How Thinking
Sermon
Life Injections II
Further Connections Of Scripture To The Human Experience
"... take your invoice, sit down quickly, and make it fifty ..."
A troublesome parable that seems to praise dishonesty. We need to look at the mindset and not the practice of the manager as the reason for his positive mention.
The sales manager of a highly successful company was asked about his method for training salespeople especially when it comes to the obstacles and difficulties prevalent in the world of business. He said that he makes it a point to stress the importance of their being a "how" thinker in deference to an "if" thinker. The "if" thinker, he explained, will brood over a difficulty or setback and bitterly say: "If I had only done this or if I had only done that!" A "how" thinker, on the other hand, will look at that same difficulty or setback and eagerly say: "How can I do better the next time? How can I use this to my advantage?" The sales manager went on to say that if those under his charge think in terms of "how" and not in terms of "if," record sales will be registered.
That sales manager, I believe, was on to something that works wonders not only in the world of business but also works wonders in the world of life. Great things happen, extraordinary accomplishments are had, wonderful events occur, welcome changes and innovations come to pass thanks to "how" thinkers, thanks to those who, when obstacles and difficulties arise, think of how some good can be accomplished despite the many barriers standing in the way.
A study was done of 300 highly successful people, people such as Winston Churchill, Helen Keller, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., to name a few. It was found that one quarter had such handicaps as blindness, deafness, crippled limbs. Three-quarters had either been born into poverty or came from broken homes. The overwhelming majority entered into life under the worst of conditions and circumstances. They could have easily said: "If only I didn't have those burdens and difficulties placed upon me, if only I could have been born differently." Instead, however, they made the best of a bad situation. They were "how" thinkers and not "if" thinkers and, as such, they found a way to overcome the burdens and difficulties and obstacles which could have easily kept them from achieving the greatness they achieved.
I read an interesting anecdote concerning Gene Tunney, who became the heavyweight boxing champion of the world when he defeated Jack Dempsey many years ago. Tunney began his career as a hard puncher and many of his victories came by way of a knockout. When he went on a tour of exhibition bouts as a member of the American Armed Forces in World War I, he broke his hand. The doctor and his manager told him he would never be able to punch as he once had because the break revealed a condition that would forever leave him with brittle hands. It seemed that Tunney's dream of being heavyweight champion of the world would never be realized. Tunney, however, was not dismayed. He said: "If I can't become the champion as a puncher, I will make it as a boxer." So Tunney went to work as a student of the art of self-defense. He would soon become one of the most scientific and skillful boxers ever to step into the squared circle. His newfound skills as a boxer enabled him to outbox and defeat Jack Dempsey for the heavyweight championship of the world.
Examining that feat, experts claim that Tunney would never have been able to win that title as a puncher. It was the art of self-defense, it was the scientific skills of boxing that provided him with the victory. Tunney could have looked at his brittle hands and figured all was lost. He would have thus spent the rest of his life with a lot of "if onlys" running through his mind. But Tunney, being a "how" thinker, found a way to still accomplish his dream despite a condition that appeared to doom it.
Whether a person is born with a problem or disadvantage or falls victim to one along life's way, the difference maker, that which turns drudgery into victory, that which turns tragedy into a means for greatness, rests on whether one thinks in terms of "if" or whether one thinks in terms of "how." It is the "how" thinker who realizes the victory and the greatness.
And it is the "how" thinkers, as well, who are a breath of fresh air. A sheepherder in Indiana was troubled by his neighbors' dogs that were killing his sheep. The normal and usual way to counter the problem was by lawsuits, barbed wire fences, or even shotguns. This particular herder saw a need for a better idea. So what he did was give every neighbors' child a lamb or two as pets and, in due time, when all his neighbors had their own small flocks of sheep, they realized they had to keep their dogs tied up. They did so each and every day.
The sheepherder could have easily resorted to the old solution to the problem. He could have thought in terms of "if": "If I got enough barbed wire, if I shot a few of their dogs, if I file a few law suits!" That would have only resulted in animosity and tension between himself and his neighbors. But the sheepherder, being a "how" thinker, thought how he might resolve the problem without jeopardizing his relationships with his neighbors.
"How" thinkers are a breath of fresh air because, instead of dealing with the problems in a way they have been dealt with for years, they carve a different path. That path provides a welcome change to what had previously been the usual order of business.
