Learning Organisations

I was reading a chapter by Peter Senge recently on "Give me a lever long enough ... and single-handed I can move the world". Well, in physics we learn that this is possible if you place the fulcrum near the object that is to be moved.  The title alludes to a learning organisation as a place where people are continually discovering that reality can be changed.  We have to see ourselves as very much connected to this world and how we can be both the problem and solution of life.

There five components to a learning organisation.  Each of them provides a vital dimension in building organisations that can truly "learn", that can continually enhance their capacity to realise their highest expectations.
1. Systems Thinking: a conceptual framework, body of knowledge and tools developed over the past 50 years.  Many things that happen in life are to due to a series of inter-connected actions.
2. Personal Mastery: discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision.
3. Mental Models: deeply ingrained assumptions or generalizations that influence how we view the world.
4. Building Shared Vision: shared "pictures of the future" that foster genuine commitment.
5. Team Learning: to suspend assumptions and enter into a genuine "thinking together".

For any organisation, be it a business or educational one, its success depends on the interplay of the 5 components.Through collective effort and the willingness to learn from one another, we foster a culture of care and growth.  Through learning we are enabled to do things which we were never able to do.  Through learning, we extend our capacity to create, and move beyond mere existence.  As we examine our own mental models, we must be willing to jettison those thought patterns that are detrimental to the growth of an organisation.

Applying the five components to our faith, systems thinking has to do with understanding the connectedness of our world with the supernatural realm.  Personal mastery has to do with cultivating spiritual disciplines to sharpen our spiritual senses.  Where kingdom realities are concerned, the opposites are often true such as "If you believe you shall see" or "The first shall be the last and the last, first".  As such, we have to change our mental models, which can be subjected to a lot of different interpretations of Scriptures. .  Kingdom vision must replace local ones that can be very myopic.  And of course, learning from one another and the Holy Spirit must take place on a regular basis.  

The five love languages of teenagers

I am re-reading the above book by Gary Chapman as I am dealing a lot with teenagers in school as well as at home.  Teenage years are often tumultuous times for our young as they exert their rights to be independent (from parents) and at the same time, draw closer to their peers to gain some form of self-identity.  Mixing with the wrong company can result in dire consequences. Hence the need for parents/teachers to be  guides and mentors to them. We know that in life, adults can often times mistreat the charges under their care or do things that convey no love and empathy.  The book highlights how parents can speak the languages of love to their children to build their self-esteem and confidence.  A quick summary of the 5 love languages are as follows:

1.      Words of Affirmation

• Recognize teenager’s accomplishments and commend him/her
• Has to be sincere and specific
• If results can’t be praised, praise efforts
• Express verbal affection like “I love you”, “I enjoy you”, etc.
• Affirmed in front of family members (but not their peers)

2.      Physical Touch

• Know the right time to touch; when they’re “in the mood”, not when they’re angry
• Know the right occasion to touch; not in the presence of their peers
• Know the appropriate manner for physical touch eg. hugs, shoulder rubs, slap on the back, holding hands, wrestling, etc.
• Inappropriate touch: physical/sexual abuse can cause much harm

3.      Quality Time

• Togetherness is the key where the teenager is the focus of attention
• Quality conversations focus on what we are hearing: maintain eye contact, be present, listen for feelings, observe body language, refuse to interrupt, ask reflective questions, express understanding, ask permission to share own perspective
• Use “I” statements as opposed to “You” statements eg. “I feel angry when you …”
• Seize moments when they would like to talk or go for an outing together; consult them when planning for a trip

4.      Acts of Service

• Freely given by parents are considered true expressions of emotional love
• Loving service is an internally motivated desire to give one’s energy to others
• Bartering and manipulation are not expressions of love
• Something which they cannot do themselves eg. when they are young, to wash their clothes, cook and feed them.  When they are older, we should teach them how to fish as opposed to fishing for them.

5.      Gifts

• Are visible, tangible evidence of emotional love
• This is different from giving gifts to pay for service rendered
• Should be done with some measure of ceremony

Pertaining to the last point under Gifts, we had family time recently when we presented to our children their monthly allowance through a simple ceremony.  We prayed that they would learn how to use their money wisely, setting aside 10% each for tithe as well as savings.  In this way, we are creating memorable events for them to think about and appreciate the good things in life they have been provided with.   We can speak all five love languages to our children but they usually have a primary one.  The book details how you can find out the love language of your child(ren).

