Both/And vs. Either/Or
A look at what can be learned from other sectors that are thriving in this new world.
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To not steward what has been learned during the pandemic by becoming too focused on getting back into the building would be a colossal missed opportunity.
Church going forward, must be a “both/and“ world, not an either/or reality.
Over the next couple of issues, I will be sharing with you some learnings from organizations in other sectors that are navigating the new world of both/and with great success.
First up … Walmart
Spring 2019 I led a group of multisite churches in an experience that landed us in Bentonville, Arkansas in dialogue with the senior team at Walmart. At that time they had 11,695 retail stores in 29 countries, and ecommerce sites in 11 countries. Despite this enormous investment in brick and mortar locations, they were mid-year in implementing a strategy that focused on building their online presence. Resources had been significantly shifted from brick and mortar acquisitions to e-retail. They knew to continue to be relevant in a fast changing economy they could no longer rely on their market dominance in in-person shopping. Interestingly enough, these decisions, made then to gain online market share from the perennial leader in the space - Amazon, have resulted in positioning Wal-Mart to thrive in the current environment. While other retailers have been forced into bankruptcy during the pandemic, Walmart posted a 74% increase in year over year online sales in the first quarter of 2020. And that commitment to online was what enabled their sustained growth even in the early days of the pandemic.
The interaction with their team surfaced a couple of learnings that have implications for this conversation.
First, Walmart would continue to be both online and brick and mortar.
Again not either/or but both/and. And note the significant investment Walmart made to introduced this new reality. Their leadership effectively modeled the new behaviors and mindsets that I wrote about in Innovating Your Way to a New Future a few weeks back.
Second, the two experiences had to be uniquely differentiated, informed by the primary shopper.
The two experiences needed to be both consistent with the Walmart brand and distinct. Whether you are shopping online or in your neighborhood Walmart store, the brand promise of lower prices and one stop shopping had to be consistent. Brick and mortar “store layout” had to make sense for foot traffic, and the “online/app store layout” had to make sense for the customer who was purchasing on their laptop, notebook, or phone. And in today’s environment both brick and mortar and online shopping experiences have to include options for services such as pickup and delivery that are based on the customer’s comfort level with engaging public spaces.
Implications for the church … continued after the following …
In my and Geoff Surratt’s ebook, Multisite Reimagined we peek behind the curtain at churches that are expanding on this new reality rather than simply getting back to “normal”, finding new ways to be one church in multiple locations.
Multisite Reimagined™ is my proprietary process to help your team think creatively about what’s next for your multisite ministry.
To download the free ebook and take the Multisite Reimagined Assessment, go to Multisite Reimagined.
To schedule a call to talk about it, just go here.
What does this look like for the church?
If you choose to adopt a both/and approach to in person and online models, I believe it will be critical to long term sustainability to create consistently branded as well as distinct online and live experiences. The learnings of this season will impact both the online experience and the live experience. In addition, the both/and applications cannot be limited to the Sunday morning worship experience.
In a recent call with some of the early multisite pioneers, Larry Osborne, founding pastor of North Coast Community Church, said he believes strongly churches will need two champions moving forward; one for online and one for live.
Another possibility I see for the reimagined church is the development of a hybrid model. In this approach, the offerings of the church would not be duplicated in every case, but rather offered either online or in person, as deemed appropriate by the culture and context of the church. For example, I have spoken with many churches who have made a decision to conduct their “new members process” only online. This decision has been driven by being forced to do so mid-pandemic with greater results both in participation and transparency as the new folks share their story of how they came to be involved. Others will keep their small groups for families with young kids online as parents report a preference resulting from being able to feel more engaged when they aren’t harried by the process of getting to the group, nor distracted by the child care options. Kids are down for the night, TV/computer is on and they are focused with their group. The hybrid model will look different in each context.
Where are you along the journey? Email me your innovation experiments and stories at greg.ligon@generis.com.