Status Quo
By Dr. Brian Simmons
Photo by Xan Griffin on Unsplash
Status Quo has implications both from a personal and an organizational context. Status quo refers to the way things currently are and implies contentment and a corresponding resistance to changes of any kind.
On personal level, I’ve been thinking about this quote from the speaker at the Christian Leadership Alliance CEO breakfast… “To seek the rule of God in our lives is THE key principle in the Bible guiding faithful steward leaders! Apart from the Lord interrupting our lives, we will maintain the status quo.” -Dr Abe Jaquez.
What is wrong with the status quo? A rut is a grave with the ends knocked out! There is no personal growth there! Living things grow, and growing things reproduce!
From an organizational context, “Timely advice is lovely, like golden apples in a silver basket. To one who listens, valid criticism is like a gold earring or other gold jewelry. Trustworthy messengers refresh like snow in summer. They revive the spirit of their employer. A person who promises a gift but doesn’t give it is like clouds and wind that bring no rain” (Proverbs 25:11-14). The best and most effective leaders seek out and consider valid criticism! The other kind surround themselves with happy talk and marginalize brave truth tellers.
On a personal level, there are a few good qualities of remaining in the status quo. One is faithfulness! When considering the alternative of untrustworthiness, faithfulness is the better character trait! The same is true on an organizational level as leaders commit to remaining mission true and remaining committed to core values.
Once those things that should never change are identified, everything else should be up for discussion!
The problem with the status quo is that there is no neutral. We either move forward or backward! People who focus on the status quo fall backwards personally, professionally and spiritually! They are resistant to change, refuse to listen to the advice or even the ideas of others (much less constructive criticism!!) become complacent or even mistakenly believe their lives and the organizations they lead are perfect and the best in the world, they intentionally surround themselves with only the voices they want to hear instead of the voices they need to hear, and as a result they become less effective as leaders and lead organizations that become mediocre or worse!
Don’t settle for the status quo! Breaking free from the grip of the status quo requires intentional disruption. And, this disruption is not a one-time action, it is a lifetime practice of those who are growing personally, professionally and spiritually!
