Well, significant time has passed since I last wrote here. Over a year to be exact. What are the reasons? Well I was rather busy and have hit some of my lowest points due to stress and overworking myself over the past year and a half. However, I am recovering and am ready to get back to blogging.
I don't have any posts ready to go just yet, but as I have been reading several different books lately and am challenging myself with some major topics of study as I finish up studies at Briercrest College, I know that I will have some posts coming up soon.
I hope to be able to start some conversations on a variety of topics with this blog.
To start with for now, I am simply going to give a list of the books I am currently reading:
Awakening the Entrepreneur Within by Michael E. Gerber
The Necessary Revolution by Peter Senge et al.
Common Wealth by Jeffrey Sachs
Axiom by Bill Hybels
Outliers by Malcom Gladwell
Influencer by Kerry Patterson et al
Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus
The World is Curved by David Smick
I know it's a lot of books, but some are going fairly quickly and all are very interesting. Anyways, I am signing out for now. Look forward to a post in the near future. I don't yet know what my schedule for posting will be yet, but I'm hoping for at least one post a week... possibly on Saturdays.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Global Poverty
So my college is beginning to look into the Fair Trade agenda this year. There is a small handful of those of us who this frustrates. I guess that makes my view on this clear... but I wonder what other's thoughts are. I've done some initial research for a paper I am hoping to write on this topic and the more I look into it, the more frustrated I get!
Can anyone leave me a comment with a source that I can find that won't get me so frustrated? Anything that could potentially shed a good light on Fair Trade for me?
The reason I get frustrated with Fair Trade most is that the majority of people pushing the agenda (yes, I do say agenda and not movement!) are blind to the faults in the plan. They blindly follow the words of those in leadership and assume that it will be all ok. They don't necessarily realize that Fair Trade has the potential to cause more harm than it intends to if it is seen as the only way to solve Global Poverty. And that is the way it is pushed! It creates bans on sweatshops and child labor! (I know that people will hate me for that comment.) A healthy balance of Fair Trade and sweatshops (aka Manufacturing Facilities) and child labor may be a potentially much better solution! The two can and (in my mind) will need to work together for anything to happen.
Anyways, I could rant much more about this... maybe I'll continue on this topic later, but for now I'm just looking for some feedback. If you have any for me, please let me know.
Thanks!
Can anyone leave me a comment with a source that I can find that won't get me so frustrated? Anything that could potentially shed a good light on Fair Trade for me?
The reason I get frustrated with Fair Trade most is that the majority of people pushing the agenda (yes, I do say agenda and not movement!) are blind to the faults in the plan. They blindly follow the words of those in leadership and assume that it will be all ok. They don't necessarily realize that Fair Trade has the potential to cause more harm than it intends to if it is seen as the only way to solve Global Poverty. And that is the way it is pushed! It creates bans on sweatshops and child labor! (I know that people will hate me for that comment.) A healthy balance of Fair Trade and sweatshops (aka Manufacturing Facilities) and child labor may be a potentially much better solution! The two can and (in my mind) will need to work together for anything to happen.
Anyways, I could rant much more about this... maybe I'll continue on this topic later, but for now I'm just looking for some feedback. If you have any for me, please let me know.
Thanks!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Thoughts on Growing
So, it's been a while since I wrote in here last. I've had a lot going on in my life, and therefore I have been thinking about a lot. Growth and growing up has been a big theme in my life. Growing up is inevitable... as human beings, we must grow up else we will not succeed in any way in life. Now there is some extent to which holding onto our 'inner child' is good, but we must grow up and face the world as adults. However, growth is optional. At least, in my experience it is.
I am a Christian. I have been for about five years now. I've been reading a book recently and it has challeneged me to reevaluate my priorities. Just because I say God is my number one priority, doesn't seem to mean He really is. What if my top priority is really video games or simply put, enjoying life independent of God? Hmm. So what? Well, as a Christian I know that this will not result in life everlasting. God absolutely must be my top priority. How does this happen? Spending more time with Him and living my life worthy of His calling. Growth. I must grow in my relationship with Him.
