Bob Clinkert – Page 5

You are No Ordinary Child

August 12, 2014 by Bob Clinkert Leave a Comment

“I am convinced that there has never been an ordinary child born on this planet, ever!!! But, most of us die painfully, tragically ordinary. Somewhere between when we are born and when we die, our extraordinary nature is beat out of us, lost to us.”

– Erwin McManus

While that quote might sound negative to you, the first part of it is really great news. Imagine for a moment that the first part is true; that every single person on this planet is born as an extraordinary child. Isn’t that an awesome, uplifting thought? The older I get and the more I experience of life and people, the more convinced I become that the first part of that quote is true.

However, the second part of that quote reminds us of the reality that if we are not good stewards of the extraordinary, we risk losing it, or at least masking it, or minimizes the expression of it.

What motivates me is that the flipside of this is also true. If we are good stewards, if we dedicate ourselves to unleashing the extraordinary masterpiece that was already present inside of us and others at birth, we can live extraordinary lives. We can change the future – change the world. Our lives and the lives of those around us can become stories worth telling.

But what does it take? What makes the difference between having our extraordinary nature beat out of us or having it unleashed to the fullest? I believe that it all boils down to how we value ourselves. Do we value ourselves for being or for doing? Do we measure our own worth by who we are, or for what we do, what we accomplish?

Please don’t confuse the message here. There is nothing wrong with doing. In fact, doing is the tangible expression of being. But if the doing does not flow out of a proper sense of being, we can lose our being all together – we can lose our extraordinary nature.

We must learn to value ourselves for who we are, and express who we are in the things we do. We must measure our worth, and just as importantly, measure the worth of others, by who they ARE, not what they do. When we value ourselves for who we are, we can begin to unleash the extraordinary masterpiece that has been born inside of us.

When we value others, and measure their worth for who they are, we begin to unleash the extraordinary masterpiece inherent inside of them – and slowly but surely, person by person, interaction by interaction, we can make our world a better place. We can create a better future for everyone within the sphere of our influence.

How can we practically value ourselves for being? Well, I have a simple acrostic that helps me – B.E.I.N.G.

The “B” stands for “Believe the best.” Believe the best about yourselves and about others. See the best in yourself and in others. Expect the best. Envision the best. I need to come alongside someone as they dream, and work with them to make their dreams a reality. Believing the best does not mean excusing bad behavior, or eliminating healthy boundaries – quite the opposite. It is expecting the best in others and not settling for less.

“E” reminds me to “Encourage myself and others.” The word encourage literally means “to breathe courage into.” What a cool concept. To breathe courage into yourself and others – the courage it takes to be the best you that you can be. When I and those around me fall short, we encourage each other to do better. Encourage also means “to develop.” I need to continually invest in myself and others to fully develop our individual masterpieces.

“It is in you!” is the “I”. You may remember the popular Gatorade commercial would ask the question, “Is it in you?” Of course, they mean, is Gatorade in you? Gatorade is what propels you and enables you to be the best athlete you can be, and you need to pour it in from the outside – and keep adding it as your internal supply runs low. My extraordinary nature is already in me and can never be consumed – it can never run low or run out. It can be hidden, but it can never be taken out of you. I don’t have to do anything to be extraordinary. It is what I AM. It is what you ARE. We should carry ourselves as such. We should act extraordinary – expect the extraordinary.

“N” is for “Never give up!” We are going to make mistakes. The people closest to us will let us down from time to time. Extraordinary does not mean I never blow it, it means that I have extraordinary persistence and tenacity. I will not let mistakes get in the way of my masterpiece. Failure is one of the best methods of learning we have available to us. We need to leverage mistakes and failures as a launch pad for an extraordinary impact. I am reminded of a famous quote from Winston Churchill,

“Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense”

“Go intentionally!”. Finally, the “G” reminds us that BEING is an intentional act. I desire to go into every situation with the intention of seeing and enabling the extraordinary in everyone I touch. I want to intentionally change the environment around me – I want to create an aura of the extraordinary. My intentions should be to unleash the extraordinary masterpiece in everyone I meet. We should desire to move the masterpiece needle at least one notch closer to fully unleashed for every person we interact with. How awesome would it be to be intentional about every conversation in every situation we find ourselves in?

I am already extraordinary. You are already extraordinary. It is already in us. We just need to realize it, develop it, express it – in ourselves and in others. Value yourself and others for you you are. Start with BEING. Express who you are by DOING.

Let’s start a revolution of extraordinary!! It starts with me (and you), moves out from there though those closest to us and then grows exponentially through everyone we have influence over!

What if I Never Live a Story Worth Telling?

August 11, 2014 by Bob Clinkert Leave a Comment

“You know,” he said after a while , “it’s kids’ stuff, but I always thought my obituary would be in all the newspapers, that I’d have a story worth telling. I always had this secret suspicion that I was special.”

– Augustus (Gus) Waters, from The Fault in Our Stars

I can personally resonate with what Gus is saying. I want a story worth telling. I want to be special.

I can honestly say that my desire to be special, to have a story worth telling, is mostly altruistic. I want to make a lasting, meaningful difference in the world before I leave it.

