Launch It! What Are You Waiting For?
Hey everyone, this is the full article from the blog. If you want to comment or share, just head on over to mytransformationsolutions.com.
NEW ARTICLE (3 Minute Read):
I recently launched a consulting and coaching company, and I’m a bit embarrassed.
I love launching things, but I tend to HATE the process of launching the thing.
Anyone else?
My struggle is with perfection. I hate the creation work because I never feel fully finished with the project, product, or sermon that needs launching. I dread starting the process because I know the struggle to get it right the first time is real. Perfection is my enemy of done, and therefore my enemy of started, too.
An author friend once mentioned a similar struggle with writing. Her comment unlocked something in me.
Here’s what she said: “Every book begins with a terrible first draft.”
Duh! You know that. I know that, too, but I haven’t always embraced this truth in every aspect of my creating endeavors.
Every single message I preach begins as a bad first draft. I’m usually embarrassed by version one. Luckily, I preach revision five or six. I never preach version one!
Every organizational model change begins as an idea in need of more work and manipulation. It’s never quite right the first time.
This is true for everything we create. Launch perfection is mostly impossible, and that pursuit keeps too many of us from starting.
I’m trying to be better by actively living this out in front of you. At this very moment, I’m starting a consulting and coaching company. I’ve been doing this for years unofficially, but after completing my doctorate in November 2020, I wanted to help more churches in a more official capacity. Hence the beginning of Transformation Solutions.
But to be honest, my instinct was to get everything perfect before starting. I wanted the website to be perfect. The first ebook offering to be perfect. Several blog articles to be scheduled without a single typo. So I began the pursuit of launching perfection – until I realize this path would never lead to a launch. Transformation Solutions would never exist if it required complete perfection before launch.
So in February, I just began.
Since the launch, I’ve met over Zoom with several churches to present the Lasting Change Framework. The presentation wasn’t perfect at my first presentation. I changed it for the second and again for the third. The presentation has evolved to iteration six at this point. I want to meet again with those first few churches and ask for a “redo.” But I also know the only way to get it right is to get started. The path to version six is to have a lousy version one.
So welcome to my imperfect company — Transformation Solutions. We help churches discern what needs to change and coach pastors through the challenge of change. And I should add, “as I am changing, too.” That is the secret, I think. Just get started and allow the course to correct as you move forward. After all, it’s impossible to course correct a ship still tied to the dock.
I imagine you have things that need starting, too. I bet you are ready to launch something or fix something or try something. You are itching to make something better.
So just start.
You aren’t ready. You don’t have enough information or all the answer. Me either.
SO JUST START!
Starting is the best way to get it right. Please don’t wait for the perfect product. Start the process and allow the product to become perfect in time.
Like Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, once said, “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”
The Devastation of Innovation
Did you have a Palm Pilot? I did, and I thought I was pretty cool carrying around a handheld device that kept my calendar and contacts. In 1997, the Palm Pilot innovation wreaked havoc on several industries. A few years later, the smartphone did the same to Palm Pilot. The rate of innovation is staggering, giving us all a choice: Innovate and keep up or allow the innovations of others to leave us behind. That’s the devastation of innovation.
In this post, I talk more about the devastating effects of innovation and provide some innovative opportunities for church leaders.
Thanks for giving it a read and passing it along.
How can I help?
Getting better through change and innovation 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.
How To Try It Before You Launch It
One of the greatest drawbacks to change is the risk. I get it. I’m a bit risk-averse myself.
When possible, lowering risk makes new changes smarter and better.
Data is often the answer. When we can get real data, we can make more informed decisions.
How can we get this data? Surveys? ABSOLUTELY NOT.
Surveys tell us only what people say they will do. We need to know what they will do.
In this new post, that’s what I’m discussing. I hope this helps you try something before you spend time, money, and energy starting something.
The 6 Dangers of Success
If you’re successful, be afraid. Be very, very afraid.
It’s incredible, really. The one thing we want to be (successful) is the one thing that can create our downfall.
You see it all the time. You may have lived through this a few times. The stories are all relatively similar. The pathway goes like this: hard work produces great success. That success gives way to entitlement and then arrogance. Finally, arrogance causes leaders and organizations to relax. The world around is still changing, but the organization is not. After all, look at how much money we have. Look at how many people are attending. Look at our online engagement.
I’m a church leader, but I spent a decade in the marketplace before transitioning into ministry. The dangers of success are present in both spaces in equal measure. For now, let’s look at church success. Or at least how churches tend to define success.
In this article, I present six red flags of success. I’d love for you to read about them and let me know if you’ve experienced them.
The Four States of Transition Management
Leaders often mistake change and transition. They are not the same. In this post, I discuss the difference between the two and provide insight into managing the emotional and psychological transitions experienced by the people involved in the change.
