day 1386: The Right Sacrifices

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep."

 Work is full of sacrifices. I know that in my career I have used this line so many times, I couldn't count; "This is one of those instances where we are just going to have to make some sacrifices". This can apply to how far we go in negotiations on a deal, how we work with someone else on the team, how we expend our resources, or maybe even how we expend our own time and energy. The irony is that within our jobs proper we really aren't making any true sacrifices. The better terms are probably concessions or compromises. I have always felt that sacrifice is an overused and misunderstood term. Just look at the first four dictionary definitions: "1.the offering of animal, plant, or human life or of some material possession to a deity, as in propitiation or homage, 2. the person, animal, or thing so offered. 3. the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim. 4. the thing so surrendered or devoted." If you really offer up something at work like those definitions then you have made a sacrifice. Our jobs typically don't ask us often to take it to those extremes. However, a part of work does ask us to make that type of sacrifice when we look at what we give up outside of work for the time and energy we devote to our jobs. We do, so many times, sacrifice our loved ones to our work. We make them a distant priority and before long we look back on the months and years and wonder where they went. Our families wonder the same thing.

We also sacrifice, too many times, our time with God and our walk with Him when we don't take Him to work with us and we put Him second or further down the priority list. When we surrender our full attention to our work then we have, in essence, sacrificed ourselves to our jobs, leaving behind God and our loved ones. This sounds bleak and dark and it is when we don't keep a light shined on ourselves. Today, think about how you are spending your energy, time and your being. Are you putting everything you have into your job and not leaving anything left over to spend on God, your family and those who need you? If you are answering yes, and we all do at some point in our careers, then remind yourself that there was someone else who made an ultimate sacrifice for us. We read in John 10:11; "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep." Let us use this verse to remind ourselves that our shepherd has already made His sacrifice for us and that we now need to not turn our back on that sacrifice, but instead follow our shepherd first and allow Him to lead our way. Do that and we will find that any sacrifices we are asked to make are only the right ones.

Reference: John 10:11 (New Living Testament)

day 1374: When The Lights Go Out

"Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, 'I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.'” 

Most of us haven't followed the phase out of the incandescent light bulb, but if you have run through all of the extra bulbs in the storage closet, you know that when you've gone to the light bulb section of the hardware store that the amount of new choices is overwhelming.  For those who make and sell incandescent bulbs, their shelf life is limited.  For those who are bringing new types of bulbs (LED, CFL, etc.) to the market, it's a horse race to see who will establish market dominance first.  This race is not only about who gets there first, but also what kind of bulbs take hold with the consumer market.  Seldom do we see a market that is so ubiquitous change so rapidly and extensively.  Keep a watch on what happens as the lights go out and the new ones come on.  There are lessons to be learned.

Isn't it awesome to be reminded that the light of the world is our to use to see us through our lives, each and every day? Mondays are hard because it's easy to wake and see all of the dark roads in front of us that will take energy, patience and time to walk through during the week.  But, if we start the week knowing that if we allow Him, God will shed His light all over each of our dark and unknown places, then we can enter today and the rest of this week with assurance and confidence. We are also the reflection of His light and how we shine, or don't, will mean something to those around us.  Ever wonder why others stop by your office daily to chat with you and not someone else?  They are attracted to light.  Don't forget that!

Reference:  John 8:12 (New Living Translation)

day 1363: Permadeath

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

A friend's child didn't get the summer job that was expected. It was the first time in a short life that a rejection that couldn't be changed happened.  Shock and awe, along with lots of questioning ensued. I was not surprised as we have a generation plus now who don't know what it means to not play on the team or to not be able to do things over until they reach satisfaction.  It seems that now, everyone, regardless if the team wins or loses, gets to get out on the field or court and play.  In videogames we let you start over and over and nothing really ended, or died...until now.  Games are making the turn to what is called "Permadeath".  That means that once the character or figure dies, they don't come back.  I remember this being experimented with in the late 90's only to receive outrage from customers who claimed that they had the right to bring the character back over and over. Who is to know what is best, but I don't see that much harm in teaching the next generation that loss and rejection are real and that we need to learn the lesson early, not wait until employers and business have to be the first to hand out the word, "no".