My understanding of how to actually measure the difference I am making has changed significantly over my 47 years, and continues to evolve. As I get closer to my 50th birthday – a significant milestone event in my life – I am becoming more anxious about making a difference. I feel like if I am really going to make a big splash, now is the time.

Many of the ways I believe people do make a big splash in the world continue to elude me.

Becoming the charismatic leader of a large world changing movement, like a Compassion International a Philippine Frontline Ministries, a New Thing, a Community Christian Church
Write a widely published book / Be an inspirational speaker.
Having the resources to take diamonds in the rough, and equip them to become all God made them to be. (And I mean real resources, like money, time, businesses, etc)
Being ridiculously generous
Be widely known as someone who is one of the best in the world at doing something worth-while

I’m not saying I get out of bed every morning intentionally trying to create one of these specific destinies, but I find myself measuring the success of my life against them.

Many of the people with whom I am able to engage in meaningful conversation, beyond the superficial talk, express similar concerns – sometimes directly, often times indirectly.

Something inside of me wants to fight against these particular ways to measure the impact of my life. When I search the scriptures, when I pray, meditate and reflect, a little voice shouts in my head that I have the wrong perspective, the wrong context.

The following quotes from the movie, Fault in our Stars resonate with that little voice shouting inside of me. How do they make you feel? If you haven’t seen the movie please do! It was incredibly meaningful for me. I well up with emotion just reading the quotes. It was a powerful story.

Quote One:

“If you don’t live a life in service of a greater good , you’ve gotta at least die a death in service of a greater good, you know? And I fear that I won’t get either a life or a death that means anything.”

– Gus Waters

Quote Two:

“People will say it’s sad that she (Hazel Grace Lancaster) leaves a lesser scar, that fewer remember her, that she was loved deeply but not widely. But it’s not sad…It’s triumphant. It’s heroic. Isn’t that the real heroism? …The real heroes anyway aren’t the people doing things; the real heroes are the people NOTICING things, paying attention. The guy who invented the smallpox vaccine didn’t actually invent anything. He just noticed that people with cowpox didn’t get smallpox.”

– Gus Waters

Quote Three (in its entirety):

“You know,” he (Gus Waters) said after a while , “it’s kids’ stuff, but I always thought my obituary would be in all the newspapers, that I’d have a story worth telling. I always had this secret suspicion that I was special.”

“You are,” I (Hazel Grace Lancaster) said.

“You know what I mean, though,” he said.

I did know what he meant. I just didn’t agree. “I don’t care if the New York Times writes an obituary for me. I just want you to write one,” I told him. “You say you’re not special because the world doesn’t know about you, but that’s an insult to me. I know about you.”

“I don’t think I’m gonna make it to write your obituary,” he said, instead of apologizing.

I was so frustrated with him. “I just want to be enough for you, but I never can be. This can never be enough for you. But this is all you get. You get me, and your family, and this world. This is your life. I’m sorry if it sucks. But you’re not going to be the first man on Mars, and you’re not going to be an NBA star , and you’re not going to hunt Nazis. I mean, look at yourself, Gus.”

I often feel like Gus – and Hazel. I feel like being loved deeply, and loving deeply, is better than loving widely. But that is not what the world tells me. That is often not what my brothers and sisters in the faith tell me – or at least what they show me.

Can I really live a a story worth telling if I am not going to be an NBA star or be the first man on Mars?

I want to believe the answer is yes. I just don’t know how to prove it. How to articulate it well. How to share that answer with others…but I’m working on it 🙂

What Matters to Us Most – Meaningful Life

July 9, 2014 by Bob Clinkert Leave a Comment

As soon as we open our eyes every morning, what we want most is to matter, to live a life (and to do work) that has meaning. – Bernadette Jiwa from her latest book, “Difference”

Can you relate to that? I know I do. I want to have an abundant life that is full of meaning, adventure, passion, love and making a difference.

Deep down inside, I know that I am falling short of the fullest, over-flowing abundant life that I can possibly have. Many people would point to differences I have made, some maybe even are able to articulate difference I have personally made in their own lives. I am grateful for that, and feel that is a big part of why I am here.

However, the truth I feel deep in my gut, is that there is more. I am not taking hold of all that my life should be.

That frustrates me. Can you resonate with that? Do you sometimes think that your life should feel different? Have more abundance than it has, even if it is only a little more – or a lot more?

Maybe what frustrates me most is that, as a follower of Jesus, I believe that I already have been created with everything I need to live that fully abundant life. Ephesians 2:10 says that me, you, all of us, have been created as UNIQUE MASTERPIECES of God, with special, unique GOOD WORKS – not just abstract gifts that we can try to measure and compare – but real, actual works of goodness that we have been uniquely created to DO.

If I was created a unique masterpiece, and I have the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Holy Spirit presence of the Living God residing inside of my heart and soul, – that even a mustard seed’s worth of access to that could move mountains – why do I feel lacking in abundance at times?

I think that is a very important questions to ask. I have been asking that question since being challenged by God on the first trip I took to the Philippines to serve abandoned abused and dangerously neglected children living on the streets.

