4 Minute Read…
We all want to innovate. Innovation may be the buzzword of the century.
Innovation is undoubtedly critical to our future. Innovation allows us to change with the times, which is essential, lest we get left behind.
Innovations create change, and I love change. Change is what allows us to remain current and relevant to the world we’re trying to serve.
Innovation creates opportunities to move our mission forward. But what happens when we don’t choose to innovate?
The answer is catastrophic. And that’s not an exaggeration.
Here’s why: A hundred years ago, the pace of innovation was slower. Companies exposed competitive advantages and were able to innovate towards market capitalization at a sustainable pace. Today, the rate has quickened. More accurately, it’s at warp speed.
Take the Palm Pilot, for example. It took years for the Palm Pilot (Remember that little device?) to partially replace a legal pad, Rolodex, and paper calendar. That’s it. Just three applications. That was 1997.
A few years later, the smartphone released and devastated Palm Pilot’s market share by adding massive computing power to a handheld device. I now have a smartphone that might be smarter than me. My phone has replaced perhaps hundreds of items. I no longer own a camera, video equipment, paper anything, or home phone. I don’t need a level or a measuring tape. The payphone is obsolete. I don’t need a separate calculator, DVD player, flashlight, radio, CD player, alarm clock, books and magazines, compass, watch, photo album, or to go to the bank.
Just think about that. Smartphone innovation was extraordinary for Apple and other phone manufacturers (and me), but what about the companies previously producing all the products I now have on my phone? Exactly.
It’s even worse than you may imagine. It took decades (or centuries) for Palm Pilots to replace paper calendars. It’s taken far less time for iPhones to replace everything else. Innovations are devastating entire industries at record rates.
Uber only needed a few years to bankrupt the Yellow Cab Company. Uber is currently obliterating the rental car industry. Hotels are in deep trouble thanks to Airbnb. No industry or company is safe from the innovation of others. This is true for the church, too.
If you lead a church, there are consequences. We either choose innovation or face the ramification. We can choose to keep up or allow the pace of change outside of our church to exceed the pace of change inside our church.
I don’t mean to be a doomsday prophet, but I’m afraid that is the reality of today’s world.
Take travel sports for kids. It’s an innovation. Believe it or not, there was a time when kids played recreation sports on Saturday mornings — only. Now, I know only a few families with children in recreation sports, but nearly every family I know has engaged with “travel” sports. This business innovation (that’s what travel sports is — a business) is destroying the rec system I enjoyed as a child. Travel sports are BIG business, promising parents athletic prowess for their children in exchange for thousands of dollars and every weekend of their life. Travel sports drag children as young as four into weekend-long tournaments week after week after week. Take note: If you run a church, this business innovation has significantly impacted you. Same if you run a community recreation department.
Quick note: If you engage with travel sports, don’t feel bad. That’s not the point. But this innovation has not been without consequences.
For some reason, church leaders refuse to face the innovation reality. Churches are notoriously slow to innovate or adopt change. We love our traditions and current models. If you are a church leader, innovations in your church can move the mission forward. But be warned, if you do not choose to innovate, the innovations of those around you will devastate your church. I don’t mean the “C” Church. That Church will always survive as promised by Jesus, but every local church will not. Only churches capable of change will thrive in an ever-changing world.
How will you keep up?
Where should you innovate?
Let me suggest a few innovation possibilities:
- Digital steps toward personal connections
- Approach to message delivery
- Customer centricity
- Discipleship models
- Volunteer recruitment strategies
- Generosity campaigns
- Building designs
- Portable church options
- Non-traditional service times
We could list hundreds of innovation opportunities. That’s good news and bad news. Choosing to innovate keeps you in the game, which is good. Refusing to change leads to devastating outcomes, and no local church is immune.
How can I help?
Changing for the 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 innovate, 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.
