26: True Self
To thine own self be true - but which self should you be true to? The self that spends a huge amount of time and sweat getting nowhere? The self that engages in destructive patterns of behavior? [...]
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. [...]
25: Worldview Matters
Jun 22 2009B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore
No longer can an enterprise take an agnostic attitude toward moral rightness and wrongness, hiding from such sensitive issues beneath the cloak of mere goods and services. Consciously...or not, all enterprises promote a worldview. [...]
Matthew 6:43-45
No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. [...]
24: Being Right
Jun 15 2009John Naisbitt
Having to be right shackles your mind.
People are culturally conditioned to have to be right. The parents are right, the teacher is right, the boss is right. Who is right overrules what is right. [...]
I John 1:6-10
If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. [...]
23: Books
Jun 8 2009Epictetus, interpreted by Sharon Lebell
Don't just say you have read books. Show that through them you have learned to think better, to be a more discriminating and reflective person. Books are the training weights of the mind. [...]
Ecclesiastes 12:11-13
The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one Shepherd. Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.
[...]
22: Control Freak
Jun 1 2009Christine Comafor-Lynch
Business has been booming for years. It's 1998, I think, and I've made it in the heady world of technology in my own right...Bill Gates and I exchange friendly e-mails and talk shop. [...]
Matthew 11:28-30
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. [...]
21: Acquisition
May 25 2009Maurice Sendak
There must be more to life than having everything. [...]
Matthew 16:26
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? [...]
20: Generous Leader
May 18 2009Seth Godin
In today's supercharged political (and TV) environment, it's easy to believe that in order to lead, you need to be an egomaniac, a driven superstar intent on self-glorification and aggrandizement. [...]
Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. [...]
19: Defining the Future
May 11 2009Jame Canton, Ph.D.
Five Factors That Will Define the Extreme Future:
1. Speed. The rate of change will be blinding, comprehensive in scope, and will touch every aspect of life.
2.Complexity. A quantum leap in the number of seemingly unrelated forces that will have a direct bearing on everything from lifestyles to work to personal and national security. [...]
I Thessalonians 5:1-11
Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. [...]
18: Fooling Ourselves
May 5 2009Paul B. Carroll and Chunka Mui
Aviation investigators have a euphemism: "controlled flight into terrain." What they mean is that a pilot took a perfectly functioning plane, in good conditions, and flew it into the ground, usually the side of a hill or a mountain. [...]
Proverbs 18:11-12
The wealth of the rich is their fortified city;
they imagine it an unscalable wall.
Before his downfall a man's heart is proud,
but humility comes before honor. [...]
17: The Household
Apr 27 2009Michael J. Panzner
Family, social, and community relationships will likely assume a far greater degree of importance in a world of uncertainly, disruptions, and increasing danger. In the United States and elsewhere, there will almost certainly be a significant rise in the number of extended-family households, many with a growing number of adult children - and grandchildren - living at home. [...]
I Timothy 3:1-7
It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. [...]
16: Design
Apr 21 2009Robert Safian
Studies have now shown that design-oriented firms in all kinds of industries outperform their more-traditional peers--that design and innovation go hand-in-hand with financial success. Research from Peer Insight has calculated a tenfold advantage in stock-market returns versus the S&P 500 for companies focused on consumer-experience design, as senior writer Linda Tischler explains in her profile of Yves Béhar. [...]
Psalm 19:1-6
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge. [...]
15: Citizens
Apr 14 2009Kelly Mooney and Nita Rollins, Ph.D.
The psychological profile of icitizens has everything to do with their ideas, their production. First, they possess expertise - knowledge of and devotion to a subject that, however narrow or quirky, becomes a part of the ideation value chain when distributed through the internet's social networks. [...]
Ephesians 2:18-20
For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. [...]
14: Mediocrity
Apr 7 2009David Brandon, Chairman & CEO of Domino's Pizza
For many years as a private company, Domino's really benchmarked against itself, without looking at the outside world. We were proud of the fact that for many years we had positive same-store sales, which is a big financial indicator of growth and success in the retail world. [...]
Romans 3:23
...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. [...]
13 Customer's Customer
Mar 30 2009Rishad Tobaccowala quoted by author, Jeff Jarvis
Our fixation should not be on our clients. It should be on the people our clients want to engage, sell, and interact with. We should be the champions of those people. [...]
II Timothy 2:2
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. [...]
