ToothpasteforDinner.com put a finger right on the bruise with this cartoon (used by kind permission).
I think we all feel like this sometimes…
expendable.
replaceable.
forgettable.
It’s partly true. People exit and their companies carry on.
But I cling to the notion that we’re all originals for whom there is no one to one replacement.
For better or worse, nobody brings precisely what we bring on our best days.
On our best days and on our worst, each of us plays a significant role in our workspace.
There are no understudies; there are only other actors.
When other actors take the stage, the show may go on. But it’s a different play. Maybe somehow better; maybe worse . . . certainly different. And none of that has anything to do with how valuable we are as humans created to carry God’s image in the world.
The poet king David saw this as clearly as anyone ever did:
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. — Psalm 139: 14-18
- Read the rest of Psalm 139 (including the chilling complaint at the end) and write a few paragraphs on how easy or hard it is for you to believe your contribution can add unique value to your company and customers.
- Are there challenges to bringing your most authentic offering to the table? Write about that.
- How would you extend these notions to your role as friend, spouse or parent?
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I believe I am in the job I have because there’s a purpose, a purpose beyond the day-to-day work. The purpose may change, and I may leave, be fired, be laid off, be downsized or retire, but there’s a real purpose for me being in this position at this time. Part of the mystery is to learn what that purpose is.
I also believe that each of us has inherent, intrinsic value, not because of what we do or what our title is but because we are each made in the image of God. It doesn’t mean our skills and abilities are the same; it does mean that God values each of us the same — we are each His child.
From man’s earhly perspective, we are all dispensable. From God’s eternal perspective, we are precious and, as you say, original. God thinks of us differently than we think of ourselves and each other.
I Think in one sense,…we are Dispensable since we are merely mortals,..but as Glynn says, there is something unique intrinsic in Us, imbued in us by our creator.
That means our Touch on peoples lives, our service, leadership and impact will be markedly different. So at each time, place and encounter, I believe there is something God is saying and doing to us, with us and through us. Something no one else would accomplish.
Merely Doing,…..tick tock….like a machine is therefore less important that being, and therefore being consciously aware of where , why and what we are,…where we are!!!