Archives for May 2008

GOD HOOKED ME UP THIS WEEK!!!

• FINANCIAL BLESSINGS!!! Several friends, some I haven’t heard from in years, who either read my blog or got a letter from my family in the mail have sent in some serious mula to help the funding of our uganda missions trip in about 6 weeks from now. We still have a LONG way to go, but WOW…. I’m so thankful for those who are helping me invest financially in this partnership with God and my family!!!! I praise God for all who are supporting us in so many ways. I’m praying that this is a life altering experience and brings HUGE amounts of encouragement to all those who even remotely are touched by this- those on our team, in my family, stateside praying and supporting, kids and families in Uganda, and so much more.

• KAISER IS HOOKING US UP! Ok… so for all the ranting people do about their HMO, I will say that once Kaiser paid me back for what I thought was a crazy charge once, they have delivered my 3 kids, took the appendix out of my wife, and stitched us up a time or two. Well, now they are PAYING FOR ALL MY SHOTS and malaria meds!!! I don’t even have to pay a co-pay. This is saving me hundreds of dollars. Like probably at least a thousand dollars for the 5 of us. Whoo hooo. That’s such a huge blessing.

Thank you friends, Kaiser, and Jesus.

The biggest problem with traditional office space is what it suggests about the importance of individual versus collective work. By placing greater emphasis on privacy than openness and collaboration, companies unconsciously encourage people to see their work as being primarily individual. Whether we‘re talking about line employees in cubicles or senior executives in walled offices, workers are almost trained to seek out greater separation and space.

On first glance, this might seem understandable, even natural. Human beings crave their own territory, or according to Maslow, shelter. But is that something we want to honor at work? In some cases, the answer is ‘yes’. A few professions certainly lend themselves to individual focus and privacy and separation. But outside of writers and inventors and monks, not many come to mind.

Most jobs, and especially those that revolve around leadership, are social by nature and should be done in groups. Which means that the higher you go up the food chain within an organization, the more true this should be. And yet, the higher a manager rises in most organizations the more likely he or she is to be allocated an office, suggesting that his or her job is primarily about doing isolated thinking or planning. Or perhaps communicating via e-mail.

So, am I suggesting a radical departure from tradition, one in which executives sit in big, open areas with their teams, going into private rooms only on occasions when it is necessary? Well, I guess I am. Frankly, I don‘t see a better option. Until leaders are forced to interact with one another as a rule rather than an exception, they will continue to under-communicate and under-collaborate, creating cascading problems throughout the rest of the organizations they manage.

What I‘m not suggesting, however, is the creation of funky offices with coffee bars or ping pong tables or spiral slides that connect one floor to another. Those are gimmicks which don‘t address the real problem created by too much privacy and separation. Neither am I suggesting that restructuring our offices become some sort of protest against hierarchy. The reason to move away from closed offices to more open designs is not about aesthetics or rebellion against authority. It is simply about creating an environment of where communication and teamwork have the best chance to thrive.

(OH.. and since I can’t find this article online… here’s the addendum he put at the bottom: P.S. In the spirit of full disclosure, I must acknowledge that I do have an office. However, I rarely use it for anything other than private conversations and occasional writing projects. Usually I choose to sit at a little round table in the middle of the large room where most of my colleagues sit, where I can talk to them and see and hear what’s going on in the office. Others do use my office when they have a need for privacy or quiet. And though my desire to sit at that little round table is certainly a result of my appreciation for teamwork, I must admit that my other motivation is that I am a raging extrovert, and I really like interacting w ith my colleagues.)

Today was Tyler’s final field trip for his second grade year. We went to the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla. I’d never been there before. It’s kinda small compared to a lot of other aquariums I’ve been too, but I really loved the portion dedicated to animals that can camouflage themselves. God is crazy creative in what he created. I always amazed at how science can say this fish has “evolved” to look like a piece of kelp. Check out the one that sits on the ground looking like a grumpy piece of coral. Crazy I tell you. It’s crazy.

Here’s our bonding photo collages. I love how God made crazy fish and my crazy kids. Thanks Ty.

If you happen to be a friend of our teaching pastor, Ed Noble, or perhaps you are interested in stalking him silently on the internet. Well, then I have good news for you.

Ed is finally blogging a few times a week.

Next time I think I’m going here to run the boardwalk to seaport village and back.