My wife gave me a new watch for Christmas. It’s no ordinary watch. It doesn’t have a dial and doesn’t have numbers. It’s different.
My watch is a constant reminder of one of my foundational principles of life: We don’t have to keep doing things the way we’ve always done them. Sometimes it’s a good idea to try something different, shift the paradigm, ditch the tradition.
Those can be scary words for many people. After all, we like things the way they’ve always been done. Organizationally, however, sticking with the way things have always been can be debilitating. There are lots of organizations out there that are poised for success… if and when the 1950s ever come back.
I’m not too old to learn to tell time a different way. I’m not so set in my ways that I can’t ditch the round dials and rotating hands. You can change, too.
Change is a constant for leaders. They always are tweaking the dials and recasting vision. Do you remember when McDonald’s only had hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, soft drinks, and milkshakes? Now, you can get chicken byproducts, lattes, and oatmeal at McDonald’s. Why the change? Because sticking with the past is never a good business model. It doesn’t work for McDonald’s and it won’t work for churches.
So, what now? Get a new watch… not really! Don’t be afraid to tackle a new approach to an old problem. I once told my employer, “If what we’ve been doing for all these years was such a good idea, it would have worked by now.” I don’t work there anymore, but that’s another story for another day.