Happy parenting!

 

Hope in the face of Cancer

I am currently re-reading a book of the above title that I bought in 2005. It was written by Amy Givler, a medical doctor, who was struck with Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer originating from white blood cells with symptoms of painless swelling of the lymph nodes in the neck, armpits, or groin. She chronicled her journey from receiving the news of having cancer to undergoing treatments until her remission. She mentioned that no one really gets "cured" of cancer; doctor usually tells a patient that he is a "survival" or under "remission". This was a kind of book she wanted to have as she went to the library searching for answers when she knew she had the dreaded illness. One that would point HOPE to those who think that cancer sounds the death knell of those who have been struck with it.

Two incidents happened yesterday that prompted me to pick up this book from my shelf again. One sister in church shared with me that her recent regular check up had revealed a growth in her intestine with other nodules around it. She went for an MRI and is awaiting result - could this be a relapse of what she had gone through last year? I prayed for her and told her not to confess negatively, even though relatives had suffered similar fate. Breaking generational curses is so vital in this instance. The other incident was an email from a colleague who shared that her doctor had told her she is most likely to have cancer. Again, she's also awaiting confirmation of report. I've not heard my colleague complaining of anything untowards where health is concerned, so this news comes as a surprise to me. I mentioned that I would be praying for her even though she's not a believer.

And yesterday, I was also reading Isaiah 38 as part of my Scripture reading for the day. Verse 1 tells us that King Hezekiah became mortally ill, so much so that God had to send Isaiah with this message, "Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live." Talk about a death sentence when one hears the word cancer in today's context; that was probably the Old Testament equivalent of receiving a death sentence. But noticed what Hezekiah did; he didn't submit to the word spoken by the prophet. He began to weep and supplicate before the LORD. God answered his prayer by adding 15 years to his life (v 5). Now that's like a remission of the death sentence given earlier.

In her book, Amy said that cancer is conquerable in our day and age, when diagnosed early. In the past, nine out of ten physicians favoured not telling patients they had cancer, as the chances of a cure is very slim. Nowadays, life-prolonging treatments are available for nearly every type of cancer. The trend in cancer is very good news indeed. In the 1950s, only 35% of people with cancer lived for at least 5 years. By 1974, the rate has improved to 50% and in 1998, it was 62%. Many of the 62% will go on to live their expected number of years, with the cancer under remission. What's more, as believers in the LORD, we can pray to God as Hezekiah did and expect Him to answer us graciously.

Do read this book if you want to know how to go about ministering to those stricken with cancer.

FISH! For Life

I read the above book by Stephen Lundin, John Christensen and Harry Paul late last year.  It tells the story of two people who met at Seattle's famous Pike Place Fish Market and later fell in love.  The FISH! philosophy, which started at this Fish Market, became a world-wide phenomenon.  What was so successfully applied in the work place can now be transposed to that of the home.  The book narrates how the two people endeavoured to apply the philosophy in the area of stress, weight control, personal finance and much more.


What is the FISH! Philosophy then? It is encapsulated in these 4 points:
Play:  Carry a light heart with you wherever you go
Make their Day: You can make someone's day simply by the way you engage them
Be There: Bringing consciousness, body and spirit into the same space is a gift to yourself and to the world
Choose Your Attitude: The attitude you have right now is the one you are choosing; choose wisely


Play talks about not taking things too seriously all the time; sometimes humour can liven up the atmosphere and change the course of how things would eventually turn out.  Children are naturally good at this. They can diffuse a tense situation with their innocent comment.


Make their Day means to be others-centred and not focused too much on oneself.  If we carry this mindset with us, we can certainly influence and impact alot of people in a positive way.  And as believers in the Lord, this should come naturally to us.


Be There has to do with giving our undivided attention to a matter or person.  How often times in worship services are we present to truly worship God?  We cannot worship God aright if our mind is forever thinking of lunch or work matters or problems that bug us.  Being present for our loved ones is also vital, to be fully engaged with them in work and conversations.


