January 08, 2010

"What Really Kills Great Companies"



An interesting article from Gary Hamel in The Wall Street Journal about the inertia of organizations, using the example/analogy of the Church "organization".

What are some of the inertial forces that have prevented churches from reinventing themselves in ways that might make them more relevant to a post-modern world? A partial list would include:

–Long-serving denominational leaders who have little experience with non-traditional models of worship and outreach.

–A matrix of top-down policies that limits the scope for local experimentation.

–Training programs (seminaries) that perpetuate a traditional view of religious observance and ministerial roles.

–Promotion criteria for church pastors that reward conformance to traditional practices.

–And a straightjacket of implicit beliefs around how you “do church.” For example:

Church happens in church.

Preaching is the most effective way of imparting religious wisdom.

Pastors lead in church while parishioners remain (mostly) passive.

The church service follows a strict template: greet, sing, read, pray, preach, bless, dismiss (repeat weekly).

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is a great post,
loved the analogy

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