Lipstick, Kodak and other changes

A few years ago, Kodak (www.kodak.com) reported that it would no longer manufacture and sell film, but would, instead devote its research and development to new imaging innovations, specifically digital photography.

I would have loved to be in on some of those marketing meetings. Can you picture it?

On one side of the room, there would be the old guard...the men and women who had built fortunes and companies on photography from film canisters.

And on the other would be the young bucks whose visionary ideals were leading the company in a new direction.

Can you hear the discussion? Can you feel the emotion? Can you see the microcosm of life?

Kodak is a household name. Every Academy Award nominated movie was captured by Kodak film. It is a company that has your grandmother's wedding photos and the pic of your kid's first tooth all within its rolodex --- make that electronic rolodex -- of memories.

Can you imagine the courage it took to say, "we've come as far as we can go with this type of business and now its time to go in a new direction"?

I work with a company who frequently changes its product line to keep up with the demands of clients. Recently a new lineup was announced and I thought, "Oh no, here we go." I could imagine the calls I would be receiving on why their favorite "color" was no longer available.

And while I'm eager for the change of seasons and the new colors, I know one thing that is true for companies and for people -- CHANGE IS HARD.

I know the bell curve that says there are "early adapters" and there are "latent adapters" (I'm an early one, by the way). While some will eagerly accept change, others will dig in their heels and resist.

What I don't get is this -- why the christian community is so slow to see the changes of culture at odds with itself. And while I know that business and church are not on the same footing there are virtually hundreds of companies that are reinventing themselves (Kodak) whose change in direction can be felt in almost every nook of our world.

Question: Where has the christian community been? And why can't it seem to be open to learning from great examples of change that have done it quite well?

One of the big trappings of christians is that we think we've discovered something no one else has thought about. We think it is our little journey that we're experiencing and we don't want to invite anyone else to the party.

Wrong. The rest of the world has been trying to figure out what to do in a post 9/11 world a post internet world and yes, a post modern world for quite some time.

Maybe we could stop and ask directions?

Maybe the first step we can do is open ourselves up to learning from other entities that have navigated these waters before with some success.

Recently I had a discussion with a colleage on some of the changes within my company. And as I stood there I had this growing suspicion that I'd heard the dialogue before. Oh, the words and the issue were not the same but the essence was all too familar. Somewhere along the way, someone had an idea that was a good one and then that idea became a sacred being and now?Well, now that idea is as out of date as film canisters and photo labs.

Sound familiar?

But there is something I learned in participating in that discussion. And this is it: we cannot embrace the future without giving honor to the past.

Like the '60's kids who went out and joined the Peace Corp to get away from the wealth of their family...

Like my kid who doesn't like my car but depends on it to get him where he's going.

Kind of hard to criticize the vehicle that brought you thus far.

I wonder where digital photography would be had it not been for the countless innovations along the way. Indeed, the film canister served a great purpose...it was a necessary stopping place along the way. We couldn't have arrived here any other way. Appreciating that step -- and those that brought it to us -- is one way we embrace the future.

I'm not giving up my incredible digital camera for anything. And I won't be using "real" film for much of anything in the near future. Yet, how ridiculous would I look if I went around with my camera talking about how silly it was to use the old. What good could come out of using my new camera while all the while making fun of black and white photography? Really, what would the point of all that be?

Thanks to the pioneers who have engineered my life and provided structure to my journey. Where would I be without you? Like the banks of the river, you've captured the force and movement of my life and the life of my peers. But that purpose is now evolving and I'm ready to move on. I can't go foward as I was nor can I move forward without appreciating all that you've given me.

I choose to pay homage to the past without being a slave to it. I choose to move forward with deep appreciation while embracing the nuances of the future. I choose to realize that this part of the journey is only a part and at the end of my life I can only hope that there will be some who will appreciate where my journey has taken them.

Maybe they'll even take my picture.