In order for me to UNLEASH THE MASTERPIECE of God in those precious street kids who live on the other side of the world, I need to first, unleash it in myself. I cannot effectively give what I do not already have. I need to be a product of the product.

My wife is the single most important human being in the world to me – and, how effective am I at helping her unleash the unique masterpiece that God created her to be? I have four biological children, and I have very special adopted kids that I love like my own – how am I doing at helping them UNLEASH THE MASTERPIECE within? Shouldn’t it start first at home?

I have been working with other people’s kids for years in student ministries, coaching sports teams, etc. What about in those contexts? How am I doing at unleashing in those arenas?

What God was telling me in 2006 in on the streets of the Philippines was that I need integrity of message to be successful. If my heart is truly broken for street kids – I need to be overflowing with MASTERPIECE that is abundant in my life and the lives of those closest to me.

What I have learned over the past 8 years since then is that is a very difficult thing to do at all, let alone to do well – and to do in a reliable, predictable and repeatable way. Becoming a Masterpiece, and helping those closest to me become masterpieces, is the only way to create a movement of UNLEASHED MASTERPIECES.

I have come to find that fully unleashing my masterpiece, and anyone’s, takes an entire lifetime. Your masterpiece, my masterpiece, IS MY LIFE, your life, our lives. It is the culmination of (hopefully) many masterpiece decades, made up of masterpiece years, made of masterpiece months, weeks, days, hours minutes and seconds.

I have narrowed the question down to how do I live this CURRENT DAY as a MASTERPIECE, and how do I encourage others around me to do the same? How do I best set the stage for tomorrow’s masterpiece?

It is complex, unique, is filled with ups, downs, failures, hope, despair, laughing, crying, joy and pain. It requires intentional relationships, intentional effort, time and money. It’s a journey, not a destination.

I like this quote by Brene Brown – “It’s so scary to show up. It feels dangerous to be seen, it’s terrifying. But it is not as scary, dangerous or terrifying as getting to the end of our lives and thinking—what if I would have shown up? What would have been different?”

I would like to modify that quote a bit. What if I get to the end of this DAY, or this HOUR, without having “shown up”? What would have been different? Having missed the good works I was created to do this day? This hour?

The Blurry of Discipleship

February 26, 2014 by Bob Clinkert Leave a Comment

I had a realization recently about discipleship, or mentoring. I used to think discipleship was all about making a difference in someone else’s life. Investing in them. Transferring wisdom and experience, helping through difficult times, celebrating the wins and grieving the losses.

To some extent, all of that is part of discipleship. However, there are much larger aspects that I am becoming aware of. They were right there all the time, I just never really saw them or considered them.

I thought that my success in discipling/mentoring others would be measured by the day the person I mentored was able to share publicly something along these lines,

“I remember when (my dad, my boss, my co-worker, my friend, my neighbor, this random stranger) said these words to me (fill in the blank with wisdom), or shared this experience (fill in the blank) or modelled this principle (fill in the blank)…and here is how my life is different because of it.”

While that might seem prideful, it really was never intended to be. I am the product of many people investing in me over my lifetime. I simply want to return the favor.

Lately, I am measuring the fruits of my discipleship and/or mentoring efforts a little differently. That measurement is starting to look something like this – When I see someone I have been investing in saying something awesome, doing something awesome, or being something awesome, and I can’t quite figure out where it came from. Was it me? Was it them? Was it someone else? Was it God in them?

When the lines are blurred; when I can’t really figure out the root cause, that is when I really see the fruit of my investment. Because it is all of those (me, them, someone else, God), and only one of those that made the difference. It is ultimately God within them, within me, within their other mentors, that is getting the job done.

I am also beginning to see fruit in failure. If the people that Jesus discipled 24×7 made mistakes like crazy, I should expect the same. I am not a better mentor than Jesus. Jesus had the vision to see that a successful life is built from bricks not only made of successes, but of failures as well. Each brick of failure cemented in with the proper mortar makes the structure bigger, stronger and able to withstand more pressure.

If what I believe about the Bible, and about callings, and about how God wired up the universe is true, then discipleship should look blurry. Not only blurry from the perspective of whose investment has made the difference, but also blurry in terms of who is the mentor and who is the mentee.

My interpretation of scripture, and the nature of God tells me that we are really all mentees under one mentor. We are all being discipled by the one. It’s an iron sharpening iron process. When I give, I also receive. It is how God wired up the universe to be. The more I give, the more I receive. The more I sow, the more I reap. Seems simple, but at the same time it is very profound.

Marc Malnati Interview – In case you missed it

February 21, 2014 by Bob Clinkert Leave a Comment

In case you missed the latest Willow Creek Association “BizBreakfast” – “Deep Dishing with Marc Malnati”, on Friday, February 21, 2014, at Willow, I put together the following summary of the interview. Marc Malnati is the current owner of the family-owned pizza business Lou Malnati’s. Lou Malnati’s has approximately 36 locations in the Chicagoland area.

A short disclaimer. I was taking notes and it is entirely possible that some of what I write below from my notes and memory may not be entirely accurate. I accept your grace in advance, and please feel free to correct me!

