Confidence: The True Value Currency

Any economic discussion on the value of money will include the idea that a currency's value is completely determined by confidence. As a kid, I always thought a nickel had to be worth more than five cents since it was so much heavier than a dime. And it didn't make sense that a piece of paper could be worth 20 or 2,000 times more than the piece of metal I held in my hand.  A representation of value is only as good as the confidence we have in who will honor it.

If we use U.S. dollars, we believe in things that are invisible. The value of a $1 bill is based on my confidence that I can use it to buy an equal value in goods and the person I give it to will also believe.

Now I don't even need to believe in paper any more. Numbers I see on a website give me confidence I have power to obtain goods and services. I type some of these numbers in other boxes and the receiving party believes those numbers are valid.

Because there is such a groundswell of confidence, it wouldn't matter if I personally stopped believing my $1 bill wasn't worth that for a day or so. But when enough people stop believing in the value of it, it will be affected.

It would be sad if our own value was determined by everyone's confidence in us.  Sadder still is, most of us have already undervalued ourselves without any help from anyone else.  The world tries to help us gain confidence by telling us to master skills, win friends and influence people.  But if you don't truly have confidence deep down, you can only fake it for so long. 

It is unfortunate that so many Christians do not understand their value.  It affects our confidence in sharing the One and Only life force in the universe---Jesus Christ.  It is not the value I place on myself that will help me win the day and the month and a lifetime; it is the confidence I have in Him who is able to do exceedingly above all I expect or think, and enables me to do all things through Him.

Fortunately, God does not depend on our confidence to remain the same yesterday, today and forever. If we lose our confidence in His constancy, He remains faithful and true. And He never stops believing we are valuable, no matter what we've done.

If we understand our own value through Him, we are then able to truly value others and not just paste a politically correct face on things.  People know when we truly value them.  There is eventually a test of that genuineness and it comes when we least expect it.  When we are real, we don't have to worry about being found out in hypocrocy.

If you lack confidence, ask the Lord to show you who you are in Him.  Ask Him to give you eyes to see the treasure that you are.

Passive Aggression is Not Diplomacy

If you've ever heard the phrase, "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still," then you know what comes next... passive aggression.  While I should not be baffled by passive aggressive behavior, I will admit I am.  Though I try my best to ask for candid feedback, very few people will tell me all...even those that love me.  It seems the only people that will tell you the honest (albeit raw) truth are those who have no problem telling you off, often in colorful language.

The passive aggressive (PA) might be doing the same "telling off" only in a thought bubble, but this can make them hard to recognize. I'm not talking about the people whom you've badgered into buying your used car that never show up to pay for it.  I'm not even talking about the people who agree to help you then never get around to it.  I'm referring to those that tell you nicely to your face that they are in alignment with your position, then go out and agree with your opposition, even if they know you will find out.

In my denial I also refuse to admit the PA has it in for me.  I chalk it up to miscommunication, so I will repeat the interaction to better understand why this person is not aligned any more.  I try to understand the position of the other person...perhaps I am missing something from my perspective.  Is it possible this person doesn't know they disagree?

I'll just say this outright:  passive aggression is dishonest, and there is nothing diplomatic about it.  If you think that not speaking up when you disagree somehow makes you a more pleasant person, we'd better agree to disagree right now.  The jig is up.  We "directs" recognize you are communicating like a mime in the dark, and we will continue to take you at face value anyway.  We will be aggressively passive, heap all sorts of kindness on your head and even dare you to tell the truth with a wink.   Feel free to stop trying to be a diplomat any time.  We can take it.

Let Not Your Legacy Be Dust

Whether trash or treasure, what you leave behind you leave to someone else.  Too often it is the "eat my dust" kind rather than something of great value.  Leaving nothing is better than what people neglect to clean up.

Some people (particularly in uncertain economic times and company shakeups) covet information in a disillusioned effort to remain valuable.  They hide information, then complain constantly about how overworked they are because everyone demands their time.  Then, when they are removed, they hope the company suffers without them.  They want their legacy to be that people miss them because they did not feel appreciated while they were there.  These people are not only forgotten in a moment, but the collective breathes a sigh of relief they are no longer the log jam in the road.

Others become so emotionally attached to their work product they believe they are the only humans capable of guarding it, and refuse to entertain any innovations or incremental improvements.  These people not only never advance, they usually fade away with their creation when a new shiny object comes along and the company moves an entirely different direction.  They will talk about the "good old days" when everything was so much better than it is now. They will be remembered for their complaining, not for the great things accomplished in the past.

