About being right

Translated and edited Dutch Blog with the assistance of my friend Google

This morning I woke up and had to think about the fight between Paul and Barnabas.Then of course could not go back to sleep and at 05:15 I'm writing this blog in a disintegrating obscure hotel in Wigan (near Preston) whilst drinking my second cup of "complimentary" tea before packing my belongings and travel on to Liverpools John Lennon International Airport where a KLM aircraft from will transport me back to my home turf.
The feud between these two men came up earlier this week and the echo of a comment someone made sounded in the back of my mind: "I look forward to spending time with Paul and find out who, in retrospect, was right."
Suddenly it dawned on me that it's not about who was right! The Western man has the inherent need to divide things in right and wrong, good and bad, and finds it hard to deal with, or accept "gray". "Gray" stands for compromise, vague, ambiguity: "gray" is for wimps. However, in real life we seem to allow for quite some grey in our own lives. But that's another issue altogether.
The dominant Western culture of 'right and wrong' dictates the type of questions we ask.
The question of who was right, is in some sense irrelevant. Both Paul and Barnabas had legitimate reasons whether or not to take John Mark along on the second missionary journey. Paul struggled with the lack of persistence in JM's character while Baranabas took a more pastoral approach with some family loyalty thrown in the mix (JM was a relative).
Anyway, it's not a competition where both contestants score points where the one with the most legitimate arguments can go to the next round.

1) The big story of God has to be brought in the equation. He gets what he wants: two mission trips, instead of one. The boys, after a first missionary journey already established a rut. The striking silence (no intervention) of God helps us to pay better attention to that side of the mystery. The "nothing" of God in human dilemmas can easily lead to something bigger.

2) The extent of the responsibility that God has given to man to make up his own mind, to make decisions and live with the consequences of that decision is vast. Choosing between the two seemingly equal options does not necessarily mean that the one is better than the other. I'm not talking about foul mouthing another person. That's not a moral dilemma. One just doesn’t do that. . It's about the more delicate issues that even the with the finest discernment doesn't present a clear case. Two rather equal options will result in two distinct future stories. The choice is ours. It helps to draw out potential story lines and to choose the preferred one.

3) We are and remain human. As much as we try to live in peace and unity with one another, there comes a time when find ourselves diametrically opposed to the other. Can we go our separate ways and still remain friends? We do not have enough information to draw a clear conclusion but after the feud we no longer find P and B together. Brokenness will affect our relationships and the way we work together.

In OM, we are faced daily with these dilemmas. On a small scale but also on a large scale where regardless of the possible future story any decisions will result in far-reaching consequences for the organization within and outside.
It occurred to me that the farther away we are from a story, the easier is to have opinions about it and to judge. One drawn in to the story, it's suddenly a lot less simple. Life is complex.
It's not easy to obey God when He speaks; to hear what he says when he doesn't speak requires highly trained hearts and ears. Even then, we mess up.

Fun: a non edited translation of my Dutch blog

I write an (almost) daily blog in Dutch. It's just too much time to do an English one as well but I thought, just to have some fun, to have Google translate today's Blog into English. So here it is. Not-edited. Wonder if it makes sense. It made me giggle and smile at times:

Yesterday a lamp bought for the floor lamp in "my" room. Did not. Somewhere a hitch.So, when I woke up this morning, showered, got dressed and then looked at my watch, assuming it was six o'clock, it appeared to be barely five hours. Back to bed is not an option because then my hair disheveled.
Today the three day rally: International HR planning and Strategis. A little exciting because it is long ago that we as an international HR staff to the table.
1) The spiritual aspect is important. One as the Father and the Son are not only a star here. It is bitter necessity. Why?
The unity that Jesus is talking about (John 15) is the evidence for the existence of God and therefore both the most effective and inviting way for people to move to follow Jesus.
Since the latter the reason for our existence as an organization, we can not allow ourselves to get bogged down in bureaucracy, silo thinking and acting island. Just a good HR department personnel and state must ensure that effective internal design. If we can not, we can not expect others to do it.

2) The future is important. If an organization has more than fifty years is there are many practices and customs that define the status quo. Thus, an organization that adheres to rigid methodologies, structures and systems, its own great obstacle to growth, change and effectiveness are. Interpersonal dynamics often play a major and decisive role. That is unacceptable. We have to move. Subject to the past.

3) Joint is crucial. Why we do what we do and we should keep doing it? A possible and / or necessary future together sharply on the retina will be dealt with noise. Personal hobbies, mutual antagonism, and dagromerij unrealistic nostalgia, it's all part of the dynamic package put together by workers in a group. To get through a clear path forward generation is only possible if the individuals in these groups are capable of a higher purpose in mind. Therefore, it listed in '1 'are crystal clear on the retina.

Mr. Chairman to the task of navigating us through. Hence it quite a bit exciting.

Case Study

I was going through the, now full, notebook, tearing out what can be binned. These notebooks are the sum of months of thoughts, minutes, ideas and "to do" lists that I never really got to do. I got to this particular page with the heading "Case Study" with at the bottom : "note to self: do something with this, idiot."

For the record, thius thing with the notebooks is my relatively effective MO.

The note dates back one year:

Married lady, 45 years old, has been with her company for more than 20 years. She and her husband changed field, culture and country and now have to learn a new language. Being recognised leaders before they now find themselves on the same level as the 20 year olds who just joined the company.

"I don't get the recognition that I think I deserve," she laments. "It's like starting all over again. All my experience and gained knowledge seems to be irrelevant and useless."

She continues,"Our Company, because of its flat leadership structure, has not many positions to be promoted to. My husband, who is on the level of a country leader, now leads the language learning program."

She finishes her lament and looks at you, expectantly. What does she want to hear? What does she need to hear?

Please talk to her for me. What would you say?

P.s. this lady is not with OM.