day 1156: Working From Where?

"They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’"

Yesterday's TechCrunch covered the new irobot and Cisco In-the-office-out-of-the office-work-from-home-telepresence-robot-thing. We've seen these things in the GE ads where the robot-thing can allow the sick children to attend school, even though they are home or hospital bound.  But, this puts a whole new spin on things. Are we getting closer and closer to the autonomous worker?  My friend Fred says, "You must be present to win".  Is this being present?  What will Marissa Mayer do with this?  What is clear is that our ability to be where we are, even when we are not, is getting more and more technologically advanced.  We need to monitor, experiment and see what works in our environment, and then judge.  But, one thing is for certain, we must try what is new and not ignore the future as it rolls through our front door.  The generation behind us is watching to see where we will land as it relates to where and how they will work.

                                                           (picture courtesy of TechCrunch)

Where two or more of us are gathered, He will be with us also.  When I first saw the picture above, I was struck by how God is with us in our work as well and if we could have him present like this iRobot, all the time, how cool would that be.  But, see that is the promise and blessing we have. He is and all we have to do is invite Him along.  If in all that we know and believe about what God can do for us, then why do we ignore Him and leave Him out of our work? Ask God to inhabit your cubicle today and to be present with you at all times.  He will.  God has shown through the generations how faithful He is and how He like to work on the big problems and challenges that only He can fix.  Bring Him along and watch what He does. It's how He works!

Reference: 2 Chronicles 20:9 (New Living Translation)

day 1091: A Big Policy Change

"As for me, I am in your hands—do with me as you think best."

Last week there was a big hullabaloo about Yahoo!'s CEO, Marissa Mayer, calling back into the office all of the people who have been telecommuting.  There are people on both sides of this decision.  Some think it way to draconian and a take-away from the benefits that people have earned at Yahoo!.  Others, myself included, understand the decision and expect that this is a season that the company will go through and if the goals are met, then working from home could be restored.  There are many schools of thought as to why Mayer made this decision.  I suspect that in the turnaround mode the company is now in and the fact that Yahoo! long ago lost the edge in innovation that she is bringing people back together to find some sparks and see what can happen if ideas begin to flow more quickly and fluidly across Yahoo!'s employees.  I also think that when new in the CEO seat that one attempts to establish a work ethic, performance standard and achievement bar.  It may well be that she will sort the wheat from the chaff just by seeing who decides to comply and who decides to leave.  Lastly, I do think there will be turnover from the decision and for Yahoo! that is probably okay. Voluntary attrition is always better than forced layoffs and if they were already considering having to pare the workforce, this is a good way to do so.  It will be a big decision for many people.  Good news for the telecommuters who can't change is that the employment market is hot and there are plenty of other companies who need skilled talent that could care less where or when you work, as long as the job gets done.

As human beings we don't like being told what to do if what it is we are being asked conflicts with what we want.  We don't mind being "led", but we dislike being "controlled".  The controlling part of Yahoo!'s decision is certainly part of the backlash.  What I love about our Lord is that He gives us plenty of rules on how we are to live and conduct ourselves, but he constantly pulls us to Him versus push us.  We may not always like what we hear from Him, but ours is a love, faith and commitment that starts with a surrendering of ourselves just like Jesus surrendered His life for us.  We are in the lent season where those in the Catholic and liturgically based religions will "give up something for Lent" as a way of reminding ourselves daily how and what He gave up for us.  Today as we think about what is being asked of us, let's follow the words in Jeremiah and say to God, "As for me, I am in your hands—do with me as you think best.".  Remember, God never changes His rules or policies.  But, it is ours to follow them willingly and with full surrender.

Reference: Jeremiah 26:14 (New Living Translation)