'3 Mindset Shifts' That Can Create Positive Change

You could shoot a .22 in any direction you please and not hit anybody smarter than my old Western Civilization professor Ben Wright. In addition to being an intellectual heavyweight, he was an academic's academic. So when he quoted an article he'd read in TV Guide one day, the whole class raised their eyebrows as well as their heads.

I doubt anybody remembers the point he was making, but the takeaway, which stuck with me and plenty of others, was this: You can find interesting and useful information in the most surprising places. That is why I was browsing the website of Outreach Magazine, an industry publication for evangelical ministers, which I, to put it mildly, am not.

That's where I found this article entitled "3 Mindset Shifts for Change Agents." The author, Bobby Gruenewald, makes the case that sometimes what we think is good for us isn't. He takes three popular clichés and turns them upside down or at least illustrates that they also have a dark side that one should consider. As you read through these, change the word "church" to "organization" (unless you are a church, of course). You may be surprised at how relevant they are to fundraisers.

"1. Outside the box — Inside the box

Outside-the-box thinking is a great way to produce interesting ideas that are terrible solutions. We need to embrace our constraints instead of ignoring or resisting them. Whether you're feeling limitations with staff, finances, location or other areas, flip that perceived weakness to a strength — because it is! New, innovative solutions will emerge when we think inside the box.

2. Failure is not an option — Failure is a requirement

The ideas that are going to influence our culture are going to involve risk, and there will be failure along the way. We can't allow our fear of failure to prevent us from trying. In our striving to avoid offending anyone, losing money or wasting time, we shut ourselves off from our full potential and becoming the church God created us to be.

3. The way things are — Culture of change

Decades ago, the church seemed to reach a comfort level of operating and decided to hit the collective pause button. We didn't change, even when it hurt us to stay the same. We started seeing change as a noun instead of a verb — something we did once. We need to reverse this way of thinking. If we freeze our church where we are right now, we'll be desperately behind in just a few years. Change needs to become a posture, a steady rhythm ingrained in our leadership."

I might add to the list: