In the journey of building a better-managed company, or addressing concerns within an organization, we need to reposition.
When I am interviewed for the position of evaluating practises and recommending change, I have learned, or am learning, that my first task is to decide if I am the right “tool” for the task. A skilled operator, given a 45-ton track-hoe, may do a fairly good job of landscaping your front yard. However, that monster-sized machine is hardly the right tool. This is where I am learning the importance of having as accurate a concept as possible of the desired outcome. This aids us in matching the machine to the job.
People, like machines, have various gifts and capacities. As people, because God has created us that way, we can learn to function as a 45-tonne monster, or else as a 6-tonne “mini-hoe”. This requires understanding, patience, and humility. In turn, these three attributes often call for, and aid in, repositioning. A wise man once made this comment regarding retirement, “When you are young you are like a loaded truck climbing a grade. You give it all you got! When you reach the summit, you better let off on the power!!!”
I read a news clip yesterday in which a man thought he was overreached in a second-degree murder charge. He felt he had been unable to make good choices, because he was inebriated at the time of the event. Sometimes business is like that. We enjoy the adrenaline rush so much that we really don’t want to acknowledge we are at a life “summit”. Sometimes we become “drunk” in our accomplishments, and have no wish to take responsibility for the outcome of our ensuing actions. Some people so enjoy hearing themselves sing, they forget to pay attention to the accompanying music. Some people crave management or entrepreneur positions so intensely, they forget that, until they have to be relieved of these positions, they are indeed just that – managers. A 24/7 job.
These are some of the matters each classmate will need to consider. Either we are pro-active and assess now. Or we evaluate later.
Business plans are as old as the hills. The Old Testament is loaded with business plans. Some of them were ordained by God. Some were not. Nothing has changed. Our baptismal vows are a business plan. As are our marriage vows.
Your business, and my business, are an integral part of our Christian journey. When a man or woman starts to look over the fence to what is not theirs, invariably they no longer do as good a job at looking after what God has for them. When a Christian man wants more just because he has the capacity, is there a similarity? I am of a mind that we can run our business with joy and vigour. I also believe that when we are overstepping what God has in mind for us, momentum will be lost.
Let’s not look at a business plan as an enemy, even if there is a possibility that we will be compelled to Reposition.
