How do U spell s-u-c-c-e-s-s?

Last week I heard one of the leading businessmen in Greenville speak about habits that lead to success. At the end of his talk, during Q&A, a person asked him, "how do you view success?" He thought a minute and said, "my view of success has changed over the years, but now I would have to say it is significance."

My ears immediately perked up because this is a major theme in my book, "Stuck in Stinkin Thinkin." During his talk the prominent businessman had unapologetically discussed his Christian faith. As he was explaining success and formerly speaking from a Christian perspective, I could not help but be reminded about the subtle way our nature points us to how we impact the world around us as a key to our well being.

I do not mean to be critical of this outstanding man but simply to illustrate how, even in the best of folks, our human nature (the Bible calls the flesh) is quite stealth at influencing our thinking and the way we make sense of ourself and the world around us. Here is the exert from my book to explain this subtle point:

            "The appeal of self-actualization has been captured in many books like Warren’s Purpose Driven Life. Such books are written to encourage people to seek purpose in their lives as their ultimate source of well being. Some, like Buford’s Halftime, focuses on significance, not worldly success, as a higher order need in our human existence. While the authors’ assumptions at the root of their messages may be based on the Grace model, I can say that the appeal to many readers for significance and purpose to produce a happy and fulfilling life is often carnal minded, because significance is naturally perceived as the impact one has on the world around them.

This notion of significance as purpose is so fundamental in our human nature that many Kingdom dwellers are deceived to believe significance is based on their achievement, putting them in bondage to the results of their actions, not the faithfulness of them. The prophet Jeremiah knew this when he admonishes us to "let man boast in this, that He (God) understands and knows me."

Calling can be defined as the first derivative of intrinsic motivation. You are probably thinking, “Professor, say what?” I smile and say this means that your calling must flow out of the purpose, meaning, and enjoyment that have been placed in you. The contrast of carnal with the Divine alternative depends on the source of your intrinsic. When your purpose is based on the human need to be significant in the world you live, then you have a carnal minded calling. You become happy when your actions have positive results around you, and unhappy when you do not.

According to Aristotle, happiness is life’s end game, and Thomas Jefferson believed the pursuit of happiness is our inalienable right. Yet, happiness is from the root word denoting “happenstance” and depends on how our circumstances match up with our needs.

The Divine alternative to your human nature’s need for significance is an ambition to please God. In this case calling is seen as being faithful to play out what He has put in you,independent of being significant to the world. Calling is not situation dependent because the results or impact on your world is God’s business, not yours. This frees you to fulfill your calling in whatever context He puts you in, and takes pressure off of your need to “find God’s will” in your career and family life choices.

That is, your calling has more to do with your personal resources being faithfully deployed than the specific job, career, company, or marriage that is being targeted. When you are faithful to His calling, you are Holy and experience joy, which is a sense of peace (fullness) and well-being independent of your circumstances. Jesus said, “I came that your joy may be full.”

Using Equity Theory to explain this, we find the following

"Hey, who are U to question Luther?"

I am sure you are asking (or will ask) this question as you read this blog. I wish that you reflect on why you might be troubled by what i say more than by what i say.

Martin Luther's states in his "Small Catechism" his belief about how God has created us and provided us with everything, such as physical form and ability, food, shelter, family, possessions, and protection. He follows this belief with "and all of this out of pure paternal, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness of mine."

Now how can we argue with that. I can't, but he completes his statement of belief with these words, "for all of which I am in duty bound to thank, praise, serve, and obey Him. This is most certainly true."

Well, it is true that one who really appropriates God's Grace will be thankful and thus desire to worship, serve, and conform to the will of the Father, but is it true that this desire is sourced in duty, a bondage, an obligation to support God in this way? Is Luther proclaiming God's view of our response to His Grace or is Luther somewhat influenced by the equilibrium imperative (exchange and equity) associated with his flesh?

I ask this because I am constantly amazed by how subtle our carnal mind works to create in us anxiety, fear, guilt and pride to rob us of the joy, freedom, significance, and hope that God desires for us thru His redemptive work of the Cross.

This is something that is always worth pondering .....  

