"God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference."

- Reinhold Niebuhr

"The Israelites could neither change the desert nor leave it.  They found themselves thrown into an impossible situation that they could do nothing about.  They could not help themselves.  There was no possibility of living off the land.  They did not know the way out of the desert.  They were frustrated on all sides.  The whole experience was a meaningless waste.  And so they complained.  Grumbling is the response of those who are unable to do anything else.  Grumbling is a response made in utter frustration.

 

The Israelites complained chiefly about food and water, the things they needed most and could not procure for themselves in the desert.  But these complaints about primary needs were symbolic of their entire experience of being in the desert at all.  The desert was God's way of bringing them to a state of total dependence on Him, and trust in Him.  The longer they complained and refused to surrender to God, the longer the desert experience lasted."

     When we view our schools as a business, we put the entire burden of running the facility on the "customers" - in this case, the parents.  That won't work.  When we view our schools as a ministry, we put the entire burden of running the facility on the parish. For the majority of churches and parishes, that won't work either.

     It takes parents.  It takes the parish.  It takes people in the community.  It takes alumni.  It takes businesses.  It takes friends and family that care.  It takes other schools working cooperatively rather than competitively.  Seven components - but there's still one more component - one that is not of this world, but works through us.  It will cause many of us to say, “Holy S…t."  Let's see if you can fill in the blank with the proper letters!

     We may think we can't do anything to change our situation (since, if we know we don't like the results we've been getting, something has to change).  But there is one thing that has even has the power to touch God.  We have free access to it, and we need to use it.

The Advantage of Chaos

     So you've decided to change some things...but only some things, because you don't want to upset too many people at the same time.  If you ask me, I would say that's the wrong mindset.

     Remember that with Advancement, you cannot think linearly; you must think systemically.  You can't just do marketing, then development, then enrollment.  You can't pick a starting point.  You might be inspired by one point, but can't continue to work along that one item until it's moving along.  I know one school that jumped on the Development bandwagon and raised over 1 million dollars in four years - all the while their enrollment was eroding.  Now, future development projects funded by these donors may be in jeopardy because the school is not showing growth from the previous contributions that were made.

     I'm a firm believer in making as many changes as possible at once - for three reasons:  1) There's always something to attend to.  If something "isn't broken," that doesn't mean to leave it alone.  It may be the one thing that impedes the rest of the system's progress.  2) Change is going to upset many people.  Dragging out changes upsets more people as the timeline drags on (now you can see how "Timing" fits).  Upsetting everyone all at once creates a sense of urgency that calls for everyone to do their part to pitch in and support the organization they're a part of.  Remember, if something doesn't personally affect someone, they're not going to react until something does.  When you want to get as many people involved as possible, upset the apple cart.  3) As time moves on, your not making changes anymore - you're making "adjustments."  There's a subtle difference in understanding.  Yes, an "adjustment" is a change, but it's not perceived that way.  When you adjust, you're still continuing with the plan, whereas a "change" would be a radical departure from the plan.

     Notice that a plan must be the blueprint that is followed.  As a leader, you have to lay out your vision and goals so that people will buy in to the changes being made.  Those that become energized about the plan will speak with others to bring them to realization.  On a greater scale, it's what we're called to do with our Faith - evangelization is everyone's job.

Where is "When?"

     After publishing last week's Marketing Matter, I received some feedback asking why I did not address "When?"  I made the point of being able to answer the questions Who, What, Where, Why and How, but forgot the sixth question, When?  That's intentional.  It's because we never really know "When."  We can plan for "When" in order to give us milestones, but the other five questions are more important that "When."  Unfortunately, in our society of immediacy, even saying "in five years" is too long for some - they want results "NOW!" - and we know for many things, it's not a matter of "our time" - it's in "God's time."  Further, we have to implement the other elements (Case, Vision, Values, and Mission) NOW, further making "When" a moot point.