Maya Angelou, Professor of English Literature Wake Forest University said:

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

Leaving a legacy of encouragement and empowerment at every job you have is so much more enduring than any widget you'll invent, deal you will close, or process you will perfect.  If you have trampled on delicate human flesh to get where you are, you've not only left a legacy of dust, you should watch your back...your legacy may catch up with you.

Few of us can see the true legacy we leave behind in our careers, since people rarely tell us to our faces how we have impacted their lives, good or bad.  But they will talk about us...good or bad.  When we build up others and help them to realize they can achieve great things, we do more than build the company morale, we build people.  And people who are built up will in turn build others.  Building such a living legacy becomes legendary in the place where thieves can't steal and moths can't destroy. (Matthew 6:19).

Detox in the Fox Hole

Monday has really gotten a bad rap from the M-F work crowd.  While its true that Mondays tend to be tough coming off a weekend, it doesn't usually hold the record for stress, disappointment, layoffs, or panic.

Each and every work day can bring a "new normal" of stress, where budgets are cut, tempers are short, and expectations are on the rise.  This week's news that productivity is up but wages are stagnant is just another way of saying "the man" is working on a long-term plan for moving most of us further on the continuim from indentured to slavery. 

You can't be engaged with mud and not get it on you.  The stress in many work places today is palatable.  You almost need a morphine drip line to dull the anxiety of so many chicken little's announcing the sky is falling, and problems that cut you day after day until they no longer draw blood.

It is so normal to escape the fray through food, sleep, or unedifying entertainment.  This is what the body turns to.  It may numb the soul for a bit, but it doesn't detox.  You need daily detox to stay ready for the fight:

Protect the fort – the secret place of the Most High must not only remain intact, it may need reinforcement. Do not let the demands of engagement creep into the secret place or you will jeopardize your place of rest. The body is more fragile during these times.

Ready weapons – It is foolish to ever allow weapons to gather dust or decline into a state of un-readiness. However, if this has occurred, it is imperative to return them to the ready.  Return to prayer.  it doesn't have to be formal.  Just talk and tarry with Him.  Read the Word of God.

Block out noise – Not everything during engagement is relevant. Do not allow small skirmishes or background static to distract your focus from the mission at hand.  He is bigger than your situation. 

Avoid isolation – Don’t be deceived into thinking you are alone and no one can be trusted. Recall those who are trustworthy from previous engagements and communicate frequently.

Days and seasons of spiritual warfare are not to be dreaded—there is a sense of beauty in the intimacy felt during these times. You may feel you are in a fox hole, but if you detox daily, you will have piece and joy despite the insanity around you.

Leap Forward to the Incremental Advance

Whenever pundits compare Apple with Microsoft, they like to say Apple is a "leap forward" company and Microsoft is a more of an "incremental advances" company.  It is meant to be an observation, but often sounds like one is being positioned over the other.

"Leap forward" innovations are exciting...and rare in comparison to incremental advances.  (The "leap forward" is not a "fast-forward" model by the way. Steve Jobs drew the concept for the iPad on a table napkin...30 years ago.)  Any real leaps require people with vision and tenacity to see it to fruition.

It is a good thing that most everything is incremental, since if our entire known way of doing things changed too frequently, we would all live in constant shock.  It also would mean that we would accept each leap forward as perfect rather than what it truly is... something that CAN and WILL be improved upon...incrementally.

Most of us are stuck (comfortably) in the incremental advances segment.... and should be thankful that we are.  It is not hard to image the internal disruption that occurs at a company that is focused too heavily on "big leap forward" innovation. When you work on a global scale, getting the "next best thing" to all the relevant markets is an incremental advance in itself.

It is somewhat amusing that (because leaps forward are rare) marketers are always trying to position those tiny incremental improvements as if they were.  "Incremental advance" companies pressure their workers to try and be "leap forward" innovative when they only intend to fund incremental advances.... a strategy that will either be constantly ridiculed by the internal masses, or all the true innovators will go to companies where they actually mean that.  That's not to say that innovation always cost money; but it does cost resources if you intend to get everyone involved to "think different".

The Bible says "there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9)...a truth we would be wise to remember.  We can take comfort in knowing it is always new to someone, though, even if it isn't a leap forward.  Incremental advances are here to stay.  After all, the tortoise did beat the hare.

The Salmon Among Us

If you've ever been called obstinate or you view the rest of us as lemmings, you understand what swimming against the current is all about.  It's not that you are opposed to "going with the flow"; you just want to make sure the flow will take you where you want to go before you approve of it.

Salmon aren't really obstinate creatures.  Mules, donkeys, and camels are typically animals we associate with stubbornness.  The difference (to this writer, anyway) is that salmon are going somewhere... they swim upstream with a purpose, and aren't just pushing back against the "establishment" because it wasn't their idea.

