Monthly Archives: April 2017

Don’t be afraid of the test

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There’s a company called the Automotive Testing & Development Service (ATDS) – (howstuffworks.com).  They specialize in putting cars & trucks to the test.  Their goal is to try to put a lifetime amount of wear and use on an automobile in a short time, to see when failures will occur.

They test engines by putting cars on static dynamometer and running them at 120 mph for months to determine the lifespan of the engine. They’ll also take a car to the track & run it 24/7 for more than a month.

Their purpose is to provide product data to the car manufacturers so that they can make better engineering choices and build more durable, safer cars.  To do that, the cars and trucks have to be tested to see where the failure points are.  To measure how much they can take.  It’s important to understand that test are designed to take these cars to their absolute limit.

A Lot of Christians seem to think that the purpose for tests and trials is to break them.  They imagine God on high, watching their failure.  When they fail, they imagine Him shaking His head in disappointment as if to say “I knew it”.

Others believe that it’s not God testing us but they don’t really know what part He plays in it.  They believe that He’s with them in their trouble.  While they may wish for a miracle, all they might actually expect from Him is that He will comfort them and hold their hand while they spin down the drain.

Does God test us?  The answer is yes. But before we get too far, let’s draw a distinction between test and tempt.  In the King James Version of the Bible, the words test and tempt are sometimes used interchangeably but their meanings are different.

The Hebrew word for Tempt used in Gen 22:1 where scripture says God tempted Abraham, literally means “To Test”.  The meaning borne out in the definition says “to attempt, assay, prove, tempt, try”.  The word “prove” stands out to me.  It gives the idea of testing in order to measure.  To find out where the failure point is.

In contrast, James 1:13 says “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man”.  While the word used for tempt here is very similar, it also carries the meaning of “To entice”.

We can see how it happens in the next verse.  He is drawn away by his own lust (literally means Longing).  The existence of the longing/lust is not wrong.  It wouldn’t be a temptation if you didn’t have a desire for it.  Even Jesus was tempted. That tells us that temptation is, in and of itself, not sin. The problems come in when we YIELD to the temptation.

I also want to point out that God knows your heart.  He already knows what you can stand and what you can’t.  1 Corinthians 10:13 says “There is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.” NKJV.   This verse is both a comfort and a challenge.  God knows my failure point, and he will not allow me to be tempted above what I can bear.  If he did, then when I’m judged, I could literally say “I couldn’t help it”.  But that can not be said because God will never allow a temptation to come that you can’t escape.  The grace is there for each of us to do the right thing EVERY TIME.

This tells me a few things:

  • First – God loves us dearly, and He is always watching out for us to make sure that we’re not facing anything bigger than we can deal with.  He is our rear guard.
  • Second – On any given day, if I find myself looking a temptation in the eye, it’s because God has given me the grace gifts and the wisdom to pass this test.  If it shows up at all, it’s because God let it through, and that tells me that I have been equip with what it takes to pass this test.
  • Third – This tells me that the failure point isn’t set in stone, it can be moved.  You are probably not falling into sin as easily as you used to in certain areas.  This means that, at least in some areas, you have matured and grown strong.  You can and should be growing in all areas.  That means that we should be standing longer, operating with greater measure of faith, and getting greater results without failing.  It also means that we should be constantly raising the bar on ourselves.

Passing tests means greater use.  Once we’ve proven ourselves, God knows that He can give us more and we won’t cave, fall down, lock ourselves in the bedroom and cry “why, God why”.

Passing tests means proving that you are faithful.  You can be counted on.  God likes that.  God uses that.

Passing tests also means that greater tests will come.  Some days you just look at the test you’re facing in your situation and say “You’re a big boy, aren’t you?”, but then it just rises up in your heart “I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me!”.

If you’re like me, you like things that are easy.  Tests are not easy, but tests carry with them the hope of promotion.  If we can keep that in mind, it will not only change the way we see trouble, but it will change the way we respond to it.