As believers we are no different than the rest of the world in experiencing loss, rejection and denial.  But, we can rest assured that in all that is lost, that there is much to be found in the belief and following of Jesus. What happens to us today will come and go, but in Christ is there is no "permadeath", there is "permalife"!  We are promised that!  So, don't allow the rejections of life to be major setbacks.  They are only speed bumps along the way.  The final great and real reward remains in waiting for us.

Reference: John 3:16 (New Living Translation)

day 1350: Implied Free?

"Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy."

It used to be that if you wanted to access the internet in an airport that you had to pay for it through services like Boingo, or T-Mobile, AT&T, etc.  You can still pay for that internet access if you want, or you can access it through what I call, "Implied Free".  Implied free is telling the consumer that something is free, but it isn't really.  In the case of airport internet access, you watch an ad and then you get a half-hour or so, and then you can watch the same ad again, and get another half hour or so. And on and on it goes. It seems free, but it's not because we have taken our time to look at the ad and distract ourselves from doing something else. What is the cost to us? It's the cost of what we could/would be doing otherwise.  "Implied free" is not new.  Broadcast media was built this way and we now see the same for the "implied free" of ad supported streaming entertainment services.  We are just a moment away from walking into a coffee shop and receiving what appears to be an "implied free" cup of coffee, but we will have to show that we watched the ad, tweeted or create a Facebook status about being in the store and trying the coffee.  I personally don't mind "implied free". It feels active and full of choices.  If we can find the goodness in the approach, there is much we can do and have our consumers and customers join in to help.

Believing in Jesus is free.  Following Him is not.  Jesus never implied otherwise. To follow Jesus, as He asks us to do, comes with a cost. That cost is giving up ourselves and the ways of the world for Him. It means that if we are going to receive the full abundance of what He has to offer, that we have to empty out those things in our lives that are filling us up and getting in the way.  As we know, it's all worth it and more!

Reference: John 16:24 (New Living Translation)

day 1337: Going Direct

"Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."

Part of the power of the internet is that we can go direct to consumers without having to go through third parties, like retailers, brokers or dealers.  But, not all industries are allowed to do so. The most glaring is the car industry where a manufacturer can't sell directly to consumers but must have a car dealer in the middle to make the sale.  I don't know where this practice came from, why or who it protects but it is causing problems for Tesla as they try and expand across the U.S. with their electric cars.  We might take for granted how great it can be to build a direct relationship with our customer and consumer, but we shouldn't.  If we were the music, book or movie industry we would try anything to establish and keep that relationship.  Who really knows our customers/consumers?  It's Amazon. It's Apple.  It's Best Buy, Target, etc.  Where we can, go direct, go with all humility as this is the best relationship to have.

Who at work have we built direct relationships with that really matter?  With the boss?  With co-workers?  With those who work for us? I hope the answer is all of the above.  Direct relationships can yield real and life-changing conversations.  Yesterday, a colleague who who I have invested alongside and known for a while, opened up about an experience that he recently had. It was a very deep conversation and it contained the opportunity for me to share some of my own life story and faith. I reflected last night on the times in the past that led up to our ability to talk so freely and honestly and yesterday was the result of many, many earlier direct conversations of accessibility and openness. Jesus modeled this for us.  He proved that in being man and God that He was and is always there for anyone who seeks Him. When we allow others to come direct to us, we are modeling His love and grace.  Think about it today and see where going direct can be fruitful.

Reference: John 14:6 (New Living Translation)

day 1323: Next Door

"He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him"

Social media sites have begun to evolve as we knew they would.  After all of the large scale platforms, would come the sites where we hone down interests, commonality and ultimately, only capture and share the information that we want, with the closest people in our lives. Path is the perfect example of this.  The neighborhood site, NextDoor, also embodies these traits.  What I find fascinating about these types of services is that we will certainly see more and more of them beeing created with more and more specific sets of shared interests. I envision that before long Facebook feels more like the front page section of the newspaper and we will run over to other sites to go deep into what might be covered in the other sections.  Example; we don't look for jobs or business stuff on Facebook - we use LinkedIn and others for those efforts.  What will make these interest specific sites work will be how well we are allowed to know each other and how deftly they can find our commonalities without being in our face, or too obvious about it.

