or practices can we stop or reduce or do less frequently to make room for what matters most?
• How can we insert white space to hear the voice of our Master amid all the other calls for our attention?