Tag: change

Categories
Journal Wisdom

A new theme prods reflection on the role of change

Change creates opportunity for progress

I’m starting the New Year with a new blog theme (Twenty Seventeen).  I really liked the old one (My Life), especially its three column format, so I kept it a while.   But I’m following a principle that change is needed to keep things fresh.  If we don’t plan positive change, our product becomes stale and stagnant. I have learned that staying with the comfortable keeps me in a rut and eliminates the opportunity for progress which change usually brings.   I may change again if I am not satisfied with the result of my new theme.   I’m hoping for a fresh look, more readable fonts, different menu locations, and increased ability to handle tables.  Looks like I’m getting some new video capability thrown in.  Perhaps that will challenge me to grow in a new area.    The whole exercise caused me to reflect on the role of change in what I do. 

Change can be confusing

I discovered again that there is a natural resistance to change.   The old is familiar.  Change creates work.  In the case of a theme change, I have to manually reset the menu and widget structure of the blog.   I need to choose pictures and backgrounds.   There is always the hidden fear that the change will be for the worse.   The wisdom of past experience lessens this risk immensely, but it can feel risky anyway.

Change has a logical side and a psychological side

“A good exercise when you face change is to make a list of the logical advantages and disadvantages that should result from the change, and then another list indicating the psychological impact.  Just seeing this on a sheet of paper can be clarifying”  (Bob Biehl in Increasing Your Leadership Confidence p. 46).

There are several up sides to my blog theme change.  When I redo a theme, I learn in the process, sometimes reluctantly, but I learn.  That’s a good thing.  Usually the new theme has capabilities that the old one did not.   A new theme presents the blog reader with a fresh look which hopefully creates new interest.   For example, this one seems much cleaner in appearance.  From the blogger’s standpoint, deficiencies in the old theme can be remedied.  For example, this one handles tables much better.     I’m excited about the opportunity for a video message provided by this theme. 

Concerning creating change in an organization, here is a great resource to read; John Maxwell, Developing the Leader Within You, chapter 4 “Creating Positive Change.”    

 

 

Categories
Journal News Commentary

Is the idea of library becoming obsolete?

Yesterday, I was looking for a fact that I had used before concerning the early Greek documents of the Bible.  I walked from shelf to shelf in the library lining my office but did not see what I was looking for.  Mildly irritated that I could not find it quickly, I initiated a Google search and found information even more up-to-date than what I had been looking for in my library.  I stopped momentarily to reflect on what had just happened. It occurred to me that what was happening on my desk through the computer and the Internet was rendering my library, painstakingly collected over decades, obsolete.  I thought about the Greek and Hebrew references that I seldom use because I can access similar versions stored on my hard drive much more quickly.  

Today, on the news, I read an article that may well report the trend that will be the stake in the heart of libraries like mine and maybe bigger ones too.   

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43093477/ns/business-retail/

The news reported that Amazon is now selling more electronic books than physical books and this only four years after they started selling electronic books.  This means the transition from physical books that you hold to versions that you watch on the screen is accelerating more than we had imagined.

I stop to think a little about what this means. What will happen to the thousands of books that people like me have collected? Will no one want them– preferring instead electronic versions?  Will there be no bookshelves in houses–only screens? Will libraries become simply banks of computer servers rather than repositories of actual books? Certainly the transition that this marks is epochal.

Categories
Church Leadership

They moved the chocolate; can you believe it!

Change, change change; seems like every time you turn around something changes.  Monday night I was picking up a few things in Wegmans and as usual mosied over to find some chocolate.   Oh no!  it was not there!   It’s a crime.  They changed the location of the chocolate.  This store is so big and it’s hard enough to find things; we barely get to know it and then they go and change it….blah..blah…blah.   Fortunately, I found a young burly stock clerk who knew right where to lead me–I wonder why?    He left me there still mumbling about the audacity of the store to change the sacrosanct location of one its most crucial items.    

But as I thought about it and looked around some more, I discovered that the new chocolate spot was actually much more convenient for red-blooded American males like me.  It was on a direct route from the cookie aisle to the ice cream freezer.   I mean, how much more convenient can you get!   These guys are getting wiser all the time!   Well, anyway, I picked up some mouth-watering goodness to keep us supplied in essential comfort foods. 

I was reflecting on this humorous little sortie and how it relates to change in the church.  People sometimes complain about that too.    Really now?   Why was I so upset at first that  some anonymous pseudo-enemy called “they” would personally inconvenience me by moving my favorite snack?   

1.  I didn’t know about it.  The change blindsided me.
2.  I didn’t suggest it or have a chance to register my opinion about it.
3.  I was afraid it would make my life harder.
4.  There was no counter to my natural resistance to change.

Even though I quickly realized that the change was actually helpful to me, my initial reaction was negative.     There are definitely lessons to be learned here.

Change is essential.  A prosperous chain like Wegmans is constantly changing to meet the demands of the market and improve their profitability.   And while we customers groan about adjusting to the changes, we like the updated results.  On the other hand, when we go into, say a neighborhood hardware store that hasn’t moved anything in ten years, we sense that this place is on the way out and we wonder how long before the for-sale sign goes up. 

Churches need to learn from this contrast.   While our message doesn’t change, people who visit sense that if things haven’t changed in the look and feel of our operation in 20 years, they wonder if it is alive and well.   But, on the other hand, if even the most well-conceived change is not managed so that the four things I listed are cared for, it will create too much confusion and ill will, even when the change is clearly for the better.