Wisdom for navigating change
Adobe
The statistics on organizational change are sobering. John Kotter's 1996 research Leading Change revealed that roughly 30 percent of change programs succeed. In a similar study from 2008, McKinsey surveyed 3,199 executives around the world and found, as Kotter did, that only one in three change transitions succeeds.
These figures aren't meant to deter or discourage you. They are meant to paint a realistic picture of the challenges of managing change. That is why it is essential that we seek God's direction in our lives and in our ministries. We must never underestimate the power of prayer, God's Word, and the wisdom of the people he has put in our lives. He wants us to ask him. He isn't withholding wisdom from us. James 1:5 tells us, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." He is faithful to guide us toward wisdom, both individually and corporately.
Back when I was grappling with our recruitment problem and couldn't make sense of what to do next, a local pastor asked me what was keeping me up at night. I told him about our challenges engaging young adults, feeling stuck, and having no idea how to solve the problem. After listening for a while he said, "Aaron, you're pregnant." He had my attention. He then shared words from Isaiah 66:9: "Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?" (NIV). This reference to God's redemptive plan for Israel and his faithfulness to bring his plans to fruition helped me put my own struggles into perspective. When I feel uncertain or anxious about the future, I am reminded of His Word. It is the Lord that directs our steps.
Wisdom is like a lighthouse that guides us through dark and dangerous waters toward a new destination. We have already received powerful sources of wisdom through God's Son, the Holy Spirit, and his living Word, the Bible. I am continually amazed that God teaches, guides, counsels, and convicts us in wisdom through all sorts of sources, if we remain open to seeking him first and foremost. I can't count the times I have been impacted by a conversation, an article, a piece of art, a song, a view. Solomon even looked to the bugs on the ground for wisdom.
Those of us leading change need all the wisdom we can get, even if that means utilizing tools from outside our faith-based comfort zones—specifically tools designed and used by the business world. We can glean practical wisdom from some of them and utilize them for kingdom purposes.
After leading Israel out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, Moses met up with his father-in-law Jethro and shared everything that had happened, sparing no detail. Pharaoh, the plagues, the parting of the sea, hardships endured. Jethro, amazed, couldn't help but recognize the hand of God in all of this. The following day, after watching Moses deal with problems "from morning till evening," Jethro told Moses, "'What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone" (Ex. 18:13,17-18). Jethro gave Moses some good leadership coaching. Moses heeded the advice and made his job a bit more manageable.
Moses wasn't aware of how unsustainable his situation was. He was busy doing his job. Only after hearing an alternate perspective from his father-in-law, a chief and leader of a different people, was he able to see what he was doing wrong. Navigating change is complex, and if we are going to succeed, we need to take all the help we can get. Even if it means taking advice from a priest of Midian.
We should always be grounded in Scripture, guided by prayer, and reminded of God's work in our lives. But we should also be open to learning from best practices in business and culture.
Change is difficult even when it's going well. Don't be discouraged if the process takes longer than you initially anticipate. There will be temptation to "return to Egypt" as problems emerge, but if you can stay the course and continue to seek wisdom each step of the journey, change is possible.
Adapted from Mission Design by Aaron Abramson. ©2025 by Jews for Jesus. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press. www.ivpress.com.
 | Aaron Abramson (MPA, New York University) is the CEO of Jews for Jesus. He was raised in a Jewish home, studied in a religious Jewish seminary, and served in the Israel Defense Forces. Since having a life-changing encounter with Jesus, Aaron has been instrumental in helping Jews for Jesus revitalize recruitment, redesign mission processes, and develop the ministry's performance measurement system. Learn More » |
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