History

In 1978, when he was 22 years old he graduated with a business degree, and the same year his dad died they had to close the Flossmoor store for lack of revenue. They lost about a half-million dollars that took several years to pay off.

Marc says, “The mistakes you make early on in your business can kill you.” It is much easier to lose money than make money. One bad business can lose enough money to close three healthy businesses.

In 1979 his mom suggested that he set up at “Chicagofest” to sell pizza. The sold more than 80,000 slices of pizza in ten days. That positive experience motivated him to pursue growing the business.

Marc’s Employees and Organizational Culture

His employees are willing to treat his business like it was their own. Over 25% of his full-time staff has been with the business for 10 years or more – significantly better than the average for the restaurant business.

Their staff, NOT the customer, is the highest priority of the Lou Malnatis business. Of course, the end result of that decision is much better customer experience across the board.

People – the staff – their development, care and support – are always the biggest challenge to contend with at Lou Malnatis.

One thing he and his staff take pride in is the organizational culture.

Marc’s Secret Sauce for Business Success – Leadership Coaching

About 25 years ago, Marc decided to bring in a counselor/executive coach for a two hour off-site meeting with him and his executive staff to help them work through issues. He figured that should be plenty of time. After about 25 minutes of pleasantries, things quickly devolved into yelling, screaming and verbal sparring.

Marc decided to schedule a “wrap-up” session for the next month to get the issues completely solved. This time, the pleasantries only lasted a few minutes.

Needless to say, those sessions have continued for the last 25 years. The executive leadership team eventually extended these coaching session to other groups of employees to spread the “secret sauce” throughout the organization.

He brings his leadership staff to the Willow Leadership Summit every year. The utilize things they learn during the summit. Their latest take away is Bill Hybel’s 6×6 idea he shared at the 2013 Summit.

This is almost a direct quote, “If you are going to be around in business a long time, whether you are a Christian-owned business or not, you have to adopt Christian principles.”

These principles include integrity, generosity, and “investing in and developing people so they rise to a level beyond which they ever dreamed they could” – **I love that one by the way!! Unleash the Masterpiece!!**

Lawndale Location

In 1996, Malnatis had 9 locations. At that time, Wayne Gordon – a Chicago pastor who decided to move his family into one of the poorest and most crime-ridden Chicago neighborhoods – asked Marc Malnati to consider “tithing” his tenth location by opening it in the Lawndale neighborhood. Wayne explained that the area needed a family-owned restaurant where community members could celebrate birthdays, hold business meetings, and just get out and enjoy some good pizza.

After a great deal of prayer and discussion, Marc agreed and opened the tenth location in an old, long-vacant and distressed local grocery store. Marc hoped that the location would become a bright spot in that community and be able to provide a health community hangout as well as local jobs for the areas under-resourced residents.

For the first 13 years, the area was too dangerous to do deliveries.

The Lawndale location recently celebrated their 20 year anniversary, with the last three years being profitable, after more than a million dollar investment.

When Marc opened the store, he committed to invest any and all profits back into the community. Since profitability occurred three years ago, Marc has kept that promise.

The spirit of the Lawndale location has energized his business over the years

Marc’s Style and Background

Marc is a self-proclaimed ready-fire-aim guy and has surrounded himself with people much better than him at planning

Marc came to follow Jesus in college in Indiana through Crusade, and the leader of Crusade at his campus named Tom Burnett.

When Marc was asked, “How would you describe your leadership?” he respectfully passed on the question.

One of his favorite leadership quotes is from General Colin Powell. He said, “I have never had to tell anyone ‘that’s an order’.” Marc loves that and says that you should be able to lead without having to remind people that you are the leader. They should already know and already respect you if you are doing it right.

When you go from one location to two, you will
- Make less money – you will need to get to five stores before your margin improves again
- Need to transition your leadership skills as an executive from a generalist to a specialist – an expert at developing and growing people.

Marc would rather tap investors than have to borrow money. If he has to borrow money, he likes to limit it to real estate purchases.

Future Plans

Marc plans on opening three new restaurants in 2014. The new stores, couples with the usual turnover, will mean Lou Malnatis needs to hire about 900 new people in 2014.

Jon Stewart and the Daily Show Situation

Marc Malnati has been in the news lately regarding an ongoing feud between Chicago-style pizza and New York style pizza

Back in November 2013, Jon Stewart went off on deep dish pizza during his show. He said some nasty things that included some inappropriate language
- “Let me explain something, deep-dish pizza is not only not better than New York pizza. It’s not pizza,” Stewart explained. “It’s a **blanking** casserole!”
- Stewart went on to liken Chicago-style pizza to “tomato soup in a bread bowl,” “an above-ground marinara swimming pool for rats” and, most damningly, “**blank** with a corpse made of sandpaper.”

Of course, Marc could not take these accusations lying down. He made a video response and posted it on youtube. The video went viral. You can see it here: Marc Malnati Response to Jon Stewart

After the video went viral, Marc was invited to have a discussion with Jon Stewart live during one of his shows. Marc accepted and they buried the hatchet as it were.