I am reminded of a father whose son was killed at the hand of the Japanese. He was, as you might well imagine, filled with deep grief and with deep anger toward the Japanese. After the funeral, however, he did something that astonished everyone. He made a huge donation to the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. When asked why he would do such a thing, the father explained that he believed that the Japanese boy who killed his son was probably no different than his own boy and that his boy, in similar circumstances with the roles reversed, most likely would have acted in much the same way. By donating money to a Christian University in Japan, he hoped that programs could be developed whereby Japanese children could learn the ways and means of conducting life without warfare, of settling differences without the necessity of taking a human life.
Now, that father was a "how" thinker par excellence. He could have easily resorted to the usual order of business and lived his days in bitterness and anger toward the Japanese for what they did to his son, but he carved a different path. He thought in terms of how he might help put an end to what he surmised as being the real cause of his son's tragedy, and that was war. That father's donation to the Christian University was a breath of fresh air, a welcome change from the thirst for vengeance and retaliation that usually follows a tragedy such as his.
"How" thinkers provide a breath of fresh air, "how" thinkers accomplish greatness despite obstacles and hardships, and "how" thinkers also make things happen.
One of the favorite stories of Salvation Army Founder General William Booth concerned a little girl who worried herself sick because birds kept getting caught in traps set by her older brother John. "O Lord," she prayed, "don't let the little birds get caught in John's traps! Please don't let them!" And then, to her mother's astonishment, she added exultantly: "Oh, I know they won't, they can't! Amen!" Her mother quickly admonished her daughter, asking how she could be so sure that God was going to answer her prayer for the little birds. The daughter replied: "Well, Mom, before I prayed, I went out onto the yard and I smashed all the traps!"
The funny story brings home another aspect of "how" thinkers. That is the realization that you can't sit back and expect things to happen, you can't just wish and pray and hope that what you wish and pray for will come true. The "how" thinker is always considering how the best might come to pass, how the best might be furthered along, how their prayers (a la the little girl) might be guaranteed a positive answer. In contrast to wondering if good things are going to happen, the "how" thinkers are calculating how good things are going to happen.
"How" thinkers provide a breath of fresh air, "how" thinkers accomplish greatness despite obstacles and hardships, "how" thinkers make things happen and, lastly, "how" thinkers are always one step ahead of everyone else.
The owner of a successful drill company decided to retire. He put his son in charge of the operation. Two days later, this son called a meeting and asked the four vice presidents what they saw the company doing over the next five years. Pretty much in unison, they spoke of looking at new shapes and sizes for the drills and of finding new and different ways of marketing them across the country. Before another word was said, the new owner of the company dropped a bombshell. "Friends, I have news for you," he said. "We are no longer going to sell drills." The four vice presidents couldn't believe the announcement and in unison they cried: "If we are not going to sell drills, what are we going to sell?" The new owner announced: "From now on, we are going to sell holes! People don't want to buy drills, they want to buy what drills do for them, they want to buy holes!" And, with that, the company began an exploration of new ways of making holes, eventually coming upon the development of lasers which could, with a beam of light, cut a hole faster and better than any drill.
The innovators, the trail blazers, the pioneers, those who are on the cutting edge of life and industry, those outdistancing all the competition, are of a similar ilk to the new owner of that drill factory. They are "how" thinkers. While those in the "if" mold are wondering if they can stay competitive, these creative individuals are in the "how" mold wondering how they might move into the future, how they might find new and better and more ingenious ways of doing things. "How" thinkers have the vision to see an abundance of possibilities and opportunities in places and in situations where the "if" thinker is standing still.
I have reviewed with you all of the positives of "how" thinkers because as I read today's Gospel parable, Jesus gives such thinkers high praise. The parable has been a problem for many of us because it has Jesus seemingly condoning dishonest behavior. It has Jesus acclaiming a manager who, by changing those invoices, was cheating his boss. What we need to understand is that Jesus is not condoning the dishonesty or the cheating, he's merely recognizing the positive fact that the manager did not sit and bewail and grow bitter over the loss of his job. Instead, he immediately came upon a way to make the best of a bad situation. In essence, the manager could have said or cried: "If only this didn't happen to me!" Instead, he said: "How can I pick myself up and start anew?" The manager was a "how" thinker and not an "if" thinker.
Jesus, in telling today's parable, was looking for his hearers to be like that manager, to think in "how" terms. That would mean not letting brittle hands keep us from realizing our dreams. That would mean finding ways to use our defects and our deficiencies and hardships to our advantage. That would mean that we provide the world with a breath of fresh air by not choosing to do what has always been done when we have been hurt or slighted or when dogs are killing our sheep. That would mean our smashing the traps before we pray, our doing what we can to make things happen. That would mean our thinking beyond drills to holes, our having a vision to see beyond today.
