Thirty-five years ago film and camera company Eastman Kodak was on the top of their game. In 1976, they commanded 90% of film sales and 85% of camera sales in the U.S. It was common to see people pulling out their yellow boxes of Kodak film any time there was a picture taking opportunity, but change was around the corner and Kodak wasn’t adequately prepared for the world of digital.
Looking back it doesn’t make any sense. In 1975, an electrical engineer at Kodak invented and built the first digital camera. However, the company decided to scrap the project fearing that it would threaten their film business. This was the first in a series of catastrophic decisions that would eventually lead to the company declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy this past January.
People have debated the many possible reasons for Kodak’s demise, but one thing has remained clear through it all. Kodak failed to see beyond what was successful at the time to what the future held and thus missed out on one of the biggest advances in the history of photography.
Kodak isn’t the only company that has failed to keep up. Borders recently liquidated after losing out on the ebooks game. Last year Blockbuster sold out to Dish Network after Netflix and Redbox began dominating the movie rental business. So, what can we learn from these companies?
Never stop innovating. Change is always going to happen and, while campus ministry isn’t a business, it’s still possible to get left behind if we’re not looking at ways to stay current and improve. We live in a consumer culture and if students feel a ministry is outdated or lacking in an area they’ll move on to somewhere else.
I’m not saying we should begin viewing students as customers, but it is important to keep in mind that God likes to do new things.
If we’re not paying attention we won’t just miss out on staying current, we’ll miss out on what God wants to do through our ministries.
What was successful 10 years ago may not work any more and what seemed like the perfect system when your group had 15 students may be a burden to your ministry when you have 40 students. As we prep for conferences and plan for the future the BASIC crew is regularly asking God for creativity and I think our groups should be doing the same thing.
I’m so grateful that we have access to the greatest innovator and creative mind this world has ever seen! Let’s seek Him for fresh ideas, new insights, and supernatural creativity in our ministries!
Has your group done anything creative or out of the ordinary? Please share in the comments below so we can encourage and help each other.