September 21, 2024
HERE'S MY TAKE
“Change or Die” was the title of a seminar for Christian non-profit leaders this week. I participated as a panelist responding to a presentation by Australian Alan Hirsch. His book, Metanoia: How God Radically Transforms People, Churches and Organizations from the Inside Out, has prompted discussions about change management within parts of the not-for-profit sector. Hirsch calls for personal and organizational piety and transformation through “metanoia” (a Greek word meaning repentance) in which we whole-heartedly “unlearn” whatever may have been unhelpful in our past or current assumptions. This unlearning, Hirsch suggests, is required to create the space for new and more effective ways to deal with a world that is changing at what some leadership writers describe as times marked by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity – or VUCA. Discussions of this sort have a way of exposing dimensions of the issue not usually considered. So, after the seminar, I found myself reflecting on four propositions.
Not all change is created equal
It’s almost a cliché but it’s true that “change is the only constant.” That proverb and the seminar discussion reminded me that different types of change require different strategies. There is a difference between “regular change”—the sort that requires skilled management and adaptation—and “fundamental change”—the sort that requires missional and governance reflection. The present generation is experiencing more of the fundamental sort of change than most. Like those alive during the Protestant Reformation of the early 16th century, the Enlightenment and French Revolution of the late 18th century, or the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, we are living in the midst of one of those historical “divides” in which people born today cannot even imagine the world in which their grandparents lived and into which their own parents were born. Living through the end of the Cold War, 9/11, the economic collapse of 2008, and the COVID pandemic of the 2020s with a digital revolution and the emergence of artificial intelligence—our generation is experiencing something quite different than the type of stuff that’s the focus of much of the “change management” literature.
Be conscious of change’s unintended consequences
Those who are entrepreneurial by nature are predisposed to look for opportunity in change. There’s nothing wrong with that. But it struck me as I was engaging with non-profit leaders (mostly focused on some sort of “Christian ministry”) that it is critically important to look for and listen to the hurts that change imposes. I am sure the good Samaritan in Jesus' parable had other things on his agenda as he travelled to Jericho and saw a beat-up man on the side of the road. But the text tells us that compassion compelled him to action. Writing about church discipline issues in a very different context over a decade ago I pointed to “the authenticity of our tears” as a real challenge for the contemporary church. I fear that sometimes we respond to change as an opportunity to advance our agenda before stopping to listen to the pains or wipe away the tears of the culture around us.
Understand your mission and the limits of what you can do
Staying “mission-focused” is predictable advice in these discussions, so much so that it easily becomes trite. So, I would make two observations. First, staying mission-focused is the go-to advice because it can never be taken for granted, even if it seems trite. Figuring out “how” to do something without having common answers as to “why” we’re doing it in the first place just leads to confusion. It may be tiring and tedious but every organization needs both to articulate and to live its mission. That’s the hard work of leadership. Don’t let the trendiness of change management become an excuse for making mission focus secondary. This leads to a second observation. It is easy in the context of change to add to your mission. The temptation is to address a pressing new development by simply adding it to what’s already on the table. We enthusiastically embrace strategies to deal with the new reality but don’t stop to consider possible unintended consequences. Sometimes we are even blind to the way that our response to change ends up changing us in unhelpful ways.
Let me illustrate using euthanasia and our healthcare systems as an example. Making euthanasia a possible “treatment” for a doctor to recommend changes the nature of the trust essential to a patient-doctor relationship. (For those who want to explore this theme, I recommend this important paper by Dr. Cory Labrecque published by Cardus in 2020.) It is not possible for a doctor to add euthanasia to her medical bag without also changing the relationship with her patients. Because euthanasia is final and brings death, a patient’s knowledge that the doctor might recommend it will change that patient’s perception of whatever recommendation the doctor makes—even if euthanasia never comes up. Euthanasia is something that moves the boundaries of healthcare and affects everyone.
Repentance and faith belong together
Much of the seminar’s panel conversation involved identifying things that needed to change. Given Hirsch’s focus on repentance as a central theme, the discussion rightly identified the challenge of institutional leaders wanting to “hold on” to previous patterns and ways of operating. This is understandable. We are familiar and comfortable with what already exists, so notwithstanding its shortcomings, it feels “safe.”
Given that the presentation was built around a theological term, I went back to how repentance is framed in the Christian scriptures. It is not a stand-alone concept in Scripture: repentance is always paired with faith. They are the flip sides of the same conversion coin. Repentance requires me to turn away from whatever I have put in the place of God (idolatry) and to face God. But conversion is more than facing the right way. It also involves movement and progress. Faith enables me to trust God and to behave in accordance with His word.
Hirsch contends that repentance is a key concept for confronting “the apocalypse of the ecclesial soul,” so he calls for a time of “corporate repentance.” Granting that, I would argue then that it is important that leaders be careful not to allow the vital link between repentance and faith to be severed. “Naming and repenting of" old patterns of behaviour not suited for the times cannot stand alone. It needs to be contextualized by a faith, a belief and articulation of a positive and faithful framing of the organization’s mission in the ever-changing context.
