Just One

When I worked for Merge Healthcare, I regularly made the trek from Cleveland to Milwaukee.  I made the trip so often that I pretty much got the same flights each time.  The evening flight choices were an afternoon flight at around 4:30 and one around 8:00.  Because I was such a dedicated employee, I usually always took the last one out.  I gave a friend of mine who made the same commute grief because he always took the earlier flight.  The problem was that the last flight out came from Newark so it was perpetually late.  If you have ever flown in and out of Newark, that would not surprise you. 

One particular evening, I got to the airport around 5:30 and found out that the 8:00 flight was going to be at least two hours late.  All of the people that were on that flight were able to get out early on the 4:30 flight.  So here I was, the only one on this flight.  I inquired if they would cancel the flight and they said that the crew and plane had to be in Cleveland anyway as Cleveland is a Continental (now United) hub.  So I was faced with the dubious honor of being the only passenger on a regional jet. 

Now even though I knew that Continental was not going to great lengths to accommodate me.  They would have flown an empty plane.  But that did not stop me from feeling like a big shot.  It was a very weird feeling sitting in that plane by myself.  Extra peanuts please!  I know that scenario will likely never be repeated in my lifetime unless I somehow actually become a big shot.

That story reminds in some small way of the great lengths that God goes to woo us, seek us out, redeem us, forgive us, sanctify us.  In Matthew 8, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee in the midst of a fierce storm to the Gentile region of the Gadarenes.  There were two demon possessed, violent men who met him when he got there.  Hardly a welcoming committee!  Verse 29 tells us that Jesus was there to transact business with these men.  The suggestion is that the Lord God in flesh made a special trip to redeem these men.  He cast out the demons from them and allowed the demons to enter a herd of swine.  When the swine rushed down a steep bank and drowned, the people implored him to leave and so he gets back on the boat to go back across the sea.  As a friend of mine once said, he "got in, got the job done, then got out". 

Many times Jesus altered his plan to seek out a single individual.  This must have frustrated the disciples.  Redemption from Rome was the larger issue to them.  But the redemption of man was Jesus' larger mission.  In order to achieve that mission, individuals matter.  I cannot personally believe that the God would seek me out and personally desire a relationship with me.  I mean the universe must have some bigger issue than what God is faced with my petty problems.  But He does seek me out and He does seek you out.  I absolutely believe that every day of my life.

I don't think God is passively waiting for us either.  In the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 14, the father sees the son a "long way off" and runs to meet him.  The suggestion is that the father was looking for his son each and every day and couldn't wait for him to return.  He violated every social norm and runs with bare legs exposed to embrace his wandering son.  I cannot imagine Continental holding that jet waiting for me to show up or the captain running to meet me when I decided to show up for my flight.

One more example.  I used to tell my kids when they were little that we sought them and if they were the only ones on the earth, we would seek them out.  Very reassuring for a little child.  The truth however (I can say this now, they are older) is that we and they had no choice.  We were stuck with them and they with us.  However, adoption is different.  When you adopt a child, you are actually seeking them out and making a decision to take them.  Many adopting parents go across the ocean and put up with lots of red tape to find their child.  I am so glad adoption is the model of the child of God (Rom 8:15, 8:23, 9:4, Gal 4:5, Eph 1:5).  He is not stuck with me - he seeks me out and I truly believe that if I were the only one on this earth, He would still go to great lengths to adopt me into His family.  

Looking for a BHAG

Jim Collins as far as I know coined the term BHAG which stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goal in Good to Great.  He describes it as a huge and daunting goal - like a big mountain to climb.  It is clear and compelling and people get it right away.  A BHAG can serve as a focal point, galvanizing people and creating a team spirit as people move towards a finish line. 

I am living through one potential BHAG in business right now with our new software product due to launch next quarter.  I am part of this years class of Leadership Cleveland and we are framing a big vision to change our city.   Pat Morley has kind of put a different spin on BHAG and called it a Big Holy Audacious Goal.  Someone once defined prayer as "finding out what God is doing and getting in on it".  I kind of feel that way about our church - our pastor Joe Coffey is exceptional at framing a vision and communicating it to the congregation.  In my CLC group, we are in the last session on Reforming Our Communities which is all about making a difference in our region.