Have you ever been amazed that you find out something about someone else, that when you do, you find it in common with them?  Sometimes it is shocking that we never knew.  It's those moments that it feels like we are bonding and creating a relationship that will last forever.  If we can only get to that moment.  How many people in our workplaces do we know are believers and followers of Jesus?  There are many that we don't know because we haven't had that moment of sharing with each other. And who best to be the first to share than us?  One well placed word of our faith opens up the opportunity to create a bonding friendship and a strengthening of our faith by having other believers around us.  Can we find a moment this week to share this important part of us with others?

Reference: John 1:10 (New Living Translation)

day 1322: Stop Comparing!

"...what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”

Yesterday I wrote of looking right and left and how we compare ourselves to others.  It's easy to write and talk about it. It's hard to stop doing. I found myself in a Board meeting yesterday trying to bring a point home and the only way I could do it was to make a comparison to another company. I watched as a number of people were writing down what I had to say.  I hope I didn't create another false competition.  There is nothing wrong with competition, or even comparing, unless we become obsessed so much on others and how they are doing that we forget who we are ourselves and how well we are doing, how we can get better internally, and never full of bragging or arrogance when we actually do exceed those in our peer set. It's about attitude and how we carry ourselves.  One of Major League Baseballs greatest of all time, Derek Jeter, announced his retirement yesterday. It was not lost on me, or many others who I read, that Jeter made his announcement without comparison, fanfare, or any hubris. Imagine if our companies and CEOs were more like Derek Jeter.

In church a few weeks ago at Reality LA the pastor said that there were the four things to do to stop comparing:

-Affirm and honoring the good that God has given to other people

-Immediately pray that God will give and bless those people more

-Support them in their blessings and then serve them to add to their blessings

-Gladly take the lesser place in service 

This is hard stuff to do, but if we find ourselves turning ourselves inside out to stop making comparisons with others, then we are living out the example that Christ has given us and that can only lead to good.

Reference:  John 21:22 (New Living Translation)

 

day 1321: Looking Left and Right

^"Peter asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord?” Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”

It’s about this time of the year that I start taking interest in the three-year old thoroughbreds that are racing throughout the country.  I love horse racing because I love the majesty of these beasts who are bred to run and do so with all they have each and every time they are taken to the starting gate.  I used to say that I wanted my company filled with thoroughbreds.  It is a good analogy, but also one that can backfire if taken to the extreme.  Thoroughbreds are great comparators of each other.  From the time they see another, they begin to size them up and the adrenaline starts flowing to see who can outrun the other.  Get them next to each other and it takes a good trainer and jockey to keep them from looking left and right to see who is ahead or behind them.  When this happens they lose focus and can become distracted.  Sounding familiar?  Yes, we do the same in our work.  We start running and then we start looking left and right to compare and see how we are doing.  And, with “big data” there will be more and more of the opportunity to compare.  Looking left and right gets us only one thing; a sore neck.  Sure we need to know where our competition stands and what they are doing, but becoming fixated and obsessed about where we stand in comparison can take us off our game and ironically, make us lose ground.

God doesn’t want us to look left and right.  He asks us to fix our eyes on Him, without distraction or comparison to others. If we have found ourselves in a place of obsession about how we are tracking (titles, salary, material things) versus our peers, then today would be a good day to spend time asking God to take this from us, and instead instill fulfillment and joy in knowing that we are doing our best for Him.  They say Thoroughbreds are a little crazy about what kind of horse they are compared to the others.  We want to run our race well and do so to our best abilities and potential but we don’t want to let ourselves take on the obsessions that can come with comparison. 

