Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Monday March 16, 2009

Every now and then I come across a statement that is "right on" and I use it in the hopes of improving the practice of my calling/profession. I am certain to check out the statement as to it measures up against the ultimate statement on all matters that matter, the Bible.

Such is the case for today's quote:

"Good management consists in showing average people how to do the work of superior people." John D. Rockefeller

Here dear readers was an Old German who knew the importance of using others, (I mean this in the positive sense) to accomplish the many and varied things he set out to do. The military, at least at the lower levels operates on the principle of helping often a below average person to perform at a higher level. Most people know the truth of the "Peter Principle" which states "Too many people are operating at their level of incompetence." You keep climbing and one day you reach your goal, but you know that you are a far as you can go without more training or in lots of cases, Oomph.

The field of my calling is plumb chuck full of men and women operating at the level of their incompetence and unlike "secular" business, no one has the courage and compassion to tell them, so they keep grinding away, year after year, with a deep inner sense that somehow life is passing them by, yet they persist. By the same token I often meet or observe people regularly who are obviously performing at a much higher level than their natural talent and training suggests.

How can this happen?

Simple. The high achievers are willing to take often painful critiques, snide remarks from lesser and more accomplished people in their field, and improve the quality and quantity of their performance.

Living a spiritually successful life is a case in point. When things aren't going well, talking to the neighborhood know it all, may be the worst thing to do. Reading the original manual on living the spiritually successful life is the sensible option. God is in the "good management business."

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2009 Use with credit.

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