With the Thanksgiving season past, the Christmas season here, the whole world reeling from the economic crunch, and most businesses struggling to hold onto customers, I’m convinced an attitude of gratitude is a necessity at the closing of the year.
“How is it possible,” you might be saying, “for me to have an attitude of gratitude when I’m giving bargain basement discounts just to keep customers?” And no wonder. The economy has many dominant firms scrabbling for market share as if they were on the competitive fringe.
Simple Gratitude Helps Businesses
A classic study, A Test of Positive Reinforcement of Customers (originally published in the Journal of Marketing) found that sales to customers of a store who were called and thanked for their business increased 70% during the month of the test. In comparison, customers who got a thank-you call which included information about a sale showed only a 30% increase in purchases. The control group, customers who were not called at all, showed no increase.
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Move from Intention to Action
Seth Godin’s post, The Making Chasm, made me pause. Let me share it with you first.
Great caption for a cartoon in this week’s New Yorker:
There’s a lot I want to experience, but not a lot I want to actually do.
In my exposure to companies big and small, this is probably the single biggest gulf. Lots of people there for the ride, not so many actually doing.
Doing appears risky, because it exposes you to criticism and perhaps failure. Experiencing is hot right now, being part of the social network, helping maintain that online tribe you belong to.
Getting your ducks in a row is not nearly as powerful as actually doing something with your duck.
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Psalm 34
God has a message for everyone. Sometimes it is super clear. Sometimes it’s fuzzy.
David wrote this psalm when he ran for his life from King Saul, seeking refuge at the palace in Gath. When people recognized him there, David feared that that he might have jumped from the frying pan into the fire. So he pretended to be insane and Abimelech refused to let him into the palace. This ordeal, recorded in 1 Samuel 21:10-14, seems to have gotten David’s attention in no uncertain terms.
Which is perhaps why David doesn’t mince words in Psalm 34. As you consider these descriptions, which category describes you today?
- My soul will boast in the LORD — v. 2
- Let the afflicted hear and rejoice — v. 2
- Let us exalt his name together — v.3
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There were uncertain responses as the link made its way through InsideWork.
“Is this how it’s supposed to work?” Dan Wooldridge wondered. “Can’t tell if this is an old fashioned revival meeting or a car show.”
“I find it fascinating but off-putting,” Jim Hancock admitted. “It’s a form of expression that’s enough offbeat that I don’t know how to position it…”
Geoff Finch cut through our fog with a sensitive take on the event…
I feel a great deal of empathy for that pastor and his congregation caught in the final death-throes of the 50-year decline of an industry.
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Tokyo. Paris. San Francisco. Bangkok. New York. I’ve had the privilege in my life of walking in these and many of the other spectacular cities and communities around our world. My senses are always on overload taking in the architecture, the beauty, the aromas, the sounds, the energy…all that makes these cities vibrant. And when I talk with my friends and family, I tell them “I love that city.”
But Jason van Genderen stopped me in my tracks today with his poignantly beautiful and moving video, a Tropfest NY 2008 winner, titled Mankind Is No Island. Amazingly shot entirely on a cell phone, the video asks us if we should love a place or love its people.
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I have been thinking a lot lately about excellence. Not just at work, but in every area of my life — as a Christian, husband, father, friend, church volunteer, Board member, Starbucks customer… Do I truly aspire to excellence in the work I do? In the relationships I have? In every-day interactions with strangers?
I guess this sudden conviction is a result of the convergence of many different coincidental situations, conversations, blogging comments, books and Bible readings that ultimately leads one to hear that “still
small voice.” Or, in my case it is more like a divine ass-kicking, with God telling me what I should already know by now. Which is a message that says:
“Stop striving. Take a look around at what’s right in front of you, and give it your best. And then trust God for the outcome.”
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The Ethics of U.S. High School Students: 2008 Josephson Institute Report
Every two years the Josephson Institute conducts a national survey of ethics among U.S. adolescents. The 2008 data were gathered through a national sample of 29,760 respondents in public and private high schools.
“The results,” the Institute concludes, “paint a troubling picture of our future politicians and parents, cops and corporate executives, and journalists and generals.”
Findings: Good intentions; behavior not so much
- 98% said “It’s important for me to be a person with good character,” and 96% said, “It’s important to me that people trust me.”
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Magazines, Newspapers and Websites Jockey for Eyeballs and Dollars
Things are getting serious on campus. AdAge reports an Anderson Analytics finding that the number one choice in magazines for U.S. college students is…drum roll…Time.
Anderson found that, in the autumn of 2008, more students named Time as a recently read favorite magazine than any other periodical (under the heading Nobody Saw That Coming; last year’s top campus favorite was Cosmo, followed by People).
The bad news about newspapers grew worse in 3Q 2008 as advertising revenues declined 18.1% (nearly $2 billion). National ads fell 18.4%, classifieds dropped 30.9% and retail ads shrunk by 11.7%.
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Psalm 32
1 John 1:9 is a favorite of many people: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Some have referred to this as the Christian’s bar of soap. That’s a bit too cavalier for me, but I understand what they are trying to say. It’s wonderful to know that because of what Christ did on the cross we can confess our sins, be forgiven, and be restored in our fellowship with our God!
1 John 1:9 has an Old Testament corollary in Psalm 32:5:
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”— and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
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I just finished reading The Gift of Work - Spiritual Disciplines for the Workplace by Bill Heatley. Bill had visited my Blog a couple weeks ago, and was nice enough to direct me to his recently published book. What’s interesting about Bill is that he is much more than just an author — he is a full-time manager of an IT department for Kaiser Permamente. So he’s really a working stiff just like me, who also happens to have a passion and interest in writing about the connection between his work and his Christian spiritual life.
