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January 2, 2025

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From Obsolete to Thriving: The Surprising Power of Staying Relevant

Over the past two months, I’ve heard various reasons businesses, churches, and families are shrinking. Yet studies reveal that relevant entities are thriving. So, which is true? Can both be true?

One Guy pointed out that the new robots will replace millions of jobs. This statement is true, but leaving that information hanging without giving perspective is hurtful. People don’t need his concocted drama designed for him to be seen.

I remember when I was first introduced to the study by MIT economist David Autor conducted. He found that about 60% of the jobs in 2018 did not exist in 1940. This news wasn’t to startle people based on coming trends but to reveal the importance of adaptability in professional and personal contexts.

To exist in the future, we must be relevant today.

I’m not speaking about relevance for survival but for purpose—the place where we thrive. When we genuinely want to help others, we adjust what we say and do based on our audience. The only ones we can help are those who can relate to us. Since we’re responsible for our shared message, we must ensure it is relatable.

I watched how three different types of people addressed the same opportunity to thrive or become obsolete.

The Scientist

Last spring, I met a brilliant scientist with multiple degrees who struggled to lead their team effectively. The issue wasn’t incompetence among the team but a lack of clarity about the relevance of their tasks. Once the scientist bridged the gap by sharing the ‘why,’ team performance improved exponentially.

If the team manager assumes the problem is their people’s lack of training, the gap will never be bridged. The only way to ensure understanding is for the manager to take responsibility. This is done by coming alongside their people and learning about their knowledge, then transitioning to clarify incorrect information or processes.

The Pastor

I recently attended a small church where the vast majority of the people had the exact same basic need for connection. After talking with several people, I learned that the church would be three times bigger if it met these simple needs, which would probably stop members from seeking solutions elsewhere.

When I raised the issue with the pastor, he wasn’t interested in facilitating these needs. Instead, he proudly stated how great several church members were for staying during the spiritual falling away mentioned in the Bible.

I might have believed his scenario had I not read the church trends from Lifeway Research’s 2024 report. Christianity is rapidly growing worldwide and on pace to reach 3 billion members by 2050. This incredible growth is not due to churches doing things the way they always have but demonstrating their relevance weekly. [2]

This pastor’s resistance to change reflects a broader challenge: staying relevant to meet the needs of modern communities.

The Relatives

During a family discussion about AI, concerns arose about job security. Like the internet years ago, mastering AI tools has become essential for staying relevant in the workplace.

I shared how Boston Consulting Group with Harvard conducted a study to evaluate what impact AI might have on its consulting team. The study showed that those who used AI had a 40% increase in the quality of their work, and they completed tasks 25.1% faster. This equated to the AI users getting 12.2 times more tasks completed than employees who didn’t use AI. [1]

Humans Determine Relevancy

AI will soon use robotic forms to manage our redundant workflows. Anything repetitive will likely be handled by machines soon. For instance, I recently helped a medical device company reduce a 14-hour reporting process to just 6 minutes using AI. While AI couldn’t create the program, it served as an invaluable assistant, checking syntax and suggesting non-conflicting workflows.

This project saved the company millions and demonstrated how mastering AI tools can drive extraordinary results, which is always relevant.

Choose to be Relevant

Staying relevant isn’t just a choice—it’s an opportunity to thrive. Embrace new tools, adapt your strategies, and discover the power of working smarter. The future belongs to those willing to learn and grow.

The next time you face a challenge, ask yourself: “How can AI help me do my job 25X faster with 40X improvements in quality?”

Footnotes:

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CJ Powers

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January 18, 2016

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They Got It Backwards

I love the juxtaposition of talking with a horror filmmaker and a faith-based filmmaker over the same weekend. The former asked why I sometimes wrote about faith-based films. She couldn’t comprehend why I’d even broached the politically incorrect subject of religion. The later questioned me on educating horror filmmakers who bring evil into the world. He rebuked me for not separating myself from “the likes of them.” I chuckled at both perspectives.

Filmmaking is an art, which both people had forgotten. It’s also a craft that requires thousands of hours to master. Since I’ve worked several features and 300 plus television episodes, I’m willing to share my knowledge and hope to learn something new during the exchange of ideas and craft secrets. I’m a people person, what else can I say.

The conversations opened my mind to just how backwards both filmmakers got it. Let me start with the faith-based filmmaker.

There is an interesting trend in the faith-based market niche. Churches have gotten so good at entertaining that its congregations are dropping off. Millennials aren’t interested in a polished presentation in their services, but instead in an authentic person sharing how to do life. They also want to sing during worship, but the loud music and professional singers leading the congregation stops them from sharing their untrained voices in song.

Christian filmmakers are creating films with authentic stories that are real and rough around the edges, the exact thing Millennials want from their services. But, they don’t want that in their movies, instead they long for highly entertaining and professional films. The church and Christian filmmakers have it exactly backwards from what their audiences demand.

Horror filmmakers also have it backwards. The genre started out as a tool to launch great, unknown filmmakers into the mainstream movie making system. Those with good stories rose in the ranks and transitioned to thrillers and later to action films. Today, most horror filmmakers aren’t concerned about story. Instead they focus on the latest FX to make mutilation more realistic.

Without a story about characters you learn to care about, the scary aspects of horror films hold little fear in our heavy CGI based world. The lack of story makes the film appear campy, just like unprofessional faith-based films. In fact, the relationship between horror and faith-based films is so close that I’m surprised no one has done a high quality Christian horror film that causes the audience to consider their own mortality.

The bottom line is that genres only work well when done in the way the media demands. Since high quality technical equipment is now readily available to both genres, storytelling becomes critical to sort through the noise of the thousands of bad films. Even TV has hit a glut of programming and most people aren’t aware that over 400 new series were released last year. The support of an audience is still critical to the health of a series. Without the right audience the shows get cancelled or make little to no profit.

It’s time our churches give up the professional entertainment for the authentic sharing of life. Our faith-based films must also turn around by creating professional and highly entertaining universal stories. And, our horror films must get back to the core work of storytelling, as movies without stories are a waste of everyone’s time.

Let’s turn around these backwards trends.

CJ's Corner

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