Choose your attitude - yes this is a choice we have to make as well.  What kind of attitude do we want to bring with us to work, church or home?  We can choose to be angry (and stay angry) or we can choose to forgive (and move on).  A lot of circumstances in life would militate against us choosing a positive attitude.  But the Bible tells us to have the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5) whereby He humbled himself to the point of death on the cross.  Often times, our pride gets in the way of a positive gracious attitude.


Recently our children we very sad and grieved over the condition of one of their hamsters.  It was suffering from fur loss and was looking rather sickly.  This caused them to research on hamsters on the web and call up a vet to enquire about it's condition.  As parents, we were not prepared to waste money bringing it to the vet as it probably was nearing its life expectancy.  But they persisted and continued to dig up information and bargained with us.  You see they were there for their pet hamster and very much wanted to make the day for their hamster by seeing to it that it is nursed back to health.  To cut a long story short, they did bring it to the vet eventually on their own and was given medication for it. The hamster is now on the road to recovery, separated from the other hamster of course.  They chose an attitude of compassion and love towards their pet hamster while we chose one that is disconnected from the hamster because we had no relationship with it. Certainly children can teach us much in life as we do to them.


Here's wishing you a blessed and fruitful Lunar New Year! 新年快乐

The fine art of small talk by Debra Fine

Picked up this book at Marine Parade Library a few weeks back.  The reason is that there're many opportunities for us do small talk, apart from church (after service). 
This book lays the foundation as to what type of questions one can ask and how to go about asking them, even to strangers.  The benefit, of course, apart from building friendship, is networking. 
I particularly liked the chapter on Crimes and Misdemeanours.  Debra liken conversation killers to criminals and she listed eight of them:


1.  FBI Agent: relentless assault at asking a series of qns
2.  The Braggart: boasting of his accomplishments with great embellishment
3.  The One-Upper: will top someone else story
4.  The Monopolizer: hog the conversation
5.  The Interrupter: cutting people's conversation short by jumping in
6.  The Poor Sport: will not play by the rules; will not return the ball back when thrown at
7.  The Know-it-all: interested in no other person's opinion but his own
8.  The Adivser: a veritable agony aunt


The poor sport can figure prominently in family conversations when a question is asked and the perpetual response is "Don't know".  This part was shared and talked about during our family vacation recently.


I also like the part on 50 ways to fuel a conversation in chapter 11.  Here's a sample:


1.  Be the first to say hello.
2.  Introduce yourself to others.
3.  Take risks and anticipate success.
4.  Practice different ways of starting a conversation.
5.  Make an effort to remember people's names.  (often times i need to write down to remember them)
6.  Show curiosity and sincere interest in finding out about others.
7.  Tell others about the important events in your life.  Don't wait for them to draw it out.
8.  Demonstrate that you're listening by restating their comments in another way.
9.  Smile, make eye contact, offer a handshake, and go find the approachable person.
10.Greet people that you see regularly.


That would get you started.  BC has been told to be a people-oriented church and how else can we be unless each one of us make the first move.  So, this Sunday, go out on a limb and take the first step in connecting with someone new.  You'd be surprised what you can gain along the journey.

Driven by Eternity

Just completed reading book of the abovementioned title by John Bevere. It's very readable and with his usual style of writing he peppers his message with stories and personal anecdotes.  One difference about this book compared with his other writings is that he uses parables to convey his teaching.  The Kingdom of Affabel serves to highlight the kind of personalities that would ultimately get their just reward or punishment at the end.  For those who would like to know the distinction between the millennial reign and the time of the new heaven and earth, Bevere writes with compelling evidence as to how they are to be panned out.  In the appendix, there is a list of Scriptures detailing the rewards awaiting saints for their works done on earth.

The concept of eternity is explained in the beginning and how our limited time on earth pales in comparison with it. The key message is that all of us should be driven (or motivated) in our actions and attitudes toward the goal of meeting our Creator in eternity unashamed.  One clear thought that struck me as I read the book was that if we fail to fulfill the plans and purposes God has for our lives, He would bypass us and choose someone else to do the job.   There is a chapter on Heaven and Bevere quotes a real life story of someone who died and went to heaven and back again to tell his story.

I believe this book would help you set your bearing in life and make your life count for all eternity. I particularly like the chapter on Multiplication and how it has implications on us as we impact and influence lives through the generations.