day 1393: Virtual Reality?

 While I am on a pilgrimage walk on the Camino de Santiago (St. James Way) in Spain, I have asked some of the most committed and courageous faith-driven business leaders I know to guest contribute to Purposed worKING.  Enjoy! - Rusty

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“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.  And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.”

It seems like we read about it almost daily—a small tech start-up is purchased for billions of dollars by a tech behemoth.  One recent deal that garnered widespread publicity was the acquisition of Oculus VR by Facebook.  Oculus is the maker of the Oculus “Rift” virtual reality (VR) headset that promises to finally deliver on the promise of VR that has always seemed just out of reach since the dawn of sci-fi movies and Star Trek.  When you consider Oculus’ product and Facebook’s global reach as a social network, you can picture a virtual community on a scale that is hard to fathom.

Oculus’ VR technology is allegedly so advanced that the author of a January 2014 Gizmodo review of the product exclaimed in the article’s headline, “I Wore the New Oculus Rift and I Never Want to Look at Real Life Again”(!) (My emphasis).

Wow.  That’s a bold statement—a technology so powerful that it might tempt humans to replace real life with virtual reality.  But if this is a possibility, perhaps it’s important to ask:  What are the social consequences of replacing real life with virtual reality? What are the consequences to a work culture influenced by virtual tools such as video conference, and eventually—virtual reality?

I’m currently working on a special project team for my employer.  Ordinarily, we do a weekly conference call or video conference to touch base on project milestones and work through outstanding issues.  We’re able to do this because our employer—like every other modern business—has invested in various forms of connected and wireless technology that allows us to communicate no matter where we are. 

Surely, there are certain advantages, including cost savings and efficiency.  That said, have you ever found yourself incredibly frustrated on a conference call, video conference, WebEx, or in an e-mail exchange with colleagues or clients?  The truth is, a lot can be lost in translation, and we’re not often as good at communicating virtually as we are in-person, where we can read body language and build rapport.  Nuance and context are often casualties of these kinds of muted exchanges.  How efficient is it, really, if everyone hangs up the phone feeling as though the others didn’t understand their point of view? 

Recently, I traveled for a day trip to San Francisco for some client meetings for the project team I am on.  In just 5 hours, we did more to build trust and coalesce around the shared goals and vision for our project than we had accomplished in 4 months of weekly 90-minute phone calls.  Even better, we ended our time together with a casual lunch on a sunny patio with gentle breeze that allowed us to soak in the real world around us.  Simply put, we had acknowledged our humanity and innate desire for community, and in doing so, had been incredibly productive in a business sense.  Points were made clearly, differences were bridged, and voices were heard.  We made progress.

It’s tempting to go all-in on technology, as Facebook did, based on the noble promises of new modes of communication.  Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook imagines a VR world where you could be “enjoying a courtside seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world, or consulting a doctor face-to-face—just by putting on your goggles in your home.” 

Surely, technology can be used for good.  But as Christians, we should know better than to go all-in on technology.  As God ordained in Genesis 2, and as Jesus taught us during His earthly ministry, we were meant to be in community.  Real community.  The kind of community where crowds gather to hear, feet are washed, miracles are performed, and trespasses are forgiven. 

So often, we fire off a quick email or text message in the name of efficiency.  It’s worth pondering that while these new tools such as virtual reality carry the promise of improved communication, they can also lose a lot in translation.   It’s also worth considering that in Jesus’ teachings, He intentionally sought out human interaction. His ministry was quite literally, hands-on.  Perhaps He was on to something, and perhaps we’d be well-served to intentionally seek opportunities to build community with our colleagues and clients just as He built community—in the flesh.  And perhaps that’s good for business.

Reference: Hebrews 10: 24-25

Tim Owen

Working husband and dad, trying to figure it all out

 

day 1330: Course Corrections

"And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us."

