We were working cows at the ranch last week.  The cows are penned, sorted, doctored, and then turned out.  I have seen this ballet of work a hundred times in my life, but it never grows old.

When we turn the cows out, one man cracks open the gate just wide enough for a cow to go through.  Another man, either or horseback or on foot, stands in the pen, and gently walks the cows toward the gate.  The cows feel the pressure of someone behind them, and they see the narrow escape route.  They run past the man, and out into the pasture.

Why not let them all out at once?  If all the cows saw the gate wide open, they would rush the gate.  What happens when 150 cows try to go through a twelve-foot gate all at once?  Damage.  I’ve seen too many cows crowd the gate and the gate man lose control.  Suddenly, all the cows are running through and there is the sickening “crack” of wood snapping.  One hundred thousand pounds of beef on the move can crack an eight-inch post in two, and demolish a three-hundred pound gate.  The pace at which you let the cows out matters.

The pace of change in an organization matters too.  Some organizations never change because the gate isn’t even open.  Sometimes, the gate is not open enough for people to see a better future on the other side of the gate.  Sometimes, there is not enough pressure to move people toward change.  If there is not a compelling reason “why,” people respond by saying, “Why change?”

If a leader is conflict adverse, they may not wish to build the case for change.  It requires extra work, extra research, and extra risk.  It may be easier to keep all the cows in the pen, but eventually, the cows will die from lack of food and water.

Some leaders want fast change.  This usually is not because of a crisis, but because of the leader’s inward sense of urgency and ambition.  They push hard, and the change happens, but a lot of damage is done in the process.  I heard one pastor described like this: “He gets things done, but he leaves behind a lot a bodies.” 

The environment of your organization is factor in pacing change.  In general, city dwellers are more receptive to change than rural dwellers.  Before attempting change in a small-town organization, you have to earn trust.  People trust people they have known for decades before they trust people they have known months.

Your church or organization itself has internal dynamics that impact change.  Older, established organizations change slower than newer, leaner organizations.  Both businesses and churches have power blocks that must be considered.

I never had a class that taught me about the pace of change.  Knowing the pace of change is more caught than taught.  The only way to pick it up is to be the man on the gate and get run over a few times.  Or be the man in the back and have the cows turn back on you.  One of my favorite quotes from Teddy Roosevelt is from his “Man in the Arena” speech at the Sorbonne:  “…the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause…”

Get in the pen, learn to pace change.  Your organization needs it.  Your church needs it.