Month: September 2022

At Boy Scout camp in the 1970’s we would send naïve younger boys off to other troops in the area to ask for things like a left-handed smoke shifter or a cup of propane.  So many people were in on this kind of prank that some boys would visit two or three other troops before returning to say, “Nope, they don’t have one.”  (Yes, this happened to me my first year at camp.  I fell for the “disposable tree root extractor” errand.)  But once a victim of this prank you weren’t a victim again.  You were ‘in’ somehow through this rite of passage.   

Human beings are exquisitely sensitive to love.  Even young children can spot fakery.  We’re attracted to love, desperate for it.  If we can’t get love we seek substitutes.  

Harold Berry provided this functional definition of love: “Seeking another person’s highest good.”

Most people accurately sense if someone loves them this way – the deep sense that they are seeking my highest good.  We despise “corporate speak” and “political speech” partly because we sense a massive gap between the words and the amount of love there.  This gap fuels cynicism and resignation that “it’s just how it is.”

Mark Horstman correctly says that good people management is fundamentally about love – acting in ways that are congruent with wanting the best for them in the process of delivering results for the organization. 

We respect people who tell us the difficult truth if we also sense they are seeking our highest good.   Good parents, good sports coaches, and school teachers & administrators demonstrate love in this way.  Good neighbors demonstrate love in this way.

I’ve spoken to multiple atheists who argue that you can create a moral framework apart from the transcendent.  I’m not convinced.  Seeking another person’s highest good will not consistently happen in a world entirely driven by the material and selfish interest. Where you see it happening it’s a carryover effect of social and moral frameworks established by others. It truly matters where the source energy comes from for seeking another person’s highest good. The apostle Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5)

A related observation:  Political collectivists and some corporate leaders focus not on the individual’s highest good, but the good of the state, or the good of the corporation, or the good of the class.  It’s true that collective good can emerge from seeking the good of individuals.  It’s true to say, “It’s not about you; It’s not about me, either.”  Yet our experience is that optimizing for the good of an abstract collective at the expense of seeking an individual’s highest good always leads to corruption and evil.  Therefore, we should focus our energies on seeking the highest good for actual individual people, not faceless abstractions. 

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It’s perfectly rational to do whatever gives you the most of what you want, by whatever means you can, if your worldview is that nothing of consequence matters beyond the years you’re alive.  Lie, cheat, flip-flop when convenient for immediate gain, always act in your self-interest. 

If your worldview extends beyond your physical lifespan, if your moral framework is based on righteousness to an external standard and judge, then you will sometimes choose not to operate in your immediate self-interest.

Jesus summed up all the commands with these two: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) 

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The Beatles sang “All we need is love.”  Pay attention this week to how much of the behaviors of the people around you are oriented to love, and how “is this genuine love for me?” is the measuring stick for whom we believe, whom we follow, whom we sacrifice for.

Want to see improvements in the world?  Seek another person’s highest good. 

This will encompass justice, peace, reconciliation, and all the other things the world clambers for.  Seeking those things in any way other than seeking another person’s highest good is like sending a kid out to get a cup of propane.

Get insights into complex issues by asking:

“What is the foundation?”

“Who/what is driving formation?”

Human beings are complex adaptive creatures, meaning we are both shaped by our experiences and shape our existence. We have agency, we make choices.  Even the most powerful dynamic forces cannot dictate every bit of the outcomes. 

Our foundations and what formed us in the past is what brought us to the present, and creates the worldview/assumptions/lenses we use to assess the present and the past.  We’re steeped in this, even when we don’t understand or appreciate it.  This is true (to different degrees) for individuals and communities alike.

Formation is ongoing.  You’ve probably heard the pithy observation that you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with – that’s formation at work.  Formation is not only experiences, but how you reflect upon and un/consciously learn from those experiences. 

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Foundations give you frameworks for understanding, and predictive power.  Your foundation was established from formation by your parents, your teachers, practical experiences where you needed to make decisions, the books/TV/music/movies you consumed, friends and enemies.  Your foundation may not be correct, or consistent, but it is strong.  Your foundation drives your default interpretations of the world and your default behaviors.

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If you listen to the talking heads, technocrats, and the people who write the ad copy, you’re likely to believer that scientists, medical doctors, and psychiatrists know EVERYTHING about biology, ecosystem dynamics, cancer, human development, evolution, and how the brain works.   

We don’t.  Frankly, what we know has little predictive power, and we don’t know fully what we don’t know.   

Physics and engineering have a foundation of math.  There’s no such foundation for any aspect of biology.  Our predictive ability is miniscule.  We’re faced with questions like “What does a cell know about itself?” because individual cells operate with agency.  Despite the “certainty” language some use about intelligence and cognition, we don’t know how to define these things.  

There is variation in the physical, non-biological world.  We’ve become quite good at reducing that variation (e.g., purifying metals from ores, creating standard sizes for boards and screws).  Manageable variation is key to our success with materials, construction, and use of tools.   

Variation is enormously larger in the biological space.  This variation compounds all our experimental approaches to finding cures and treatments for diseases.  There are billion-dollar-a-year drugs which only work in 35% of patients.  The variations are even greater in the mental health space – now you’re working with the biological, the experiential, and vagaries of self-perception and social interactions.   

The problem is not that we have failed to reduce biology to a predictable machine that we can control.  The problem is that people behave as if smart people have already done that.  We desperately want solutions to biological challenges, so we’re primed to believe their arrogance. 

I believe we’re meant to explore biology. The scientific method is a primary tool to keep us humbly oriented as we explore the factual, experimental world.  Biology is fundamentally different – life has agency, right down to the cellular level. Not long ago I was in a planning workshop to create a 10-year plant breeding program.  Everyone in the room was delighted with the plan.  Then a savvy scientist brought us back to realism by saying, “Of course, the plants will have to cooperate with our perfect plan.”

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”  — Hamlet

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Philosophers and social commentators write long books on the ideas of foundation and formation.  I’ve only scratched them here.

Use the concepts of foundation and formation to assess complex situations.  The surface presentation is a small part of the deeper story.  Ask questions, and then ask more questions.  Be wary of people who would discourage you from exploring foundations and formation. In my experience, these people are generally untrustworthy and would prefer you stay in lock-step with their narratives about the world.  

Post-mortem.  After Action Review.  Hot Wash.  Debrief.

These are all terms for an intentional look-back to evaluate a past event with an eye towards lessons to apply to make a future event more successful.  Not a blame game.  Not punitive.  We can’t change the past, but we can work smarter and prepare better for next time – and there will be a next time.

People can be held accountable without acceding to the wishes of the mob and the insecure immature.  The key here is to manage emotions, use factual assessments, and grace-fully agree on how to move forward.  Aim to find answers to “What will we do so it’s better next time?”

This applies to something as small as a 5-minute presentation to the boss, and as large as global response to a pandemic.

You’re more likely to invest the energy needed to master skills when you deeply understand their true value.  Master these skills to better position you and others for highest value delivery:

Efficient communications practices (email, calendar, routine updates, etc)

 >> More time for thinking

Effective task and project management

>> Superior results with less inputs

Practices for deepening relationships

>> Greater trust and social capital

Learning plans and professional development

>> Be prepared for opportunities when they surface

Principles for decision-making, business practices 

>> Freely adjust tactics without sacrificing integrity

Managing your personal and team energy

>> Limit wasted time and effort, without missing critical issues 

Self-Assessment Guide – print a copy and tuck in your Bible for daily use

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.”  (1 Cor 16:13-14)

Be on your guard	Have I been on guard? What have I noticed?  Where do I need to pay more attention today?
Stand firm in the faith	Did I stand firm in the faith yesterday?  Where did my faith rub against the world?  What challenges can I anticipate for today, and how will I respond?
Be courageous	Did I make any courageous decisions yesterday?  To what extent did I just go along with things?  What courageous decision might I face today?  Have I imagined how I will respond in that moment?
Be strong	Where did I use my strength, and the strength of the Lord yesterday?  Where was I successful in self-control? What will I do today to increase my strength?
Do everything in agape love	Did I experience agape love yesterday, and share it?  Were there any times I was aware of God’s love for others around me?  What will I do today to be a better agape lover?