Marc had never seen the show, but was grateful for the free advertising he got his business given the more than two million viewers of The Daily Show!

My Parting Thoughts

Thanks for reading through my summary. I hope it has inspired you.

The closing of the meeting, since it was a Christian meeting, discussed a passage from the Bible – Matthew Chapter 5 – about being salt, light, letting your good deeds shine. We were encouraged to carry our salt and light with us and think through the good we can do wherever God has us in our daily lives, including our workplace. Sounds like he is saying we need to express our masterpiece in the “ordinary” living of our lives! Sounds good to me!

Seeing the Fingerprints of God – A Winter’s Tale

February 18, 2014 by Bob Clinkert Leave a Comment

I recently saw the movie “A Winter’s Tale” with my wife Vicky for a date night. I loved the movie and would highly recommend for many reasons. On the drive home, I was listening to a Christian radio station and sure enough, the movie review segment came on and it was a Christian review of “A Winter’s Tale.” The reviewer went on to complain about “new age themes”, “sex outside of marriage,” etc, etc., and because of those things, he couldn’t recommend it and gave it two stars.

Really? I mean, that is really what you see when you are reviewing a completely secular movie made by a secular producer who would not identify at all with so-called “Christian-values?” As a devoted follower of Jesus, that negative attitude really grieves me. I don’t see it that way at all.

I saw the unmistakable, indelible fingerprints of God all of the story in the movie. Since God is real, and his principles are real, it is impossible to make anything that has any value, that will not display the fingerprints of God. Take sex. Who invented sex? God did. Who invented the pleasure, and unique, intimate connection that comes along with sex? God did. In the movie the main character pledges his eternal love to the main female character. He promises to love her, and only her, forever. In fact, his single-hearted love for her and her alone is so strong that it enables him to escape death. That’s how I want to love my wife. Seeing the love scenes and how he talks about her reminds me so much of how I feel about Vicky. It moves me to see that depth of connection in a movie because that is what I experience in my marriage, and that is supposed to be an example of God’s great love. I’ll take that portrayal of sex and love from a secular movie any day of the week. There wasn’t even any nudity.

The movie goes on to say that no person ever born is any more important than anyone else. That we are all super important. In addition, every single one of us as an incredible important destiny and mission in life, “our miracle.” Everyone, great and small, rich and poor, famous and obscure. In fact, the demon character remarks that sometimes the greatest miracle is nothing that seems special on the outside, but it’s a life that is lived with such great love that is impacts everyone who sees it. Wow! My favorite verse in the whole bible is Ephesians 2:10 that talks about each and every one of us being created as a unique masterpiece of God, with good works that are designed for us, specifically for us, by God, before he laid the foundations of the world.

I don’t see many secular movies at all that get that. Most secular movies worship fame, fortune, the rich, the beautiful, etc. A Winter’s Tale reminds us of the intrinsic value of every human being and the importance of each of our unique missions in life. How the world is lacking if we do not become who we were born to be, and do the things that we were born to do. That’s awesome! Not only that, but when living out your mission gets hard, you get supernatural help. In the movie it is in the form of a fantasy horse but so what. Show some imagination.

This movie is written by a guy who is not a follower of Jesus, who is not trying to promote a Godly message, but, cannot help himself but do so.. Why? Because the story of God is a great story. It’s the greatest story ever told. If you want to tell a good story, you cannot do it without telling parts of God’s story. You cannot tell a good story without including the fingerprints of God all over it. So no one prayed the sinners prayer doing the movie, and no one waited until they were married to have sex. Big deal. It’s a secular movie. Get over it. We should be running out en masse to support movies like this. We should be inviting our secular friends and neighbors to see it with us. We should be having meaningful discussion about it after words, gently leading people to the fingerprints of God, and leaving them wanting more.

When I see A Winter’s Tale, I see the fingerprints of God all over it. I see elements of the greatest story ever told. I see the power of monogamous, intimate, romantic, unconditional love. I see Ephesians 2:10 value, masterpiece and mission all over the plot of the movie. I see a supernatural force that is not distant, but one the injects itself into the moment when needed most. I see God all over this movie, and we should be walking with the secular world and helping them to continue connecting those dots. Jesus says that from the abundance of the heart comes evil and good. If all we ever see in this world is evil, what does that say about our hearts?

Spiritual Order of Operations

November 19, 2013 by Bob Clinkert Leave a Comment

Have you ever seen a post like this – “What is 2 + 5 * 0 + 7 * 3 – 10? (a) 11 (b) 39 (c) 13 (d) 18”

These questions are designed to test your understanding of the order of operations for simple math problems. Most everyone knows how to multiply, divide, add and subtract. Far fewer people who have the correct understanding of the order of operations for simple math problems.

The minor tragedy is that you can know how to do the individual pieces of the problem correctly, but if you don’t get the order of operations right, you will get the wrong answer.

I learned order of operations with a simple mnemonic that goes as follows, “My Dear Aunt Sally,” and the expanded version, “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.” This simple phrase reminds one of the correct order of operations – P-E-M-D-A-S – first Parentheses, then Exponents (like squared, etc), Multiplication, Division, Addition and lastly, Subtraction.

