Outliers part 2: Secret of Success

LEGACY:

The second half of Outliers  moves from the story of the individual to our culture, citing:

1) The culture of honor in the south from a culture of herdsman, where it is important to show you are not weak….in modern society leading to Hatfields and McCoys, higher rates of violent crime, and definitions of what it means to be “a man”.

2) The culture of respect:  Using a “power distance index” South Korea is shown to be among countries that have the highest respect for authority, leading to catastrophic consequences for it’s air carrier’s, because junior officers are reluctant to challenge their superiors.

3) The culture of persistence: Chinese rice paddy cultivation requires intensity on a scale far beyond wheat farming, and led to a culture that demands not just hard work but concentration for long periods of time.  At a national level this corresponds to math scores success.

So What?  Reading this, I couldn’t help but see some of the junk in my life is passed on from the culture of my boyhood, where honor and respect were twisted out of their proper role.  It is right to respect the authorities and even honor the king, but not above the Lord.  There should be times when I need to “dishonor” someone for their own good, or for the sake of truth, in the same way that I need to be dishonored so that He may become greater. 

Yesterday, I was offended by a coworker’s actions, because I had been listening to the lie (from the father of lies) that they were trying to steal my honor.  (I know this sounds crazy, but it is the kind of silent stuff that can really take me off the rails).  She had legitimate business issues and had cleared her actions with Tom, our boss.  We ended up having a productive conversation with our Tom.    “Respect” might have told me not to challenge.  “Honor” (pride) would have inflamed me to fight to the end…neither was the way.   

Why not adopt a new culture…? 

Outliers part1: Secret of Success

 

Success: I have no intention of being a billionaire, a Nobel Laureate, or the leader of a movement.  But when a brother I respect deeply for his life and impact on others made the suggestionI began to wonder if  success in the spritual sense can result from the same principles, applied with that outcome in mind.  In fact, part one of the book by Malcom Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point, Blink) begins with a quote from Matthew:

For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. Matt 5:29

OPPORTUNITY 

A Head start: The idea that certain people are successful because of the timing, location, or innate genius is widely accepted.  He deconstructs the notion that success is entirely dependent on our individual merit.  Nearly all Hockey stars are born early in the year (Jan-Mar). As young boys, that gives them a physical advantage over other boys in their class. This advantage is reinforced over the years, as early success leads to selective rewards, training and personal confidence. 

10,000 hour rule:  Mozart, Bobby Fischer, The Beatles, Bill Gates, and the author of Unix all have something in common, their opportunity to spend large amounts of time training, far beyond most of their peers, at a critical point in history.  They didn’t just work harder than the rest, they worked much harder.  They were pushed by their obsession and allowed by their circumstances to spend large amounts of time.  Genius is not enough, it must be coupled with an ability and expectation of connecting to others .

So what: You have a unique background and skill set that God can use?  What circumstances provide you with extra advantage, and the passion to train fanatically, developing the insight of your gift?  How can you connect to God through others in this pursuit? 

"Please, come closer" to save you with an extraordinary rescue

I was struck this morning by the passage from the reading today (in the One Year Bible) about how Joseph responded to his brothers after being sold into slavery...it was God's plan.  

This trust in God's sovereignty, during the peak of success was also there in the depth of despair (remember Potiphar, the prison etc.)  I am so prone to look at the situation around me and complain about how things have gone wrong, when I could look for God's strength and his plan to carry me through, back to a place of hope.  This way we never "loose". 

4 “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. 5 But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. 6 This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. 8 So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt. (Genesis 45:7-8)

If you are able, I hope you get to read the whole story!

BE FREE: Breathing is simple

God has a purpose, and a plan for my life…isn’t that what they say?  Sometimes I forget how simple it can be...

“If you continue to follow my teaching, you are really my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

I can make life so complicated by trying to please others, change others, get it right, make everything work out instead of just obeying, trusting. How simple is that? :)

Tonight I was working on the toilet (yes, i am a handyman by night), I spent 5 minutes trying to figure out how to do something the hard way that was really simple in the end.  Over-analyzed again..wasted time, energy…water :).  Earlier in the day, a relative in Oregon sent me an unusual note, “prayer should be as easy as breathing”.   

‘Call on me in prayer and I will answer you. I will show you great and mysterious things which you still do not know about.’ Jeremiah 33:3

If he is the revealer of mysteries, how much more will our creator (who wants to be our friend) answer the simple questions.  “What should I do, what should I say, what would please you?”  Bruce this was an answer to prayer for me today. You are right, a big closet in a mansion is good.  Sometimes I can’t see my destiny, the source of freedom, because I am trying to do something else.  You do not have because…you do not ask.

Do you know what simple thing he wants for you?

a resolved life. Why wait?

Sometimes learning comes in spurts, and I have learned a lot in the last two weeks of 2008...

  1) Only a few people occupy big places in our heart
  2) Death brings urgency to issues separating us from God, and those few
  3) Dying reminds the rest about the urgency of living a resolved life
  4) Months, weeks, or even a single extra day, can make all the difference

Why wait?  Don't wait.  (Matthew 5:23-24)

He longs to forgive us, and for us to receive forgiveness, freedom, resolution

He longs for us to forgive others.

"...forgiveness.  It's time to humble yourself, correct your offenses, and repair the damage.  It's an act of love.  God wants there to be no unresolved issues between the two of you"  The Love Dare p. 128

(note:  I have said before this blog is not intended to be teaching, as much as a chronicle of the events that impact my life, that may help others.  This entry is a landmark for me personally)