God has no confidence in you. He has perfect confidence in Himself working in and through you.  Put your trust in Him.  He loves you just as you are but is not content to leave you there. He is never far away.  He is always working.

I recently had a long conversation with an entrepreneur friend.   He’s a driven workaholic coming out of a fatherless upbringing. His body is rebelling (newest symptoms: intestinal pains and extensive eczema) and the more his relationships disintegrate the more he retreats to work.   

I passed on what my mentors have drilled into me: 

It’s not about “earning” the weekend or vacation. 

The weekend powers your week. 

The vacation powers your work. 

The Jewish day begins at sundown.  Evening is time for being with family, then a night of rest before the work day begins.  Deep wisdom here:  relationships and rest come before work.  But they had to be told this, it wasn’t a default behavior. 

Sharing in case you need this message, too.  Play the long game.  Rest has ROI.  

I advocate reading large portions of the Bible or the whole Bible relatively quickly. You can’t get clean by showering with a cupful of water a day. Why do we think we can develop a comprehensive understanding of the most important book in the world in small dollops? Try reading Luke and John in one morning. Read the Psalms in 3 days. Read Genesis on one Saturday.

I challenge you to read the whole Bible in 30-40 days. Look for themes, broad strokes, and relationships between characters. Don’t read for details, just read and absorb God’s story. Make this a separate activity from your personal devotions. It helps to partner with someone else doing this at the same time. It will take about 2-3 hours of reading time per day to do this, so go ahead and give up reading newspapers, magazines, and watching TV while you immerse yourself in Scripture. My usual warm-up is to read Psalm 119 each day for four days before beginning Genesis.

Here is a 30-day reading plan that you can follow or adapt to your schedule:

1: Genesis 1-39

2: Genesis 40 – Exodus 26

3: Exodus 27 – Leviticus 22

4: Leviticus 23 – Numbers 26

5: Numbers 27 – Deuteronomy 28

6: Deuteronomy 29 – Judges 5

7: Judges 6-1 – Samuel 16

8: 1 Samuel 17 – 2 Samuel 21

9: 2 Samuel 22 – 2 Kings 4

10: 2 Kings 5-1 – Chronicles 12

11: 1 Chronicles 13 – 2 Chronicles 24

12: 2 Chronicles 25 – Nehemiah 13

13: Esther 1 – Job 42

14: Psalms 1 – Psalm 73

15: Psalm 74 – Psalm 150

16: Proverbs 1 – Ecclesiastes 9

17: Ecclesiastes 10 – Isaiah 33

18: Isaiah 34 – Jeremiah 4

19: Jeremiah 5 – Jeremiah 37

20: Jeremiah 38 – Ezekiel 14

21: Ezekiel 15 – Ezekiel 48

22: Daniel 1 – Amos 9

23: Obadiah 1 – Malachi 4

24: Matthew 1 – Mark 5

25: Mark 6 – Luke 16

26: Luke 17 – John 21

27: Acts 1 – Romans 9

28: Romans 10 – Ephesians 6

29: Philippians 1 – 1 Peter 4

30: 1 Peter 5 – Revelations 22

Those who diligently apply themselves to reading the whole Bible in 30-40 days will be blessed through the experience. We learn about the tone and quality of God’s voice, and the “my ways are not your ways” nature of His working, as we seek the broad perspectives through His Word. These experiences help us fall in love with Christ and His Word all over again.

It’s common to hear “we don’t have enough resources for _____.”  You’ve probably said this yourself. 

A challenge question:  Is there truly a lack of resources, or is that the self-reinforcing narrative?  

In case you immediately became defensive:  It could be true.  You and your organization might lack something essential or helpful.

Critical insight for leaders: We believe the stories we consistently tell ourselves.  We too often end our story by repeating that we lack resources.   There is another way.

80/20 is fractal; the 20 has its own 80/20, and so on.  This leads to what some term the 5/67 principle: 

5% of your effort generates 67% of the value

5% of an issue is creating 67% of a problem

Knowing what is in the 5% is the trick, of course, but you must begin by assessing the unequal distributions of input and output.  It’s always there.

