I believe as Reggie Joiner who wrote Think Orange believes, that the church and family are at a crossroad. Things are shifting around us rapidly, and the test for many leaders (and churches) will be in how quickly and completely they are willing to make a change.
Our senior Pastor Adam Hamilton has mentioned the story about cameras using Polaroid as an example there is another key story about how much and how quickly change happens. In 1991 Kodak offered the first digital camera weighing in at 8 pounds and costing $13,000.00. Nikon however was the first to make a digital SLR, a single-lens reflex camera, and it was released in 1999. The SLR allows a photographer to use interchangeable lens on the same camera and it truly helped Nixon dominate the market for professional photographers. They designed the camera body that could be used with all their existing lenses so those photographers wouldn't have to purchase new lenses. It made sense, but it meant that Nikon needed to use a smaller computer chip to capture images.
Canon took a different approach. Canon completely reinvented the digital SLR camera, releasing the EOS D30 in 2003. It required all new lenses, but it had a larger chip and better technology. Can you guess what Nikon customers did? They dumped their Nikon gear and jumped to Canon, making Canon the new leader among professional photographers.
By 2003, Kodak was struggling technologically and financially, even though they had been the first to introduce a digital camera. They severely miscalculated how fast the shift to digital would happen, Kodak executives had estimated the shift from film to digital would take about eight years. In 2005, digital cameras outsold film cameras for the first time. Kodak missed the estimate by six years and almost completely lost the company!
The problem with Kodak was
speed.
They just didn't make the shifts they needed to make fast enough.
So they lost the potential to reach a number of customers.
The mistake that Nikon made was a lack of
commitment.
They made only a partial shift; they went only halfway.
In an attempt to keep their customers happy, they gave their customers what they wanted. They were afraid too much change might alienate loyal Nikon users. Instead, they lost some of their most faithful fans.
Cannon was right on target.
They took a risk and made the change.
They didn't try to put old lenses onto new cameras because their priority was quality, not convenience. They were focused on the future. They were not preoccupied by the customers they were trying to keep, instead took a risk so they could ultimately reach new customers. They didn't react to change; they led change.
Has it ever occurred to you that the very parents in your church who complain about changes you make may also blame you one day if you lose influence with their kids? Many of them would jump at the change to go somewhere else if it might potentially increase their ability to influence their own children! Leadership doesn't mean giving parents what you think they want; it is giving them what you as a leader know they need.
Churches today need to make a shift for the sake of a generation,
A shift that integrates your strategy
A shift that synchronizes your message
A shift that reactivates the family
A shift that elevates community
A shift that leverages the influence of the next generation and mobilizes them to
be church.
If you really believe two combined influences will make a greater impact than just two influences, then maybe its time to make the shift.
Chris Barlow
twitter.com/barlow2serve