On Saturday of this past weekend, I completed the Phoenix Marathon, which was my eighth Marathon.  I was so excited about the race, the course, and being in Phoenix with dear friends for the weekend. I felt like this might be a race where I could shave a few minutes off of my personal best.  But, not to be.  I was almost 19 minutes worse than my best time.  The course was predominately downhill, which should make for a fast time.  You would think, right?  What looks like it can be one thing, can actually turn around and bite you. Look at this elevation map:

This map shows a 1000 foot elevation drop, but it's the first 4 miles that are of most notice. Those 4 miles at that steepness, was a killer on the quads and by mile 18 my quads were thrashed (they are still killing me).  What looks to be an advantage, can turn out to be a real disadvantage.  Just because it all looks like smooth sailing and downhill doesn't mean that things will work out for the better.  The best course is always the one that you expect, have managed before and can predict, even if they have some uphills in them.

The race that God has put in front of us requires endurance to finish it well.  If this wasn't so, Paul wouldn't have put that challenge out to us in Hebrews.  Our race (life and our spiritual life) is one that none of us have ever personally run before so each day brings a new hill, a new footing, or a new obstacle to overcome. But, what we know is that with God's support, love and grace that our course can be conquered.  Today, we start a workweek and it might be that we are still sore from something from last week or the past and we don't feel like we can climb the hills or control ourselves from careening out of control.  This is the moment to call upon Him to be there with us so that we move forward in His will and Spirit asking for guidance for each and every course correction needed. 

Reference: Hebrews 12:1 (New Living Translation)

day 1327: Hashtag This!

"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."

There's a very funny TV car commercial about the guy who finds himself dreaming about all the things he missed out on in life, while the car salesman is trying to sell him a new car.  He missed out on the girl who grew up to be a model.  He missed out on investing in Twitter.  This is the one that is funny.  He's sitting at his desk, talking on the phone and says, "140 characters?  I just don't get it."  The next scene is him standing on the deck of his friend's yacht, which is named, "Hashtag This".  The first time I saw it, I laughed out loud because I too had the same reaction to Twitter when I first heard of the service.  (BTW, I wasn't pitched on the investment).  When Twitter showed up it was the time of an explosion in blogging; long-form self-expression.  What could at all makes sense in that time for saying in something when limited to 140 characters.  Well, I was wrong as was the character in the commercial.  Sometimes, things that are so far fetched come along that only a few people can see their potential.  Occasionally we might be on the side of being the predictor, but in most cases we will be the naysayer or the unbelieving. The trick is to stay open to the pitches.  Don't turn down the meeting with the young entrepreneur or the wet behind the ears new person in the company. Staying open to the unforeseen and the unbelievable is the only way any of us will be able to be in touch with the future.

Our faith is all about being open to what God has done, will do and wants to do in our lives. Close our minds, heart and spirit to those things that we can't see or are hard to believe and then we don't have faith.  Praying with suspicion that God will answer?  Then likely that prayer won't be answered.  If we approach God like He is less than God, then we aren't really giving Him all of us.  Let's imagine and believe that today, God will show up and do something amazing in our workplace.  It might be that the person who hasn't smiled in weeks because of a loss, smiles from the encouraging and caring word that you offer.  It might be that because you have prayed for things to go smoothly in the big meeting, that they do.  It might be that you find yourself with the idea and approach that unblocks a problem.  It might be that you leave the office this afternoon feeling full and satisfied that you worked and acted in Christ like ways, all day long.  I'll be curious to hear from you on how today goes!  Expect that God can deliver those assurances on the things we can't yet see, and then He will.

Reference: Hebrews 11:1 (New Living Translation)

day 1240: Stripping Down!

...let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up..."


I'm in the process of buying a software business.  It's a great service and as we look at what we need to do first it is not what most would think.  The first thing we need to do is to strip it down.  What does that mean?  Well, it like building an airplane.  The designers of an airplane build it out with all kinds of great features and amenities, but at some point all of those get weighed against the size of the engine and the thrust available to allow the plane to get off the air, and stay in the air. Because the engines are what they are, there is only thing to do, start stripping away the features until everything comes in balance.  The same has to happen to this service I am looking to purchase. The same has to happen to all of our businesses. It's not easy as we can get very attached to features and before long they can become sacred cows.  Last week Bill Gates apologized for every letting Control-Alt-Delete get built and put in their routine.  He knows now that they should have stripped the feature down to one button. What are we hanging on to that needs to be stripped down?

We each have traits and ways of being that when pushed to name them we would say they are identifiers of who we are.  The question we must always be asking ourselves is whether or not those "features" are ones that are strengthening us in our relationship with Jesus, or holding us back.  Like the plane that can't take flight, or the software that is too feature-rich and sluggish, we have to have the courage to strip down these areas of our lives so we can bound forward for Him.

