Innovation by John Kee

Making New Ideas a Reality in Your Ministry: How Research Can Help You Bring About Change Our attempts at introducing ministry innovations often succeed or fail for reasons we are not able to identify. However, the principles discovered through the past 50 years of research on innovation diffusion can give us leads, and hopefully a few tools for effective change. Diffusion: “the process in which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system.” (Everett Rogers, 2003, p.5.)

The BIG FOUR of Diffusion: 1. The Innovation Itself. An innovation is anything perceived as new – an idea, practice, or object – whether it’s actually new or not. People need to be convinced of these reasons to adopt the new thing: 1. Some degree of advantage over the current practice. 2. Relatively compatible with what they are used to. 3. Not too complex or hard to pick up. 4. Able to be experimented with on a trial basis. 5. Visible/observable. Especially when the first two factors are strong, people are likely to pick up the change.

2. Communication channels. The ways channels are used to get the word out about a new idea make a significant difference. Most people pick up something new because of a relationship with another person who has already adopted the innovation. Diffusion is intensely social, requiring direct and authentic interpersonal communication.

3. Time. Change takes time. We all know it. Especially in ministry. A decision to change involves a process of: 1. Knowledge (acquiring information) 2. Persuasion (developing an attitude about an innovation) 3. Decision 4. Implementation 5. Confirmation (reinforcing a final decision to accept the change) The general principle: don’t rush. Give adequate time to make sure everyone involved has the right information they need and can pace through the processes of deciding and working out a change.

References used for this material:

•

Everett M. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 5th ed. (New York: Free Press, 2003 [orig. 1962]) Kurt Lewin, Field Theory in Social Science; Selected Theoretical Papers, ed. D. Cartwright (New York: Harper and Row, 1951). See correlated article at: http://www.cyfm.net/article.php? article=Dont_Good_Ideas_Fly.html

**This is the cumulative diffusion curve for all adopters. On a frequency basis of new adopters, the adoption follows a bell-shaped curve over time.

4. The Social system. Primary types of “product adopters” within a typical social system: Innovators (2.5%) – venturesome; take risks by adopting new practices and guard the flow of ideas into the community. Tend to move beyond the norms of a given society. • Early adopters (13.5%) - respected and valued members of the society, they are often opinion leaders. Seen in a social system as the “person to check with” about a change. • Early majority (34%) – deliberate decisionmakers, usually well-connected socially but not opinion leaders; weigh the decision for a longer time than early adopters. • Late majority (34%) - skeptical, traditional, cautiously wait for uncertainty to be removed. Need to feel really safe about a change before they will embrace it. • Laggards (16%) – the traditionals, who are the last group to adopt an innovation (if they adopt it at all). They are typically suspicious of change agents and innovations alike.

•

Who tends to fall into which categories in your “system”, and how are you caring for them in the process?

YOUR ROLE: THE CHANGE AGENT

P.2

RESEARCH-PROVEN PRINCIPLES: 1. More communication: the more you get the message out, the more people will tend to like that message! 2. Caring more about the people than the innovation you’re trying to get them to adopt increases the chances that they’ll adopt it! 3. Felt needs matter. If you do not clearly communicate why your idea is valuable to someone (not a cheap anxietyproducing sell, but a genuine fit with their needs), they are not likely to be convinced. 4. Empathy – putting yourself in someone else’s role – is positively correlated with adoption success.

BE THE GATEKEEPER “Gatekeeping”: controlling the flow of messages through communication channels. Your role: involving the right people at the right times in order to clearly communicate the change. Key questions: Who are the decision-makers impacted by this change? Who are the people most invested in and most affected by the change? Who should be receiving information at which points in the process?

KEEP DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM

FIND A CHAMPION Who’s cheering you on? Research shows that having at least one champion – a charismatic lover of the idea who will help overcome resistance within the social system – makes a significant difference in an innovation’s success. A champion doesn’t have to be a “power broker” or top leader in the church. They just have to be someone who has good interpersonal skills and can be a link between communication channels and groups.

Equilibrium is the balance of a social system – its center of gravity. Innovations can disrupt this equilibrium significantly, so it’s important to know how much your system can handle. Here are three types of systems: 1. Stable Equilibrium: almost no change takes place within the structure or functioning of the system. Business-as-usual. 2. Dynamic Equilibrium: the rate of change in the system is compatible with the system’s ability to cope with change. As innovations are introduced, the system can adapt appropriately. 3. Disequilibrium: the system bogs down and malfunctions, simply because change is introduced too quickly and too often. The result is chaos and pain. Before you try to implement change, evaluate the nature of your system and consider how much change it can handle at once!!

THE FORCE FIELD THEORY FOR LAUNCHING CHANGE Kurt Lewin proposed that every change process takes place in the context of “force fields” consisting of both driving and resisting forces. Forces tend to fall into three categories: People – ie, particular students, parents, adult staff, church leaders, and FORCE FIELD members of your community; Values – beliefs and principles held Driving Forces Resisting Forces by those involved; and Structures and programs - the services, PEOPLE activities and ministry programs you already have in place that could either serve as catalysts or obstacles in your change. VALUES Create a diagram like this one for your change, and fill in the forces on each side as you see them. When one force is stronger STRUCTURES or weaker than average, that could be reflected by a longer or AND PROGRAMS shorter arrow. This can be a helpful way to visually consider the forces at play for or against your innovation.

**LEADERSHIP QUESTIONS AND APPLICATIONS** 1. Think back over your innovations in youth ministry – both those that “failed” and those that “succeeded”. Can you identify any change principles that shed new light on what happened? What can you learn and implement for next time? 2. What spiritual truths also apply to your understanding of change process? What about Jesus’ suggestion in Matthew 18:1-5, Paul’s motives in Ephesians 4:12-13, the change process evident in Acts 15, and the declarations of Isaiah 43:19 and Revelation 21:5? How can we incorporate these without using scripture as another way to manipulate others? 3. What level of care and attention are you giving to folks in each of the adopter categories, from innovators to laggards? In your efforts to “sell” others on your ideas, do you devalue anyone by either lack of attention or overattention? This resource has been provided FREE by the Center for Youth and Family Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary. For more on the work of CYFM, please visit our website at www.cyfm.net. You may contact us at cyfm@fuller.edu. OK TO PHOTOCOPY: You have permission to copy and distribute this at no charge to others who might find it useful.