The Risk of the New
It happens in the staff meetings where someone has yet to throw in the towel to become bystanders, or onlookers. Where one or more staff hope from something new. During the meeting a moment occurs, the group is presented with a new idea, a moment of inspiration that's not yet fully formed. It popped up 3 minutes ago, everyon got excited, until - and you know what's coming don't you - someone throws the wet blanket. They ask How? They may do this for their own personal joy, or they may simply be "practical". This person may ask, How will we pay for it? or How long would it take? or Has it worked somewhere else before?
"How?" when asked to early, kills transformation. "How?" is what we ask when we already know the answer. "How?" is the voice of the status quo. "How?" is the voice of the oppressor. "How?" is an excuse to be unfaithful.
Ideas that are 5 minutes old, are not worth asking How? about.
How? is what we ask, when we resist risk. When things look to big, for us, or God to do, we ask "How?" New things always require risk, engagement, and the opportunity for loss and possibility for a negative reaction.
If the only decisions your church staff make, don't cost anyone anything, are they really worth doing?
Simply because we don't have the answers now, doesn't mean it's not a good idea.
Transformation requires risk. Asking How? too soon will always assure that you never risk anything.
This doesn't mean you won't have problems. Problems aren't exclusively the property of risk. Problems will find you when you try to keep everyone happy as well.
It can become a downward spiral for a lot of churches.
But that my friends would be another post of the future.
"How?" when asked to early, kills transformation. "How?" is what we ask when we already know the answer. "How?" is the voice of the status quo. "How?" is the voice of the oppressor. "How?" is an excuse to be unfaithful.
Ideas that are 5 minutes old, are not worth asking How? about.
How? is what we ask, when we resist risk. When things look to big, for us, or God to do, we ask "How?" New things always require risk, engagement, and the opportunity for loss and possibility for a negative reaction.
If the only decisions your church staff make, don't cost anyone anything, are they really worth doing?
Simply because we don't have the answers now, doesn't mean it's not a good idea.
Transformation requires risk. Asking How? too soon will always assure that you never risk anything.
This doesn't mean you won't have problems. Problems aren't exclusively the property of risk. Problems will find you when you try to keep everyone happy as well.
It can become a downward spiral for a lot of churches.
But that my friends would be another post of the future.
Labels: Church, Riddle Group
posted by mark at
3:17 PM
1 Comments:
I'm going to have to disagree with you here - "how" is an essential ingredient at any stage. What shouldn't be done is to discard an idea when "how" isn't known - but asking "how" is what leads to creative solutions. It is true that we ask "how" when things look too big, but the problem is not the question - which is a good one - but any assumption that not knowing "how" means that an idea shouldn't be done. "How" is a challenge, not an ending point.
Usually, when I have early ideas, I like for people to throw all of the negative "how" ideas my way that they can. This helps me to focus my thinking to overcome the right obstacles.
Some people view "how" as a threat, but I view "how" as a map. If I know all of the practical difficulties, I'm 99% of the way to solving the problem. If I don't know the practical problems until the end, it usually means that I have to scrap 80% of my work and start over once I start asking my "how" questions.
Ultimately, it may be more of a problem-solving style, but I find "how" questions to be both the best motivator and the best plan guider for good solutions. Even if someone's intent is to shut down conversation, their "how" question continues to work as a map to a good solution.
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