Reference: John 21: 21-22 (New Living Translation)

day 1265: Spreading It Around (redux)

 I'll be traveling and taking some vacation time through November 15th, so Purposed worKING will be revisiting some earlier posts until then...

“Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples”

Purposed worKING spends a lot of time on trying to help each of us become better and better in living out our work lives in a way that God would want us to so that we can bring glory to Him in all that we do. There are so many lessons from the Bible that it feels like the fountain that can’t run dry. Each day that we face the small and big challenges of our work day and we are given the opportunity to either live, work and walk in the steps of our Lord and the examples and instructions given to us or to ignore and move in our own patterns and those of the world. As believers we know what we are to do, but when surrounded by so many others and the influences upon us, we can fall onto a path that we didn’t want to walk on but just end up there. It’s hard to be in the world. It’s hard to work. And, it’s even harder to work the way we want day in and day out. As disciples of Christ we have big charges put in front us. When Jesus says; “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples”, He is not mincing words and He is making it clear as to what we are supposed to do. And as we all know, loving one another, all the time and consistently is as about as hard as it gets. But, this is what we are to do. At work we can show our love by being ones who are caring, listening, respectful, encouraging, appreciative and giving of ourselves. Maybe no one will ever describe it at the office as “love” but we will send the same important and powerful message. Today, look around you and think of someone who needs your attention and caring. There is always someone, so find at least one and go a little further with them today so that the descriptive words above would be tagged on you today if the other person was asked to describe you. Spread it around today and also see if it doesn’t catch on too.

Reference: John 13:35 (New Living Testament) 

day 1253: Who Has Immunity?

"I am the way, the truth, and the life."

Immunity was a word that was seldom used in common language before ten years ago. What it meant then was be immune to a disease or some catastrophic illness. That was the context in which we used the word. Now we hear the word all the time and it means getting to stay for another week on the television show. It means not having to be evaluated and judged by our peers. I have heard the word used in business settings too when someone doesn't have to give a presentation or their budget gets approved without scrutiny, they got "immunity". It is strange, and true, that having immunity at work would be a great thing. Imagine not having to go through the stress and pressure of performance evaluations, or not having to worry about the reaction of a customer, or not having to worry if you are going to be put on the layoff list or not. That level of immunity would indeed be excellent. It would also be nice to have career immunity where you could know that you will be successful in your endeavors and that the set of jobs that you have chosen will all add up to something great in the long-run. Alas, no matter what challenges we win and alliances that we have formed, no one gets that level of immunity at work. And because of that we let the worries of work, the worries of others, the worries of our self-esteem, our worries of performance and ability to contribute, sneak up on us and zap our confidence and courage.

It is in those moments that we privately say a prayer to God, "If only I could get immunity from all of this". God certainly wants us to be bringing our work worries and problems to him continuously but His immunity and promise does not come through the work that we do or the man made decisions that happen all around us. He provides us the ultimate immunity through His Son as we read in John 14:6; "I am the way, the truth, and the life." As we wish for immunity in the lives that we live and the work that we do, let's not allow ourselves to get caught up in the temporary immunity that carries us from week to week, but instead stand on the promises of the ultimate immunity over those things that really matter.

Reference: John 14:6 (New Living Testament)

day 1174: Two-Way Links

"Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."

The recent and ongoing learning of government knowledge and data gathering using digital technology continues to increase the apprehension of many people across the world.  A conversation has been created about the role and use of technology as it relates to the knowledge of what each of us do, who we converse with, where we go (both physically and online), and what we are interested in (as evidenced by our online searches).  It's above my pay-grade to understand and comment on whether or not these efforts are making us safer or putting us at greater risk, but I do know that technology continues to invade and redefine what is considered personal and proprietary information.  What is that information?  Jaron Lanier, in a recent interview in San Francisco Magazine with reporter Scott Lucas said this, "I'm building on the very first idea for a network, which is based on two-way links; that is if your data is being used by somebody else, there is always a link back to you so that you know if and how it is being used. You could set your own price for it - and if you didn't get paid, you could shut off access."  I find his idea fascinating.  Two-way links would make each of our life patterns, interests and activities all pieces of intellectual property.  What a new definition of supply and demand this "marketplace" might create.

