Healing happens when the healer and the sick meet halfway

Healing and care do not happen passively; they happen with deliberate attention of both the healer and the sick. It is easy to take for granted when our bodies seem to recover regardless if we pay attention or not. Therefore, to truly heal means to open ourselves up for others to help us bounce better from before.

Luke 5:17-26. But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus.

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 339: DECEMBER 5, 2022]

(Re)start

My wife is part of the team who handled this heartwarming McDo Christmas ad:

For all the talk about restarting, we might be taking for granted that there is a generation that will only start to experience what the world was used to for the first time. We owe it to these young angels to show that the world is a more fantastic place beyond the small screens they might be used to. Lights from mobile gadgets cannot beat the warmth and vibrance of Christmas lights dancing from our loved one’s homes.

What stood out to me is that for most of us, this holiday is about restarting. But for some of us, this holiday is about genuinely starting to experience what the world has to offer.

Mark 16:15-20. And he said to them, ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the gospel to all creation…’

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 337: DECEMBER 3, 2022]

Finding the rock on which to build our careers

Millennials have been infamously branded as job hoppers. Supposedly, we cannot stay in an organization for long. But there is a reason why we are also called Gen “Why.” This is because we are the generation thrown in between transition eras. We got to see the dawn of the internet before its current omnipresence. Therefore, we cannot help but ask why and question norms or things we may take for granted or accept as a given.

I wonder how Gen Z and Alpha would fare? Are they (you?) as confused and misunderstood as the Millennials?

As someone who has gone through my share of dilemmas and quarter-life crises, I have three books to recommend to the next generation, and these books significantly shaped my perspective on building a career.

1. The Dip by Seth Godin. This book helps put into perspective whether a challenge is something worth gritting or quitting. The lesson: find a space where you are willing to pay the cost of being one of the best in that space. (Find a rock you’re eager to climb and build on.)
2. So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport. This book critiques “passion” as something overrated. To find a stable rock is not to find your passion. It is to discover a set of skills that you can build a career on and learn how to fall in love with. Passion is temporary; discipline is long-term.
3. How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton Christensen. This book puts into perspective how we define success and elaborates on how we can apply Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation to our careers. The best kind of space is where our hygiene is taken care of (comfortable material resources) with the opportunity to maximize our potential and pursue self-actualization.

The context has changed compared to my batch and those who came before me. I hope that the new batch can still find ways to experiment and explore the rocks that they can build their career. Maybe the role of schools should be to encourage more career experimentation before students graduate so that when the real world comes knocking down on their doors, they could have built a solid foundation on solid rock.

Matthew 7:21, 24-27. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 335: DECEMBER 1, 2022]

The responsibility of the one who gained insight is to share it

Insight is such a transcendent and transformative experience. Thus, to complete an insight experience means to share a new perspective or understanding with others so that we may collectively work on making our organizations and society a better space. If the supposed insight turns out to be wrong, at least further dialogue and communication can still allow for correction and improvement.

Luke 10:21-24. Blessed are the eyes that see what you see, for many kings desired to see what you see but did not see it.

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 333: NOVEMBER 29, 2022]

What does it mean to be prepared?

The implication of preparation is that we have examined our weaknesses and areas for improvement within the context of external forces. If we are not capable of being humble or sober, we are also not capable of proper preparation.

Preparation also requires both courage and faith. Without courage, we remain stuck; without faith, we remain anxious. Thus, to be fully prepared means to reasonably anticipate what could happen and to faithfully believe that there are opportunities that we can seize.

But to me, the prize of preparation is not necessarily “winning”, because to win requires so many things to go in our favor, even those that we cannot control. The prize is peace – knowing that at a particular moment, we were most present and giving all that we could. No regrets, no what ifs. Outperforming the competition is just the icing, but truly winning means outperforming our previous selves.

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Matthew 24:37-44. The unknown day and hour

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 331: NOVEMBER 27, 2022]