Do you remember the scene in “It’s A Wonderful Life” where George Bailey (played by Jimmy Stewart) was forced to forgo his honeymoon because there was a run on the bank?  The people were afraid their money wouldn’t be available, so they wanted to take it out of the Bailey Building and Loan Association in cash. George tried to explain that their money was invested in each other’s homes.  It wasn’t enough to appease most of them and George was forced to try to make it through the day by trying to hold on to at least one remaining dollar.  That was fiction, but unfortunately it is based on a principle of fact.  If people panic, it impacts all of us and can eventually cause a collapse of corporations and even our economy.

The fact is that the American people have lived well for a couple of decades.  We have mostly lived on borrowed money.  The “excitement” of wealth has driven stocks higher; often higher than their real value and inflated real estate values beyond reasonable appraisals.  It was only natural that a correction would one day come to our economy.  I am not sure a government bailout of companies who lived beyond their means is appropriate, but it appears one is on the way. 

I’m certain though that now is not a time to allow uncertainty to send us into frenzy.  Even the government won’t be able to “bail” us out of a mass panic.  Someone asked recently when I would think it was time to panic about the state of our economy. I guess that would be when Americans are trying to illegally cross the border into Mexico. Our economy still has life in it.  It will recover.  The fact is that corporations that are healthy will be even healthier when these current economic struggles are gone. 

Now should be a time to make wiser choices with our finances, but really, shouldn’t we always be doing that, as individuals, corporations, and governments?  Let’s follow the advice of George Bailey and “Calm Down”.  Or, better yet, let’s follow the advice of Jesus and “not be afraid.” 

Someone shared an article with me by Raymond P. Rood entitled “How Then Should Organizations Live”. (http://www.humantechnologies.com) In the article Rood makes the point that every organization has three basic needs. They are growth, maintenance, and development.  For an organization to thrive it must do all three well.  Yesterday at our all day staff retreat we expanded our thoughts on these three needs as they relate to the life of our church and each individual area in which we serve.

Growth: Rood says “growth needs focus on productivity and expansion.”  The growth of any organization is vibrant and fast-paced and requires lots of energy and attention. It’s a world of numbers and percentages of increases.  Without growth, the organization will eventually die, but if an organization only grows and never matures, that growth will not sustain itself for long.

Maintenance: According to Rood, “maintenance needs focus on order and the reduction of problems.”  The more an organization grows, the more it needs a structure in place to manage the growth; that’s maintenance.  Some people love the maintenance world.  It’s my least favorite, but it is extremely necessary for the organization to remain healthy.  Still, if all an organization does is maintenance it will become dull, boring, legalistic, and uninspiring.  (Did I paint that well enough?)  Some organizations, and even churches, die because they live in the maintenance world.  They become one large bureaucracy of rules and regulations designed with good intentions to sustain the organization’s growth.   That leads to the third basic need of organizations:

Development: Rood writes that “development needs focus on organizational quality.”  The development needs of an organization are designed to take it to the “next level” of success.  This is where an organization really matures, develops lasting principles and values, and prepares itself for years of growth and success.  Without developing an organization it will eventually wither and die.

My experience leads me to believe that every person in an organization prefers to live in one of these basic needs.  Some prefer to always focus on growth, some on maintenance and others on development. I’m a development guy. I love being a starter and I’m entrepreneurial, but in an established organization, I drift towards development…which usually involves starting something new in the same organization. If that’s all I had to do, I’d be happy. To be an effective leader of Grace Community Church, however, I must discipline my time to focus on all three needs. I can specialize in one, but I must be committed to playing a part in each area.

Considering these three basic needs, consider your own organization or area of responsibility.

• Which of these are missing in your equation?
• Which do you prefer doing?
• Should you discipline yourself in the other areas so you can be a healthier organization?

I’m in a dreaming stage again. I usually get nuggets of ideas from conferences or individuals and shape my own vision from the little pieces of information I hear elsewhere.  This week I’ve been flooded with ideas so that my head is exploding.  Since I always want to dream big dreams, (because I don’t think I can ever out-dream God) today I sent an email to a few people in the church to solicit the current thoughts on their mind.  It was a select group of people I trust (I also had their email addresses on my phone), but I’m not afraid to open up the dialogue.  Below is the email I sent.  Feel free to add your own ideas. 

Email:

Would you play along with me on something?  I was reflecting at our 3rd anniversary of Grace Community Church about how blessed with have been as a church with talented people. I think it’s important that we continually rely on the wisdom of others.  You have insight and experience Chad and I don’t have. So, would you complete this sentence for me? 

Just to note:  This is just for my own personal brainstorming and doesn’t mean we will use anything you offer but who knows what ideas you have.

