"Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve."
Could it be that we just now have too many choices and that is part of what is making it so hard to do business? If you are a retailer that certainly is the case these days. Not only are you today up against the choices that consumers have from multiple local retailers who might be all within walking or short driving distance, you also are competing with online retailers from all around the world who have found their way into your consumer's homes. Choice can make competing harder. Not only is that true on the demand side, but it is also true on the supply end. If you are up against others whose offering is much broader and extensive then you have no choice but to respond. I am sure that Henry Ford would have loved to have gone on forever making just black cars, but that wasn't going to happen as others saw the opening to offer more choice. The balancing of how much choice to offer is hard. What we do know is that being the best at what is offered is key and that we need to ensure that whatever the consumer is choosing they know that from us they get the best, quality or the greatest value, or the best service, etc. Choice is not going to go away and we have to learn to adapt and embrace the choices that get made.
One thing we know that God will never do is force us to choose to serve Him. That is all our choice and one that we have to make daily. Sometimes it can feel like we are in a huge mall and that one store at one end of the mall is God and that the devil has all these other stores for us to shop, enjoy, browse and partake. It's a scary thought but it is what it is and we have to actively decide where we are going to "shop" and "purchase". Today, there will be plenty of storefronts that are going to entice you to come inside. It might not feel that bad to take a peek in, but as great retailers do, once they see that you are thinking about making a choice with them, they will market and sell to you until you buy. Our work days are full of these choices. Where will you choose today?
Reference: Joshua 24:15 (NKJV)
Showing posts with label choice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label choice. Show all posts
Monday, November 5, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
day 1008: Bad Comes Easily
"Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve."
Ever notice how hard the work is to make something good happen but how easily the bad things happen? Nowhere in business is this probably more true than in the efforts to achieve great quality. To make it perfect each and every time is really hard work, but with just the slightest slip, miss, or imperfection the whole quality thing goes right out the door. Sometimes, it is just as simple as being on time. A few weeks ago I was waiting for a company that was coming to the house to do some installation work. The day before they confirmed the time they would be there. This was good. the next day, after a half hour of waiting past the appointed time, I emailed, to ask where they were? This was bad. I got an immediate response that they were getting ready to pull in my driveway. That was funny as I was standing in my driveway waiting for them. 15 minutes later they arrived. This was bad. Now, my afternoon was shot and I was pushing back and cancelling other things (messing up other people) and worse, they were so behind that they were going to make up the time in my appointment and they visibly rushed to the point that I wondered if they were being thorough or not. That is the way of good turning to bad; it is hard and takes discipline and commitment to be consistently good. But, bad comes easily so we have to work just as hard to protect ourselves from making that one slip that can ruin or damage the reputation of the company and ourselves.
Our spiritual life can feel the same. Is it not easy to live the life that Jesus asked us to live. He said it Himself multiple times. And on the other side, it seems so easy to live the life that is the opposite. What it comes down to is that this life of following Jesus is an active one. We cannot be passive and expect that we will stay in the good. God gave us the power of choice and the price of that choice is that we have to want and actively pursue it. Don't get me wrong, we don't work for our salvation. It is without doubt a gift. But like on Christmas morning as kids we didn't lie in bed in the morning and wait for the gifts to come to us, we sprinted to the Christmas tree to see what was there. It was our great President Abraham Lincoln who said, "People do what they want to do." That is our choice today. To work hard for the good or let the bad come to us easily.
Reference: Joshua 24:15 (NKJV)
Ever notice how hard the work is to make something good happen but how easily the bad things happen? Nowhere in business is this probably more true than in the efforts to achieve great quality. To make it perfect each and every time is really hard work, but with just the slightest slip, miss, or imperfection the whole quality thing goes right out the door. Sometimes, it is just as simple as being on time. A few weeks ago I was waiting for a company that was coming to the house to do some installation work. The day before they confirmed the time they would be there. This was good. the next day, after a half hour of waiting past the appointed time, I emailed, to ask where they were? This was bad. I got an immediate response that they were getting ready to pull in my driveway. That was funny as I was standing in my driveway waiting for them. 15 minutes later they arrived. This was bad. Now, my afternoon was shot and I was pushing back and cancelling other things (messing up other people) and worse, they were so behind that they were going to make up the time in my appointment and they visibly rushed to the point that I wondered if they were being thorough or not. That is the way of good turning to bad; it is hard and takes discipline and commitment to be consistently good. But, bad comes easily so we have to work just as hard to protect ourselves from making that one slip that can ruin or damage the reputation of the company and ourselves.
Our spiritual life can feel the same. Is it not easy to live the life that Jesus asked us to live. He said it Himself multiple times. And on the other side, it seems so easy to live the life that is the opposite. What it comes down to is that this life of following Jesus is an active one. We cannot be passive and expect that we will stay in the good. God gave us the power of choice and the price of that choice is that we have to want and actively pursue it. Don't get me wrong, we don't work for our salvation. It is without doubt a gift. But like on Christmas morning as kids we didn't lie in bed in the morning and wait for the gifts to come to us, we sprinted to the Christmas tree to see what was there. It was our great President Abraham Lincoln who said, "People do what they want to do." That is our choice today. To work hard for the good or let the bad come to us easily.
Reference: Joshua 24:15 (NKJV)
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
day 985: The Power of Choice
"Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve..."