12: Risk of Self-centeredness
Mar 23 2009Ben Carlson, MD
Once we manage to remove our egos from the equation, many of the most commonplace and unsettling personal risks we face in life become a lot less personal and no longer seem to be much of a risk after all. [...]
Philippians 2:3-4
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. [...]
11: Reputation
Mar 17 2009Jeff Jarvis
Your customer satisfaction is plummeting, your market share is shrinking, and your stock price is deflating. Let me give you some indication of why, from one customer's perspective...The bottom line is that a low-price coupon may have gotten me to buy a Dell, but your product was a lemon and your customer service was appalling. [...]
I Thessalonians 1:5-10
...because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. [...]
10: Waste
Mar 9 2009W. Edwards Deming
The present style of management is the biggest producer of waste, causing huge losses whose magnitudes can not be evaluated, can not be measured. [...]
Jeremiah 12:10-11
Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard
and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
into a desolate wasteland.
It will be made a wasteland,
parched and desolate before me;
the whole land will be laid waste
because there is no one who cares. [...]
9: Resourced
Mar 2 2009W. Edwards Deming
When a company holds an individual accountable for a goal, it must provide to him the resources for accomplishment. [...]
II Peter 1:3-4
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. [...]
8: Planning
Feb 23 2009Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th President
In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. [...]
Proverbs 15:22
Plans fail for lack of counsel,
but with many advisers they succeed. [...]
7: Enough
Feb 16 2009John C. Bogle
When John D. Rockefeller was asked how much was enough, he answered, "Just a little bit more." But for most of us, as it said, enough is $1 more than we need. [...]
I Timothy 6:6-9
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. [...]
6: The Right Person for the Job
Feb 9 2009Jeffrey A. Krames
Before Drucker explained to me that Welch was the right person for the future of GE, it was easy to think of leaders in two dimensions. That entailed hiring the best person for the job without taking time frame into account. [...]
Joshua 1:1-9
After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. [...]
5: Our Job
Feb 3 2009Paul Stevens
The Genesis account takes us beyond culture into the paradise of God. We discover that humankind has three full-time jobs: (1) communion with God, (2) community-building (the image of God is relational as well as vocational) and (3) co-creativity with God. [...]
I Corinthians 10:31
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. [...]
4: Work and Play
Jan 27 2009Kevin Carroll
Why, then, do play and work seem so contradictory? Why, as adults, do we relegate them to separate spheres, and do so few workers and companies value play as a means to producing effective work? [...]
Job 38:6-7
On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone - while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? [...]
3: Questions that Count
Jan 19 2009Ken Fisher
- What do I believe that is actually false?
- What can I fathom that others find unfathomable?
- What the heck is my brain doing to mislead and misguide me now? To blindside me?
[...]
Matthew 22:42, Micah 6:8
"What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. [...]
2: Help Others Flourish
Jan 12 2009Arie De Geus
"Young man," said the controller (who had always been a mentor to me), "you will learn one or two things, and this is a good time in your life to do it. [...]
I Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. [...]
1: Cohesion
Jan 6 2009Arie De Geus
Cohesion is the force with which the molecules of a body cleave together. In a company, cohesion represents the pulling together (and keeping together) of the employees. To have cohesion, employees must know "who belongs" and "who is not one of us." [...]
I Corinthians 12:11-20
All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. [...]
52: Serve Others
Dec 29 2008Michael Gates Gill
Crystal and my partners at Starbucks, like Kester and Charlie, had given me a chance to work and live and see things a new way. The least I could do was to help them by not reverting to my old, prideful, control-freak self. [...]
II Corinthians 4:5
For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. [...]
51: Time Management
Dec 22 2008Tyler Cowen
All people are equally good at time management, but some people are more willing than others to admit that they are doing what they want to do, while others maintain the illusion they wish they were doing something else. [...]
Ephesians 5:15-17
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. [...]
50: Develop Others
Dec 15 2008Geoff Colvin
Today's best young employees, the ones on whom future success will depend, are demanding that employers help make them better performers. It seems that young people understood the new nature of today's economy before a lot of CEOs did, and they insist on employers who will keep developing them. [...]
II Timothy 2:2
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. [...]
49: Recognition
Dec 8 2008Nassim Nicholas Taleb
It is quite saddening to think of those people who have been mistreated by history. There were the poetes maudits, like Edgar Allan Poe or Arthur Rimbaud, scorned by society and later worshipped and force-fed to schoolchildren. [...]
Matthew 6:2-6,16-18
"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. [...]
