Apparently sales for Google’s Android operating system beat out Apple’s iPhone OS in the first quarter this year and I’m personally not surprised.
I think Android is going to continue to grow and catch on as people realize how useful it truly is to be “available” on multiple mediums (in this case handsets and providers).
I also like Android because it’s based on the Open Source Apache License and is a part of the Open Handset Alliance, which is just a consortium of businesses that believe in open standards.
But here’s the kicker and the lesson that we have to keep in mind…
What may seem unstoppable at one point (iPhone adoption, market share, brand awareness, etc) does have an end, eventually. For example, ministries and churches that were once deemed to be the powerhouses and the forerunners of thought leadership eventually fizzle out and leave their positions of authority.
Our goal or intention is never to do this explicitly but it happens all the time.
So what are we doing to make sure that we sustain a high level of effectiveness and potency? How are we creating sustainable systems and programs that’ll stand against the test of time and changing culture?
Is this even important to us as a Church? Or do we consistently need a death-rebirth cycle of once-innovative institutions?
Dave Lloyd says
Xanga is dead, MySpace is not far behind. Just like the 8-track tape and the Toronto blessing. And Smith Wigglesworth. Spiritual experience, community and leadership are always undergoing change. Are they sustainable? Nope. Stuff appears, creates a culture around it. The culture keeps changing and progressing but the stuff goes away.
When it comes down to it, the only thing (excepting, of course, God) that’s truly sustainable is innovation. In other words, change is the only constant. In the blink of the eye the Android will be not only obsolete, but decidedly uncool.
brett barner says
Great reminder to be aggressively innovative. Becoming bloated with our past accomplishments will destroy.
Just ask RIM.
John Saddington says
RIM who?
🙂
Jonathon Deringer says
An innovative church needs the death-rebirth cycle on a microcosm level. Staying relevant to the next generation requires a cycle of birth-mature-retirement in innovative planning. You can continue to use elements from each cycle but use volunteers and creative staff members to help refresh the presentation to the Church.
Brian Barela says
coming from a large/old(er) non-profit it’s so easy to keep looking back and focusing on micro-innovations rather than macro-innovations.
having at least a presence on new communication platforms can be a challenge for us, because there is so much resistance to change in general.
John Saddington says
we need some good people to “resist” but done more wisely I think.
pushback can be very healthy.