June 25; The Believer In Christ Is Perfectly Saved But Does Not Stop Sinning
MANAGEMENT BY THE BOOK:
365 Daily Bible Verse &
One-Minute Management Lessons For The Busy Faithful

Chapter Six: Correction; 25 June

For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.

For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

Romans 7:18

John Yoest
Home Run
2007

Batting Average

The manager can be—and certainly must be—less than perfect and can still be a superior player.

Another movie says it better: Martian Child. John Cusack is mentoring his adopted son, played by Bobby Coleman, at a baseball game and explains the game, explains life and indeed, explains management.

“You know what I love about baseball?” asks Cusack,

Baseball is the only sport you can fail 70 percent of the time and still be great. It’s about trying hard and never giving up. Just think about it, if you got a hit three out of every ten times, you’re really good. If you do a little bit better, maybe 3.2, 3.3 times – you’re great and you can be a star.

A good manager, like a good batter, will be exactly right…about 30 percent of the time. You are not made perfect when made manager.

Where women and normal people are horrified by a 70% failure rate, men nod sagely and say that ‘.300 is a pretty good batting average.’ Aspiring women must see that in management there are lots of swings and lots of misses. You will not be perfect.

Cusack’s character reminds us about the need for persistence and—our favorite buzz-phrase—continuous learning. Baseball players will spend hours practicing the perfect swing of the bat. So the batter will do 10,000 practice swings and still fail.

But each player — each business manager — will often strike out – and seldom get on base. Home runs are rare.

Remember: a .300 batting average is a success. A home run can be hit if and only if you fearlessly step up to the plate – even after striking out. Top athletes and top managers keep taking — and managing — that risk.

Many women are not accustomed to dealing with failure rates, preferring perfection. But management, like baseball, does not deal in perfection, and not even in being ‘right.’ A manager will have a lot of strikeouts even with a perfect, well-executed swing. It is all worth it when the occasional home run brings the crowd to its feet.

So here’s the first step to the top of the corporate pyramid: you’ve got to “get” what the academics, pundits and other assorted arm-chair-second-guessing quarterbacks do not understand:

You are not perfect.

Ladies and gentlemen, take the chance. Step up to the management plate. Even if the outcome is not perfect.

For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Romans 7:18