Ken Howard - The Lean Startup Conference 12/9/14
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This document discusses how churches and startups can both benefit from rapid prototyping and experimentation to adapt to changing environments and uncertainties. It provides examples from a 20-year case study of an Episcopal church that prototyped new programs and services over multiple rounds to better engage different demographic groups and increase member participation and donations. This process of applying ideas, assessing outcomes, and adapting their vision allowed the church to survive exponential changes by remaining flexible and driven by their core values.
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Ken Howard - The Lean Startup Conference 12/9/14
- 1. What they look like from the outside… STARTUPS CHURCHES
- 2. What the best leaders in both do… Startup ENTREPRENEURS Church ENTRAPRENEURS Plant Grow Revitalize Experiment
- 3. Forces at work… Exponential Change Extreme Uncertainty C H U R C H
- 4. Uncertainty… 25 20 15 10 5 0 “Rise of the NONES” 1972 2010
- 5. Change… 0 A denominational singularity? 1900 2100 2000 Denominations Followers Event horizon?
- 6. And Murphy’s Law of human nature… uncertainty disunity conformity
- 7. To survive a ride thru this wormhole… must be lean, flexible, experimental, & driven by a…
- 8. Minimum Viable Belief What How Why What How Why Why of Whys A vision that transcends existence
- 9. Rapid Iteration Prototyping (R.I.P.) Because it’s okay to let bad ideas die… APPLY program/product seasonal experiment ASSESS our assumptions ADAPT MVB vision Toss?
- 10. 20 years of experimentation Startup & Expansion Member marketing, engagement, & giving Community relief & development Worship & education Conflict transformation & social change
- 11. Prototyping program – Round 1 Need: more young families with children Fall 2010 Summer 2010 Children’s service Children’s service pilot Spring 2011 Focus group eval. ■■ design VISION ■ ”it’s just what we asked for”
- 12. Prototyping program – Round 2 Summer 2011 Design tweak Fall 2011 Children’s service launch Spring 2012 Team data analysis ■■■ VISION ■ adults missed sermon
- 13. Prototyping program – Round 3 Summer 2012 Combined service (best of both) Fall 2012 Intergenerational launch Winter break 2013 Team data analysis ■■■■ VISION ■ nursing moms not staying for fellowship
- 14. Prototyping program – Round 4 Winter break 2013 Holy Nursing campaign design Winter 2014 Holy Nursing campaign launch Spring 2014 Team data analysis ■■■■■ VISION ■ staying, but more kids = more noise (tweaking continues)
- 15. Prototyping member giving – Round 1 Need: giving consistent with vision Summer 2007 Bells & Whistles program purchase Fall 2007 “B & W” pilot Keep one term Winter 2008 Team review ■■■■■ VISION Toss “B & W”
- 16. Prototyping member giving – Round 2 Spring 2008 Keep “Giving Estimate” Fall 2008 “Giving Estimate” campaign Winter 2009 Team review ■■■■ VISION ■■■ more gave, sooner, more generously
- 17. Prototyping member giving– Round 3 Spring 2009 “Reasons not to give” Fall 2009 “Reasons” implementation Spring 2010 Team review ■■■■■ VISION ■■■■ increased giving (during a recession)
- 18. Prototyping member giving – Round 4 Winter 2014 Killing the campaign Spring-Fall 2014 Qtrly Town Halls + Annual Ingathering Winter 2015 Team review ? ? ? VISION
- 19. What could startups steal from us? Vision creates Culture A lean, transcendent vision can create a flexible, durable, self-guiding culture that can outlast its founder.
- 20. Contact Info. The Rev. Ken Howard Rector St. Nicholas Episcopal Church about.me/ken.howard saintnicks.com practicingparadoxy.com 301-704-3290
Editor's Notes
- I know… Churches? Startups? Seriously? SERIOUSLY. I’ve started companies, non-profits, and faith communities. They may look different, but they’ve got a lot more in common than you think.
- Consider… How entrepreneurial church leaders actually lead churches: They start them…grow them…revitalize them…experiment with them. And today’s faith communities are almost always lean, at least financially.
- Consider… the forces at work… Like startups, today’s churches and faith communities live at the intersection of extreme uncertainty and exponential change, within and without. (Just like startups) Examples:
- Uncertainty… The “Rise of the NONES”… Those who check “none of the above” for religious preference in polls. In 1972, less that 1 in 30. Now, more than 1 in 5.
- Change… All faiths fracture… Christianity’s no different. First slowly: 1,600 denominations, 1,900 years. Then it went exponential, jumping to 45,000 by 2014. A singularity. (And we’re beyond the event horizon.)
- Exacerbated by common misconception: That conformity leads to community. And the antidote to uncertainty and change? More conformity, of course. When human nature is such that the opposite is true.
- These were the forces we faced starting our church. Like a ride through a wormhole. To survive, we knew we had to be Lean, Flexible, Experimental… and driven by a Minimum Viable Belief.
- A Core Belief A Foundational Vision. A WHY of WHYs. Transcending success… or survival. For us, that the transforming power of God’s love made all other considerations secondary.
- Everything revolved around our MVB. A cycle of experimentation: ADAPT… APPLY… ASSESS… Which we called Rapid Iteration Programming (RIP)… to remind ourselves it was okay to bad ideas die.
- For nearly 20 years, we’ve been applying this Lean-like approach to every aspect of congregational life, from startup to worship to giving campaigns. Let’s walk through two examples:
- Young families were underrepresented. So we convened a parent focus group, defined, designed, refined, piloted a children’s service, and got a green light from the group: T’was everything they asked for.
- But not entirely what they wanted… We launched… Initial response was strong… But over time many young families moved to our main service. Seems parents missed their adult sermons.
- So… we merged… best of both… Holy Play area… Adult sermons… Called it “Intergenerational”… They loved it! But some parents weren’t staying for fellowship. Nursing moms worried they might be frowned upon…
- So we designed & launched a “Nursing is Holy” campaign. Our assisting priest (a nursing mom) was game… Social media posts… discussions… being present… And…Success! With unintended consequences more noise (fine tuning continues)
- Example 2… Member giving. Always tweaking. Found a great turnkey giving campaign others thought was easy, effective, and fun, so we bought it… tried it… HATED IT!... Dumped it. Except for… A single term.
- Their word, “Giving Estimate,” was simpler, less contractual, and less churchy, requiring less explanation than our term, “Pledge.” So we ran a regular campaign with the new term. Response? More responded, sooner, and more generously.
- Why? Communicated freedom rather than obligation. So next year we went one step further, holding discussions about things that might hold people back from giving. Response: 20% increase (during a recession).
- That was 2010. This year, another big step into freedom, we killed the annual giving campaign in favor of year-round conversations about mission, ministry, member engagement, and money. Response? We’ll let you know…
- Lean, transcendent vision creates flexible, durable, self-guiding culture that can outlast its founder… from startup to maturity… Minimum Viable Belief.