The executive leadership team of Chick-fil-A was in the board room, engaged in a heated discussion. Their industry was becoming increasingly competitive. They had the advantage, but Boston Chicken (later known as Boston Market) was on their heels. Maintaining their market share was crucial to Chick-fil-A’s future. As the debate roared on, the conversation inevitably turned to growth. “We must get bigger, faster!”
Truett Cathy, the CEO and founder of Chick-fil-A, sat at the head of the table listening with great intent. As the debate crescendoed, Mr. Cathy uncharacteristically began to pound his fist on the table. Immediately the room quieted as all eyes turned to their leader. With the room quiet, Mr. Cathy spoke. “I’m sick and tired of all this talk about getting bigger.” Then he said this:
“If we get better, our customers will demand we get bigger!”
This statement drove a direction for Chick-fil-A, and to Mr. Cathy’s credit, he was right. They did get better, and they certainly got bigger. Side note: I believe Boston Market went out of business.
I realize you’re not the CEO of the best fast-food restaurant in the history of the world (just my humble opinion), but Mr. Cathy’s statement is equally true for whatever you’re leading. As a leader, we are continually looking to get bigger. There is nothing wrong with getting bigger. In a church, bigger means reaching more people, engaging more relationships, changing more communities, and creating more disciples. All of that is good and necessary. But as Mr. Cathy suggested, the path to bigger goes through better.
While the pandemic has provided its fair share of unprecedented difficulties and complications, it has also afforded unparalleled opportunities to reset and relaunch better than we were. The time away from our previously regular gatherings caused everyone to pivot, learn, and rethink.
I understand you want to restart, but we don’t have to restart everything. I would argue we shouldn’t restart everything we were doing pre-pandemic. Rather than restart our churches, we should reset and relaunch something better. And as our communities reopen, being better will cause us to get bigger.
Getting better isn’t simple. Better requires change. Inevitably, our focus on better will demand honest answers to difficult questions. No ministry, model, or method can be absent from the evaluation. Some modifications may be minor tweaks. I guarantee some changes will be significant.
If you’re ready to get better, here are a few reset and relaunch questions to get you and your team started:
A Pre-Pandemic Mirror:
- Where were we growing pre-pandemic? Where were we lagging?
- What was working pre-pandemic? What had momentum?
- What wasn’t working? What were we maintaining?
- Where were we manufacturing energy? What were we “selling” that I didn’t even want to buy?
- What was missing in our model or our community pre-pandemic?
- Pre-pandemic, what was confusing to our staff, team, Elders, congregation, or community?
Some In-Pandemic Assessment:
- What did we stop doing during the pandemic? What was the result?
- What did we start doing? Did it work? Did elements of it work?
- What have we learned?
- How has the pandemic adjusted our thoughts on digital experiences and physical gatherings?
- In our ministry model, what is best executed digitally, physically, or concurrently in parallel?
Relaunch Questions:
- As you relaunch, what specific pre-pandemic strategies, methodologies, and ministries should restart?
- What strategies, methodologies, and ministries must be replaced, not restarted?
- How will you lead your staff, teams, Elders, and church through these changes?
The good news is churches have a lot of potential areas for improvement. Things like:
- Staff and church culture
- Staff and organizational structure
- Ministry strategies, models, and methods
- Digital and physical channel alignment
- Volunteer recruitment, retainment, and engagement
- Generosity streams
- Engagement pathways
- Preaching and teaching
- Connection and community
And here’s some more good news: There has never been a better time to get better, because there’s never been a better time to reset. Equally, there’s never been a worse time to restart. The world will never be what it was. Therefore, we can’t afford to attempt to pick up where we left off.
How can I help?
Getting better is why I created Transformation Solutions. At Transformation Solutions, we help churches discern what needs to change and coach pastors through the challenge of change. If you are ready to get better, I’d love to support you and your church through the process of evaluation and execution.
Go right now to mytransformationsolutions.com and sign up for a free, 30-minute conversation to decide if working together works for you.
