Purple Cows Graze at Churches Too

Seth Godin reminded us again this week about the importance of Purple Cows. The key, as he suggested, though, is to continually be finding new cows. Seth wrote:

Organizations are not very good at creating the remarkable. People are. And after a person creates a purple cow, the organization milks that cow, relentlessly, for as long as it can. If the people in the organization don’t have the guts and the energy to ready a new cow, then the organization’s days are numbered.

This is one of those areas of leadership that really pushes me on a daily basis–particularly since I lead in a church. It could just be me, but it seems like the church (in general) has a fairly solid track record of finding purple cows and then milking those same cows for 50 years years or more. And sadly, that’s probably why the vast majority of churches are not experiencing growth. The message isn’t the cow, but the methods are, and the methods need to change frequently for the message to remain relevant in people’s lives.

So, I often look around and ask: What methods are we holding on to too tightly? Where do we need to change to continue to have impact in people’s lives? I don’t ever want to be stuck in a church that values its traditions higher than changed lives.

Thankfully I serve on a team that’s always on the lookout for the next purple cow.