Escaping the Flood of Self-Preservation

John Kotter, a world-renowned expert on change, says, “People eventually focus on self-preservation instead of organizational transformation.” In other words, “What’s in it for me?” is what tends to drive people’s decisions. The flooding that hit Houston (my hometown) this past week highlighted this truth in an interesting way. In one sense, the flooding was simply an act of nature. Up to 18 inches of rain fell in a very short time over large sections of the city, and the drainage systems simply couldn’t handle this volume. In the moment, there were many acts of random kindness with people helping their neighbors. In another sense, however, the flooding was man-made and was many years in the making. Over several decades, as the population of Houston has exploded, a variety of leaders have made decisions that led to last week’s disaster. Developers, wanting to maximize their profits, paved over as much land as possible, accelerating the rate of storm runoff. City governments chose to spend their budgets on immediate needs rather than preparing for the possibility of future problems. A patchwork of municipalities had little incentive or means to cooperate to address a regional problem. The bottom line is that a diverse and fragmented collection of leaders made decisions based on short-term interests without thoughtfully considering how those decisions would impact others in the future. In many ways, that sounds like the same challenge that I see in many churches and ministries. People may acknowledge that there’s a problem, but when the time comes to develop solutions, they “focus on self-preservation.” Change is fine in theory. But when faced with the cost or inconvenience of specific changes, the resistance rises as quickly as the Houston floodwaters. Despite this, I also see a glimmer of hope that runs counter to Kotter’s assertion. It is human nature to focus on self-preservation, but God’s nature leads us in the opposite direction. When a church is alive spiritually and is earnestly seeking God’s guidance, people will make sacrificial decisions. When thinking about change in ministry settings, we should never limit ourselves to the human side of the equation. “Spiritual vitality,” the phrase I’ve used for years, refers to a vibrant and growing relationship with God (individually and corporately). Spiritual vitality enables people to move beyond self-preservation because they’ve chosen to put God first. If you’re frustrated at the resistance to change in your church or ministry, evaluate its spiritual vitality. If this is lacking, how can you raise that vitality over the coming months? It won’t be easy or quick, but it’s the only way to lead lasting organizational transformation. It’s easy to receive my blogs by email. Just sign-up on Feedburner by clicking here.]]>