If "subprime" was the buzzword of 2007, then "change" is destined to be the leading buzzword for 2008. NPR ran a montage several weeks ago in which virtually every presidential contender was heard extolling themselves as the "candidate of change". It's probably human nature to continually desire change. "The grass is always greener" and all that. All I need is a new job, a new house, a new ...
But does everyone desire the same thing when they want "change"? In a recent post Diana Butler Bass presented two models for change. In simple terms, these were "Technical Change" and "Adaptive Change". Technical change comes down to a matter of competence. Things are all screwed up because those in power don't know what they're doing. The programs that are in place are more than adequate, someone just needs to administer them better.
Alternatively, Adaptive Change requires "new learning, innovation and new patterns", and adaptive leaders "call for changes of heart and mind—the transformation of long-standing habits and deeply held assumptions and values."
I'll leave it to you to apply these models to current crop of presidential candidates, and determine which model you prefer. But what about the "church". When we start to get dissatisfied with how things are going, and it happens inevitably, is our response that we need to change leadership? Or should we be considering "changes of heart and mind—the transformation of long-standing habits and deeply held assumptions and values"? Do we need a new way of "doing church"?
3 comments:
The technical change verses adaptive change is something I've been thinking about too. As someone who likes "solutions," sometimes it's a greater challenge to instead look at "processes." The Session is currently considering what kinds of "process" we need to be able to move forward. Therefore, we are thinking about what adaptive change looks like in the church, and it's an ongoing conversation. It will probably include conversations about communication, leadership, mission, organizational structure and the like. These conversations are meaty and deep. That's the good part. The hard part is sorting through them to find a sort of action plan to go along with it. Keep Session in your prayers and keep them engaged in chewing on the meaty stuff!
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Good words.
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