day 497: Controls

Every business has a set of controls that keeps an organization running. These controls can be what sets the tolerances on a product or a standard for service. They also can be controls that are set on the culture and people to ensure that people behave and act in a certain way. Controls go by many names; policies, procedures, standards, specifications, values, norms, principles, etc. But at the end of the day, they are a set of words and numbers that ensure we stay within a zone of tolerance. Controls are not bad, but they are to be recognized and actively managed. What we tend to do in business is "over-control". We set up policies that while seemingly are good for everyone, are actually only being written and deployed to control a very small group of people who can't control themselves without the policy. What can happen is that everyone else rounds themselves down to the same policy and before long the standard of deviation becomes tighter and tighter and everyone becomes the same and no one wants to test the limits and push themselves beyond what others prescribe for them. This is a fast way to stifle creativity and individuality. In our own lives the same can happen and we must be careful to not let ourselves become controlled by influences that are not good for us. 2 Peter 2:19 reads; "...For you are a slave to whatever controls you". We get held back and enslaved to those things that control us. Today, take a look around yourself and see if you can see what is controlling you. Do you have the right controls on yourself or are you being controlled by others, or even self-imposed influences, thoughts, and emotions that you know are not good? The only way to break the cycle is to remove the controls. But, first we have to be honest enough with ourselves to recognize and know what the controls are and where they are coming from.

Reference: 2 Peter 2:19 (New Living Testament)