My friends, be a "how" thinker and not an "if" thinker! Not only will you excel in life but you'll win God's praise. You'll be reflecting God's glory.
A troublesome parable that seems to praise dishonesty. We need to look at the mindset and not the practice of the manager as the reason for his positive mention.
The sales manager of a highly successful company was asked about his method for training salespeople especially when it comes to the obstacles and difficulties prevalent in the world of business. He said that he makes it a point to stress the importance of their being a "how" thinker in deference to an "if" thinker. The "if" thinker, he explained, will brood over a difficulty or setback and bitterly say: "If I had only done this or if I had only done that!" A "how" thinker, on the other hand, will look at that same difficulty or setback and eagerly say: "How can I do better the next time? How can I use this to my advantage?" The sales manager went on to say that if those under his charge think in terms of "how" and not in terms of "if," record sales will be registered.
That sales manager, I believe, was on to something that works wonders not only in the world of business but also works wonders in the world of life. Great things happen, extraordinary accomplishments are had, wonderful events occur, welcome changes and innovations come to pass thanks to "how" thinkers, thanks to those who, when obstacles and difficulties arise, think of how some good can be accomplished despite the many barriers standing in the way.
A study was done of 300 highly successful people, people such as Winston Churchill, Helen Keller, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., to name a few. It was found that one quarter had such handicaps as blindness, deafness, crippled limbs. Three-quarters had either been born into poverty or came from broken homes. The overwhelming majority entered into life under the worst of conditions and circumstances. They could have easily said: "If only I didn't have those burdens and difficulties placed upon me, if only I could have been born differently." Instead, however, they made the best of a bad situation. They were "how" thinkers and not "if" thinkers and, as such, they found a way to overcome the burdens and difficulties and obstacles which could have easily kept them from achieving the greatness they achieved.
I read an interesting anecdote concerning Gene Tunney, who became the heavyweight boxing champion of the world when he defeated Jack Dempsey many years ago. Tunney began his career as a hard puncher and many of his victories came by way of a knockout. When he went on a tour of exhibition bouts as a member of the American Armed Forces in World War I, he broke his hand. The doctor and his manager told him he would never be able to punch as he once had because the break revealed a condition that would forever leave him with brittle hands. It seemed that Tunney's dream of being heavyweight champion of the world would never be realized. Tunney, however, was not dismayed. He said: "If I can't become the champion as a puncher, I will make it as a boxer." So Tunney went to work as a student of the art of self-defense. He would soon become one of the most scientific and skillful boxers ever to step into the squared circle. His newfound skills as a boxer enabled him to outbox and defeat Jack Dempsey for the heavyweight championship of the world.
Examining that feat, experts claim that Tunney would never have been able to win that title as a puncher. It was the art of self-defense, it was the scientific skills of boxing that provided him with the victory. Tunney could have looked at his brittle hands and figured all was lost. He would have thus spent the rest of his life with a lot of "if onlys" running through his mind. But Tunney, being a "how" thinker, found a way to still accomplish his dream despite a condition that appeared to doom it.
Whether a person is born with a problem or disadvantage or falls victim to one along life's way, the difference maker, that which turns drudgery into victory, that which turns tragedy into a means for greatness, rests on whether one thinks in terms of "if" or whether one thinks in terms of "how." It is the "how" thinker who realizes the victory and the greatness.
And it is the "how" thinkers, as well, who are a breath of fresh air. A sheepherder in Indiana was troubled by his neighbors' dogs that were killing his sheep. The normal and usual way to counter the problem was by lawsuits, barbed wire fences, or even shotguns. This particular herder saw a need for a better idea. So what he did was give every neighbors' child a lamb or two as pets and, in due time, when all his neighbors had their own small flocks of sheep, they realized they had to keep their dogs tied up. They did so each and every day.
The sheepherder could have easily resorted to the old solution to the problem. He could have thought in terms of "if": "If I got enough barbed wire, if I shot a few of their dogs, if I file a few law suits!" That would have only resulted in animosity and tension between himself and his neighbors. But the sheepherder, being a "how" thinker, thought how he might resolve the problem without jeopardizing his relationships with his neighbors.
"How" thinkers are a breath of fresh air because, instead of dealing with the problems in a way they have been dealt with for years, they carve a different path. That path provides a welcome change to what had previously been the usual order of business.
I am reminded of a father whose son was killed at the hand of the Japanese. He was, as you might well imagine, filled with deep grief and with deep anger toward the Japanese. After the funeral, however, he did something that astonished everyone. He made a huge donation to the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. When asked why he would do such a thing, the father explained that he believed that the Japanese boy who killed his son was probably no different than his own boy and that his boy, in similar circumstances with the roles reversed, most likely would have acted in much the same way. By donating money to a Christian University in Japan, he hoped that programs could be developed whereby Japanese children could learn the ways and means of conducting life without warfare, of settling differences without the necessity of taking a human life.