In 1 Tim 3:10, Paul writes concerning the office of a Deacon.  “Let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless”.  He points out that they need to be proven first…Then.  The Then comes once the results of the proving come in, and the man is found blameless.  This is always how it works with God. This is how He deals with everyone.  God’s desire is always to promote us.  When God proves us and allows the tests and trials, His intent is always to promote.   It is ALWAYS GOD’S WILL to promote you, but you’ve first got to be proven – and pass.

Next time you look at that co-worker you struggle to get along with, just imagine the word “TEST” tattooed across their forehead. It will help you keep perspective so you can know how to respond.

It’s one thing to know, it’s entirely another thing to do.  The book of James tells us that the ones that only hear are deceived.  It’s the doers that are blessed in their deeds.  So let me encourage you – Look at the things you’ve been failing in.  Where have you been falling down? God’s promise to us is that there is promotion on the other side of the test.

Are you going to pass?

What Business teaches us about reputation

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Sometimes all I can do is shrug and shake my head when I watch people being rude and selfish.  They are unafraid to be offensive to others because they don’t care what anyone thinks.  “Me First” seems to be their motto and they operate under the false notion that there is no downside to behaving this way.

How long do you think a company would last acting that way?  Companies work long and hard, spending millions of dollars, all to build the best reputation possible.  Why?  Because people do business with people they know, like and trust.  Businesses work diligently to build the perception of likability and trustworthiness.  Businesses with good reputations can attract higher caliber employees, as well as more loyal customers. My Sales & Marketing teacher called it corporate Goodwill.

Robert Eccles, Scott Newquist and Roland Schatz published an article in the Harvard Business Review called Reputation and it’s Risks, where they stated that “In an economy where 70% to 80% of market value comes from hard-to-assess intangible assets such as brand equity, intellectual capital, and goodwill, organizations are especially vulnerable to anything that damages their reputations”.

70 to 80% of market value comes from the perception of goodwill associated with a company brand?  That’s a remarkable truth.  What is one of the first things you think of when you think about Toyota and Honda? If I spent some time, I might remember the first time I saw a little Toyota.  It was the mid 70’s and it was about the size of a cereal box, but it’s not the first thing that comes to mind. Instead, the first thing that comes to mind is reliability.

Ford, GM & Chrysler have had a tough time convincing the public that their cars are as reliable, even though they have mostly closed the quality gap between the Japanese car companies since about 2001*.  Their problem comes from the way they used to handle quality problems.  If a quality issue raised its head, they would just fix it on recall.  The problem with this solution is that even though they did ultimately fix it, they first allowed it to get in front of the customer.

A couple of years ago my daughter was looking to replace the laptop we bought her for graduation.  She had been saving for this and didn’t want just any laptop, she wanted a fast laptop.

I had been watching for deals and found one online.  We bought it through a company called Woot in Texas but it was shipping refurbished from Hewlett Packard, somewhere in New England.  When this laptop arrived, it looked like it had been dragged behind a car.  No joke.  It was severely scratched and dented.  I started it up and it seemed to work find, but it had been abused.  So I called Hewlett Packard customer service.

Aside from the poor cosmetic condition that the computer housing was in, it also had a core I5 processor but was advertised as a core I7, which was the main reason we bought it.  Once the customer service guy heard that, he wouldn’t speak to me about it anymore.  He said that the company in Texas had falsely advertised it and it was their responsibility to correct this problem. I brought up the condition two more times, but he would not talk to me about it at all.  He had found his “out” and all he would say was that I needed to contact the company in Texas because they falsely advertised the processor.

To make a long story short, Woot.com made quick work of the return and refund.  Because of their excellent customer service, I still check Woot daily and have bought from them on several occasions.  In contrast, I have not since, nor do I plan to buy another Hewlett Packard product.  There are too many options that have better customer service.

I said all that to say this. Even on a personal level, whether or not you realize it, you’re selling.  You’re selling yourself.  We all do it.  We do it in the way we dress, the teams we root for and the causes we support.  We’re trying to fit in somewhere because on some level, we all realize that we NEED others.  We need love, help and acceptance.  While some people may try on the surface to convince us that they don’t care what we think, if you watch them long enough, you’ll see the truth.