Many leaders have learned that cutting back effort 5% somewhere is eminently possible, and you can reallocate that effort elsewhere.  Note I say “effort” not money.  You can reduce effort by stopping some work, reducing scope, shortening time investment, or automating.  It may be that this 5% becomes the margin your team needs for long-term health.  Or you may decide to pick up new and better work.

Try converting the story that ends with “we don’t have enough” to a story that begins with “where could we recover 5% of our efforts for a better purpose?”  This will help you and your team stand out. 

(Republishing this — still a critical message!)

[I hope some people reading this will be truly ticked off.  I aim to hook a nerve, and yank.] 

We’re desperate for leadership.  

All leadership begins with self-leadership. 

Self-leadership is a function of self-discipline.   

We need self-discipline about our eating, sleep, exercise, and nourishing our minds and hearts.  You already know what is best.  Do that. 

Today, at least in the US, we face a combination of trends which will require a new level of discipline: 

• Infatuation with style over substance.  Style matters, but increasingly passes as a substitute for substance.   
• Ascending post-modern worldviews are dominant in education, corporate leadership, governments.  Fewer people accept the idea of absolute truth.  Dialog about truth is swiftly converted into arguments about power.  Opinion is frequently honored above truth.  
• Diminished context.  Social media largely operates outside complex context.  Subject lines, headlines, text messages, and soundbites are sufficient to reinforce mindsets.  
• Declining trust in most institutions.  This is understandable — many institutions are recognizably corrupt.  
• Large percentage of the population spends hours every day immersed in information streams, weirdly compelled to “keep up.”  
• We swim in abundance of stuff, food, sanitized environments, and information.  Many of us are not handling abundance well. This is proving to be unhealthy.  
• Far more remote work, less time at the work-site.  Distractions abound, peer pressure is physically absent, the benefits of face-to-face social interaction are missed.   

T.S. Eliot captured it well in his “Four Quartets” poems: 

Distracted from distraction by distraction 

Filled with fancies and empty of meaning 

Tumid apathy with no concentration 

Men and bits of paper whirled by the cold wind 

You might be saying, “But not me, Glenn, no, I’m different!”  Are you sure?  Let’s test it out: 

• How do you feel if you sit perfectly still, no sound, no flickering images, for 5 minutes? 
• If you searched and couldn’t find your smartphone for 15 minutes, what’s your panic level? 
• When was the last time you turned off your phone for any length of time while you were awake? 
• If I demanded that you read nothing but books more than 400 years old for a week – no news, no social media, no podcasts – what’s your first reaction? 

Full candor: I fail these tests, too.    

I’m not trying to make a political commentary – these are the trends in our cultural environment, which is where we must exercise our leadership work.  

We’re deeply in this reality.  Yet we have agency.  We can make choices.  

I challenge you to be an intentional leader rather than passively absorbing every aspect of cultural trends.  I challenge you to be a free man or a free woman, rather than a slave to circumstances and circumstantial evidence.  We desperately need leaders who think for themselves, who speak outside echo chambers, who call out bullshit, who love fiercely, who rally people without manipulating them, who command respect from others even as they wrestle with constructive disagreements.  

This level of leadership comes at a price, beginning with your self-discipline.  Practice stepping up and out of the swirls of information and emotion which captivate most people.  Recognize that the statement “Your truth” is actually “truth and your opinion.”  Fast from incessant mindless activity and task completion.  Do something which makes you physically uncomfortable every day – a cold shower, fasting from a meal, sitting in a hard chair, exercising in a new way, studying a difficult subject, talking with people who hold a completely different worldview. Select for quality and depth of information and insights. Invest time in measured reflection and meditation on events; Experience is not the best teacher – evaluated experience is.  Demand context and alternative perspectives.  Demand evidence of truth statements.  Live more generously with people than they might deserve.  Don’t fall in love with the idea of “the people” and then fail to interact with actual flesh-and-blood messy people.  

98% of the people around you may be slaves to their inbox, smart phone, and information as someone-with-an-agenda presents it to them, but purpose to be in the 2% who strive for freedom.  It’s a both-and situation – understand the reality of where the 98% are living, and live differently.  

Pursue this self-discipline and you’ll become the leader that the people in your sphere of influence actually need. Model this self-discipline, and your sphere of influence will increase.