Getting Bigger by Getting Better
A long time ago I heard a story from the board room of Chick-fil-A’s corporate headquarters. Their competition was quickly growing, and their leadership wanted to maintain their market share and competitive advantage. You can read the entire post for the full story, but the conversation ended with then CEO Truett Cathy exclaiming, “If we get better, our customers will demand we get bigger!”
I realize you are not running the best chicken sandwich restaurant in the world, but Truett’s statement is true of whatever you are leading.
In this post, I explain why restarting your church might be the most dangerous thing you can do and what questions you need to answer to prepare to get better.
Last thing: Getting better will require change, and change isn’t to be taken lightly. This is exactly 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.
The One Insight That Makes Change Happen
Hey again.
I came across this quote from Jeff Igor’s book “Leading Major Change in Your Ministry” while doing my doctoral studies. It caused me to think… a lot.
“Foundational to helping people through major change is this seminal idea: change is different than transition. Change is the new circumstances introduced into organizational life, i.e., a new staffing plan going into effect on a specific date. Transition, on the other hand, is the emotional, psychological, and spiritual adjustments people go through when change is implemented.”
I’m still thinking about it. So much that I decided to write some more about change in light of this concept.
If you can, check it out and leave me a comment to help launch a conversation.
Thanks.
Three Reasons Churches Resist Change
We often hear that people resist change. I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate.
We’ll tackle that partial truth another time. For now, let’s focus on why pastors and churches are so resistant to change.
Some Background:
Every organization (church, business, non-profit, and all the others) struggles with change. Change moves people from a state of known to a place of unknown. Known is comfortable, and the unknown is far from it. Organizations exist because leaders need to bring order to the chaos of creative activities. Order allows for scale and predictability, all of which are essential. The bringing of order created the organization and simultaneously slowed the creative, leadership elements of change. This happens in every organization, but for churches, it seems worse.
Obviously, a complete lack of order isn’t the answer. Churches need order. The cyclical nature of what we do (is it already Sunday?) requires organizing our work, staff, and volunteers. This is a tension: Order produces resistance to change because change provokes disorder in the organization.
That’s a problem that desperately needs a solution. The church is the hope of the world. We’ve been given the saving message of the Gospel to share and spread across the globe. But the world is continuously in a state of change. Culture changes. Openness to truth changes. Consumerism has changed how people look at products, organizations, and churches. Expressive individualism has changed our response to authority (like God and his church). Moving from a Christian to post-Christian culture has dramatically affected the church. There are generational effects.
These current changes aren’t the only changes that we’ll face. These are just the recent changes. There’s more on the way, because change is the only constant in life (that’s from the ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus – 500 BC). If the world we serve is ever-changing, that leaves us with only one choice:
Only a church capable of changing can maintain influence in an ever-changing world.
Why do churches resist change?
The One Challenge Facing Every Church
I’ve decided to start something new. If you don’t mind, here’s some quick background and an announcement of sorts. First, some background. A decade ago, I stood in the North Point Community Church hallway, watching thousands of church leaders walking to the parking lot. Our DRIVE Conference had just concluded. Inspired, encouraged, and probably challenged, […]
Neutralizing Your Fear to Lead Change
What’s keeping you from making a change?
There are some things that are unchangeable—things outside of our control. But what about the stuff that we do control? What about the stuff that we can change. The places where we have autonomy or authority.
– You’re a business leader, and your primary product is slipping in market share. If something doesn’t change soon, you’ll be out of business. You know it. Your staff knows it. Your competition knows it.
– You’re a team leader, and your staff is growing complacent. Moral is low, people are beginning to leave, and you know something must change internally for the team to be a team once again. You’re the leader. You have the power to make a change.
– You’re a pastor or church leader. Things have grown stagnant in the congregation. People are still attending, but they aren’t engaging like before. They arrive late and leave early. New families are not showing up. You know something must change if you are going to reach the community again. You’re the leader. You know what’s wrong, and you believe you can fix it. You can make the shift. You can implement the change.
– You’re a parent, and you sense your influence is lessening because your relationship is slipping. Something needs to change. If it doesn’t transition soon, you fear the opportunity to change will be gone forever.
– In your personal life, some areas are a mess. That’s the best way to describe how you feel. Physically you are a mess. Emotionally a mess. Spiritually a mess. Maybe a habit needs to be put down, or a relationship needs to be ended. Change is necessary, and your know it.
What’s keeping you from making a change?
There are many reasons we resist changing what is actually under our control to change. In my life, there are three specific fears that have caused me to pause instead of pushing me to progress. If you’re a leader, you’ve probably experienced them, too.
1. Fear of failure.
We know the only failure is a failure to learn, but intellectually embracing a pithy statement is much easier than holding to it literally. Failure is such a strong deterrent for change that we often choose the status quo of apathy, mediocrity, and even small failure. That is nonsensical, but we do it every day, because even a huge possibility of success is no match for a slight possibility of failure.