Now, that father was a "how" thinker par excellence. He could have easily resorted to the usual order of business and lived his days in bitterness and anger toward the Japanese for what they did to his son, but he carved a different path. He thought in terms of how he might help put an end to what he surmised as being the real cause of his son's tragedy, and that was war. That father's donation to the Christian University was a breath of fresh air, a welcome change from the thirst for vengeance and retaliation that usually follows a tragedy such as his.
"How" thinkers provide a breath of fresh air, "how" thinkers accomplish greatness despite obstacles and hardships, and "how" thinkers also make things happen.
One of the favorite stories of Salvation Army Founder General William Booth concerned a little girl who worried herself sick because birds kept getting caught in traps set by her older brother John. "O Lord," she prayed, "don't let the little birds get caught in John's traps! Please don't let them!" And then, to her mother's astonishment, she added exultantly: "Oh, I know they won't, they can't! Amen!" Her mother quickly admonished her daughter, asking how she could be so sure that God was going to answer her prayer for the little birds. The daughter replied: "Well, Mom, before I prayed, I went out onto the yard and I smashed all the traps!"
The funny story brings home another aspect of "how" thinkers. That is the realization that you can't sit back and expect things to happen, you can't just wish and pray and hope that what you wish and pray for will come true. The "how" thinker is always considering how the best might come to pass, how the best might be furthered along, how their prayers (a la the little girl) might be guaranteed a positive answer. In contrast to wondering if good things are going to happen, the "how" thinkers are calculating how good things are going to happen.
"How" thinkers provide a breath of fresh air, "how" thinkers accomplish greatness despite obstacles and hardships, "how" thinkers make things happen and, lastly, "how" thinkers are always one step ahead of everyone else.
The owner of a successful drill company decided to retire. He put his son in charge of the operation. Two days later, this son called a meeting and asked the four vice presidents what they saw the company doing over the next five years. Pretty much in unison, they spoke of looking at new shapes and sizes for the drills and of finding new and different ways of marketing them across the country. Before another word was said, the new owner of the company dropped a bombshell. "Friends, I have news for you," he said. "We are no longer going to sell drills." The four vice presidents couldn't believe the announcement and in unison they cried: "If we are not going to sell drills, what are we going to sell?" The new owner announced: "From now on, we are going to sell holes! People don't want to buy drills, they want to buy what drills do for them, they want to buy holes!" And, with that, the company began an exploration of new ways of making holes, eventually coming upon the development of lasers which could, with a beam of light, cut a hole faster and better than any drill.
The innovators, the trail blazers, the pioneers, those who are on the cutting edge of life and industry, those outdistancing all the competition, are of a similar ilk to the new owner of that drill factory. They are "how" thinkers. While those in the "if" mold are wondering if they can stay competitive, these creative individuals are in the "how" mold wondering how they might move into the future, how they might find new and better and more ingenious ways of doing things. "How" thinkers have the vision to see an abundance of possibilities and opportunities in places and in situations where the "if" thinker is standing still.
I have reviewed with you all of the positives of "how" thinkers because as I read today's Gospel parable, Jesus gives such thinkers high praise. The parable has been a problem for many of us because it has Jesus seemingly condoning dishonest behavior. It has Jesus acclaiming a manager who, by changing those invoices, was cheating his boss. What we need to understand is that Jesus is not condoning the dishonesty or the cheating, he's merely recognizing the positive fact that the manager did not sit and bewail and grow bitter over the loss of his job. Instead, he immediately came upon a way to make the best of a bad situation. In essence, the manager could have said or cried: "If only this didn't happen to me!" Instead, he said: "How can I pick myself up and start anew?" The manager was a "how" thinker and not an "if" thinker.
Jesus, in telling today's parable, was looking for his hearers to be like that manager, to think in "how" terms. That would mean not letting brittle hands keep us from realizing our dreams. That would mean finding ways to use our defects and our deficiencies and hardships to our advantage. That would mean that we provide the world with a breath of fresh air by not choosing to do what has always been done when we have been hurt or slighted or when dogs are killing our sheep. That would mean our smashing the traps before we pray, our doing what we can to make things happen. That would mean our thinking beyond drills to holes, our having a vision to see beyond today.
My friends, be a "how" thinker and not an "if" thinker! Not only will you excel in life but you'll win God's praise. You'll be reflecting God's glory.