We can live and work assured in that Jesus gave each of us a two-way link with Him.  He gave His all for us and all we must do is believe and follow Him and the link is complete.  We make our world so complicated but all He wants us to do is to keep it all simple and childlike for Him.  Today, we are going to be faced with a bunch of stuff that will have to do with who we are, what we said, what are we thinking, what's our position on an issue or a decision, etc.  While we must remain resolute and precise, we can also walk into this day feeling buoyant in the knowledge that in the largest scheme what really matters is that two-way link with Jesus that is both unbreakable and always reliable.

Reference: John 14:6 (New Living Translation)

day 1172: True Freedom

"And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free"

"We are going to get to the bottom of this!", said the CEO with a raised voice and emphatic tone. The room emptied in a scramble and everyone was in search of one thing and one thing only; what was the truth?  This is not an unfamiliar scene.  It happens everyday in companies across America. It's not always the CEO who is in search of the truth, it can be anyone who feels like something has been hidden, a corner cut, a shortcut taken, a little white lie told, a misrepresentation made, a pointed finger position held. If we calculated the cost of searching and finding the truth in corporate America, I believe we would be staggered with the number we would find. So, why does the truth matter?  Because the truth is what truly sets us free.  Tomorrow we celebrate our county's independence and ultimately our freedom.  That freedom, which brings certainty and security, is based on a set of truths that we are to always pursue. Finding the truth is not always easy and it is frustrating to think that we must spend as much time as we do on retrieving it, understanding why the truth was compromised and bringing to justice and accountability those who broke the truth, but that is what we must do.  Any organization, whether a business, a club, or a community must adhere and pay attention and also share a commitment to the truth if they want to truly experience what freedom can be.

As believers we bow to the throne of truth and in Him we are set free.  If we pursue His truths with all our heart, we can experience the fullest of freedoms. And in turn, we must pass this truth on to others.  It is in this area that we can be so influential and uplifting to others in our work. What better way to be known than to be known to be the person who, regardless of circumstances, can be counted on to tell the truth?  The truth comes from our Lord.  Let's not miss the opportunity to allow others to see and wonder at the freedom we have in the truth that is Jesus.

Happy Independence Day and don't forget to give thanks tomorrow for all of the freedoms that we do have in this great country!  Enjoy the couple of days away from the office.  See you Monday!

Reference: John 8:32 (New Living Translation)

day 1169: Password Jungle

"Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!"

This has been a week lost in what I call the "Password Jungle".  It started with Facebook asking for the resetting of passwords (allegedly they got attacked and "some" people were compromised, although they never really say who) and so it goes that all of the other applications that we sign in using our Facebook username and passwords also now have to be reset, etc.  And so, it goes and goes.  The jungle is full of many vines that all look the same and are hard to distinguish.  So is the jungle of our passwords.  There are one-stop solutions for the problem like LastPass, 1Password, Dashlane, KeyPass, etc., but to go with any one of those memorized applications, we must then trust that they will also be around in the future and that they can be trusted.  It is a dilemma and one that doesn't seem like it will go away any time soon.  Every new site adds to the problem.  I sometimes feel lost in the jungle.  If you have the better solution that has worked for you, I am all ears and open to what you have found works the best.

Let's stop right now and thank our Lord that He never lets us get lost in a jungle of intertwined ways that we need to decipher to find Him!  He gives us one way and that is through His name that we can reach Him and ask Him of anything.  What a blessing that in the complication of all that is around us, that He has kept it simple for us.  Of course, simple doesn't mean easy.  He didn't create the path to Him without sacrifices to be made.  And, why should have He when He made the ultimate sacrifice for each of us!  Yet, in it all, we need only one password, one name, that if we give all in belief and faith, all of the Kingdom of God will be open to us. Let's place that name, the name of Jesus, deep within our hearts!

Reference: John 14:14 (New Living Translation)

day 1115: Better Claims

"Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."