Ninety minutes of leadership talk among peers raises as many questions as it solves. Thinking about repentance as an important leadership tool to deal with change is helpful. It seriously challenges leaders. Change is constant and the change that we are experiencing in these VUCA times is especially challenging. One of the fruits of repentance is humility. Considering how repentance applies at a corporate level is a healthy exercise as we seek to faithfully serve in the context to which we have been called.
WHAT I’M READING
When There are No Conservatives Left
Oren Cass, founder and chief economist at think tank American Compass, deserves attention. His ideas regarding conservative appeals to working-class voters are significantly influencing political strategies on both sides of the border. His recent First Things essay argues that conservative attempts to “re-Christianize society” and then “instill conservative virtue” are resulting in “conservatives sidelining themselves pending a religious revival that is nowhere in sight.” His diagnosis is challenging. “As a result, the American right-of-centre as a political force in the public square has degenerated into a sterile message driven by the economic libertarians for whom markets are sublime and liberty is synonymous with virtue. The term ‘right-of-centre,’ rather than ‘conservative,’ is appropriate here, because the ideology has ceased to be conservative at all. Even the notion of a common good that politicians should define and pursue has become taboo.” Cass is not religious and I’d quibble with his theory of social change but his core argument—that conservatives need to put forward an argument as to “why we exist” if they are going to have any meaningful success in this secular age—is significant and counter-culturally important.
Religious Repression in China
Collin Levy, writing in the Wall Street Journal, documents China’s official attempts to regulate religion, believing as it does that “Sinicization is the only way to actively guide religions to adapt to socialist society.” Writes Levy, “Religious practice and belief are expected to conform to government dogma and party authority. Xi Jinping and his party see organizations that acknowledge a higher power as threats to the state.” He reports on recent crackdowns on Protestant churches, following the pattern that China has employed in recent years targeting Uyghur Muslims. The Chinese state has worked to “expand surveillance cameras in Xinjiang, limit free movement within the region, sterilize Muslim women or force them on contraception, and detain Uyghurs in internment camps.”
Ottawa Gossip
With the minority Liberal government losing by-elections, cabinet ministers, and the supply and confidence agreement with the NDP which let it command the confidence of the House of Commons since March 2022, there was plenty of fodder for the politicos to chew on as Parliament reconvened this week. I’ll admit the political junkie in me enjoys these opportunities (especially when combined with the wonderful weather Ottawa enjoyed this week). However, after several conversations, I heard nothing that convinced me that it would be in the interest of either the NDP or the Bloc Québécois to force an election, Conservative non-confidence motions and Globe editorials notwithstanding. While self-interest seems the most reliable measuring stick with which to judge election likelihood, BQ leader Yves-François Blanchet made a valid point when he described the current dynamic in the House of Commons. “We are playing chicken with four cars. Eventually one will hit another one and there will be a wreckage [sic].”
If comparing watching politics to being in a car crash wasn’t a dark enough analogy, there is a less civil feel in Ottawa these days. A group of protestors who call themselves the “Wellington Street Regulars” seem to have intensified their efforts, using increasingly crass and vulgar language to challenge MPs from all parties as they make their way into the House of Commons. A video of NDP leader Singh went viral, challenging one of the hecklers after being called “a corrupted bastard.” Several MPs are calling for a redesign of the protection provided to MPs as it seems a “dangerous shift” has unfolded in the manner of political debate and protest. I’ve lived in Ottawa now for eight years and while protests (rightly) have been a feature of this town throughout, the intensity and tension is definitely different today than when I first arrived.
MEANINGFUL METRICS
Sensational Facts, Understated Prose
A hat-tip to one of my colleagues who, complimenting the Cardus design team for their infographic, suggested that our work is most successful when we combine sensational facts with understated prose. The facts in this case are that the Community Benefits Agreement negotiated by the British Columbia government with certain unions has resulted in labour shortages and cost overruns while showing preference for some B.C. workers at the expense of others. The government and unions involved argue that the CBA is designed to provide greater opportunity for underrepresented groups to participate in the B.C. construction industry. Certainly, there is an appropriate role for such agreements to achieve such desirable public policy goals, but this agreement appears not to have realized those goals while experiencing an exceptionally large cost overrun.
TAKE IT TO-GO
Mind Oar Matter
It’s a whale of a story but don’t let the details diminish the respect Tom Waddington deserves for his courage and stamina rowing a boat across the Atlantic Ocean this past summer. Labelling the project mindoarmatter.com is proof that his celebrity is more than a fluke.
It seems that the hundreds of pilot whales that swam alongside him for a few hours were unexpected accomplices in his story. One dangerously bumped his boat but thankfully it was only his YouTube videos of the experience that created a splash. Waddington raised £71,000 in support of a mental health charity.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading and feel free to pass this newsletter along to a friend who you think might enjoy it.
Looking forward to being back in your inbox bright and early next Saturday morning.