Strategies@work Podcast

Organizational leaders must work to teach and train all stakeholders to think correctly about God, that is, to embrace sound (biblical) theology. Innate in all humans is the propensity to blame God for difficult situations and circumstances. Blame is bad theology and will lead to bad results. Sound theology is to take responsibility for our sin and its implications and to think correctly about God. Sound theology is the only antidote for the error chain of sin. And only sound theological thinking will lead to good results. Wise organizational leaders understand this truth and will build cultures designed to promote sound theology in the minds of all stakeholders.

Gleanings - October 2016

No organization can be all things to all people. Management must recognize the divinely appointed boundaries of an organization and function within those boundaries. There are divinely ordained principles that must be mastered to do this well. First, management must understand the nature of seasons and how to prioritize activities according to the seasons. Second, management must function in alignment with God’s limits such as identifying the right customers, the right scope of services, the assigned geography, and the correct timing. Third, management must adroitly steward time, talent, and treasure to accomplish the work assigned to an organization. And fourth, management must learn how to discern the requisite wisdom for leading and managing an organization based on knowledge gleaned first from Scripture and second from creation.

Gleanings - September 2016

Management must recognize that the primary objective of business is not to produce temporal wealth. Business exists first and foremost as a vehicle to produce true wealth. Temporal wealth, such as money, is simply a tool that management should use to trade up to acquire true wealth. True wealth is manifested in workers' lives in traits such as wisdom, righteous living, excellent reputation, respect, and godliness with contentment. To build an organization focused on acquiring true wealth requires management who is willing to invest temporal wealth in training to develop true wealth in stakeholders who will then produce excellent value for those the organization serves.

Gleanings - August 2016

Management must recognize that Scripture dictates technological advancement as part of obedience to the Creation Mandate. Therefore, organizations should develop a culture that encourages the development and application of technology as a tool to facilitate obedience to God. This means that technology should be used to increase efficiency, maintain high standards of excellence, and facilitate the development of new products and services. Technological advancement should not be viewed as the goal but should be used as a tool to facilitate God’s purpose in and through all stakeholders of the organization.

Gleanings - July 2016

Wisdom from God is required to properly understand and respond to the consequences of sin that impair mankind’s ability to obey God's calling both individually and organizationally. Therefore, for both individuals and organizations to deliver products and services with excellence, divine wisdom is an imperative. Consequently, it is essential that every worker in the organization be humble before God and seek, with unwavering faith, divine wisdom to solve problems that impede the organization’s efforts to deliver excellent value. One role of management is to model this faith through humble submission to the divine imperative by seeking God’s wisdom to properly address problems. Management should then train every stakeholder in the organization in how to develop a steadfast, humble, submitted, teachable, and prayerful spirit of faith before God that will facilitate the requisite wisdom to deliver excellent value to those the organization serves.

Gleanings - June 2016

Management must be aware of the assumptions that underlie the world’s monetary systems and recognize the risk associated with nonbiblical monetary policies. The degree to which these policies are inconsistent with a Christian worldview is accordingly a measure of the risk. In the end, nonbiblical systems will prove to be flawed and will produce chaos, making orderly business difficult. Therefore, organizational management, in whatever way possible, must encourage public policy aligned with Scripture and be monetarily wise about debt, investments, and reserves for difficult times. Debt should be used with prudence. Investments should reflect the wisdom of diversification not faddishness. Reserves should be segregated from working capital and used only in the event of true emergencies.

Gleanings - May 2016

Management must be prepared to properly view and respond to individual and organizational testing as tools of development and maturity. When a test arises, management should respond by encouraging metaphysical awareness. This means seeking God’s perspective and purpose for the test. It is critical, both individually and organizationally, to gain God’s perspective so the test can be properly understood and the lessons properly learned. A wise response to the test will facilitate individual and organizational development that will contribute to outstanding performance and service to all stakeholders.

Gleanings - April 2016

Given that internal being drives external actions, the predicate to performing excellent work is a sound understanding of a person’s being in Christ. Clearly, only those in Christ can have this understanding. Therefore, to build an efficient productive organization, management must seek to develop the metaphysical awareness of each worker and help each worker grow in an understanding of their being in Christ. Workers who refuse to be trained in a biblical understanding of being probably do not know Christ and will therefore not be long-term effective, productive workers. These workers will be, at best, effective only for a short time. But workers whose hearts are progressively transformed into alignment with the will and ways of God will produce excellent work and will be pillars of stability and long-term growth for the organization.

Gleanings - March 2016

Wise management recognizes that excellent organizational performance is rooted in sound spiritual reality operative in both the culture of the organization and in the heart of each stakeholder. Sound theology is required to overcome the impact of sin, organizationally and individually, and to facilitate alignment with the goodness of God. Failure to walk in this truth will lead to individual and organizational dysfunction and inefficiency. Therefore, management must hire the right people—those who will proactively embrace sound theology and therefore will display traits of humility, submission, and teachability. Management must also provide a learning culture that facilitates sound spiritual reality in the heart of each stakeholder as a predicate for overcoming sin and enabling the delivery of excellent products and services.

Gleanings - February 2016

To build multigenerational successful organizations, management must build a culture of Beyond Babel thinking. Such thinking is rooted in the desire to glorify God, that is, to do his will according to his ways. When an organization’s culture allows or promotes Tower of Babel thinking, at some point the organization will fail. Some warning signs of Tower of Babel thinking are lack of humility, inability to effectively communicate, resisting correction, and not being submitted to authority. The antidote to Tower of Babel thinking is repentance that leads to Beyond Babel thinking. Failure to address Tower of Babel thinking will be toxic to an organization. The only way to enjoy enduring success in God’s universe is to obey his laws. Tower of Babel thinking is about self-glorification, which is opposed to the Creator and will lead to judgment. Only Beyond Babel thinking can facilitate enduring organizational excellence.

Gleanings - January 2016