Education. Elementary school and high school train you in how to learn. College trains you that you really don't know squat and tries to teach you new things. However, the more you grow in your knowledge of things, the more you come to realize you really don't know very much. So is growing a hopeless plight?
The more you grow, the more you don't know. The more you have to grow. This simple truth could be viewed in two ways:
1) You could become bitter or depressed and simply stop growing.
2) You could take joy in knowing there is so much more to learn.
This is where the choice of growth comes. Regardless of what stage of life we are in, we can always grow. There is always something new and exciting to learn. Be it in faith or somewhere else. To live is to learn. Learning isn't about writing papers or getting a good grade necessarily... although those can help stimulate growth. Growing is about constantly admitting you don't know everything and striving to learn more. What you do with your growth is unlimited. You could start a business to help people in need or to help yourself. You could write books for people to read. You could make movies for people to enjoy. You could sit in your home and do nothing about it.
Learning and growth. These things have been on my mind an awful lot these past weeks. I'm growing and learning. I'm learning that to grow I have to lose myself and accept that I don't know much. To grow is a continual process that never ends, and that is exciting.
I am a Christian. I have been for about five years now. I've been reading a book recently and it has challeneged me to reevaluate my priorities. Just because I say God is my number one priority, doesn't seem to mean He really is. What if my top priority is really video games or simply put, enjoying life independent of God? Hmm. So what? Well, as a Christian I know that this will not result in life everlasting. God absolutely must be my top priority. How does this happen? Spending more time with Him and living my life worthy of His calling. Growth. I must grow in my relationship with Him.
Education. Elementary school and high school train you in how to learn. College trains you that you really don't know squat and tries to teach you new things. However, the more you grow in your knowledge of things, the more you come to realize you really don't know very much. So is growing a hopeless plight?
The more you grow, the more you don't know. The more you have to grow. This simple truth could be viewed in two ways:
1) You could become bitter or depressed and simply stop growing.
2) You could take joy in knowing there is so much more to learn.
This is where the choice of growth comes. Regardless of what stage of life we are in, we can always grow. There is always something new and exciting to learn. Be it in faith or somewhere else. To live is to learn. Learning isn't about writing papers or getting a good grade necessarily... although those can help stimulate growth. Growing is about constantly admitting you don't know everything and striving to learn more. What you do with your growth is unlimited. You could start a business to help people in need or to help yourself. You could write books for people to read. You could make movies for people to enjoy. You could sit in your home and do nothing about it.
Learning and growth. These things have been on my mind an awful lot these past weeks. I'm growing and learning. I'm learning that to grow I have to lose myself and accept that I don't know much. To grow is a continual process that never ends, and that is exciting.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Religion vs Relationship: Opposites or Intertwined?
Ok, so I wrote this up a little while ago in response to something I had a friend tell me. I know that I'll end up reworking it so that it'll say what I want to say more clearly, but here is something that I think people will perhaps find interesting, maybe even worthy of debate. If you want to let me know your response to this, please leave a comment.
“I’m a Christian, so I’m anti-religious. Christianity is a relationship, not a religion”
Do I agree with this? Not at all! By all definitions, Christianity is a religion. Plain and simple. Dictionary.com says that religion is:
1.
a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
2.
a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.
3.
the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.
Does Christianity fall under definition #1? Yes! We believe that God Almighty created the universe. We have devotional and ritual observances (Prayer, Lord’s Supper, Baptism, Daily Devotions). We have a moral code found in Scripture. According to definition #1, we are a religion.
Does Christianity fall under definition #2? Yes!
Does Christianity fall under definition #3? Yes! It’s called the Church and it started roughly the same time that Jesus was alive and on earth.
Also, please note that James 1 talks about religion and mentions a religion that God accepts as pure and faultless. Hmm… talking about Christianity and mentioning religion.
I think the biggest problem people have with religion is that it often allows for people to simply ‘go through the motions’ and not actually have it mean anything. Religion has bad connotations starting all the way back to the Pharisees and likely before. It has often been used as a tool to control people. That’s why the Church was able to convince people to go to war in the Crusades. Does this mean that all religion is bad? No.