Overall I was inspired and challenged by this book, although at times I felt it was a little too preachy about the spiritual disciplines (more on that in a bit). But, hey, that’s just me being my usual skeptical and resistant self when I hear someone else sounding like they are the spiritual authority on life. The other thing that bothered me a bit was the book’s assumption that everyone who works falls into either one of two categories:
- you hate your job and are oppressed and cursed through your work which is experienced as a “daily humiliation,” or,
- you are so consumed by the pursuit of “success” and getting ahead that all your actions are motivated by ambition and greed and materialism. Therefore you have completely abandoned God, your family and any valid relationship with people.
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I was not home when my best friend, Peter, had a bonding moment with my father during winter vacation our sophomore year in college. Peter’s parents lived in South Korea and he was a welcome guest in our home at every break. Peter attended Northwestern University, which was on a quarter system, and I went to Wisconsin, so I returned to school two weeks before his classes started and he stayed on with my folks. One evening, as Peter watched TV, my father came and sat next to him.
“Peter, give me your hand,” his deep voice commanded.
“Uh… Why, Mr. Moon?” Peter’s hesitant voice hinted at fear and flashbacks of prior experiences.
My dad sternly repeated, “Peter, give. Me. Your. Hand.”
“Ok, Mr. Moon…”
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It’s Black Friday and Morgan Spurlock has had just about enough shopping. More than enough. “I’ve unplugged, man,” Spurlock told the Associated Press last year. “I’ve started to walk away from this idea of getting credit card after credit card to get people more gifts.”
And, being a filmmaker, (Super Size Me, 30 Days) Spurlock made a movie about walking away. It’s called What Would Jesus Buy? and it’s available on DVD (or streaming on Netflix if you drive a PC).
“We’ve been convinced that the way to show your love for someone is by what you buy them, by what the price tag is, by what is represented on the receipt. And that’s the wrong message to send out,” Mr. Spurlock told the AP.
The right message for Morgan Spurlock may not go down easy with the pious. A review of his movie, What Would Jesus Buy? in Christianity Today concludes: “Yes, it’s condescending. Yes, it cheapens Christianity. But the whole argument of the film is that our commodity culture has already cheapened Christianity.”
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Psalm 31
“How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you…” (Psalm 31:19).
In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth. I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD. I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place. Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak. Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends— those who see me on the street flee from me. I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life. But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me. Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love. Let me not be put to shame, O LORD, for I have cried out to you; but let the wicked be put to shame and lie silent in the grave. Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous. How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you. In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues. Praise be to the LORD, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city. In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from your sight!” Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help. Love the LORD, all his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.
— Psalm 31
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Lessons on the Economy, Business, and Life
Thanksgiving is my family’s favorite time of year. It’s all about being together, counting our blessings, feasting together, looking forward to Christmas and overdosing on football. We are (frustrated this year) Dallas Cowboys fans around here (my wife’s family were season ticket holders from Tom Landry and Don Meredith days). We bleed burnt orange as we follow the saga of Thee (not a misspelling) University of Texas Longhorns and the drama of the Big 12. So you can see that between cooking a turkey and getting Christmas decorations out, there will be a lot of football competing with the first Christmas music in the background (foreground).
I guess I’m feeling a bit guilty about this so I decided to share with you a few links and lessons from the world of sports in order to sanctify my guilty pleasure. Maybe you can convince your family that as you watch your favorite teams that you are not ignoring them, but that you are really contemplating the deeper spiritual and metaphysical implications that reside in these gladiatorial extravaganzas. All for their future benefit, of course. (For our friends across the world…I know…It’s not not the World Cup…I do disclose that we will also be watching the English Premier League as well as La Liga which we follow all year!)
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Dining Tips and Links!
We write about serious stuff and we’re serious about our work, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t manage to have fun along the way. And one of the things that we enjoy is a good meal. Some on our team are serious chefs in their own kitchens. And all of us have a pretty serious appreciation for all things culinary (and, yeah, it does show a bit. Well, a bit more than it should.) Our team is very diverse as well, with various European lineages as well as roots in Vietnam, Korea, and Japan.
So here are some links just for fun.
Eating Asia is a blog by writer Robyn Eckhardt who lives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The site explores the city through it’s food. Her writing and her husband David’s photography make me want to take a very long jet flight to savor the flavors of this colorful culture.
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Last time, the state of the economy had Brad in a gloomy mood as he sat down to read his daily dose of scripture. In keeping with God’s extraordinary sense of humor and good timing, the next book-marked passage was Luke 12:22-33. Brad’s eyes were immediately drawn to a bold heading above the verses he was about to read. It said, in a very objective and authoritative, yet casual, italicized font:
“Do not worry.”
So here’s what that cynical voice in my head is saying about Luke’s “Do not worry” passage…it’s saying Sure, it’s easy for Jesus to tell these people not to worry. He didn’t have the financial responsibilities of a family to worry about! Neither did Peter, or Paul, for that matter. None of them schlocks had wives or kids to take care of! (Apparently bible scholars still debate if Peter or Paul were married, but the fact that this even is a debatable question shows the lack of priority the women and children must have had in the scheme of things.) Those disciples and apostles didn’t have a mortgage payment, or car repairs, or the care and well-being of their wives to think of, or college tuition payments to worry about so their kids could get a decent start in life and avoid spending the next ten years paying off college loans the way their parents did.
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