Kodak Moments

I was reading an online article from the Harvard Business Review, July 15, 2016 called 'Kodak’s Downfall Wasn’t About Technology' by Scott Anthony. [https://hbr.org/2016/07/kodaks-downfall-wasnt-about-technology] In it, he talks about how Kodak missed the challenges that faced them and have virtually faded from the business scene, ending with these three questions, the importance of which, Kodak neglected.

What business are we in today? ...define the problem you are solving for customers,...“the job you are doing for them.” (For Kodak, that’s the difference between framing itself as a chemical film company vs. an imaging company vs. a moment-sharing company.)
What new opportunities does the disruption open up? ...Perceived as a threat, disruption is actually a great growth opportunity...it also always transforms business models...(those) who perceive threats are rigid in response; those who see opportunities are expansive.
What capabilities do we need to realize these opportunities? ...incumbents are best positioned to seize disruptive opportunities...they have many capabilities...such as access to markets, technologies, and healthy balance sheets...these capabilities impose constraints as well, and are almost always insufficient to compete...in new ways. Approach new growth with appropriate humility.

As I read through the article above and in particulate these three points, I couldn't help thinking about these points from the perspective of the church today and the challenge it has been facing in 50+ years of declining attendance.

What business are we in? For the last 200 years of its life the church has been in the business of providing a social network for the family, an outlet for the women outside of the home. It also offered ethical and religious teachings based on translated writings and doctrines from the past, and performed rites of passage, while being linked to the power structures of the day.
What new opportunities does the disruption (in the case of the church, the flagging attendance numbers) open up? Because what the church is doing and how it is doing it isn't resonating even with those within the church, it opens up the possibility of doing something completely different, of changing ways of doing church and ways of being Church. Weekends and especially Sundays are filled with family-oriented activities, especially in the homes where both partners are working. Might another time and/or day might work better? Instead of providing the social network for the family, today’s churches could become the support network for those same families. As knowledge explodes, the church has the opportunity to incorporate that knowledge into it’s liturgy.
What capabilities do we need to realize these opportunities? We need leadership, that will support a bottom-up movement, who are wiling to empower others, especially the laity. Leadership that is not afraid of either change or failure, that fully supports experimentation on the part of its clerics.

Let's face it. The church is a business, a business with a bottom-line, with employees, with a plant, and with a customer base. As such it should also avail itself of some of the wisdom that comes from the business community about how to maintain or even enhance its market share. The three questions above are a good way to begin that process.

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