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- What Might Goofing Off Communicate? – This weekend, a friend told me about her son’s internship in a local organization. This young man expressed his disappointment at the amount of goofing off he saw among his coworkers, all more senior than he was.
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Suffice it to say, after his internship, he did not seek employment with this company.
What can we take from such a situation? Is it possible, those employees were blowing off steam from already completing large chunks of work, either earlier in the day or at home the night before? Are they taking healthy breaks from doing a good job, or have they lost the vision of their value in the big picture of their work? Also, what part of this scenario belongs to their supervisor? When goofing off is a pattern, where is the leader guy or gal in the mix?
This may be a disconnect for you, but I found myself strangely sympathetic to those “goofing off”. Maybe an organizational move toward leanness would be appropriate, but never without drilling down to the core of what’s going on here. Otherwise lean becomes just mean.
Any thoughts?
Why You Shouldn’t Punish Employees Who Goof Off – Rob Enderle
Ten Signs You’re Failing as a Manager – Liz Ryan
2. Proverbs – a Father Appeals to His Children – A couple of times a year, I read through the Book of Proverbs in the Bible. All the Proverbs were either written or collected by Solomon, the son of King David. There are 31 chapters in the book so it’s easy to incorporate one a day in one’s usual Bible reading. This time around, I noticed something in the ESV Bible study notes that was new: 10 paternal appeals. As a father might teach his son about life and making good choices, so Solomon did the same in this wisdom book.
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Here are the 10 paternal appeals in brief:
- Do not join those greedy for unjust gain (Proverbs 1:8-19).
- Get wisdom (Proverbs 2:1-22).
- Fear the Lord (Proverbs 3:1-12).
- Walk securely in wisdom (Proverbs 3:21-35).
- Wisdom is a tradition worth maintaining (Proverbs 4:1-9).
- The two ways: the way of wisdom or the way of folly. We choose. (Proverbs 4:10-19)
- Maintain a heart of wisdom (Proverbs 4:20-27).
- Sexuality – the presence of sexual temptations and the response of a wise person (Proverbs 5:1-23).
- Adultery leads to ruin (Proverbs 6:20-35).
- Keep away from temptations to adultery (Proverbs 7:1-27).
What might appear to be redundancy is more for emphasis. God will give us wisdom, but it is on us to live according to the wisdom he gives.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. – Proverbs 3:5-6
Proverbs – a 12-week Study (pdf) – Lydia Brownback
3. None of Us Are Invisible – We are Seen – A circumstance this weekend struck a chord about how easy it is to just not see others. We have our close friends, our near colleagues, our people. It takes an intentionality to watch for those on the outside of our circles…and to extend to them a welcome. An old song by Casting Crowns came to mind today, as it relates to this dilemma – this strange experience of feeling invisible. Can Anybody Hear Her? is that “looking for love in all the wrong places” kind of story. Searching for a place to belong, to flourish, to be loved.
I’ve taken to watching for those solitary ones…they are not all in the midst of poor life choices. Those closest to God can feel isolation as well. The key to all of this is to know He sees…He sees, and He loves us. We can reflect that love to those who feel unseen…because they are…who feel they don’t matter…because they do.
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This Sunday at church we started a year long study of the entire Bible as a church. Of course we began in Genesis. Over and over we talked about how God was there in the beginning and how of all the things He chose to make- that He made US in His image!!! All the things and characteristics that come from that- being annointed, being a daughter of a King, being known by the Ultimate Creator who doesn’t make mistakes, these and more have just given me such Joy this week! Almost a giddy-ness when I think of it and how good He is to us and me. I’m praying for all those who are struggling with anxiety, fear, loneliness and feeling alone that they would all know and trust and delight in these truths and that I’d have opportunity to encourage them in just how precious God has made them to be. 🙂 Love your blog. Love you!
Thanks, Alicia, for commenting. Everything you said so resonates. Once the reality sinks in that we are not only known but loved deeply, each and every one of us, isolation and “invisibility” melt away. We can remind each other of that…as we watch out for each other. The world presses in with the stench of lies…but the truth is what you described so beautifully.