People who push back can be valuable to the organization.  You'll never see true innovation without those who want to continually question the status quo.  You'll never see bad changes stopped in time without those willing to stand up, be heard and risk being counted as fools.  You will see good things deteriorate into mediocrity without those willing to be an unmoving standard for excellence.  ("Good is better than done" only works when you are continually pushing for "better" with each "done").

Being around people who push back can help you become more strategic.  Unless you like doing the same thing over and over and hoping for different results, people who question your ideas should help you form a better case to persuade others.  If you know why you are doing something so thoroughly you are ready to give the reason anytime anyone asks, you may not be a salmon, but you are no longer a lemming.  You will also begin to distinguish between people you "feel" are good leaders and those who actually are....so that even if you would rather follow, you at least recognize competence.

Oh, and beloved salmon, take care.  Sometimes it is better to go with the flow.  You can become so good at questioning everything that without good discipline, you will no longer be a salmon but will turn into just a log in the stream that real salmon have to jump over. 

Living Under the Bus

Reputation is a fragile thing.  Under the right circumstances even the most sterling of reputations can be tarnished.

I hear the phrase "thrown under the bus" frequently, and while that might have originally implied someone being disparaged undeservingly, it often feels like it also refers to comrades that need to be taken behind the woodshed and "schooled" a bit.

It is very easy to throw others "under the bus" if we fear our own good standing is in jeopardy.   And some people are thrown there so frequently they pretty much live under the bus.   Eventually they are not on the bus at all.

Some of us who would like to think we are more pragmatic throw whole departments under the bus, as if somehow spreading the blame and condemnation across an anonymous "they" will keep the stink from ricocheting back.  Take care if you are in the habit of doing this.  There are very real people in the "they" and it is very easy to diminish your own good standing when you are seen as a blamer and not a team player.

If you have been thrown under the bus, try not to grab anyone else to join you.  Take stock of what is being communicated and own up to your mistakes.  People who own their errors command far more respect than those who are constantly deflecting.

If you are a believer in Christ, remember that He made Himself of no reputation at all to achieve the greatest thing in human history and and forever.  Remember that if you are doing your Father's business, He will watch out for your good standing...where it counts.   While some people's good opinions are not worth having, His is all that matters.

Daydreams vs. Hallucinations

In Oliver Sack's latest book, he describes the difference between imagination and hallucination:  the ability of the one seeing to control what is seen.  In work and in life, most of us with a conscious desire to find the truth... to be able to determine quickly what is real and what is fake.  It's hard to do, especially when we are so easily exposed to unreliable and easily manipulated sources for our information.  Even our eyes can deceive us. Some of the most real things in our humanity can't be seen at all.

Growing up in a certain birth order in my slightly dysfunctional family, I learned to size things up quickly and act on them.  This would later need to be undone as an adult, because when I was wrong, I was seriously wrong.  Taking things at face value without having to read in secret motives became extremely liberating.  I took things less personally.  I put the responsibility of communicating back on the person responsible desiring to send the message.

The end result moves me away from the inspirational end of the scale more than I might like, but keeps me grounded in reality.  The "facts" as they have been presented, not assumed. Far too many people are convicted on innuendo.  Even if "filling in the blanks" has served you well with above 90% accuracy, the 10% you are wrong can be seriously wrong.

Unless you are dreaming to escape a flawed reality, your dreaming needs a well-grounded ability to discern what is real if you want to make that dream come true.  Just as true love is not blind, visionary dreaming does not ignore facts; it determines to see them changed as necessary.  In searching for the path to success, only a Spirit-led quest will take the burden of having to carry a bullsh*t meter around with you.

A last note:  If you believe the Lord has allowed you to be conned at some point, don't stress about it.  Having discernment does not mean you can read minds and avoid the occasional sucker punch.  His plans and purposes for you are PERFECT.  Ask Him to show you the "why".  Sometimes He just wants you to be "you" and that is hard to do if you know too much in certain situations.  Just know... He's got your back.

Bigfoot Print

As a kid (and well, even as an adult) when I've tried to be funny, people just look at me in a way they hope will discourage this behavior.  When I'm just being myself and not even intending to be funny, people laugh at the humorous things I say.  When my sincerest goal is to be inspirational to the masses, I am invisible, lost in a sea of too much information to process.  Then, when I'm just being myself, I say something to an individual that seems totally ordinary to me and I am told later it was encouraging.

Those of us with a deep-seated desire to do something great want to leave our mark on the world.  Some of us want to be remembered for all time; others are satisfied to bear children and let that be their legacy.  It's probably not a good idea to entertain fantasies of  being immortalized for all time by the known world from now forward; we all have short memories.  But you can still change the world or the course of history.  (They just might not spell your name right down here on earth.)

