Change Part Three

Having been dealing with what seems like constant change over the past 30 years, I have come to a two part conclusion. The first part is that there is more than one right way to implement and manage change and secondly that there is exponentially more than one wrong way to implement and manage change.

Now you may think that I have grown cynical over the years, but when you think of the detail that is involved in change it really is pretty easy to go off the rails.

There is the timing of the change. Is it the right time? Are the all right conditions (people, resources, desire) in place?

There is the pace of change, or maybe you could call it the rhythm. I once read that during a period of change it is good to pause, to change up the pace to give people an opportunity to breathe.

There is the speed of change. Are you going too fast, or too slow? Are people able to maintain their equilibrium?

Then there is patience. Many change agents get impatient and push too hard, in their desire to get to the other side of the change.

And it is always good to question the appropriateness of the change. Even if the time is ripe for change, is this the change that is appropriate?

I could go on and on, but you get the point. And all of this really points to the key issue of buy-in. If people don't buy-in, they will buy-out, either by leaving, revolting or sulking. None of those are healthy reactions and it won't matter how appropriate the change was, if people aren't on board, the change will fail.

If we fail in the timing, pace, appropriateness, etc. we will fail to get buy-in. If we fail to get buy-in the change will fail or at the very least become extremely messy.

Change Part Two

I saw an interview recently with Jack Welch (former CEO of GE). He said something along the lines that change can never be too fast. When he said that, my immediate thought was that he had never tried to lead a church - where change at any pace seems to be too fast.

I have often heard it said that, "The change at the church was implemented too fast," and that is why there is upset and sometimes outright revolt. But, I am beginning to think that no matter what the pace of the change is, it is going to bring resistance.

Within any group of people (such as a church congregation) there will be those who want change and those who do not want change. And, no matter what you do - change or not change - you are going to run into challenges. If you change, the resisters will either: a) stay and fight it, b) stay and sulk, or c) leave. If you don't change the changers will either: a) stay and fight it, b) stay and sulk, or c) leave. So, to word it more crudely, "Your damned if you do and your damned if you don't!"

When we change things up and it doesn't go as well as we hoped, I wonder if the question we ask ourselves is not about the pace of the change, but whether the change was necessary in the first place. If the change was necessary, then maybe Jack was right. It is a little like tearing off a bandaid. Do you rip it off quickly and get it over with, or pull slowly and drag out the pain.

Change Part One

I'm thinking about change these days. Partly because I just watched change "hit the fan." It is always ugly when things go sideways. People get hurt. And it seems like change is one of the surest ways to hurt people. I have to say somewhat selfishly (my fallen nature) that I am glad that it was not my fan that just got hit. But, it still hurts to watch friends struggle.

I am reading Seth Godin's book, Tribes and while the book is about leadership and human tribalism, its undercurrent is that our world is constantly changing and it needs people to lead that change. He says, "People want connection and growth and something new. They want change." (p.2) I don't disagree with Godin its just if people want change so badly, why do we have dozens of books and experts and seminars on managing change and dealing with the aftermath of change. The paradox is that while we seem to resist change, we have created a society that is caught in a vortex of constant and rapid change.

We all want change and we all do change and we all benefit from change, while at the same time we all resist change. I tried to brainstorm why and the following is a list of words that came to my mind about change:

Pro Change - better, lust, necessity, excitement, pride, different, image, boredom, improvement

Pro Status Quo - connection, control, memory, continuity, comfort, stability, constant, known

There is nothing inherently wrong, immoral or unethical with wanting or not wanting change. Change and Status Quo are morally neutral. Sometimes change is forced upon us. Sometimes change just feels good. Sometimes it nice to go back to the old neighbourhood . Sometimes its nice to sing an old song.

And maybe its not about change at all. After all Solomon wrote, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9 - NIV)

Furry - The Haters

I am going to let my furry reign here for a moment. I was looking up an article by John Piper on why he was using social media to share the gospel. I was doing this because I just launched myself on Twitter and I was going to post this on my Facebook page. (As a aside, I am using social media, but not necessarily as a platform to convert the world - after all 90% of the people who read my few posts have already made a commitment to Christ, so they don't need converting, nor do they need my frail insights into the nature of God.)

Well what shock! When I started looking up the Google hits on John Piper I discovered that there are a lot of "Christian" haters on the web. These are people who claim to be Christian, but they have a deep need to attack others as non-Christian, because they view their doctrine as heretical. By the time I was finished following all of the links I realized that there are no prominent pastors or Christian leaders who are not condemned by those who believe that they alone have accurate doctrine and correct belief. I could not believe the arrogance of these people. I find it hard to understand that anyone can actually believe that they alone have it all correct and that they alone have they the authority and right to virulently attack others with whom they disagree. I'm going to have a tough enough time on judgement day, without that on my head. I can just hear God saying, "Who gave you the right to touch my anointed ones?"

What I found even more disturbing was that these attacks were all about doctrine and correct belief, but in all of the arguments I never saw Jesus lifted up. It seemed like all of this Christian infighting was about everything but Christ. Its as if Christ is a no longer central to our message. Its as if correct doctrine leads to salvation. Is as if what we believe is more important than in whom we believe.

The sad thing is that all this infighting is there for the world to see. No wonder the Gospel is a tough sell in this world. Who would want to fellowship with a bunch of nasty haters. Jesus said that the world would know we are His disciples by our love for one another. I think that love is a little hard to find amongst those who choose to hate. Of course the haters argument is that the people they are attacking really aren't true Christians. Which begs the question, "Who are true Christians and who makes that distinction?" I always figured that was God's job, but apparently not. It would seem that the haters have taken over that role and God help us all because I think that we will all be condemned.

Been A Long Time

It has been a long time since I have anything to write.

I Am Famous - Almost!

I played at an open mic, at a motorcycle rally a few weeks ago and someone from my chapter recorded and posted it on YouTube. I had no idea they were going to do that, so it was quite a surprise when they emailed me to let me know.

So far the video has been viewed 84 times! It is stalled right now, but I am sure that at any moment it will go viral and the calls with record contracts will come pouring in, or not.

I am thinking that it will be wise to hang on to this moment for as long as possible since I think that this is probably my "15 minutes of fame," or more precisely 4 minutes and 56 seconds.

Anyway you can view it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsX8vSIzcEc

Kevin.

Father's Day

In keeping with my tradition of blogging about once every other month, I thought it would be appropriate to blog on Father's Day. Actually, my youngest daughter told me to. She also told me that I need to say something about having wonderful, brilliant amazing children. So, I would like to say that, "I have wonderful, brilliant amazing children." Now she just said that I need to put some enthusiasm into it so - !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - there!

Actually, I do have three very special girls, whom I love dearly.

I was thinking about being a father today. I think most of us who are parents are at times racked with guilt and feelings of inadequacy. We try, but we wonder if we have suceeded, or just messed up a perfectly good lives. I suppose that the best we can do, is the best that we can do. I was thinking of my own dad this morning and the most important thing that he gave me was love. I knew, that I knew, that I knew that I was loved and that was all that mattered. That and the first guitar he bought me! I'm not even sure he realized that his love was so evidenced and felt. Saying, "I love you," was not a part of his vocabulary. His generation just didn't go there. But, I knew it and it gave me all the confidence that I needed to step out into this world.

My hope is that my girls know that they are loved. And while I haven't bought any of them a guitar, I hope they feel that they have been given much. Anyway, happy Father's Day to all you dads.