“you’ve got mail” to “you’ve got problems”
By the title, you’ve probably already guessed the company. You remember 8-10 years ago when your mailbox was bombarded with CD ROMS with the little blue triangle, usually offering 3 months of free internet access if you sign up now. With that strategy, AOL became the leading ISP almost overnight. Compuserve was doing everything they could to keep pace utlizing a similar strategy.
Then times changed. Download speeds were increasing exponentially with high-speed access. No longer was it necessary to deliver the software via CD, and AOL missed it. They became so focused on a strategy that offered incredible success in the past, but failed to see a defining shift in the industry. As a result, AOL has gone from 27 million subscribers to 10 million. Revenue has dropped from $9.1billion to $5.7billion, and they’ve laid off over 60% of their workforce. And Compuserve – you probably hadn’t even heard that company mentioned in 5 years.
Do you see any similarities to the evangelical church? If we’re not careful, we can get so focused on a strategy that, granted, has offered success in the past, but totally miss the shifts that are taking place in our culture where those same strategies will be outdated and lead to failure.
Strategy is critical to the success of any organization, including the church – but strategy must be constantly evaluated and massaged to effectively impact a culture. What CD-ROMS do you have in your church?
For kicks – anyone still with AOL?
Tags: aol, church strategy, compuserve, isp
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