Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

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  • Decisions Not So Black and White

    Decisions.

    It’s common and not an entirely bad thing to want to make the “right” decision instead of the “wrong” decision.

    We all want our decisions to be validated in the crucible of reality.

    But it is fallacious to assume either that there are only two alternatives (the right one or the wrong one), or that the reason that some decisions don’t work out has to do with a fatal flaw in the original decision.

    Let’s take the two problems one at a time.

    First, that there is a “right” decision to be made and all other decisions are flatly “wrong”.

    This either-or, blank-and-white thinking is naive at best if not outright dangerous.

    Instead of a fork in the road, imagine a chess board. There are many possible moves to make. There are multiple strategies one might select and/or switch between. There is also another player involved who is making decisions with varying degrees of precision, shrewdness and finesse of their own.

    Imagine then an (as yet not invented) eight-person chess game with an octagonal gigantic chess board. Multiple decision-makers and multiple dynamics (more…)

  • Loving Monday: The Power is All Yours

    loving_mondayBad bosses. Stultifying office cultures. Boring job descriptions. Suffocating bureaucracies. Ambiguous career paths. Petty co-workers.

    There are plenty of triggers for a bad day at work. There are plenty of perfectly understandable justifications for a bad attitude.

    Plenty of reasons but no excuses.

    What?!

    That’s right… no excuses. There are no excuses for the attitude we choose to wear each day.

    Lots of impacting factors… yes. But excuses… no.

    The point is not to be harsh, but realistic. I am not trying to lay blame, but embrace responsibility.

    When circumstances align themselves against us, we always have a choice as to how we will respond.

    No one can take that choice away from us.

    Here’s the key take-away: there is enormous power in being able to choose one’s attitude. That’s a good thing.

    The realization that I have the power to choose in spite of all that might be happening around me, is hugely uplifting, empowering and renewing.

    Think about it.

    At the very moment when we might be feeling powerless, picked on, or buffeted, we still are the only ones who can choose with what attitude we will proceed.

    What attitude have you chosen to wear today?

    On your side,

    – Karl Edwards

    Loving Monday is a weekly column designed to encourage us to step into our weeks with an intention to show up authentically, engage fully, and choose to make it a good week for ourselves. Explore past columns here.

  • Quote to Consider: Now THAT’S Perspective!

    quote-to-consider“Most of us spend too much time on the last twenty-four hours and too little on the last six thousand years.”

    Will Durant

  • Karl Shares Six Words… #25


    Indignity borne with silent, steely resolve.


    Karl Edwards

  • Listen In -> Bridging the Work-Faith Divide #5: Becoming a Person of Influence and Impact

    We’ve all been there.

    At our own places of employment or while at a meeting at another company.

    The feeling is palpable. It might be pressure. It might be drive. It might be panic. It might be enthusiasm. It might be supportiveness. It might be competitiveness.

    Bridging the Work-Faith Divide

    How would you characterize the culture of your workplace?

    In this week’s show Claudia and I discuss how to influence the culture where you work.

    In many regards, workplace cultures are deep, complex realities that have developed over time. Such realities do not lend themselves to quick fixes or radical changes initiated by even the best intentioned team member.

    Does that mean that you and I are powerless to impact our workplace culture?

    Not at all!!

    But it does mean that we need to be thoughtful and appropriate in the means and manners in which we choose to exert influence.

    Join our discussion about four degrees of influence which are available to everyone on the team: modeling, suggesting, reforming and battling.

    Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.
    Interested in how we can resource your church or organization? Get more information here.

    Listen in.

  • Thought Leaders Unpacked -> Clutch #11: How to be Clutch in Sports

    thought-leadersWe close out our series on Clutch by Paul Sullivan with a look at, “How to be Clutch in Sports.”

    Sports stories have been a staple of the entire book, serving as a rich source of performance under pressure examples.

    With our focus now on sports themselves, I find the lessons and insights still broadly applicable.

    My main take-away was the return to fundamentals. Fundamental skills. Fundamental discipline in training, practicing and honing those skills.

    If I want to be able to rely on my skills under pressure, they need to be practiced to a degree that they are ingrained and feel natural.

    While I understand the principle, I must admit the lifestyle of discipline, focus and training required to get to where my skills are so well practiced that they feel natural feels a bit out of reach.

    I’m not sure if that out-of-reach feeling comes from never having been trained with the capacity to focus and work hard on a single skill like that. Or if the (more…)

  • Loving Monday: Digging Yourself Out of the Weekend

    loving_mondayUsually the weekend restores us.

    We have an opportunity to rest, take care of personal chores, and have some fun with family and friends.

    Usually the weekend restores us so we have the energy, poise and presence of mind to face our many responsibilities at work again.

    Usually.

    Some weekends, though, exhaust us. Some weekends deplete us. Some weekends aren’t very fun, and we go back to work feeling down and diminished.

    The idea of “Loving Monday” can sound trite to the weary or hurting. It’s all we can do to face Monday, much less love it.

    But it’s when we feel like we need to dig ourselves out of our weekends before we can step into our work weeks that the idea of “Loving Monday” is so crucial.

    Not a superficial “rah rah” cheer  that pretends the weekend never happened; but the years of careful nurturing of a career that we love, a job where we can (more…)

  • Quote to Consider: Dangerous Contentment

    quote-to-consider“Bad will be the day for every man when he becomes absolutely contented with the life he is living, when there is not forever beating at the doors of his soul some great desire to do something larger.”

    Phillips Brooks

  • Listen In -> Bridging the Work-Faith Divide #4: Collaboration, Empowerment and Accountability

    We don’t work alone.

    Some of may wish we worked alone, but reality returns each morning and we find ourselves face to face with another task on which to collaborate, another meeting to schedule, or another disagreement to work through.

    Bridging the Work-Faith DivideWe need ways to share information, combine efforts, enhance motivation, and be accountable to achieve results.

    In this week’s show, Claudia and I discuss how our faith informs how we work with other people.

    But, true to our the workplace perspective of this series, we are not going to ask how to be a good Christian at work. We are going to discuss the workplace realities of collaboration, empowerment and accountability.

    We have to share tasks and pool our skills; we have to tap into people’s core motivations and working styles; and we need to be able to confront problems and achieve results.

    You’ll be amazed at how relevant and helpful being a person of faith is to effectively navigating these common workplace issues.

    Listen in.

    Just now joining the conversation? Catch up on the entire series here.
    Interested in how we can resource your church or organization? Get more information here.

  • Karl Shares Six Words… #24


    Reading resumés instead of meeting people.


    Karl Edwards