Reason is overrated!

It doesn't make sense to move your family and business to guess where... a town you are yet to decide; give your wife, staff no prior notice, just load up your stuff, ask them to hop in and off you go to no where in particular.

It doesn't make sense even if you are a retired fisherman to step out into a lake for a walk. Off course you can swim, but take a walk? That don't make sense.

If you want everything to make sense before you do them, perhaps you aren't looking to rock the boat - you don't want to achieve any remarkable thing. Bible MBAs aren't afraid to step into the dark sometimes, what's important is who is asking them to step out.

How about you do that thing that doesn't exactly make sense today that's been nagging at your heart lately?

Built To Last.

When I read Jim Collins'and Jerry Porras' book Built to Last, I thought the research was deep and the conclusions if not obvious, credible.

However, I have a much older book which has a major chapter conclusion "built to last" and this book has been around for centuries. What's more, the conclusions are not only credible, they are timeless.

You bet I am talking about the Bible. Jesus said in Mathew 7:24-26 that you can either build your house to last or for a season. His idea of 'built to last' was:

• Be a solution (Matt 5:13-14)
• Follow perfection, You must do better than 'fulfill all righteouness' (Matt 5:20)
• You are what you think - so think right (Matt 5:27-28)
• Don't rebrand problems - deal with them (Matt 5:29-30)
• Make your word your bond (Matt 5:33-36)
• Don't invest in getting even, get ahead instead (Matt 5:38-41)
• Let your bottomline be people (Matt 6:19-22)
• Don't follow the crowd (Matt 7:13-14)

Build your enterprise on these principles and you have an eternal warranty.

hsirebbig

Gibberish is the English word for communication that makes no sense. When spelt backwards as I have done in the title, I guess it drives the point home stronger.

Communication is the heart of Success in any enterprise; project or business. If you miss it in the communication, you might as well just pack it up; communication is the linchpin.

Think about it, perhaps man would have reached outer space millenia ago if only something didn't go wrong with the communication. I am talking about at the site of that BHAG (big-airy-audacious-goal) project at Babel. Man was going to build a tower that will make the 828m Burj khalifa seem like a puny model and they were well on their way until communication broke down.

Imagine what you could accomplish if you could just get the communication right in your enterprise - here, let me help you, U-N-I-M-A-G-I-N-A-B-L-E!

The Devil is Grey!

I know you grew up thinking the devil was black so this must be a bit surprising to you. The devil isn't black (atleast not in the sense that you've been told). If he is anything darker than brilliant white, he is Grey.

In business, the line that separates what's right and what's wrong can be unimaginably thin. There are not many instances when things are in black and white. Usually they are in grey and that's where the devil resides.

Here's my rule of thumb; if it smells like dog rap, I don't need to taste it to prove it.

Is your Strategy yours?

Conventional strategy: Go to where the market is.

Unconventional strategy: Let the market come to you.

In starting a people focused enterprise like a church, conventional wisdom is to target densely populated communities so you can reach the most people. John Zacharias adopted a completely different strategy, he went into the wilderness and drew the city out to himself.

Strategy is not something you should buy off-the-shelf. It is not a one-size-fits-all sort of thing. Don't get on the internet because every other company on the block now has a website. Don't get the "the competition is doing this or that and so we have to do the same mentality"; there are indeed many ways to skin a cat.

Is your strategy yours?

LEADERSHIP!

Leadership is ultimately two words: Compassion and Integrity, no more no less.The two feet of a leader are planted firmly on these two bedrocks. Without any, leadership has nothing to stand upon; with either missing, leadership teeters precariously.

No one can lead successfully without caring about the people/course he is leading or seeing the change that the people desire to happen. As is popularly quoted, "no one cares what you know until they know that you care". Nonchalance is clearly not the stuff of leadership, if you don't care, you can't lead.

Now integrity is the other thing that compels you to lead. Integrity is staying true to what you believe to be right. You can't believe people are headed in the wrong direction and not seize the occassion to lead them aright.

Compassion and Integrity are an amalgam of all leadership values;

Compassion = Sacrificial+Selflessness+Service+Love+Hope....

Integrity = Honesty+Courage+Persistence+Faith....

Starting a business is often a strong indication that a person is a leader because both are fundamentally about birthing change. The critical question then is, can you say that your business is built on the two leadership bedrock values of Compassion and Integrity?

Ultimately, success in business is only sustainable when built on these two core values of leadership.

NEEDED! BUZZY BUDDIES

Just finished reading Mark Hughes' Buzzmarketing and it was worth every cent of the $15 price tag? I enjoyed the book a whole lot, little wonder it got the kind of rave reviews it attracted.

Mark's definition: Buzzmarketing captures the attention of consumers and the media to the point where talking about your brand or company becomes entertaining, fascinating and newsworthy.

The book was well researched and well written; packed full with a lot of nice humorous stories and anecdotes. However, Mark completely missed out on stories about Brand Jesus like the one in Mark 5:8-20.

...and when He had stepped into the boat, the man who had been controlled by unclean spirits kept begging Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus refused to permit him, but said to him, go home to your own (family and relatives and friends) and bring back word to them how much the Lord has done for you, and (how He has) had sympathy for you and mercy on you. And he departed and began to publicly proclaim in decapolis (the region of the ten cities) how much Jesus had done for him, and all the people were astonished and marveled.

Talk about buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

He also didn't get to tagging people who have a natural inclination for spreading buzz. Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point calls them Mavens, but to tag them in a name that syncs more with Buzzmarketing, I'd like to suggest calling them Buzzy Buddies. while busy bodies are people who make other people's business theirs in a negative sense, Buzzy Buddies are the guys who make it their business to create and spread good buzz about your enterprise.

This blog needs a whole lot of Buzzy Buddies - guys like that one in Mark 5:18-20 who can take on ten cities on their own. Any Buzzy Buddies out there?