 "Stuck in Stinin' Thinkin': The Divie Alternative" is all about helping you challenge the stealth influence of your flesh.

making sense of Vision

                "Vision is from the root word meaning "to see". A company's vision is seeing a future state, a word picture of possibility, or maybe a picture of destiny. In the movie “The Book Thief” the young Jewish fellow Max hiding from the Nazi’s asked the young girl Liesel about the weather. As she stumbled to describe the weather he says, “if your eyes could speak, what would they say?” This is a company’s vision.  Vision is not framed by goals, but rather should frame goals.

                Vision gives a picture of the future that allows employees to make decisions each day consistent with the company’s idea of the future. Behavior becomes more intentional and less random when employees act consistent with the company’s vision each day.  Goals foster plans as a means to an end. A vision is the end, providing clarity to guide employees, but open to quick turns and adaptations involved in remaining attentive to ecological dynamics.

                    Sir Walter Raleigh shares his vision of the discovering the new land with Queen Elizabeth I in the movie "Elizabeth: The Golden Years". Here we see Raleigh engaging the Queen with his passionate vision for exploring. He does not provide her with a goal, but simply describes what the end state is like in picture words that inspire the Queen to align her passion with the vision. In moving daily toward a vision employees can be opportunistic and serendipitous. Being inspired by the vision and called upon to contribute to it, employees can enjoy the journey and respond to unexpected curves in the road. A picture of possibility, rather than a goal to achieve, provides employees with direction, but does not constrain them by the illusion the future is just a continuation of status quo.

                Having employees driven by vision, versus goals with a predetermined path, is somewhat scary and seems more risky. However, an organization’s risk is being unprepared to handle or exploit random exogenous events because employees’ efforts are constrained by self-regulation associated with their goals."

exerts from "Winning in a Hostile Environment" - a handbook on being more strategic

"Winning in a Hostile Environment"

exerts from my new book, "Winning in a Hostile Environment"

     


"Organizations are open systems, which mean they both impact and are impacted by their external environment. The ecology of any organism is not its internal mechanisms, but the relationship it has with its surroundings. Recent trends in how financial markets evaluate what is a “good company” suggest more than just a healthy bottom line (profit). 

Management’s quest for health and vitality is The Double Bottom Line (DBL) mandate, which is an imperative to be effective at managing the tension between one's ecology (interacting with their external environment) and the their economics (profitably mobilizing capital to provide products and services). While economic performance is impacted by the internal control of capital allocations, the ecology is uncertain and hostile.

Winning is changing behavior of individuals in society so that they become customers and consumers.

For businesses to continue to earn the right to exist, they must provide benefit(s) to society that people are willing to purchase. They must do it in a way that they create an economic benefit sufficient for the capitalists, and they must accomplish this Double Bottom Line mandate in a hostile world, where society constrains the profit motive of markets by demanding “fairness”, and competition wishes to take away the business’ customers. " 

available at
winning in a hostile environment @ amazon.com

making sense of the TRINITY

I heard some really good reaching on the Trinity today at Church (I meant 'teaching' but 'reaching' is a good twist on 'teaching'). JP, our associate Pastor, presented some thoughts on Trinity I would like to share. Trinity means "3 in 1". There have been many analogies formed over the years to explain this, but all analogies fall short in capturing this reality. There has been the analogy of a man who has multiple roles, husband, father, professional. But in this case the roles are not distinctly different persons as the Trinity is. There's the analogy of water in three forms, ice, gas, and liquid, but the different forms do not co-exist. One analogy appeals to me because it has a mathematical logic to it. take a box, it represents one space. the box is defined by three distinct dimensions, height, width, and length. If you take any one of the three dimensions, such as height, and compile all lines along the height, you get the whole box. Similarly, if you take width and do the same or length and do the same, each would represent the entire box. yet it takes all three to determine the box.

The word Trinity is never used in the Bible. It is a word early church scholars applied to what the Bible describes. The old testament is fully furnished but dimly lit. That is, the Trinity is described and supported but in more covert ways. In Genesis 1 we see that God created and the Spirit hovered over creation. When man was created, God said "let US create man in OUR image." Elohim, a Hebrew word for God is plural. Psalms 110 starts with "the LORD said to my Lord." The New testament is explicit often, but no where more succinct than John 1:1, "the Word was God."

