 Technical Change vs. Adaptive Change

Technical Change  Improving what is already being done  Applies current knowledge and skills  New learning is not needed, just application of present knowledge base  Starting new programs, improving VBS  Past approaches work with new problems  Like taking a car to a mechanic

Technical Change  Important, not trivial  We already have the skills to deal with these  Experts exist, we rely on them  Solutions come from them to us

Adaptive Change  We don’t have the skills to deal with these  Solution is critical for our future  Requires new learning  Stimulates resistance  Challenges our habits and assumptions  Gran Torino

Adaptive Change  Questions our sense of competence  Challenges how we see things  No outside experts – they don’t exist  We must create our own solutions  Dealing with this will change the culture of our church  New racial ethnic groups entering church

Exercise #1  Share some key changes you have faced in your personal life in the last 10 years.  Are they technical or adaptive?  What did you do?  How did you handle them?

Exercise #2  Share some key changes your congregation has faced in the last 10 years.  Are they technical or adaptive?  How are adaptive changes affecting you?  What opportunities/threats do they create?  What are you doing to engage them?

Jeremiah 29:4-14  What did the Israelites do to deal with their adaptive challenges?  How was God leading them to become missional in Babylon?

After Identifying the Adaptive Challenge   What is God up to here?   What new skills do we need to learn?   What experiment can we try that will help us address this challenge?   Who are the people God has put around us to help us?   Action/reflection (prayer &Bible study) model

NEXT STEPS   Can’t learn everything you need to know in one day. This is only the beginning. It is a long journey.   It’s about culture change, not structure change   Need ongoing, regular learning community with other pastors and elders, training and coaching

NEXT STEPS   Memories, Hopes, and Conversations by Mark Lau Branson. Creating congregational conversations through Appreciative Inquiry to discover more deeply what God is up to in people’s lives. Awareness and Understanding

Next Steps   Starting New Initiatives, free (pay for shipping) from the Office of Evangelism and Church Growth   Process begins with session members   Process expands to include other leaders   What is God calling us to do?

Next Steps   Roxburghmissionalnet.com   Pastor 360 assessment process   Church 360 assessment process   Moving Back into the Neighborhood workbook process

Questions?