“The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.” Leonardo da VinciAt work I was on a project team charted to improve a process. I was the only one that worked with the process full time. The others on the team were those who benefited from the service the process provided, except one who was an expert in process improvement.
I was most familiar with the process at every level and had various ideas on ways to improve it. I was eager to test my ideas to see if they improved the service to the others. But the process improvement expert saw things differently. In the beginning I was patient. Later, when I shared my ideas, I was surprised to see the users gravitate to different ideas for improvement. My suggestions were labeled “low hanging fruit,” meaning we could implement them, but that none of them would bring about the significant improvement the users needed. I was slightly offended so I decided to stop sharing my thoughts and just sat back waiting for them to seek out my opinions. It wasn’t long before I went from ‘slightly offended’ to ‘completely embarrassed.’ The team followed the ideas of the process improvement expert and eventually generated some ground-breaking suggestions for improvement. It was then that I remembered a line from the movie What Women Want where the screenwriter, Nancy Meyers, wrote, “Two heads are better than one, and five heads are better than two.” The lesson, of course, pointed to the concept of synergy, where the more input you get from dynamic, open-minded teamwork, the better the results. In the end I led the implementation team and the team was recognized for our accomplishment. But, I also gained the realization that my initial opinions were more like anchors of same-old-way thinking than truly progressive ideas. Can you think of a time when your opinions were not willingly accepted? Were you less than cooperative when others’ opinions didn’t align with yours? What approach will you take next time to be more open-minded? Lord, thank You for sparing me from total deception, for opening my eyes to others’ opinions before I was identified as being uncooperative. Amen “…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love,” Ephesians 4:2 What are your thoughts? Libby Note: Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was an Italian painter, sculptor, inventor, architect, scientist, musician, engineer, writer, poet, historian, among other talents; he is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time. Historians and scholars regard Leonardo as the primer example of the “Renaissance Man.”
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WelcomeI love the wisdom of the ages gleaned from relevant quotes. In them there is a connection to the human experience that crosses all borders. Join me as I relate my personal experiences, and link the wisdom of the quote to the Source of all wisdom: God's Word, the Bible. Enjoy, Libby Categories
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