Christianity is a religion. As the one true religion however, it is not limited to traditional earthly religions. It expands on those and does indeed add a relationship. This opportunity for relationship with God Almighty is unique.
How do religion and relationship work together? Simple. People who hold fast to the relationship and reject the religion of Christianity tend to be those who falter in hard times. They fall away because the god they trust is not the God of Christianity. They see one or two aspects of God (loving, fair, kind are the most common) and set these as the only attributes of God. Scripture presents a much larger view of God. Christians who only see the religion of Christianity are those who get cold and hard. They do not see the human aspect to the faith. Religion is the key to the relationship. Religion gives us the proper view of our God and allows us to enter into a proper relationship with Him. It gives us the tools we need to do this properly.
“I’m a Christian, so I’m anti-religious. Christianity is a relationship, not a religion”
Do I agree with this? Not at all! By all definitions, Christianity is a religion. Plain and simple. Dictionary.com says that religion is:
1.
a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
2.
a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.
3.
the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.
Does Christianity fall under definition #1? Yes! We believe that God Almighty created the universe. We have devotional and ritual observances (Prayer, Lord’s Supper, Baptism, Daily Devotions). We have a moral code found in Scripture. According to definition #1, we are a religion.
Does Christianity fall under definition #2? Yes!
Does Christianity fall under definition #3? Yes! It’s called the Church and it started roughly the same time that Jesus was alive and on earth.
Also, please note that James 1 talks about religion and mentions a religion that God accepts as pure and faultless. Hmm… talking about Christianity and mentioning religion.
I think the biggest problem people have with religion is that it often allows for people to simply ‘go through the motions’ and not actually have it mean anything. Religion has bad connotations starting all the way back to the Pharisees and likely before. It has often been used as a tool to control people. That’s why the Church was able to convince people to go to war in the Crusades. Does this mean that all religion is bad? No.
Christianity is a religion. As the one true religion however, it is not limited to traditional earthly religions. It expands on those and does indeed add a relationship. This opportunity for relationship with God Almighty is unique.
How do religion and relationship work together? Simple. People who hold fast to the relationship and reject the religion of Christianity tend to be those who falter in hard times. They fall away because the god they trust is not the God of Christianity. They see one or two aspects of God (loving, fair, kind are the most common) and set these as the only attributes of God. Scripture presents a much larger view of God. Christians who only see the religion of Christianity are those who get cold and hard. They do not see the human aspect to the faith. Religion is the key to the relationship. Religion gives us the proper view of our God and allows us to enter into a proper relationship with Him. It gives us the tools we need to do this properly.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Obedience or Compliance?
"Obedience from the heart does not mean setting aside our God-given right to question or appeal. It does not mean giving up our right to affect our own destiny. And it certainly was never intended to strip us of our sense of ownership in the work of our hands. Obedience from the heart does not mean a loss of self. Obedience from the heart does not mean compliance.
Compliance sounds like, "OK, OK. I'll do it. But it won't be pretty." Obedience from the heart says, "I'll do this because I trust you and believe it is for our best." Aligning with truth flows from a heart that obeys in trust. Compliance simply concedes to oppression. Compliance, even when it takes the form of serving others, typically turns into some form of rebellion or resentment. Obedience from the heart develops trust and acceptance. When faced with failure, compliant people blame others, particularly their leaders. When faced with negative consequences, obedient people – those who align with truth with all their hearts – own the consequences with those who have influenced them, most often their leaders.
It may sound to some people as though the obedience implied in alignment with truth excuses them from personal responsibility, because they are simply doing what others ask or tell them to. Compliant people tend to hide behind the choices others make for their lives. Alignment with truth means nothing of the sort.
The obedience inherent in alignment with truth presupposes that we will exercise our God-given rights, some of which De Pree mentions. We will question when we do not understand, and we will give others the chance to question. We will make personal commitments to others' plans, and we will allow others to express the degree of their commitment to our plans. Alignment requires mutual supportive, accountable relationships in an environment where such values can be honored."
