Everyone I speak with wants to lead a successful church or business. While we can learn much from failure, it is something people rarely want to experience. So when attendance is declining, receipts are down, and momentum has been lost, identify the reasons why and providing adequate solutions is why you are in leadership.
In the October 2016 edition of Fast Company magazine, author Dan Tynan identified 10 products which previously failed and the reasons why. As I read his thoughts, I immediately recognized applications to church and business leaders. Learning these lessons will improve the performance of your organization.
The following are 9 Reasons Things Are Failing At Your Church Or Business:
- Things Are Failing At Your Church Or Business Because You Are Asking People To Pay A Higher Price Than They Are Willing To Pay – In 1983, Steve Jobs released Apple Lisa at a whopping $10,000 price tag. Similarly, in 1992 the AT&T Videophone had a price tag of $1,500. In this case the price tag was financial but oftentimes people are also unwilling to pay a heavy cost of time or energy. You can also ask people to pay too much in time, energy or commitment.
- Things Are Failing At Your Church Or Business Because They Simply Do Not Work Anymore – In 1984, the IBM PCJr had a unusable keyboard and incompatible software.
- Things Are Failing At Your Church Or Business Because They Do Not Improve A Person’s Quality Of Life – In 1995, the Nintendo Virtual Boy the colors and video literally caused people to become physically sick.
- Things Are Failing At Your Church Or Business Because Of Poor Technology – In 1996, WebTV was hindered by dial-up modems.
- Things Are Failing At Your Church Or Business Because Of Unreliability – In 2004, the Microsoft SPOT watch had a short battery life among other flaws.
- Things Are Failing At Your Church Or Business Because They Are Difficult To Use – In 2004, the Sony HDD Walkman required customers to convert their MP3s to Sony’s platform.
- Things Are Failing At Your Church Or Business Because They Frustrate Members, Visitors And Customers – In 2005, Motorola Rokr E1 Apple ITunes phone caused frustration because you were limited to 100 songs and no way to download wirelessly.
- Things Are Failing At Your Church Or Business Because They Are Outdated – In 2011, the HP TouchPad was slow, had bugs, and lacked apps.
- Things Are Failing At Your Church Or Business Because You Limit People’s Options – In 2012, the Google Nexus Q allowed you to only access Google sites like Play Store and YouTube.
What is one thing from this list you can change to improve your church or business?
To learn from Jeff Henderson, Matt Chandler, Dr. Charles Stanley, Dr. Crawford Loritts and Lysa TerKeurst among others, sign up today for September 28th’s FREE online Amplify event. Make sure you sign up TODAY by clicking HERE or on the image to the left. This event will make you a better preacher and communicator.