So, applying that little mnemonic to the above simple math problem you get

2 + (5*0) + (7*3) – 10

= 2 + 0 + 21 – 10

= 23 -10

= 13

Without the correct understanding of the order in which you solve the equation, you will likely not get the right answer to even a very simple problem like the one above, forget about one’s that are more complex. You may accidently get the right answer with simpler problems, but you will never be consistent with the easy ones, and you will rarely succeed with the more difficult problems.

I have found that getting the right answer when it comes to things spiritual works mostly the same way. If you don’t get the spiritual order of operations right, you may accidently succeed with the simpler problems in life, but you will never be consistent with the easy problems, and you will rarely succeed with the more difficult problems and issues life throws at you.

After decades of struggles and failures, here is what I have found works best for me:

Internal spiritual life first, then express it externally

Like Jesus said, nothing you eat can defile you, only what comes from inside your heart can defile you. That is the source of either blessings or curses. If my inside isn’t right, I am operating in fake it til you make it mode. That never works long-term for me. It might work for a while, but when the storms come, or fatigue, or both, I will come crashing down, and normally take a few people with me.

I need to listen for what God is saying to me by reflecting on his word daily. I need to have conversations with him about myself, those I care about, those I don’t like or understand, those I don’t know, and those I hate. When I am right inside, I am so much better at being right on the outside.

Faith first, then works

James is famous for saying, faith without works is dead. This is absolutely true. If you read it properly, it implies that faith comes first, and that the best works come as an expression of internal faith.

It’s kind of like the Sears (excuse me, Willis) Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge. You can’t directly see the deep foundational moorings of either one, but you can indirectly see the expression of them in the rock-solid stability and longevity of both.

Faith is the foundation for enduring good works. One of the reasons why following Jesus is so difficult is because you don’t get partial credit. Doing the right things, for the wrong reasons, is still wrong. It’s not that Jesus is looking for any excuse to smack us down, it is because he wants us to be successful over the long-term.

Significant-other first, then kids, close friends, acquaintances, then everyone else

Many of us know people personally, who are heroes in the public eye, and fail at home with those they should love and care about the most. The news is littered with stories of the broken legacies left behind by leaders in all walks of life, who failed where it counts the most, at home.

Success at home is less about the will and desire to be a good spouse, parent and/or child, and more about the relentless pursuit of accurate feedback and accountability.

I don’t think I have ever met anyone that walks down the aisle with the determined intent to fail in their marriage. I don’t know anyone who holds their newborn in their arms and is determined to screw them up and/or abandon them.

Our desire to live right at home is often times the very thing that blinds us to our areas of weakness. We want to do well and we are afraid to ask the tough questions, and be held accountable to the answers.

The pressures of life provide constant force to that continually tries to knock us off course, and only the relentless pursuit of honest feedback and accountability will lead to a successful finish.

Anytime I have taken a sabbatical from more casual communities like church, small group, hanging out with friends, etc., to focus on those closest to me, I have ended up getting even more weird. I have found that for me, I need to do all of it, in the right order, to be successful.

As I reflect back on my 46 year journey through life so far, my failures come much more often from getting the order wrong, than from not being able to do any one of the things right. What has your experience been? So what?

The Last Advantage – Organizational Health

November 4, 2013 by Bob Clinkert Leave a Comment

Profit margin is the lifeblood of any successful business. In today’s ultra-competitive, ever-changing global economy, margin is eroding on many fronts. This erosion needs to be countered by new sources of margin increase. In the last few decades, technology and globalization have been the primary sources for increasing profit margin. Advances in technology lead to gains in productivity, and globalization leads both to reduced costs for materials and labor, as well as new market opportunities.

Of course, your competition gobbles up the same sources of margin growth in terms of increased productivity and decreased costs; making them much stronger in the process. Globalization itself also increases competition. Increased competition is a margin killer. Most if not all businesses have felt the sting of increased competition the last several years.

As a business leader, you would prefer to find a new source of margin increase that is more than just incremental and more than keeping up with the competition. It would be even better if that advantage was sustainable and defendable against the competition.

The latest in business research of the real-world, performing, great companies shows that there is one, perhaps last, source of sustainable competitive advantage – organizational health. Well-known business author Patrick Lencioni writes,

“There is one remaining, untapped competitive advantage out there, and it’s more important than all the others ever were. It is simple, reliable and virtually free. What I’m talking about is organizational health. A healthy organization is one that has all but eliminated politics and confusion from its environment. As a result, it will inevitably become smarter and tap into every bit of intelligence, talent and innovation that it has. Productivity and morale will soar and good people will almost never leave.”

Organizational health can be measured on a continuum between toxic on the minus side, and and thriving on the plus side. A recent large-scale employee engagement survey gives a good indicator of where the organizational health needle may fall on this continuum for the average business. According to this recent research, more than 70% of America’s 100 million workers are either not engaged or actively disengaged.