This comes from the book "The Ascent of a Leader: How Ordinary Relationships Develop Extraordinary Character and Influence" (long title) written by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol, and Ken McElrath. Personally, I think that although this has many direct applications to those of us called to be in leadership in one setting or another, I believe that this book has much to say on the Christian life that we all are called to live. So I strongly encourage you to read this book.
This section I quoted above really stood out to me and made me think of all the times I do things, whether at work, at school, at home… wherever! It made me think through how I respond to each situation… do I respond with compliance or obedience? Based on this description (which I think is one of the best I've heard) I would have to say that an attitude of obedience is the most God-honoring… and yet how often do I respond with an attitude of compliance. How many projects could I do so much better if I accept it whole heartedly (as long as it is a project that will not violate any Biblical or personal principles) if I just accepted them with a heart of obedience. Like it said, obedience does require questioning the people in charge to hold them accountable and make sure that I can come to a point of agreeing that the decision or project is a beneficial one. I don't know… there's just so much that this section makes me think about. The whole book is really good and like I said before is applicable to anyone wanting to live the Christian life. It doesn't provide easy answers, but it does touch on many things to help out… of course, I would say read Scripture as your primary handbook on the Christian life, but this book is not a bad resource either.
Compliance sounds like, "OK, OK. I'll do it. But it won't be pretty." Obedience from the heart says, "I'll do this because I trust you and believe it is for our best." Aligning with truth flows from a heart that obeys in trust. Compliance simply concedes to oppression. Compliance, even when it takes the form of serving others, typically turns into some form of rebellion or resentment. Obedience from the heart develops trust and acceptance. When faced with failure, compliant people blame others, particularly their leaders. When faced with negative consequences, obedient people – those who align with truth with all their hearts – own the consequences with those who have influenced them, most often their leaders.
It may sound to some people as though the obedience implied in alignment with truth excuses them from personal responsibility, because they are simply doing what others ask or tell them to. Compliant people tend to hide behind the choices others make for their lives. Alignment with truth means nothing of the sort.
The obedience inherent in alignment with truth presupposes that we will exercise our God-given rights, some of which De Pree mentions. We will question when we do not understand, and we will give others the chance to question. We will make personal commitments to others' plans, and we will allow others to express the degree of their commitment to our plans. Alignment requires mutual supportive, accountable relationships in an environment where such values can be honored."
This comes from the book "The Ascent of a Leader: How Ordinary Relationships Develop Extraordinary Character and Influence" (long title) written by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol, and Ken McElrath. Personally, I think that although this has many direct applications to those of us called to be in leadership in one setting or another, I believe that this book has much to say on the Christian life that we all are called to live. So I strongly encourage you to read this book.
This section I quoted above really stood out to me and made me think of all the times I do things, whether at work, at school, at home… wherever! It made me think through how I respond to each situation… do I respond with compliance or obedience? Based on this description (which I think is one of the best I've heard) I would have to say that an attitude of obedience is the most God-honoring… and yet how often do I respond with an attitude of compliance. How many projects could I do so much better if I accept it whole heartedly (as long as it is a project that will not violate any Biblical or personal principles) if I just accepted them with a heart of obedience. Like it said, obedience does require questioning the people in charge to hold them accountable and make sure that I can come to a point of agreeing that the decision or project is a beneficial one. I don't know… there's just so much that this section makes me think about. The whole book is really good and like I said before is applicable to anyone wanting to live the Christian life. It doesn't provide easy answers, but it does touch on many things to help out… of course, I would say read Scripture as your primary handbook on the Christian life, but this book is not a bad resource either.
Seeing the Forest AND the Trees
Well, hello! I know, I don't write here very much do I? Well, hopefully that will begin to change as I continue to read and learn and think.
