I never liked Thanksgiving. It was the holiday that was smashed between the candy-sugary goodness of Halloween and the present-filled awesomeness of Christmas.  It was simply the overlooked holiday.  At best it was a time to stuff my face.  At worst it was a time that inconvenienced my life’s schedule. But as I get older the more this changes.  Sure I still love trick-or-treat, Christmas presents, and vacation days.  But I also realize just how much I have to be thankful for.  This has been a challenging year on ...

“George Whitefield, the famous evangelist, writes of the Puritans:    Ministers never write or preach so well as when under the cross; the Spirit of Christ and of glory then rests upon them.” (Whitefield. Works. IV:306f) So how do you avoid pain in life? Actually you can’t.  It’s a trick questions.  Life isn’t about avoiding pain – it’s about embracing the opportunities you have to make a difference.  It’s about leading with love.  It’s about not giving up when things get hard.  It’s about taking your meaning and applying it ...

Recently I wrote a column called, “Does Working 9 to 5 Make You Less Productive?”  In it, I said that our 9 to 5 schedule is really a legacy of factory work.  But why is this so bad?  What’s wrong with factory work?  Well, nothing of course.  As long as you work in a factory! The problem is, most of us have long since left the factories (at least in America) to work in “create on demand jobs” (i.e., jobs where you must come up with a ...

The headline says it all.  Choosing your team impacts everything you do.  And in some cases, is your most important decision.  A good team can overcome terrible working conditions, unexpected problems, and tight budgets.  Of course with good working conditions, few problems, and the right budget, they’ll do even better!   But the right team goes a long way to securing your own success or failure. Take this example from the world of video games.  In short, a highly anticipated sequel (Deus Ex: Human Revolution) was released after ...

One of the most tragic parts of our lives is how little we learn from the mistakes of others.  Certainly this is true in our personal lives, but it’s also true in our professional lives. There are many reasons this is the case.  One reason is simply our pride.  We’re proud creatures, who have a hard time asking for directions, let alone true help.  (Fortunately Google Maps has made it so we don’t need to ask for directions.) Another reason is that at least in America, we have a ...