If God is love, he must be in relationship. there must be three distinct entities. CS Lewis describes the Trinity this way in Mere Christianity. The Triune God is having a love party amongst Himself. Its like a bond fire, drawing people to Himself by the light and warmth of the party. Love does not have meaning absent relationship. God IS love. three distinct person's in perfect love (Grace, mercy, and affection).

Yet God is one, in perfect unity with Himself.

There is somethings about Himself God has let us in own, the rest is His mystery :-)  

acting on your behalf

For most of my life I was conscious of how my capabilities and effort could create the life i desired. Exchanging my knowledge and skills for recognition, acceptance and financial rewards seemed in the realm of my control. My challenge was to grow my potential value to others and I would be fine.

Nothing like age to bring a sobering reality to youthful ideals. As I begin my fourth quarter in life and reflect on how the world really works, I see more clearly that my life's successes really involved others acting on my behalf, giving me permission to do what i do. Without these people and institutions granting me the right to contribute - my skills, knowledge, and passion had no game within which to play.

As a youth success in athletics was my measure of identity and value. While I worked hard and possessed some skills in football and basketball, unless the coach selected me to play, I had no opportunity for success. All along my career there were always someone who initiated the situation in which I could work and flourish. I had to be selected by a committee at Ga Tech to enter their doctoral program. Had they said "no", i would not be a GT Ph D. Looking to enter the University scene in my50's, I began to see the reality that unless someone invited me to join their faculty, I would not be a professor. While i was qualified to teach at most any university, only one reached out to me to give me the opportunity.

I feel now I have more flexibility and content to offer than at anytime in my life. Yet, I am dependent on others to give me the venue. I, now more than ever, realize that while my competencies may be necessary, they are not sufficient for being successful at doing what i do. I am sure all of you have faced this along your life's journey. You got your college degree, but companies were looking for experience. You had paid your dues at your job, but the company chose someone else to promote. It may have been in relationships where you wanted to be with someone badly, but they would not give you the chance. The notion that someone else must act on our behalf for us to have what we want is humbling indeed.

More humbling is that the criteria as to whether you get the chance is not your knowledge, skills, abilities, and willingness (effort). It is whether the person, who must act on your behalf, sees you within their vision for what they want. Social Exchange is not a function of just what you have to offer, but also a function of what is valued by the other person.

This is the reason that the equilibrium imperative of our flesh sets us up for eventually being joyless, feeling a sense of fear, despair, and insignificance.Its then we must remember that there is One who has acted on our behalf when we could not, God. He came to us, providing a way to be with Him. This Grace is totally independent of equilibrium.

So when we find ourselves where we are waiting on someone to act on our behalf to make our life right, take time to ponder the action of the One who really matters :-)    

My next project

“The leader using the Strategic Option is a conductor bringing music out of a diverse collection of instruments, personalities, and temperaments.”  This statement on strategy and leadership is a Facebook post from a friend who does leadership consulting.  It is generally a feel good statement of leadership that travels well in social media.  My response to him was, “more importantly, the Strategic Option delivers the right music for the audience, music that scratches the itches of their soul.” The way a business’ products and services impact the market is the heart of their strategy.  The leader’s influence on internal inspiration, collaboration, and alignment of resources is obviously important, but if the orchestra plays the WRONG SONG really well, what are the chances for success of the business? The Double Bottom Line (DBL) mandate for any organization is leadership’s requirement to be effective managing the tension between the organization’s ecology (interacting with their external environment) and the organization’s economics (internally mobilizing capital).  

This is my first paragraph of my next book (I have a long way go, hahaha) 
entitled "Winning in a Hostile Environment: the Double Bottom Line mandate"

                               

My last book was focused on the imperatives that constrain personal well-being. This book will focus on the imperatives that constrain business (or any organization) well-being. Organizational imperatives that focus one on internal economic success, while not paying attention to how the "organism" interacts with its external environment, is subject to unseen threats on their ability to survive and thrive.          

                              

While this is not a new message, and I certainly do not have a corner on this concept, I believe I can offer some unique perspectives to business professionals that can enhance their effective leadership.

We'll see, its just another journey I have been called to take :-)