day 951: Pirates vs. Swashbucklers

"And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, “These that have turned the world upside down have come hither also..."

The business world doesn't like "Pirates", but they love "Swashbucklers" and buccaneers. Pirates steal, copy, rip-off and can cause irreparable harm and destroy value and spirit.  In my videogame days there was nothing worse than watching a team of people work and give years of their lives to a product only to have someone leak the product before it was shipped and then to see that same product be pirated into the black market.  It was disheartening and devastating.  Any product or service that depends on their intellectual property as part of their competitive advantage will be constantly concerned and cautious of those who would be pirates.  Now, swashbucklers and buccaneers are a different story.  Business loves the Steve Jobs of the world who out together a band of swashbucklers and flew the pirate flag within Apple to launch the Mac.  Hollywood makes billions off of romanticizing the image of the swashbuckler (from Errol Flynn to Johnny Depp).  The untethered, high risk, high reward attitude of those who can buck the system and sail away on their own is the gestalt of Silicon Valley,  It's a fine line between pirates and swashbucklers, but we know that we want the latter to ensure progress and innovation.

Are we strong enough in our faith to fly the flag of Christ and march to His drum beat versus the rest of the world?  We have many examples in the Bible of those who took on their own swashbuckling way to spread the word of Christ throughout the world.  The world pulls us into its' ways and the trappings of work and business can be one of the most draining and eroding environments of our faith and principles.  We must guard against, and be strong to not get pulled in and find ourselves adrift without a course.  It is not easy to sail against the winds, but it is what we must sometimes do in order to be consistent where it matters most.  Do we have enough inside of us today to be like Jason and be called one of those who "have turned the world upside down" for God?

Reference:  Acts 17:6 (21st Century King James Version)

day 948: World Changers

"When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset the world have come here also;"

"We are going to change the world!"  "I want to change the world!" "Together, we can change the world."

These are the types of rallying cries that are said at new product launches, company creations, or announcements of inventions.  Few ever become a reality and truly change the world, but there's no harm or foul in thinking and aspiring to do so.  To truly change the world, we have to come up with something that not only is additive but also disruptive.  Any great innovation ends up extincting something that was there before, creating yes, a bit of a win-lose.  So, with world-changing progress there will be lawsuits, PR attacks, threats, accusations, deep discounting, vendor conflicts, patent challenges, etc.  Net, the world does not change easily nor quietly. There's always a story plot as to why the world shouldn't change and forces to fight against progress.  We have to be on the lookout for those forces within our companies and sometimes the enemy is "us".  Innovation, experimentation and change too many times is killed before it starts because internally we really don't want our world, as we know it, to change.  Think about innovation within your organization.  Is it free and flowing or are there speed bumps and resistance points to change?  The world cannot be changed without being all in to do so.

What a great compliment that Jason received when he was accused of "upsetting the world"!  Here's what we need to remember as we go to work each day and try to bring glory to God as our purpose; by virtue of working, acting and speaking in the likeness of Christ we are "upsetting the world".  We all know that our workplaces can be the worst of places for the fruits of the spirit to be evident and at every turn there is a catalyst to take us to the dark side. But, if we stand strong, stand forward to the wind in our face, and remain steadfast in our faith then we become an upsetting force and yes, even a world-changer.

Acts 17:6 (New American Standard)