You’ ll get it done— but it might cost more in the process.
WHEN BUDGET RULES THE DAY If your budget is tight, your timeline probably needs to stretch. You’ ll: or rushed decisions fall apart mid-stream. The key is knowing when to stop planning and start building. Seth Godin calls it“ shipping.” Nothing is ever 100 % finished— especially in tech. The goal is progress, not perfection. Get it out the door. Iterate later. church production, execution is ministry. And the best ministry happens when vision and strategy are moving in the same direction, together.
• Dig deeper into options
• Wait for better pricing or availability
• Spend more time planning than doing( at first)
This can lead to smarter, more sustainable solutions— but you may risk losing momentum.
DON’ T GET STUCK ON EITHER END Whether you lean toward speed or precision, there’ s a point when you just have to go. We’ ve all seen projects stall out in analysis paralysis—
SO WHAT’ S THE RIGHT BALANCE? There’ s no one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on the moment, the ministry, and the mission. Ask:
• Where’ s the current momentum?
• Will we lose it by waiting too long?
• Or will we regret moving too fast?
Wherever you land, get aligned with your leadership. The more clarity you have together, the smoother the path forward. Because in
Todd Elliott Todd is a writer, speaker, and technical artist in the local church and the Founder & President of FILO, which stands for First In, Last Out. Formerly the Technical Arts Director at Willow Creek Community Church, he started FILO in 2015 to help other technical artists become more effective so that the local church can be more effective.
FILO was born out of his own need as a technical artist in the local church to be in community with other church tech people, to learn new ways of doing things and to be inspired that what he did mattered. The more FILO-type people he met, the more convinced he was that these are things we all need. That’ s why FILO exists: to equip, encourage and inspire technical artists in the local church to become the best version of ourselves.
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