Thriving cultures produce incredible results, and can outperform toxic cultures by a wide margin, in every aspect of the business – including profit margin. Thriving cultures create more innovation – in operations, new product/service development, and even in management. According to business management expert Gary Hamel, “Management innovation is going to be one of the most enduring sources of competitive advantage. There will be lots of rewards for firms in the vanguard.”

Developing a healthy, innovative culture and moving the organization health needle from toxic to thriving is not simple nor is it easy. It requires diligence, tenacity and a commitment to a rigorous system of healthy culture development – a framework of processes that can demonstrate the production of desired results. This well-defined process for developing organizational health through healthy cultures is known as cultural engineering. Utilizing the right techniques, you can engineer your culture to produce lasting competitive advantage and improved profit margin, targeted directly at the sweet spots for your business. Why doesn’t every business tap into this sustainable competitive advantage? According to Lencioni,

“The biggest reason that organizational health remains untapped is that it requires courage and perseverance. Leaders must be willing to confront themselves, their peers, and the dysfunction within their organization with an uncommon level of honesty and persistence. They must be prepared to walk straight into uncomfortable situations and address issues that prevent them from realizing the potential that eludes them.”

The good news is that we know how to get there. The even better news is that most businesses are unwilling and afraid to go there. This is what creates sustainable competitive advantage that cannot be easily copied. Are you willing to tap into this source of margin improvement and sustainable competitive advantage?

Why I Celebrate Halloween

October 31, 2013 by Bob Clinkert Leave a Comment

I celebrate Halloween to:

hang out with family and friends,
see my nieces, nephews and other kids dressed up in cute costumes
eat candy
wear my cowboy hat
experience communitas (I call it Halloween-itas)

To those who believe that celebrating Halloween is “evil” or, akin to worshipping the devil, or similar nonsense, I have two words for you: Christmas, Easter. Or, to make it simple, we can combine it into one word, “Creaster.”

If you are against the celebration of Halloween because of its pagan roots and salacious rituals, and you wish to have any kind of integrity, you must oppose Christmas and Easter with equal, if not more fervent vehemence and vigor. Here’s why:

Some Noteworthy Pagan Aspects of the Celebration of Christmas:

Sorry, Jesus was likely not born on December 25
Tradition is rooted in the feast of the God Saturn, called Saturnalia
This feast involved sacrifice to the God Saturn in the temple of Saturn by the priests of Saturn
This feast involved various kinds of pagan revelries (use your imagination)
Common Christmas things found in the average home of a Halloween-hater and most other Christians:
- Christmas Tree
  - Symbolizes the rebirth of Nimrod in Babylonian traditions
  - Decorated with red berries during the feast of Saturnalia
  - Worshipped by Druids
- Holly
  - In pagan cultures they were offered to the fairy people of the forests as refuge from the harsh winter weather
  - During the feast of Saturnalia, they were exchanged as a symbol of friendship and fertility
- Mistletoe
  - Yeah. Think about it. Pagan rituals included lots of drunken orgies.

Some Noteworthy Pagan Aspects of the Celebration of Easter

Sorry, Jesus likely did not really raise from the dead on Easter Sunday
Tradition is rooted in the feast of the fertility goddess Ishtar
Ishtar also goes by Astarte, Aphrodite, Artemis, etc
The goddess Asherah, in reference to the Asherah poles in the Old Testament, is likely Ishtar’s sister (or is she?)
Ishtar was also the goddess of sexuality and as such, is typically depicted nekkid
The celebration of a feast to a fertility and sexuality goddess typically ended up in what could be generally called drunken orgies
Easter eggs come derive from the Egyptian celebration of Shemu, which is the season of harvest and rebirth, where they wrote their wishes on painted eggs and put them on windows and trees to receive the blessings of the first rays of the morning light produced by sun god Ra.
Of course eggs are also representative of fertility
Easter Bunny – What are bunnies known for? Yeah. Fertility.

How/why did this Happen?

Instead of trying to stop pagan practices, why not Christianize them?
- Change their meaning
- Soften the pagan practices
- Make the pagan festival “holy”
- Common practice during the Crusades

Why Celebrate any Pagan Feast Days/Holidays?

Because, that is not what we’re celebrating!!
At least, that is not what I am celebrating…

When I celebrate Christmas, I am celebrating Jesus’ birth, not making sacrifices to the pagan god Saturnalia. Reality is, I don’t even believe the god Saturn is a real being, believe it or not. Similarly, I decorate Christmas trees in my home as a family tradition – not because I am a druid that worships trees. True story.

I celebrate Easter because it marks, in my tradition, the central most important event in the Christian faith – The resurrection of Jesus. I am not celebrating the goddess Ishtar. In fact, believe it or not, I do not believe she is a real being, so, why would I worship her? I like easter eggs because it’s a fun family tradition, and I especially like Reese’s peanut butter eggs and Cadbury eggs. Yum!

And, yeah, I celebrate Halloween because it’s a fun tradition. It’s fun to get dressed up. Here’s a news flash, I have not, do not, and will not ever worship the devil, or demons, or anything but Yahweh/Jehovah, the one true God, and only God I believe in.

