Tag Archives: work

Good Ideas Aren’t Enough

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Just having a good idea isn’t enough to make you successful. If that were enough, yours truly would have been wildly successful at the age of 6.  Unfortunately, success requires more than good ideas.

Truly good ideas, world-changing ideas, need to have a couple more things going for them:

The world has to be ready for them:

Do you think the world is really ready for a leprechaun-powered car (if they even existed)?  I don’t.  I’m not sure that the market would support any true initiative towards alternative fuels or mythical creatures.  But the market was ready for the iPhone when Apple introduced it.  The market was ready for Android phones.  Is the world ready for your ideas?

You have to work hard:

A good idea simply can’t succeed without a lot of hard work.  It takes work to fail the way to success.  It takes investments -  time, resources, and passion to truly bring life to a great idea.  Nothing truly worth accomplishing is not also worth the battle to get there.

Let’s step away from the leprechaun-powered cars for a moment.  Do you want to see an end to starvation or destitute poverty?  Do you want to make people smile?  Do you want to make it easier for people to self-publish?

Well, get ready for some work.  Sometimes I would prefer that ideas simply sprout and grow without effort.  But that’s not how the world works.  That’s not how it was designed.  So, let’s get out there and do the work to make the world a better place.

What are your passions?
What are your ideas?
Will you get out there and do something about them? 

Good Ideas Arent Enough

The Best Place to Fail

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5496048217 5f794ececc m The Best Place to FailIn many ways, failure is an almost inevitable step towards success.  Many of the most successful people in life are also the people who have failed the most.  The key, though, is to fail in the right place, to fail well, and to recover.

The idea of failing in the right place, though, is not something I often hear about.

So, how can you fail in the right place?  Or, better yet, what does Bryan mean when he says “fail in the right place?”

Well, as I see it, there are three places where a person or an organization can fail: Ideation, Development, or Implementation. Failure in each of these places is possible and it’s also possible to recover, but failure in the right place reduces the time and resources invested, creates an easier recovery, and makes us look smarter in front of our friends.

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Business is Calling

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The ability to earn and multiply wealth is a gift from God that he intends to be used for his glory. We can’t do that if we have a “hierarchy of callings” where overt full-time ministry is at the top, teaching and the pursuit of social justice just below, and business is a last resort if you just can’t cut it as a full-time minister, teacher, or lawyer for the underprivileged.

God has created each of us in unique ways and wants us to make the most of all of our gifts, talents, and uniqueness within the context of a godly lifestyle. That means all callings (vocations) are holy, meaningful, and equal in the sight of God.

Steve Grossman a friend of mine recently sent me off to read this blog posting by Dr. Niel Nielson, the president of Covenant College. He has quite a bit to say on the subject – specifically to those who question their calling into business or to those who disdain those with the ability to generate wealth and yet go to those same people for support.

One of the most shocking portions of his post is the quote below from Wheaton Magazine. I think that I had always assumed that the “wealth gap” between the most prosperous areas of the world and all of the rest was due largely to the rich exploiting the poor and struggled with that very “fact”. Read below for a different and more balanced perspective. Continue reading →