I was browsing through Tom Peters’ site this morning and stumbled across this posting from back on May 31 in his “What Tom’s Reading” section. It provided timely encouragement and challenge to me today. Thanks, Tom…very much.

Let me share with you what Tom wrote…

Mary Pipher, Writing to Change the World. Epigraph, courtesy James Baldwin: "You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can’t, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world. … The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it."

Call me hopelessly naive, but I believe there is no excuse for any variety of "business writing" that should be crafted any less carefully or aim any less high than a great novel or great inaugural address. After all, we do aim—day in and day out—to change the world via our human collectivities called enterprises. Right?

I don’t think it’s naïve, nor do I think it’s a challenge only for writers. I think, biblically speaking, that it’s a challenge for all of us who work, “day in and day out – to change the world” …“even by a millimeter”. At the end of each day has the way people around us see the world,life, faith, God changed by the quality of our life and work?

So today, whether you write or account or finance or sell or market or design or serve…whatever you do, craft your work in a way that aims to move the world that one millimeter.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…

— Colossians 3:23, New International Version