I am firmly convinced that people want to be part of something big.  No one wants to go through the motions day in and day out.  People want to know that what they are doing is making a difference.  When I was at Merge, we had regular conference calls with the CEO and in each conference call, he would lead off with how we did financially the previous quarter.  As a public company, he felt that was the most thing.  Nobody rallies behind financial numbers.  They are the measurement of performance, but not the motivator.  People not only want to make a difference, but they want to make an impact.  An impact is something dramatic, something of a higher plane.  If people think that what they are doing is making an impact, they will endure all sorts of opposition.  On the other hand, I have encountered people that are not part of a vision and are going through the motions.  They might be even well off, but they tend to be miserable.  The one year I worked in a "real job" I was miserable.  I have to be part of something I perceive to be great. 

God wants something great.  In Matthew 9:37-38, Jesus describes a plentiful harvest with too few workers.  In John 4:35, he talks about the fields that are ripe for harvest.  This is the BHAG that he wants each of us in on.  It is changing our neighborhood, our city, our region, our state, our country, our world.  Kingdom impact is a BHAG.  It is finding out what God is doing and getting in on it.  I am convinced that God is doing something big in my life and in the city of Cleveland.  I don't know specifics, but I want in on it.  Each of us wants just such a mission.

Stretch Goals

I am a chronic planner.  Most of my planning is looking ahead 90 days and then usually out to a year.  But I always picture the long-term perspective in our businesses.  It is kind of like seeing yourself in the car of your choice driving down the freeway.  It is that long-term perspective of the future that helps dictate what happens in the short term.  We are building a new business, Public Insight Corporation that is a potential game changer that looks at public data from an outcome based perspective.  If we didn't have the long term perspective, it would be hard to know what to do in the short-term.  We make short pithy statements that help us determine what we are or aren't.  For example, we say "we are not public policy experts" or "we are not the gatekeeper to the data' to help us stay on the long-term track.  We are also fond of establishing BHAG objectives which stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goals.  These are things that are the broader vision of where we ultimately want to be.  In this case, we visualize Public Insight as being the platform of choice for all state and local public analysis.  Pretty broad goals.

We sometimes establish "stretch" goals which are those goals that require us to really stretch to the limits of our potential.  A stretch goal is your ultimate reach that gets you going towards the BHAG.  I have always admired leaders that could see a longer term vision in their head and then execute towards it.  I don't consider myself a particularly strong visionary - I am more of a tactician, but I do find myself more and more thinking of what the potential might be.  Then as we execute towards the BHAG, we typically find ourselves making little detours along the way.  Entrepreneurship experts call those pivots.  The average successful entrepreneur pivots 1-2 times where as the unsuccessful entrepreneur pivots not at all or more than 2 times.  The message here is that detours happen - it is what you do with them that determine the success of your business.  If you ignore them, you will fail.  If you adjust too much like a bottle in the sea, you will also fail. 

So what is the spiritual message here?  God always has in mind for us a BHAG that always entails a series of stretch goals.  When God looks at you and me, He sees all of what we could be in Christ. He stretches us through trials.  James says to "consider it all joy my brethren when you encounter trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4).  Completeness is God's BHAG, but it will never be without trials and pain.  These are the pivots that we experience in daily life.  Jesus says "to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect".  That is the ultimate stretch BHAG.  I stumble often in my Christian walk.  The journey is often laden with potholes that line my path.  I know these pivots are maturing me, stretching me. 

I have to work out at least 3 times a week.  There are many times I don't feel like working out, but I do anyway.  Of course there are times when I should and I don't but that is another story.  I have never once regretted working out after I was done.  My 53 year old body is stronger and is able to help strengthen me against the natural causes of aging (aging always wins however).  If I was a perpetual couch potato, I would not be able to withstand any physical vigor.  Getting on my bike in the summertime would not be a pleasant experience.  Playing left field on my baseball team would feel like running in quicksand.  I am extremely grateful for God's workouts, but I sometimes hate them when they are happening.  I look back however very thankful for the stretching and maturing they are in my life while preparing me for the BHAG that I hope is around the corner.  Not sure when - took Moses 40 years, but I am going to be faithful in the process.  My prayer is that there is no trial that disqualifies me.