Reference: Hebrews 12:1 (New Living Translation)

day 1219: I.D.P and F.O.M.O

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith...

That thing in our hand, that you might now be using to read this post, has taken us over.  No one could ever imagine or predict that our smartphones would evolve into an appendage that when we are separated an anxiety is created that can't be taken away until the phone is back in our hands.  I read the other day that someone said they have "I.D.P.", otherwise known as "Information Deprivation Paranoia".  Another way to put it is what Anil Dash called, "F.O.M.O.", or "Fear of Missing Out".  We are driven by these needs now that it sometimes feels like information and accessibility is distracting us from living out our lives.  No device meetings are smart when we want to talk and solve a problem.  There will always be someone who says they need their phone, tablet or computer for more information.  That's probably true, but for that moment, they can take a note to gather that data later, but for now, let's be in the moment and talk.  When was the last time you considered going a day with no devices to just see how much more conversant, attentive and aware of others you can be?  We need devices.  Information and accessibility are awesome.  They are the gifts of our time, but too much of anything can cause problems.  When we start having fear of missing out, or paranoia about not being in the know, or separation anxiety from that device we own, then we have probably gone too far.

If we are fixed on Jesus, focused on Him, in His Word and in conversation with Him daily, then we will never miss out, and we should never have any fears or paranoia about not being connected.  The world is the distraction, He is the signal to which we are to tune towards.  Today, we will have many distractions.  Where will we put our focus?

Reference: Hebrews 12:2 (New Living Translation)

day 1218: "Stotan"

...let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

I love to run and I have the utmost respect for distance runners and especially those who are ultrarunners who can cover vast distances in a single run or over a set period of time.  One of the greatest of our time has been Scott Jurek.  Jurek wrote a book a few years ago on running, fitness and diet and in this book, "Eat and Run", he tells the story of Australian ultra runner Percy Cerutty who in 1939 adopted what Cerutty called a "Stotan" lifestyle to help him overcome a two-year impending death diagnosis.  "Stotan" was a cross between being "spartan" and "stoic".  Being "Stotan" was, Cerutty wrote; "An athlete needed hardness, toughness, and unswerving devotion to an ideal, but he also needed to embrace diet, philosophy, cultivation of the intellect, and openness to artistic endeavors.  You only ever grow as a human being if you're outside your comfort zone." (footnote - Cerutty lived to be 80 years old and dodged that doctor's diagnosis).  How often in business do we consider all aspects of who we need to be so we can become the full picture?  We more often than not find ourselves focused, in silos, heads down and maybe even purposefully ignoring the bigger picture and influences that could distract us.  Maybe we should consider becoming more "Stotan" in how we approach our business challenges.

The Apostle Paul writes enough about running and athleticism that he either was an athlete himself or he truly appreciated what it was to be an athlete.  He tells us that our spiritual journey is a race.  He tells us to strip down the weights that hold us back, to open our eyes to God and fix ourselves on the victory of falling into Jesus' arms as we break the finish tape of life.  It is a beautiful picture to imagine.  Today is a lap of the race that we run.  Will we take today and run the lap that we are in to our best ability or let this lap get away from us?  As Cerutty said, to be the best athlete we must "do" and we must take ourselves to places that are beyond our comfort zone.  God never said our race to Him would be easy.  But, He did say it would be well worth the effort!

Reference: Hebrews 12:1 (New Living Translation)

day 1165: Training?

"So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God."

Most corporate training only scratches at the surface of what we need to know to do our jobs fully.  We get the basics of what and how and then we move on and maybe for years we don't get retrained or more deeply grown or developed.  When we think back about the training that was most of an impact on our jobs, it is that training that actually grew us more as human beings than just make us a better worker.  When this happens, we are actually able to take that learning, apply it to our work and we ultimately become better all the way around.  That is training that sticks.  I was with a friend this last week who was telling me about a holistic session that his partnership did with the senior partners in the company.  It started with a comprehensive physical examination, moved through life expectations and motivations, and then ended up with applying all of this to how each individual would change to be better in their jobs over the next five years.  My friend was effusive about how significant this was to him.  Forget all of the "training", instead let's send our people off to "learning".  

