Adam McLane

5 Ways to Get Change Moving

“You are crazy enough to think you can change the world.”

This was the negative criticism of my ministry nearly 10 years ago by an elder. I took it as a compliment.

When I read Revelation 2-3 I see that Jesus will not judge individual churches or communities of faith. That’s not what John saw. (Revelation 1:19) Instead,
I see Jesus judging entire towns based on both what they’ve done and where their hearts are collectively.
As we look forward to that future judgment, we as church leaders in each community cannot be satisfied with reaching 5%-10% of the population. A logical conclusion would be that how we are doing things will only result in reaching 5%-10% of the population going forward. Simply put, f we want to reach exponentially more we, collectively, must change.
Most people realize that. But they don’t actually know how to make change happen.

Here are 5 ways I make change happen:

  1. Present the facts, repeat them often, write them on the walls. Do your homework, get behind the evidence.
  2. Persistence. Be a bulldog. Don’t let the issue die. No isn’t an answer, it’s an opportunity to try a different approach.
  3. Stop the presses. If something is really important you need to stop everything else, at all cost. We can’t go on like this.
  4. Tell a great story. Remember, a well-told story is your most powerful weapon.
  5. Outwork everyone else. Know why everyone says hard work pays off? Because it does. You can’t ignore hard work.

 

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Adam McLane

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Comments

3 responses to “5 Ways to Get Change Moving”

  1. Josh Pezold Avatar
    Josh Pezold

    love it. I was always told No doesn’t mean no… It means not yet.

    Reply
  2. Matt C. Avatar
    Matt C.

    I much prefer the way Adam worded this: “No isn’t an answer, it’s an opportunity to try a different approach.” No definitely is not intended to mean “keep trying”, instead — like I understand Adam (don’t want to speak for you at all, Adam) — it’s a chance to step back and look at the big picture again and come at things differently.

    Kinda like predicting the world will come to an end… and then it doesn’t. That’s a big NO. The answer to that NO is not to double down and understand it as “not yet” but … maybe there’s something about the way I’M approaching this issue that’s throwing up road-blocks. Especially in relationships, it’s important to respect NO as NO, and use that as a chance for self-reflection.

    Reply
  3. adam mclane Avatar
    adam mclane

    @matt- that’s good insight. No can mean a lot of things. But sometimes when you are trying to lead change and you come up against “no’s” a different approach is needed. Or… sometimes you need to just go ahead and do it, especially if it is clearly the right thing.

    Too often, organizations worship the status quo as if “this is how we do things” hasn’t gotten them into a world of hurt.

    Reply

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