It is essential to remember that so much of our world is upside down compared to life in the hereafter.  What might seem world-changing down here (if you believe the media) wouldn't even be a blip on the radar in Heaven.  Something that would go completely unnoticed by anyone but you and perhaps another person could very possibly make you famous in Heaven.

The day you prayed in faith for the safety or healing or salvation of someone you knew or even just heard about from a friend, you changed history.  The day you obeyed and did the hard thing of reaching out to someone who had not treated you with anything but haughty disdain, you changed the world.  The day you gave of yourself and put people over profits, you changed the future.

Rather than getting caught up in the big eulogy you've dreamed up for yourself, concentrate on the work ahead of and around you.  The people you touch today are the people He has given to you.  If you are Him with skin on, you'll leave a big foot print forever...even if you don't realize it until Heaven.

When They Ask to See Your Parents

I could tell some damage control would be needed as soon as he barked out the question, "Where's [my boss]?"  I was asked to cover a meeting for my team leader and the meeting's top level guest didn't not want to state his demands to the "second string".  "I assure you I am quite a worthy stand-in," I replied.

When I was a kid, I didn't mind when a grown-up asked to talk to my parents.  They rarely wanted to talk of anything I cared about.  It's easy to stay a kid at the workplace, too, and not stretch the limits of what is expected of you.  I don't recommend it.

While some real authority is given and firm, most authority is more elusive, and can simply be earned or stolen away.  You will have exactly the level of authority you prevent others from taking from you.  A simulation of authority pasted on the outside like a cheap suit might look like the person (of your same rank) who asks you (seriously) to get them some coffee in front of others they are trying to impress.  When you refuse with sarcasm, it might be funny, or it might be an opportunity to steal some authority right out from under their nose.  People like your coffee demander are always trying to take authority they don't already own.  They don't understand how to come by it honestly, so they do their best to pick-pocket it from unsuspecting schmucks ready to hand it over.

If you're one of those schmucks always giving away your power, you may also be passing up opportunities for advancement.  If your boss has to continually introduce you and state your authority, it's time for you to grow up and leave home. Once for an introduction to new people is one thing; when they continue to bypass you because you are not standing your ground is another.

So how do you keep what is rightfully yours?  And rightfully earn more?  First, you do whatever it takes to have and maintain a clear understanding with your boss(es) on what your stated authority is.  If you are not clear, you run the risk of making them look bad and yourself too, by overstepping your bounds in a hot moment. (There are ALWAYS hot moments of one kind or another).  Second, understand that a very important part of authority comes from truly KNOWING you speak for your team.  You have decision-making power conferred upon you by the team you serve. Don't back down.  Don't offer to confer with your boss and get back to someone. Just tell them you'll find out if you don't know something. Keep your dignity.  A superior demanding to see your boss because he/she thinks you are insufficient may have never learned how to earn authority and is desperately flapping what little they have out there to make it seem bigger than it is.

Third, don't sweat it if the people you are trying to work with in a particular situation just refuse to deal with you and insist on going above your head. There are always a few.  Keep your calm.  Remember that Christ has given you authority to trample serpents (so to speak) so someone else's temper tantrum is not going to force you to take out your authority wallet and empty it in their hands.  Do try your best to give your bosses a "heads up" that escalation is coming and why.  They will understand if you have worked on staying aligned, because it happens to them too...more than you might think.

Tactics in Search of a Strategy

I hated creating an outline before writing papers in elementary school.  Having to stop and plan what I was going to say seemed to stifle the creativity of what I wanted to write.  It was so much easier to let whatever I decided at the last minute flow and do the outline afterwards.  The worst scenario was having to hand in an outline prior to the paper that would commit me to the chosen topic.

There is something to be said for doing all those tactical items that you like to do because you have conquered them.  It makes you feel like you've really gotten a lot done.  (And someone has to do it!)  It also helps you understand what it takes to do certain things, and it gives you a perspective you would not have otherwise.

Eventually, however, you will find this approach restrictive to achieving anything of larger scale...including jobs that you will find more challenging.  Thinking and operating strategically is more than just having a plan.  You actually have to follow that plan through to completion.  And it helps if you are constantly publishing your goals out there where you remain accountable to them.  (Management tends to forget what they've asked you to do 5 minutes ago, let alone weeks or months.)

I am continually surprised how rarely business people act strategically.  They want the rank and pay for strategic operations and management without utilizing the skill set.  There is a plethora of great business strategy books and other media out there.  Something just seems to happen between the digestion and absorption of them into a way of working.  It's called laziness.