Putting on a mask, or costume, on the outside of your body does not defile you. Fortunately, my daily Bible reading included this quotation from Jesus, “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”

And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.” – Mark 7:14-22

So, if you choose to celebrate halloween by dressing like a pilgrim and burning Harry Potter books go right ahead. I suggest you also burn Christmas trees and Easter bunnies though, to be consistent.

I am choosing to celebrate Halloween. You are all invited to hang out at Chipotle or Chilis or wherever we end up hanging out tonight! I’ll be the one wearing the black cowboy hat!

What Henry Ford Really Thinks of You – Full Article

October 25, 2013 by Bob Clinkert Leave a Comment

The Man, The Legacy

Make no mistake about it, Henry Ford has been one of the greatest, if not the greatest influencers of our society for 100 years or more. His business savvy and creative genius have given the US, and the world many marvelous inventions, paradigms and nuggets of wisdom.

Most notably, Henry Ford perfected the factory and the assembly line inside of it, which together formed the primary means of production in the industrial economy. While the assembly line and factory did much to advance the nation as a whole, and significantly line the pockets of a few, it has also done a great deal of damage to “the masses.”

Means of Production

Henry Ford’s factory/assembly line production model dictates which roles, responsibilities and skills are important, and which are not. Overall, I believe what this model implies about the value of “average” people, ultimately resulted in a much greater negative influence in our society than it has for good; and, perhaps has precipitated some of the deep rooted economic and societal issues we are struggling with today in this nation and around the world.

It was Seth Godin who articulated this phenomenon and enlightened me to the serious ramifications of the the industrial revolution model, especially as we begin to move into a post-industrial economy. Seth explains that the Henry Ford factory production model, stresses compliance, uniformity, falling in line, and clear-cut, simplistic delineation of roles and responsibility.

There are assembly-line workers, assembly-line supervisors, factor managers and factory owners. Owners, and to a lesser extent managers, hold all of the cards and are responsible for all of the innovation and creative thinking. Innovative and creative thinking at the assembly-line level is not only discouraged, but in most cases forbidden. The assembly-line worker and even the direct supervisor are thought of as little more than trained monkeys.

Give me Monkeys, Please

Henry Ford is quoted as saying, “Why is it every time I ask for a pair of hands, they come with a brain attached?” In Henry Ford’s system, people are only as valuable as the simple, repetitive task that they can perform. They are interchangeable, nameless and faceless. Henry Ford has no use for uniquely created masterpieces made in the image of God; what he needs are robots without brains, without personalities, feelings, dreams and desires.

I have worked for several large tech companies at various levels of management. One of the primary objectives of the executive management was to eliminate the high-paid coding experts through a combination of rigorous processes that eliminate the need for high competence, and outsourcing / offshoring which allows leverage of under-resourced individuals to lower salaries.

The message from the top at every company I worked was very similar, “I want to be able to put monkeys in the chairs and have them cranking out code that works!” That is a great illustration of the value system of the industrial economy. Creativity, leadership, excellence, high pay and leverage only belongs at the very top of the executive food chain. The goal for every level beneath the executive level is – monkeys. Inexpensive robots – mindless automatons that can and should be replaced with the lowest priced alternatives on an ongoing basis.

Societal Impact

That is the value system that the industrial economy is based on, and the foundation that our modern society is built on. Of the industrial economy, Seth says, “We invented public schools… jobs … suburbs—so many of the things that are part of our lives because we wanted and needed to support the industrial economy…. It was a very seductive bargain: if you gave up certain elements of self-determination and elements of your dreams—in return, the industrial economy would take good care of you.”

That’s right. Everything for the last 120+ years has been designed around the industrial economy – factory/assembly-line production model. Daycares, grade schools, secondary schools, colleges, job training programs, management and HR practices, churches – most everything. The system sees most of us, our kids, friends, relatives and neighbors as tools/cogs the elite use to make more money.

Are we Ready for the Future?

Certainly devaluing most of society and relegating them to a mindless, innovation and creativity free existence is a bad thing, but we have another, more pressing issue with running our organizations and societies on industrial economy principles – we are quickly moving into a post-industrial society, where uniqueness, individuality, entrepreneurship and specialty will rule the day.

The skills, abilities and motivations that prepare someone for a life-long journey in the industrial economy are completely inadequate for preparing someone to be successful in the post-industrial, connection-based economy that we have been moving into for the last several years. The good news is that it is not too late to opt out of the old system and jump into a new system. It will require a complete paradigm shift, and the onboarding of new systems and processes that value the individual over the task.

A Better Way

Seeing every individual as a unique, creative, critical, contributing component to any endeavor from business to education to outreach and ministry is the key to thriving in the new post-industrial, connection-based economy. We need to adopt new systems that formulate the tactics that align with this new overall strategy. What may these new strategies and tactics be? I’m glad you asked!

The research, development and effective onboarding of the most effective systems and processes that implement the strategies and tactics around post-industrial excellence have been the center of many of the efforts my partners and I have investing in over the last several years. We will be unpacking what we have learned through new initiatives over the next several weeks and months. Stay tuned!

Read this short story excerpt taken from Set Godin’s eBook titled, Stop Stealing Dreams