president of Kidz Blitz
If you don’t like change, you’re going to
like irrelevance even less. (Gen. Eric Shinseki)
If you refuse to change, you will slowly become ineffective at whatever you do. When you drift into ineffectiveness you will wake up one day to realize that you have become irrelevant. When you become irrelevant nobody cares what you do. That’s a painful place to live.
The times, they are a changin’. (Bob Dylan)
• Culture moved on.
• People’s challenges changed.
• Society’s focus shifted.
• New fears immerged.
You cannot afford to stay the same. The WAY you do things has to change.
To connect with people, (and people are what it’s all about) you must change. Change hurts. Stagnation kills. Decide which you want. No, stop! Decide NOW which you want. Don’t read and go on. Decide. Now.
Your core beliefs can stay the same. (Unless your core beliefs are flimsy/hollow. In that case you need help beyond what I can give here.) Practice what you believe in your gut. Do it. But realize you have to do those things in a changing environment.
Change.
Change something.
Change anything.
OK not your wife/husband.
Change recruiting strategy.
Change training.
Change communication.
Change books you read.
Change ways you spend time.
Shake it up.
Change foods you eat.
Change routine.
Change friends. Get new ones. Keep old ones if possible.
NO RUTS.
Stay on the road.
Change is moving from what you know to what you don’t know. It is moving from the familiar to the unfamiliar. With it comes an over-riding sense that something could/might/will go wrong.
The Bible holds up Abraham as our prime example of faith, a key ingredient for change. He left his home to go to a place he had not yet seen, a place God promised He would show him but had not yet.
Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I WILL show you. (Gen 12:1 NKJV)
There is no indication from the Bible that Abraham (Abram) was a godly/spiritual man. He lived in Ur. Most people in Ur worshipped the moon. Abraham probably did what everyone else did until God called him. That would mean he was simply a moon worshipper that was willing to: make a change, take a risk.
He made some mistakes along the way. But Abraham made changes BEFORE he knew what the changes would bring. No wonder God listed him in the Hebrews 11 Hall of Faith.
You cannot think/study/pray your way to perfect action. You WILL make mistakes. Some small. Some large. Some (maybe) catastrophic.
But the price for staying the same is far worse:
Regret
Mediocrity
Disillusion
Simple/stupid (but true) analogy: Life is like riding a bicycle. You either move or fall. But in moving you will hit some rocks/trees/people. Just peddle anyway.
My all time favorite non-Bible quote? Here it is…
Winners take imperfect action while losers are still perfecting the plan. (Gina Graves)
Read it again.
If you wait until all the lights are green, you will never move forward. Take one light at a time and go for it. “Ch-ch-ch-changes” (David Bowie)
Thank You! You don’t know how much I needed to hear this.
and the counter to this is – “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”
Just sayin’.
No philosophy has caused me more harm/grief/disappointment than “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” For me that has been the recipe for mediocrity. But that’s just me.
Thanks Roger. Can you elaborate? There are lots of philosophies out there, and you have singled out this particular one as getting the “number one” tag for harm/grief/disappointment. How so?
Here are my thoughts/opinions/observations.
Waiting for something to break is the most common reason for inaction. Marriages go bad when husbands/wives coast along assuming that if it isn’t broke it must be OK. Churches lose momentum when pastors coast along assuming that if the church is stable it must be OK. Same for businesses, organizations, schools, etc.
For many people “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is an excuse for inaction. Too often when it then breaks, it’s too late.
Often inaction is worse than wrong action. I have made a lifelong personal commitment never to become stagnant. I have a “bias for action.” That’s what this blog is about.
Thanks for interacting. I appreciate your input.
Good comments, Roger, and I agree wholeheartedly. I noticed that you used the word “assumed” a couple of times, and that, I think, is really what is critical in either approach. To me, saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” doesn’t mean don’t be watchful, or fail to constantly pay attention to how or whether things are working. What I am opposed to is change for the sake of change. I hate it when websites I frequent advertise their “new and improved” site, and I can no longer find the things I used to go to, and I fail to see any derived benefit from the change. There is something to be said for constancy – it’s not automatically bad because it’s a constant. My wife really likes the constancy of our marriage!
I am all for stability and clarity…but not complacency. For 14 years I have conducted Kidz Blitz events in hundreds of churches in every denomination. I’ve seen a lot. Fear of change hinders more ministries than over-action.
Sometimes (not always) change for the sake of change IS good. One mega-church I know does just that. They change things periodically just so people get used to change.
“When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.” Benjamin Franklin