Here’s the sentence:
If I were leading this organization I would_______________. 

Rules
1.  Use your imagination
2. Be nice and respectful. I’m a sensitive guy.
3. Don’t offer ideas without a way to actually do them.  (I’m looking for concrete feedback).

I don’t read many email forwards, so please don’t start sending them to me. My mom doesn’t forward many and this one she only forwarded to her 3 children, so I decided to read it.  It’s a list of things unique to my generation.  I found them interesting and memorable.  If you can identify, enjoy the trip down memory lane.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930′s, 40′s, 50′s, 60′s and 70′s!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from o ne bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren’t overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were OK.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brak es After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD’s, no surround-sound or CD’s, no cell phones, no personal computer! s, no Internet or chat rooms…..WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good .

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t it?!

Every believer wants to hear from God. We want to know “Is this God?” “Is this what He is telling me to do?”

We often listen for the grandiose voice of God and sometimes God speaks that way, but many times God is more subtle than that. Often God speaks through those quiet moments, through other people, and through life’s circumstances. In a crowded world of noise and life distractions sometimes it’s hard to understand what God is saying. How do we take the circumstance of life, as mixed up and confusing as they can be, and figure out what God could be saying to us?

Here are some guidelines to hearing God speak through the circumstances of life.

Mirror your circumstances with the truth of God’s Word. God will never contradict Himself. He will never speak to us through our circumstances in a way that will contradict His written word.

God uses people to confirm His voice. God often sends people into our path to confirm His will for our life. People who attempt to follow God with their life can help us to hear from God.

Recognize that God operates from a plan. Proverbs 16:9 says, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” Rick Warren has sold millions of books telling us that we should live our life with a purpose…God’s purpose.

Examine your circumstances in light of God’s overall plan. When trying to hear from God through the circumstances of life, we should not try to make a decision on one event or set of circumstances. Circumstances may or may not be God speaking to us. We should look at our life over a span of months or years. Jeremiah 29:11 indicates that God has a definite plan to proper us and give us hope. When we look at our life over time we will be able to see what God has been doing. When the circumstances of life consistently line up over time with God’s overall plan it is possible that God is trying to speak through those circumstances.

Don’t allow circumstances to keep you from hearing or obeying God. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 16:8-9 (NIV) “But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.” The common sense thing to do when everyone opposes you would be to leave, but Paul knew the circumstances were not indicative of God’s will for his life. Sometimes our circumstances may look gloomy, but we haven’t heard the truth of our circumstances until we have heard from God.

Ask God to show you His perspective on the circumstances. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13 NIV) As followers of God we will spend our whole life trying to discern the will of God for our life; listening for His voice. If we desire to hear from God through our circumstances we must intently listen for the voice of God. Hearing from God is not always easy. When life is coming at us we cannot seem to understand what is going on, we shouldn’t be afraid to ask for clarification. We should feel free to ask, “God what did you mean by that?”

Remember: God’s primary desire in speaking is for eternal purposes. We limit God to this finite world when we fail to remember He is an infinite God. When we are trying to discern God’s voice through the circumstances of life we should consider how what is happening around us fits into God’s eternal plan to save a lost world from destruction and to mold His children into the image of His Son. God’s primary activity will be in these areas of our life.

Hearing from God is critical for the children of God to know God’s will for our life. Our mission is to learn how to hear His voice. We must listen intently and carefully for His voice through the crowd of noises in the world in which we live. Thankfully God has not given up on us, but is still speaking to His people today.

A college girl from our church sent me a text the other night saying she was struggling spiritually to find her place.  She spent the summer interning at a church doing inner-city ministry.  Coming home has caused her to face the struggle of trying to know what God wants her to do.  She thought she had her life figured out, but now she thinks God wants more from her.  Her relationship with God feels tough and awkward right now.    

It reminded me of a principle God has taught me over the years that is incredibly important for all believers to understand.  After a period of spiritual highs there will most always be a period of spiritual lows. 

It even happened to Jesus.  Consider His baptism experience:   As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:10-11)  This was certainly a high point for Jesus. 

What happened next?    At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. (Mark 1:12-13) 

The spiritual highs are awesome!  We need them.  They make us more aware of God’s presence and glory in our life.  Just don’t be surprised if the spiritual lows follow.  (That process can, if we allow it to, make us more aware of God’s presence also.) 

In my organizational leadership class a younger member of the class made an observation about her student government organization during her undergraduate work.  She believed that one reason it was not very successful was that the freshmen president provided no opportunities to socialize outside of student government meetings with the other members of student government.   I think this was good insight, but it also brings interesting questions about leadership to my mind.  How relational should leadership be today?  How socially familiar does a servant leader need to be with the people he or she is trying to lead? 

