Small is the new big
A couple of years ago Debbie and I were watching a fashion program on A&E or some other cable channel that we didn't ask for but that the cable company gives us anyway. The fashionistas were discussing the hottest, latest, hippest clothing lines, when one of them said, "Pink is the new black."
Puzzled, I turned to Debbie and said, "What does that mean, 'Pink is the new black?' That doesn't even make sense." Debbie just looked at me with the pity which kind people have for stray puppies and explained -- "this year women are wearing pink when they used to wear black -- like to parties, the opera, the ballet, and the symphony." Oh.
Fast forward to 2006, and Seth Godin, self-proclaimed marketing wunderkind and change agent, has a new book out last August titled Small Is The New Big. Now I realize August was 5 months ago and this is old news, but I only started this blog in December, so I'm catching up. Seth has personally given me permission to share the title article with you. (Actually, his website says "copy, share, etc" which I am interpreting personally. Kind of a new hermeneutic.)
So click here for a pdf of the article in which Seth mentions churches twice --
- Little churches grow faster than worldwide ones.
- A small church has a minister with the time to visit you in the hospital when you're sick.
Two profound insights which, frankly, I found helpful. But the point of his article, and I assume his book, is that small has definite advantages, and he lists tons of them. Seth concludes the article by saying, "Small is the new big only when the person running the small thinks big. Don't wait. Get small. Think big."
