From Good to Great Youth Ministry Part 6

In this 7 part series we are breaking down Jim Collins’ book Good to Great and how it can apply to Youth Ministry. Jim Collins wrote this book by compiling a team of researchers to examine many different companies. Over the span of months and years the researchers compiled data that put some companies in a “good” category and some companies in a “great”. After comparing the “good” with the “great” the team came up with several factors of what makes a great company great.

Summary:
We are in a world where technology defines everything from who we are to what we do. If you aren’t up to date with your technology it’s easy to fall behind. But is technology really a good thing or a bad thing? It’s important to note that Jim Collins starts out his book with 5 other factors (Level 5 Leadership, Right people, facing brutal facts, Hedgehog Concept and a Culture of Discipline) before he even gets to technology. The point he stresses in this chapter is that technology is not one of the factors that made a company great, but it did accelerate the process. In this chapter entitled Technology Accelerators Jim informs us that “great” companies avoided technology fads and bandwagons, yet they became pioneers in the application of carefully selected technologies. They used technology as an accelerator not a creator of momentum, meaning all the right resources, people and attitude was in place before technology came into the picture.
Throughout the chapter he uses many examples of companies such as Walgreens who have been around for ages and were wise with how they used technology.
How a company reacts to technological change is a good indicator of its inner drive for greatness versus mediocrity. Great companies respond with thoughtfulness and creativity, driven by a compulsion to turn unrealized potential into results; mediocre companies react and lurch about, motivated by fear of being left behind.

How this translates:
A lesson that I’ve learned is that our ministry budget is never going to compete with the gaming world. Meaning, just when we save up enough money for an XBOX 360, the Wii becomes the next big thing, and then by the time we get that there is something new and so on…and even if you get all that technology the teens will either love it or be bored of it. And then you think to yourself, “Was it worth the money, the effort and the time?”
It can be so intimidating for ministries to compete in a world with so much technology. It is so easy to get caught up in the fads of technology, thinking, “I’ve got to do that!” We see the families in our community spending thousands of dollars on cell phones, game systems, personal computers, gadgets and gizmos. But how do we use it to accelerate our vision or mission? How do we use it so it’s not just a fad?
Technology needs to be something to accelerate your ministry to where it’s helping your mission. Don’t just have a webpage, to have a webpage, don’t just use power point to have power point. Ask yourself, “Is the technology that I’m using helping or hurting the ministry?” One thing Jim Collins warns the reader is just as technology can accelerate you to success it can also accelerate you towards failure. By taking a “Crawl, walk, run” approach to technology, you can take better steps to preparing accelerated destruction.
One thing to ask yourself when it comes to technology is, “Does the technology fit directly with my Hedgehog Concept?” If no, ignore it and move on no matter how difficult it may be. But, if yes then be creative, open minded and use it to the best of your abilities.