I think this is a subject that is changing in our present culture.  The answer to those questions may differ somewhat depending on a person’s age.  In Patrick Lencioni’s book “The Three Signs of a Miserable Job” he describes the 3 signs as anonymity, irrelevance and what he calls, immeasurement.  Anonymity is the feeling that “their manager has little interest in them as a human being and that they know little about their lives, their aspirations and their interests.”  These 3 signs have probably always been signs of a miserable job, but the generation that is entering the workforce now and has been over the last 10 years seems to value them even more.  (I recently posted a blog about this issue: Managing in Today’s Workplace) 

I believe I can say from my parent’s generation that there was almost a “hands-off” approach between the leader in a company and the employees; and most employees seemed to want the separation.  I also know when I first entered the world of management this atmosphere was still in place.  I’ve watched it gradually change over the years. 

I’m curious the readers of this blog how much involvement you want from the leaders in your personal life.  Do you want your boss to know you personally or would you prefer the relationship remain strictly professional?  Or, perhaps a better questions, especially for the younger generation, do you even see leadership as professional today if there isn’t a level of personalism?

(BTW, apparently personalism is a relatively new word.  It didn’t survive my spell-check, but Dictionary.com defines it as: Also called personal idealism. a modern philosophical movement locating ultimate value and reality in persons, human or divine.  I find that interesting in light of this post’s discussion.)

Arrogant. Perhaps. Opinionated. Maybe. Critical. Sometimes. Aimless. Never.

People may call me lots of things, but one thing where most people will agree who know me is that I have a purpose to most everything I do; perhaps even to a fault. Playing a game of golf just for fun? Not so much. Playing a game of golf so I can build a relationship with someone or have quiet time to focus on something my mind has been racing about lately. Occasionally. (Actually about twice a year.) My life is usually aiming for something. I promise you I’m not writing this blog post just for “fun”. (What’s that?) So when I write about developing a life plan you can be sure it’s something I practice.

In my previous post 3 Questions to Help Formulate a Life Plan , I listed questions and a process to help a person think through what a personal life plan may look like for them. I want to continue that thought with some more suggestions.

This process was developed while working specifically with marriages in distress and then I began to apply it to the total life planning process. Therefore, it works equally well if used in a specific area of your life, such as marriage, parenting, career, or even your spiritual, physical and financial life.

As you work through the progressive questioning the answers become harder to attain. That’s intentional, because basically we end up striving for those things we really want in life anyway. If your life goals are shaped through a process you are more likely to work to achieve them.

Answer the questions truthfully; not how you think someone else would want you to answer them or even how you wish you could answer them. Again, we tend to work hardest for the things that are in our heart. Don’t try to make yourself something your heart is not into. Only God can do that.

Update your plan regularly. As life changes occur, you gain more life experience, or you simply mature, your answers to questions may change.

Don’t be hard on yourself when you don’t meet your end goal. Just evaluate, re-tool, and go at it again. You’ll most likely do this many times in life. The winners in life are constantly updating the vision for their life and they learn their best lessons through failure. (Someday I’ll post about failure. I know that subject well too!)

Some goals never change. The process to get there may, but the goal itself stays the same. Where you want to be spiritually and the type of family relationships you desire are examples here.

Business speaker Harvey MacKay said: “Failures don’t plan to fail; they fail to plan.” My encouragement to you is to have a plan for each area of your life in which you want to achieve success. (Please tell me that’s every area!)

Today begins a week long 100^th anniversary celebration of the Model T Ford in Wayne County, Indiana. Is anyone living that could say today, “That was my first car. I bought it new.”? Probably not; this is a really old car. Affectionately called “Tin Lizzie” it was America’s first “affordable” automobile.

To most of the world, really including me, this celebration will not be a major event in our lives. As an observer of culture, however, and someone who truly loves change, I’m reminded today that “the more things change, the more they remain the same. The author of Ecclesiastes said, “There is nothing new under the sun”.

There is no doubt that the world is changing fast. I saw the phrase “temporary contemporary” recently and that seems very true about our society. Nothing seems to stay the same for long. Cultures and paradigm shifts that used to be measured in decades will soon have to be measured in years. Just to keep up these days it is important for organizations to be continually adapting. We should be changing before the next paradigm shift gets here if we are to be successful. Futurists and others who monitor trends and can predict where society will go next are in high demand and will remain valuable to any organization.

While all that is true, we must never forget that there will always be those who resist change and there will always be elements of society that places a high value on tradition and things of the past. (Keep in mind, things of the past is a very relative term these days.) The balance of celebrating “retro” and adapting to “modern” will continue to be a true art in the days to come.