Joy

Joy

 

Below is the entirety of a blog by Seth Godin called Organizing for joy. Read it and ask this. "Is my life organized for joy?" "Is my church organized for joy?"  Heck, is "joy" even in my vocabulary? Is should be. It is the lifestyle of a follower of Jesus.

 

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11

(Jesus' word for joy was Kara, which could also mean gladness.)

 

Traditional corporations, particularly large-scale service and manufacturing businesses, are organized for efficiency. Or consistency. But not joy.

 

McDonalds, Hertz, Dell and others crank it out. They show up. They lower costs. They use a stopwatch to measure output.

 

The problem with this mindset is that as you approach the asymptote of maximum efficiency, there's not a lot of room left for improvement. Making a Chicken McNugget for .00001 cents less isn't going to boost your profit a whole lot.

Worse, the nature of the work is inherently un-remarkable. If you fear special requests, if you staff with cogs, if you have to put it all in a manual, then the chances of amazing someone are really quite low.

 

These organizations have people who will try to patch problems over after the fact, instead of motivated people eager to delight on the spot.

 

The alternative, it seems, is to organize for joy. These are the companies that give their people the freedom (and yes, the expectation) that they will create, connect and surprise. These are the organizations that embrace someone who makes a difference, as opposed to searching for a clause in the employee handbook that was violated.