So we've all heard the adage "Learn to see the forest through the trees" talking about seeing the "big picture" things in life. Well, I've been reading a few different things recently that have really challenged my strong belief in this phrase. I love trying to see the big picture in things, don't get me wrong. What I've been reading and observing recently however is that the big picture we often get is only a compilation of small picture problems. What we need to learn is to see the multiple small picture things and how they are all interconnected! It isn't enough to say these things are connected... we need to be able to fully see the deeper connections that are usually easily dismissed. A lot of the "big picture" things we see are simply symptoms of what is occuring underneath everything.
So what have I been reading that got me thinking about this? Well, I began reading The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization by Peter Senge and just recently picked up the June 2007 release of Harvard Business Review because of an article entitled How Successful Leaders Think.
I'm just going to post a few quotes here from both to show what has been impressed on me so far.
In his introduction to the Revised version of Fifth Discipline, Senge quotes a few very useful quotes from Dr. W. Edwards Deming:
"Our prevailing system of management has destroyed our people. People are born with intrinsic motivation, self-respect, dignity, curiosity to learn, joy in learning. The forces of destruction begin with toddlers - a prize for the best Halloween costume, grades in school, gold stars - and on up through the university. On the job, people, teams, and dicisions are ranked, reward for the top, punishment for the bottom. Management by Objectives, quotas, incentive pay, business pans, put together separately, division by division, cause further loss, unknown and unreasonable."
"We will never transform the prevailing system on management without transforming our prevailing sytem of education. They are the same system."
"The relationship between a boss and subordinate is the same as the relationship between a teacher and student... The teacher sets the aims, the student responds to those aims. The teacher has the answer, the student workds to get the answer. Students know when they have succeeded because the teacher tells them. By the time all children are 10 then know what it takes to get ahead in school and please the teacher - a lessong the carry forward through their careers of 'pleasing bosses and failing to improve the system that serves customers."
This is really challenging... but following it up with what Roger Martin says in the HBR article is really intriguing.
"We often don't know what to do with fundamentally opposing models. Our first impulse is usually to determine which is 'right' and, by the process of elimination, which is 'wrong'."
The part of the article that I would like to talk about is a little too long to quote here, so I'll just sumarize it. Basically it says that we as humans have been gifted by God with opposable minds. Like the opposable thumb, this allows us to come up with creative solutions to problems. It allows us to hold multiple opposing ideas in our heads at once and somehow come up with a solution that combines the best of both. It is a gift that has allowed us to leap ahead in innovation, but with the problems described by Deming, it is not being excercised. In fact, it has gotten to the point that in order to see the "big picture", we have to break our problems apart into small pieces. This leads to an interesting problem according to Senge.
"From a very early age, we are taught to break apart problems, to fragment the world. This apparently makes complex tasks and subjects more manageable, but we pay a hidden enormous price. We can no longer see the consequences of our actions; we lose our intrinsic sense of connection to a larger whole. When we then try to 'see the big picture,' we try to reassemble the fragments in our minds, to list and organize all the pieces. But as physicist David Bohm says, the task is futile - similar to trying to reassemble the fragments of a breken mirror to see a true reflection. Thus, after a while, we give up trying to see the whole altogether."
So, the challenge presented by Senge is to not break things apart first. It is to learn to see the deeper things that cause the symptoms that are easily observable in life. Seeing the forest AND the trees. In order to fully see the big picture, we must see the underlying currents that connect the small picture things clearly so that we can fully understand the small picture things. Not exactly what's common these days is it? Well, I have been trying to get this skill in use recently. I don't have any obvious examples of how it's worked so far, but it is difficult to do. It's really interesting when you are able to see the deeper currents that lead everything together.
So that's my random thoughts here. I'm also going to be posting a rant type thing that I wrote a couple months back on another book I was reading.
So we've all heard the adage "Learn to see the forest through the trees" talking about seeing the "big picture" things in life. Well, I've been reading a few different things recently that have really challenged my strong belief in this phrase. I love trying to see the big picture in things, don't get me wrong. What I've been reading and observing recently however is that the big picture we often get is only a compilation of small picture problems. What we need to learn is to see the multiple small picture things and how they are all interconnected! It isn't enough to say these things are connected... we need to be able to fully see the deeper connections that are usually easily dismissed. A lot of the "big picture" things we see are simply symptoms of what is occuring underneath everything.
