From Seth Godin's blog: "Persistence isn't using the same tactics over and over. That's just annoying. Persistence is having the same goal over and over."
We hear people, and churches, say, "We already tried that before, and it didn't work." Are they referring to the goal, or the tactics for accomplishing that goal? If the goal remains worthy, just try different tactics to accomplish it. But don't say, "We tried to accomplish that goal, and it didn't work."
That kid who beat me in the table tennis tournament on Saturday--if I played him again, I would definitely need different tactics.
Career-wise, I've been hanging around and writing about and cheering on churches and pastors for the past 25 years as my denomination's Communications Director.
Good point.
My favorite answer to "We tried that before and it doesn't work" is simply, "It seems like you've tried NOT doing it for a much longer period of time and that isn't working too well either, is it?"
That one is always a crowd-pleaser. ;)