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jn_en_2012_06_22

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Deutsche Version | Wiki Start | Topics Collection iv

Who sets the rules? ...

Friday, June 22, 2012. Who is setting the rules which guide your decisions and your plans? Perhaps you work for some company in the sales area - and the rules are to sell as much as possible. Or you work in the technological unit, and the goal is to build some device which has particular properties? Who is setting the rules, and who can change the rules?

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Conflicts of goals and general setup …

Sometimes, there are changes in the criteria, which guide our activities. If the criteria are clear and the changes are somehow well communicated, then it might be ok to deal with such changes.

But there are also many situations where criteria are far from being clear. Working for a technological unit of the government it might be unclear, whether the goal is to be international competitive, or to save taxpayers money, or to serve the government, or to serve the general public. If you want to be competitive, you need to invest. But then there needs to be a return on investment, in particular if you invest public money.

But perhaps you do not want to invest or you cannot invest, since there are public rules which prevent you from using public money for your investment. There might be goals and even consequences of your actions, but you are bound by other rules, which have been designed for other institutions and are now applied to yours. You are no company, but you would need to act as one. On the other had you cannot become a company, there are good reasons why it is public service, what you do … Conflicts are natural, conflicts of goals and setup!

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God's criteria …

The bible tells us, that we should first look into God's goals and follow his agenda. Then, we can take care of other goals. That applies to every Christian, where ever you work. First the Lord, then the rest. The promise which comes with this command is that the rest will work out, if you put God first in your personal life.

There are different reactions to the biblical promise. Some try to use their reason to get it in line with their understanding of the world - and that is a reasonable goal. But the promise has a component which is beyond our reason. We cannot fully understand how God reigns the world. He is everywhere, sees everything and can do everything. So he can also help us in the conflicts we have within our daily work. He can …!

Christian life is quite a challenge. But on the other hand it is not more challenging than the world itself. To deal with conflicting goals and setups, with the whole problem of acting in a world full of chaotic features, has been a challenge ever since and will be one until its end. (Roland Potthast) ... more texts

jn_en_2012_06_22.txt · Last modified: 2017/06/18 16:48 by 127.0.0.1