It helps me to keep in mind, when building and influencing my own reputation, how companies think.  I can easily find guidelines for my personal life from observing them because I want the same things.

  • I want people to know, like and trust me.
  • I want all their experiences with me to be positive and memorable.
  • I want everyone to walk away from every interaction with me feeling like it was a Win-Win, that neither of us won at the other’s expense.
  • I want my words to rock solid and unshakable.  I want people to be able to count on what I say every time without fear.  I often ask myself the question How many lies do I have to tell to be a liar?

Unfortunately, I can also remember times when my actions didn’t line up with any of this.  In hindsight I can see times when my weak character actually worked against these aspirations.  The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 10:1 that an act of foolishness can destroy a good and well built reputation.

I want you to have a better understanding of how connected our reputation is to the quality of our life.  We should do our all to build the best reputation we possibly can.

I don’t want people to look at me and see a fool. I want people to see Christ in me, and be drawn closer to God because of His love in me. I want a reputation for walking in love, standing in faith, Living in honor, integrity, humility and faithfulness.  These are things that we run the risk of losing if we don’t act intentionally.  The world will not help us to be this way.  We’ve got to look to God and His word.  The Bible says in Romans 12 that we transform when we renew our minds with His word, and we prove His will.
*Reputation and its Risks.  Robert G. Eccles, Scott C. Newquist and Roland Schatz. Harvard Business Review. Feb 2007.

Do you need a good reputation?

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It would seem that reputation is not a big consideration for most people these days. Still, the only way to avoid actually having one is to remain a stranger. As soon as any of us begins interacting with others, we begin revealing details about ourselves that will influence how others see us, interact with us and ultimately trust us.

Reputation is a long term concept that we build with each interaction. Unless you’re famous and have the media to contend with, there are really only two areas that influence your reputation. The first is personal experience. Your actual interactions and contact with people. The second is by communication, either word of mouth or social media. This is mainly what is being said about you. I read a great quote the other day by Michael Enzi, where he said “When you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu”. This is an unfortunate fact of life. People talk. I remember my dad saying, “If people will talk about other people to you, they will talk about you to other people”.

 

Abraham Lincoln said “Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” We can’t completely control our reputation because it is based totally on the perception of us held by others. Each person we have anything to do with is likely to have a somewhat different perception of us and they may not line up with who we actually are.

I’ve shared this before, but, a long time ago there was a man in our church who commented that he had never known a Mills that had ever had anything. While I wasn’t the Mills that gave him that impression, I was a Mills that had been saddled with that reputation.

I decided that I would not allow his sentence on my last name define or limit me. I decided to live a life that would make his words false. The thing to consider when people think negatively about you is, are they people who’s opinion will hold you back or hinder your progress? In my case, this man’s opinion didn’t matter to me, but might have affected some of my relatives.

There are many benefits to having a good reputation. When you have a good reputation:

  1. People will prefer interacting with you.
  2. People will give you favor.
  3. People will be more willing to forgive.
  4. People will give you the benefit of the doubt in times of trouble.
  5. People will be more willing to help you.
  6. People will value you.

I think it’s vitally important for each of us to be intentional about our reputation. While we can’t control our reputation, we should care and we should be using all the tools we have available to influence what others think and say about us. We do this by taking a hard look at who we really are. It’s important here to judge yourself by your outcomes and not your intentions. What you intended to do but didn’t, is still not doing.

We need to take some time to look at what’s important to us. What are our core values? We then need to establish a strategy of consistently acting in line with our core values. Benjamin Franklin said “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”

We need to build into our lives practices that help us live consistently, in order to make sure the reputation matches the real.

What steps can you take this week to begin building the reputation you really want? Please join the conversation by leaving a comment.

If this has been helpful to you, please share it. I appreciate your help in spreading the message.

Your buddy

Art