Granite and Sand
Some observations after some re-reading of Will Mancini’s “Church Unique”
A foward-moving organization is marked by two characteristics that, at first glance, seem to be opposing. First, the organization will stand upon core values that never change. Second, is the realization that everything else must be open to change to preserve the core. It takes a lot of clarity and discipline to understand where to categorize the different elements that make up the organization. The question to ask is whether things ought to be written in granite or sand. Things etched in granite are to never change; things written in sand are always in flux. Things written in sand aren’t things that should change…they are things that must change!
One of the main reasons people have such a hard time with the things that should change is because we don’t do a good job at clarifying what the things of granite are to be. Mancini writes:
Why is change management so hard in the church? Because we don’t see the stuff in the sand in light of the stuff of granite. In the absence of vision, the stuff of sand BECOMES the vision. In the absence of granite, sand is all we can grasp.
The leaders job is to help people embrace change by nurturing an emotional connection to the unchanging core vision. By clearly articulating the core vision, people are more apt to adjust and adapt.
Mancini’s final thought on the matter:
Make no mistake: our change management problems are vision problems first and people problems second. Many leaders want their people to run a missional marathon but unknowingly feed them junk food, leaving them malnourished and unprepared for the future.