Few companies or organizations are so singularly minded that they offer only one product or service. They may start that way, but over time someone inside the organization will come up with another offering and the rationale of extension will be about giving their consumers and customers more choice. We are a people of choice and much of the foundation of capitalism is built upon the ability of those who are spending to be able to make that choice. That is why we have closets full of clothes we never wear. It is not that we need those garments, it is because we need the choice. Getting it right for our extra offerings is never easy. We have all watched many a company flounder with the decisions of what they should offer next. Remember Crystal Pepsi? Need I say more. Providing choice is great, choosing what that choice should be demands the rigor and discipline of analysis, surveying, testing and retesting. Choice for just the sake of choice does not usually end well.
Our God is a God of choice. Our humanity started with a choice being given and a bad choice being made. From that point on we have desired choice and struggled from decisions of the offerings in front of us. We are given choices all day long and we choose many times to make it through the day. Some of those choices are huge and some small. Some are clear and some are murky. Some are long in the coming and some have to be immediate and on the spot. Regardless, God says that within each of these choices we must remember who we serve. He will be there with us through our choices and He asks us daily to return to Him for the wisdom He wants to impart upon us. He does not want us to choose unwisely. All we have to do is continuously remember that He is always our first choice!
Reference: Joshua 24:15 (New King James Version)
Few companies or organizations are so singularly minded that they offer only one product or service. They may start that way, but over time someone inside the organization will come up with another offering and the rationale of extension will be about giving their consumers and customers more choice. We are a people of choice and much of the foundation of capitalism is built upon the ability of those who are spending to be able to make that choice. That is why we have closets full of clothes we never wear. It is not that we need those garments, it is because we need the choice. Getting it right for our extra offerings is never easy. We have all watched many a company flounder with the decisions of what they should offer next. Remember Crystal Pepsi? Need I say more. Providing choice is great, choosing what that choice should be demands the rigor and discipline of analysis, surveying, testing and retesting. Choice for just the sake of choice does not usually end well.
Our God is a God of choice. Our humanity started with a choice being given and a bad choice being made. From that point on we have desired choice and struggled from decisions of the offerings in front of us. We are given choices all day long and we choose many times to make it through the day. Some of those choices are huge and some small. Some are clear and some are murky. Some are long in the coming and some have to be immediate and on the spot. Regardless, God says that within each of these choices we must remember who we serve. He will be there with us through our choices and He asks us daily to return to Him for the wisdom He wants to impart upon us. He does not want us to choose unwisely. All we have to do is continuously remember that He is always our first choice!
Reference: Joshua 24:15 (New King James Version)
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
day 733: Choice
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."
Choice is a very powerful tool. I just had to rent a car for a one-way driving trip from LA to San Francisco and National Rental had the best one-way drop-off deal. It had been a long time since I had rented from them and I expected the same old routine as any other car rental place, but when I got the to the counter in LA, I was very surprised. Within 30 seconds of me giving them my driver's license and credit card, they handed me back my rental sleeve and directed me to an area called, "The Aisle" and said I could choose any car that was parked under that awning. Around the corner and out the door, there was that section with at least 50 cars/SUVs, etc. to choose from. After asking a very nice attendant who was standing near the cars, which car got the best gas mileage, I was choosing from three different colors of a Honda Sonata. As I drove out of the lot, I was a satisfied customer and it was all about choice. I am sure I am not alone in having been assigned a rental car and being disappointed because I would have preferred the car style next to the one I was going to rent. Choice is a powerful force and in our businesses we should remember that giving the consumer a choice, even if not a big choice, can be the difference between satisfaction and not.
Our God is so cool. When I think about the choices that He allows us to make every day I am reminded that He is not the overbearing parent that keeps us contained and sheltered from the world. No, He is a God that gives us everything we need to be prepared for this life and after, and then He presents us with choices to make. all He asks is that at the end of the decision tree that one choice be absolute and that is the choice to follow Him as our personal savior and Lord. He is consistent in this way. Adam and Eve had it all to their desires and dreams. He only refused one choice, which they couldn't uphold. All the rest was theirs. He gives all the rest to us as well, He just says, make the one the choice to follow me. Choice is a powerful force.
Reference: John 14:6 (New Living Testament)
Choice is a very powerful tool. I just had to rent a car for a one-way driving trip from LA to San Francisco and National Rental had the best one-way drop-off deal. It had been a long time since I had rented from them and I expected the same old routine as any other car rental place, but when I got the to the counter in LA, I was very surprised. Within 30 seconds of me giving them my driver's license and credit card, they handed me back my rental sleeve and directed me to an area called, "The Aisle" and said I could choose any car that was parked under that awning. Around the corner and out the door, there was that section with at least 50 cars/SUVs, etc. to choose from. After asking a very nice attendant who was standing near the cars, which car got the best gas mileage, I was choosing from three different colors of a Honda Sonata. As I drove out of the lot, I was a satisfied customer and it was all about choice. I am sure I am not alone in having been assigned a rental car and being disappointed because I would have preferred the car style next to the one I was going to rent. Choice is a powerful force and in our businesses we should remember that giving the consumer a choice, even if not a big choice, can be the difference between satisfaction and not.
Our God is so cool. When I think about the choices that He allows us to make every day I am reminded that He is not the overbearing parent that keeps us contained and sheltered from the world. No, He is a God that gives us everything we need to be prepared for this life and after, and then He presents us with choices to make. all He asks is that at the end of the decision tree that one choice be absolute and that is the choice to follow Him as our personal savior and Lord. He is consistent in this way. Adam and Eve had it all to their desires and dreams. He only refused one choice, which they couldn't uphold. All the rest was theirs. He gives all the rest to us as well, He just says, make the one the choice to follow me. Choice is a powerful force.
Reference: John 14:6 (New Living Testament)
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