I was reading an article about truth in advertising and was reminded that if you are going to make a claim of something you have being better than someone else, that you have to be able to empirically back that claim up.  If you can't then you can't make the claim.  Well, you can, but you run the risk of being challenged and then being embarrassed if found out.  That's why we don't see a lot of "Tastes better than…", or "Cleans better than….".  Now, this is not to say that consumers can't be asked to give their own personal testaments and claims, like "Bing searches faster and better than Google", or "Pepsi tastes better than Coke".  Those are opinions and can be utilized, if they are not coerced or scripted for actors.  It's a fine line, so we should be careful about making claims of better, unless we are sure.

Jesus came to give us a better life and He made many claims that this was so.  He died for those claims so that indeed He could rise again, to substantiate that the claim was true.  Even after that ultimate gift and sacrifice, we can find ourselves not taking in the full advantage of the better life that He wants for us. If we believe and allow Him to work in our lives, then we can be walking proof of His claim and we can further substantiate that all that He said was true.  There is a reason that we are called witnesses.  If we take in all that He has for us, then we can testify on His behalf and be a witness to the world.  On the job is one of the most powerful witness stands we will ever have.  What will we do today with the truth of our better life.

Reference: John 14:6 (New Living Translations)

day 1111: The Power of One

"And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth."

Of course, on day 1111, how could I not write of the power of one?  I first encountered this phrase in the workplace in the early 1990's at PepsiCo, when the company was trying to drive cooperation and synergies across the diverse markets of snacks, beverages and fast food.  It became much more than a slogan as examples of cooperation and collaboration for when 1+1 would equal much more than 2, were not only recognized but also rewarded. It didn't take much or very long until we were all looking and experimenting with new growth ideas.  Where the power of one fell short though was getting us to cooperate across division and department lines to find efficiency for the reduction of cost.  What I learned here is that the power of one can be construed also as the power and the watching out for #1! And, not it a good way. In hindsight the slogan was good, the growth was evident, but the deep dive and heavy lifting to create sustainable and enduring human behavior change was the most important element and the one that was missed. Anything we try to do to improve our businesses must come with a human change plan that will stick.  Anything short of that comes and goes and misses the full potential.

We are so fortunate to not have to debate or question the enduring power of one as we know and believe in the One who has the power to save all of us and the world. Jesus was clear that He is the Way and He is the One! When we consider all the different ways that we act and go about our daily work, are we truly leaning and depending on the power of our One?  It is so easy forget throughout the day to put God's Word and teachings to work within our own work.  And when we forget or disregard the power that He wants us to have, then we are going into each day, each situation, each potential conflict or opportunity only humanly capable.  God wants us to have so much more.  He wants us to have His power.  He wants to flow the power of One through us to others. Today, can we accept that challenge and fulfill His desires for us?

Reference: John 17:3 (New Living Testament)

day 1106: Adding Features

"Then Jesus told him, 'You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who haven't seen me and believe anyway."

Our business is running well and it is time to add on new services, or line extensions to our products, or as we say in software companies, "It's time to add on features". The decision to add or expand is a hard one, or at least it should be. The thought to add should be as disciplined and diligent as when we first started with our core offerings. For some reason we don't always take this decision as seriously and we can find that before we know it we have started something that isn't profitable of even worse, takes away from our core focus. Before we add, think hard about what the outcome will and can be.

We have just celebrated our most holy of days. Without Easter there would be no eternal life. Many Christians around the world have also just completed 40 days of Lent, having given up and denied themselves of something in remembrance of what God gave up for us. But, what do we do for the 40 days after Easter?  Nothing formal, but yet Jesus actually modeled for us that we should be committed about being additive in the 40 days post Easter.  He did this by coming back and making Himself present physically to his disciples for those 40 days before ascending back to Heaven.  As we move out of Easter, let's ask ourselves what it is that we are adding to the Kingdom and to our own spiritual growth?  Can we find something that expands the Kingdom and brings more glory to God? Can we be present to those around us and allow them to see the likeness of Christ in us?  Think about it!

Reference: John 20:29 (New Living Testament)