So what have I been reading that got me thinking about this? Well, I began reading The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization by Peter Senge and just recently picked up the June 2007 release of Harvard Business Review because of an article entitled How Successful Leaders Think.
I'm just going to post a few quotes here from both to show what has been impressed on me so far.
In his introduction to the Revised version of Fifth Discipline, Senge quotes a few very useful quotes from Dr. W. Edwards Deming:
"Our prevailing system of management has destroyed our people. People are born with intrinsic motivation, self-respect, dignity, curiosity to learn, joy in learning. The forces of destruction begin with toddlers - a prize for the best Halloween costume, grades in school, gold stars - and on up through the university. On the job, people, teams, and dicisions are ranked, reward for the top, punishment for the bottom. Management by Objectives, quotas, incentive pay, business pans, put together separately, division by division, cause further loss, unknown and unreasonable."
"We will never transform the prevailing system on management without transforming our prevailing sytem of education. They are the same system."
"The relationship between a boss and subordinate is the same as the relationship between a teacher and student... The teacher sets the aims, the student responds to those aims. The teacher has the answer, the student workds to get the answer. Students know when they have succeeded because the teacher tells them. By the time all children are 10 then know what it takes to get ahead in school and please the teacher - a lessong the carry forward through their careers of 'pleasing bosses and failing to improve the system that serves customers."
This is really challenging... but following it up with what Roger Martin says in the HBR article is really intriguing.
"We often don't know what to do with fundamentally opposing models. Our first impulse is usually to determine which is 'right' and, by the process of elimination, which is 'wrong'."
The part of the article that I would like to talk about is a little too long to quote here, so I'll just sumarize it. Basically it says that we as humans have been gifted by God with opposable minds. Like the opposable thumb, this allows us to come up with creative solutions to problems. It allows us to hold multiple opposing ideas in our heads at once and somehow come up with a solution that combines the best of both. It is a gift that has allowed us to leap ahead in innovation, but with the problems described by Deming, it is not being excercised. In fact, it has gotten to the point that in order to see the "big picture", we have to break our problems apart into small pieces. This leads to an interesting problem according to Senge.
"From a very early age, we are taught to break apart problems, to fragment the world. This apparently makes complex tasks and subjects more manageable, but we pay a hidden enormous price. We can no longer see the consequences of our actions; we lose our intrinsic sense of connection to a larger whole. When we then try to 'see the big picture,' we try to reassemble the fragments in our minds, to list and organize all the pieces. But as physicist David Bohm says, the task is futile - similar to trying to reassemble the fragments of a breken mirror to see a true reflection. Thus, after a while, we give up trying to see the whole altogether."
So, the challenge presented by Senge is to not break things apart first. It is to learn to see the deeper things that cause the symptoms that are easily observable in life. Seeing the forest AND the trees. In order to fully see the big picture, we must see the underlying currents that connect the small picture things clearly so that we can fully understand the small picture things. Not exactly what's common these days is it? Well, I have been trying to get this skill in use recently. I don't have any obvious examples of how it's worked so far, but it is difficult to do. It's really interesting when you are able to see the deeper currents that lead everything together.
So that's my random thoughts here. I'm also going to be posting a rant type thing that I wrote a couple months back on another book I was reading.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Welcome!
Ok, so first things first. Welcome to my new blog site. In here I will not really stay focused on one topic at all. This is the canvas of my mind so I will paint many pictures in here. Hopefully through these posts you will be able to more fully understand who I am if you care to. I will possibly touch on things going on in my life from time to time, but more often than not, my posts will consist of my discussing a topic that has come up in recent times in my life. I tend to rant and just keep going, so please bear with me if you are curious in hearing what I have to say. To those of you who know my 'book', I hope you can understand more of who I am and why I am writing it the way I am. This blog will not be tied into the book at all, at least that is my intention. And that is all for now.
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