To be fair, it is even more challenging to act strategically in an environment where you are the only one.  You will continually have forces around you trying to get you to "ad lib" on multiple distractors.  It might due to remind them that flying by the seat of one's pants is not the same as being nimble.  Nimble is that elusive condition where plans and processes have been perfected to sacrificially achieve that state.

If you are working strategically, this is that time of year when all those who have failed to plan will now want to enlist your help in rushing to the finish line.  After all, you're making it look easy or perhaps even like you have bandwidth to spare.

If you're on the nonstrategic side of the fence and you like it there, you may see strategic operators as being inflexible even in the light of something better.  Committing to a strategy does not mean the strategy is a good one.  Sticking to a strategy without watching the surrounding conditions is as bad as not having one at all.

To strike the right balance, It is essential to involve the Master of Strategy when you sit down to plan.  He knows all the roadblocks, supporters and detractors that may come up.  Most importantly, He knows what will succeed and be the very best road to take, even if it doesn't look like it halfway through.  Jesus likes strategy...and He is the most nimble of all.

You Can't Hide Your Superpowers

In a recent team building exercise, we were asked the question, "If you could have a super power, what would you pick?"  I heard several people saying to one another that they would like the ability to fly.  (I guess air travel really has lost its glamor). 

Frankly, I'm suspicious of anyone wanting super powers who isn't a kid.  Cant you see how tortured superman is?  Always trapped in response mode? Having to over-think that a first strike might mean he might become a Nazi to beat a Nazi?  And to really survive having a super power, you have to have several.  Example, if my power was flying I'd also need sonar to avoid other things in the air; the ability to have small objects not become projectiles at high speed, clothing that could withstand the flight, and the ability to navigate (I'm not sure that Google Maps can't keep up with super power flying).

Fortunately I already have a super power cluster:  the Holy Spirit.  The reason so many of us Christians appear powerless in the work place is because we either only want power for our own personal gain, or we think having the power of the Spirit is something we can whip out like a concealed weapon at our command and forget about when we're no longer in a tough spot. 

There are some rare occasions when the Holy Spirit works in stealth mode; but most of the time He is out there speaking and showing and acting to glorify the only One Who deserves glory: Himself.  He's really not interested in making a billion dollars, launching new software, inventing a new technology, or building the tallest building in the known world.  He is interested first in relationships.  He wants to us all to know Him, because He is good.  He wants us to love each other, not with what the world mistakenly thinks is love, but His love.  And, He wants those of us who walk with Him to be the conduits for His power... with skin on.  If we do this, He can help us make a billion dollars and invent a new technology, since that is the easy part.

So if you're already "plugged in", stop thinking you have to leave your super power at home.  (You can't, anyway).  If you're not plugged in, well, the good news is, there is enough Super Power for everyone that wants a relationship with Him.  It is an exclusive offer, and beware of imitations, since such fakes are not only inferior, they are consistently unreliable when you're needing to fly.

Don't Forget to Run

A meeting presenter said this week, "we are walking before we run."  I asked, "What is your vision of running?"  The answer was "I don't know."  It was a telling answer...and so many of us are guilty of not having a solid vision of what "running" looks like.  We put off committing to the high goals until we think they are achievable... or rather, "within walking distance."

There is nothing wrong with crawling or walking before you run.  It is usually necessary to do so.  But it is so very easy to get so good at just walking, we begin to create reasons why we must continue to perfect walking.  It is safe and comfortable, ... and after all, we're still moving forward, right?  Running gives us less control of our ability to change direction.  You can't change your course as nimbly when running than when you are walking.  Running requires a commitment.  Running requires sustained belief in the destination you have chosen.

So how do we get around to really running?  Step one: when you sit down to set a goal or make a plan, don't limit your thinking to what you know is practically possible in the present.  If you do so, you'll never plan to do anything but walk.  This is like committing to build a road but never looking up to see where the destination will be.  The result is, we fail to aim high enough to do anything other than the ordinary.

To run rather than walk, you must plan with an attitude of abundance.  Planning with abundance is assuming there will always be enough of what you need to reach your goal. When you start to run instead of walk, you'll discover you need things you didn't even realize you would need (and sooner than you thought you would...FYI... running is a FASTER way to go).

Step two: envision "yes" not "no" when you run.  You will encounter roadblocks whether you decide to walk or run, but if you run at least you have the momentum you need to jump over them.

Lastly, if you run and fall down, get up and run again.  In many ways, running is its own reward.  If you have run once, you will want to run again. And when you get so good at running it becomes like walking, you'll need to start planning to fly.