August 7; All Good Things Should Be Recognized
MANAGEMENT BY THE BOOK:
365 Daily Bible Verse &
One-Minute Management Lessons For The Busy Faithful

Chapter Eight: Communication; 7 August

…there will be more rejoicing in heaven
over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons
who do not need to repent.

Luke 15:7b

All Good Things Should Be Recognized

Celebrate

Your Business Professor has been a member of a number of Bible studies and most of them did not end well.

They would form and enthusiastically meet once a week or so. But then they go on; drag on, for a year or more and members would drift away. There was no closure. There were no goalposts.

We could have learned something from Mötley Crüe. What would the rock group and well-run Bible studies have in common?

They know when and how to quit.

FastCompany magazine quotes co-founder, bassist and songwriter, Nikki Sixx. The cutting edge periodical writes, “Mötley Crüe held a press conference to announce their retirement,”

To add to the air of finality, each member publicly signed a “cessation of touring agreement” that prevents any of them from performing under the Crüe name…The final tour…will give fans a chance to say goodbye and the band a chance to bow out on its own terms.

“We’re smart enough to realize that at some point the wheels are going to start to come off the bus–and that’s just not a good look,” says Sixx.

“We want to end it with dignity and make the fans feel proud so they can go to their kids and say, ‘There was a time when rock stars roamed the Earth. You have to wear this T-shirt.’ That’s the idea: that Mötley Crüe will live on in the way that certain bands we love, like Led Zeppelin, live on.

They’re not here anymore, but we still listen to them. They’re still our band.” (ROTTENBERG 2014)

Mötley Crüe is, well, a class act. They went out with a bang. The end point came and they didn’t fade away in their black t-shirts. They celebrated.

Small groups like Bible Studies and work teams and special projects should be set up and chartered for a fixed period or a fixed assignment. When the time is up, as in a football’s time clock; or when the laps-iterations are completed as in baseball’s innings, or distance covered, the books are closed and success is celebrated.

At the end point there should be cheers with a victory lap; every company needs celebration, a commemoration to make a memory. Author and consultant, Lorin Woolfe, writes about the ancient leader of Israel,

King Hezekiah also knew the power of ritual in establishing purpose: “As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by trumpets…burnt offering completed.” [2 Chronicles 29:28]

Anyone who has ever been to a sales meeting or corporate “pep rally” can see some parallels here.

The clothes are different (Brooks Brothers and Armanis rather than linen robes), as are the musical instruments, and hopefully there are fewer live sacrifices. But the major commonality remains: dedication to and celebration of purpose. (Woolfe 2002)

Good managers don’t move the goal posts when the game is over. Then tear them down in a boisterous riot and get ready for the next game.

Every sinner saved is a win.

…there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Luke 15:7

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