Management guru W. Edwards Deming is
reported to have said, “Yesterday’s solutions are today’s problems.” Solutions or responses to needs are
formulated for a particular time, place, and context. Often they deal with the immediate problem but
their shelf life is usually limited. Markets,
constituencies, and technologies change.
What seemed so good ten, fifteen, or twenty years ago is no longer
practical and might even be counter productive.
I was talking recently with a friend who
was asking me questions about a solution that I helped develop for an organization
over 15 years ago. When we put this
particular “solution” into place, the intention was to answer a need in a
particular place. As I remember the
approach was seen as an experiment that could be tweaked and modified over time
but we were not ready to “bet the farm” that it would even work in that
situation much less be applicable elsewhere.
As you might expect, this experiment has
become policy. The idea in itself is not
bad, but whether it fits all situations is questionable. There is also the possibility that this
approach is being used simply as an escape clause without attempting something
new and creative. Leadership does not
like a particular situation so, rather than seeking a new solution, they just
use the one that is available whether it fits or not.
We see this quite often in church
life. Sunday school at 10 a.m. and
morning worship at 11 a.m. seemed like a good idea when people had cows to
milk, but do we really need this schedule now?
I have heard from churches that have altered their schedules—going earlier
or later, offering multiple services, etc.—who still have visitors who show up
at 11 a.m. on Sunday mornings looking for the “real” worship service. Printed “quarterlies” (curriculum pieces)
that were published very three months or four months seemed to be a good idea,
but we now have digital delivery methods, printing on demand, and other methods
to get these things into people’s hands at little or no cost. Those called to ministry used to pack up
their spouses and belongings, leave their church homes, and relocate to another
state to attend seminary for three years, then try to assimilate back into culture
from which they came. Seminaries are
finding ways to offer graduate theological education in a “teaching church” and
online contexts that makes this dislocation unnecessary
I could go on at length about this but my
question is, “Are we ready to get rid of yesterday’s solutions and adopt
approaches that meet current needs?” As
I have moved from place to place in ministry, I have sometimes had contact with
places where I served ten, twenty, even thirty years ago that were still using
programs that were started when I was there.
Am I proud of this? No. Few programs, processes, or solutions are
meant to live forever. Let’s come up
with some new solutions that those in the future will have the opportunity to
reject!
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