In Hebrews, we are challenged to move our spiritual lives from basic training to true learning and deepening.  Just like our corporate training, we can hang around the surface and go through the motions and receive very little that sticks, or we can dive in deep looking for spiritual breakthrough that will lead to real growth and life applications.  We don't go to work every day just looking for the same old, same old, so why would we go about our Kingdom work this way?  Let's consider honestly today what level of "training" or "learning" we are really pursuing?

Reference:  Hebrews 6:1 (New Living Translation)
 

day 1152: The Contractors

“Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting Him...Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise."

There are some people at work who are better at negotiating than others. These are the people who know how to get the best deal from the other side of the table and they have learned how to find the last dollar or cent in savings from a project or a vendor. These are also the best people to negotiate contracts as they know how to ensure that as much risk has been removed before signing the deal. And if they are really good they do all of this with the other side of the negotiations feeling good about the deal. All big companies now have this skill set resident within the organization. It just makes sense today to have these experts on hand. Long gone are the handshake and gentleman’s agreement. There was a time that business ran on such but over the years as relationships, integrity and trust eroded and these values became less integral to getting done what needed to get done, business leaders have had to rely on the contract for assurances of what to expect. And even then on both sides of a contract still look for loopholes and omissions so that they can attempt to gain the upper hand or a better deal. In today’s world it seems we are always negotiating and seldom in a moment of peace and productivity.

Isn’t it great though that we have a much higher authority that we can count on and trust to never break the contract that was given to us? As long as we enter into the relationship with sincerity and earnestness then we don’t have to worry about the other side trying to take advantage of us. We read about this in Hebrews; “"Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting Him...Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise. " This assurance is the best of all contracts. This is a contract that will not be broken. While we have to protect ourselves and our organizations in the work we do with written agreements and contracts, it does not mean that we can’t live and work as personal examples of the promise that God gave us. If we can become known as a person of integrity who means what she/he says and says what he/she means, then we are role-modeling the behavior and actions of the One we follow. Today, you will be asked to “contract” with others. It will likely not be sitting down to write out what is expected of you, but rather it will be someone requesting assistance, or sending a question over email, or leaving a simple request on your voice mail. How you respond and live up to the contract of your own performance could be the determiner of how someone sees our Christ through you. Let us all strive to stay close to God and be the same example as one who delivers and keeps out promises.


Reference: Hebrews 10:22-25 (New Living Translation)

day 1127: Grading Success

"...For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you."

I got to listen recently to a professor of Statistics who was telling us about how with her teaching methods that bring statistics out of a book and into examples of everyday life encounters, that she has significantly improved the number of “DWFs”.  It took a few minutes but finally someone asked what was on my mind and I am sure the minds of others, “What is a DWF?”  The teacher explained that this meant; drops (those who drop out within the allowed try it out weeks); withdrawals, (which are those who stay past that time limit but still pull out of the class), and; failures,( those that stick with it but fail the class).  “DWFs”….none are good.  But, the good news is that by using technology for new teaching delivery methods, illustrative examples and pragmatic communication she was taking a hard subject and making it easier to learn. I wonder how often we have DWFs from our customers?  Do we even know how many DWFs happen when someone experiences our product or service?  What is for sure is that when any one of the three happen, they tell others so we can’t afford to ignore or miss this important part of the grading of our own success.  Miss it and lose.  Know and improve it, and win.

Stop here and thank our Lord that He does not grade us. If He did we all would be F’s for sure.  But, even in His merciful and forgiving Kingdom we still have D’s and W’s.  And, we all have shown signs and tendencies of this as well.  Peter denied Christ three times at the most significant time of need in Jesus’ life.  He withdrew from Jesus and let others know it. When grading ourselves it is hard to comprehend how we can miss God’s love and gifts that He has for us, but we do.  God wants us to stay in the game with Him. Don’t drop or withdraw and don’t worry about failing.  His is the greatest of understanding and patience.  Today, where are we?  On the verge of a DWF?  Nothing that can happen today will undermine of destroy God’s will, love and protection of us.  If we can remember this today then DWF has no meaning at all to us.

Reference: Hebrews 13:6 (New Living Translation)