We see this all the time. People speaking authoritatively from a position of ignorance. The internet is awesome for this. Just check out any of the online forums or groups. And pick a topic—any topic.

Obviously, we see this in church tech groups, but it exists everywhere. We also see it in everyday life. We’ll hear someone make a fairly definitive statement that obviously comes from a place of no knowledge or background. But boy, are they convinced they’re right. Growing up we had a magnet on the fridge that said, “My mind is made up—don’t confuse me with the facts.”

What does this have to do with being a technical leader in the church? Quite a lot, actually. As a company, we have removed a large amount of equipment from various churches over the years, and are sure it was all installed confidently. That is, whoever installed it was confident in their choice. Even if that choice was not based on any kind of knowledge or experience. Even if it didn’t work. At all. That wastes money coming from the offering basket and undermines trust in our profession.

Mr. Know-It-All

Why does this happen? Well, there is an unnecessarily ingrained concept in most of us that we have to be right all the time. And we have to know everything about our jobs. Now, the truth is, it’s impossible to know everything about a subject. And if you ask people that have been doing a particular thing for a long time, they will likely tell you that the longer they do it, the more they realize they don’t know.

But not so when we’re starting out. We know everything! And that is a dangerous place to be. Look, we’ve been doing production/tech/design now for a combined 100 years. We are experts. We get paid to tell churches what they need. And it’s hard to tell you how many times we’ve said, “I don’t know.” There are literally tens of thousands of pieces of gear in the AV universe, and it’s impossible to know the details of all of them (let alone know that all of them exist!). Often times, the best thing to tell someone is, “I don’t know.” But we don’t stop there.

Let Me Find Out

When we say, “I don’t know,” it’s almost always followed up with, “but, let us find out.” Then, we connect with someone who knows more about the particular thing or topic. We have a deep contact file filled with smart people whom we call when there is something we don’t know. Once we have an answer, we report back, and life goes on. The problem is solved and everyone is happy.

But you know when people are not happy? When we (or someone like us) make up an answer that we think might be right and it doesn’t work out. Best case, we waste some time. Worst case, we break stuff. Find out the right answer and move on. There is no shame in not knowing everything. But there is in breaking stuff because you made up a wrong answer.

Credibility

If you want to last in this business, you need credibility. One senior pastor we worked with once said, “I’ve worked with a lot of tech companies and they all come in and tell me the last company didn’t know what they were doing and it all needs to be changed. Why should I listen to you?” That is a legitimate question. Two years later, he was listening to us. Why? Because we made some smart decisions, after consulting with smart people. And that led to real improvements.

Know that when you start as a Technical Director of a church, you start where we all did. Why should anyone listen to you? Don’t burn the tiny little bit of credibility you have as the new guy by making stupid decisions. Don’t do things confidently out of ignorance. Get help. Find good advice. Make smart decisions. Don’t gamble your church’s money on ideas you think might work. And please, for the love of all that’s good and holy, don’t listen to every commenter in a Facebook group that thinks that XYZ product is the “best ever!!!” when it’s the only thing they’ve ever used.

Make sure the people you’re getting advice from actually know what they’re talking about. And a good way to tell is that they will often say, “I don’t know. But let me find out.”


Originally posted on ChurchTechArts