How much prestige is associated with your job? If you are a Firefighter you are greatly respected. If you are a preacher . . . , not so much.
In this year’s annual Harris Poll regarding the most prestigious jobs, Firefighters scored highest with 62% of respondents indicating that the position held “very great prestige”. Priests/ministers/clergy was eighth on the list with 41% considering the position to be of “very great prestige.” Oh well, it could be worse. You could be a Member of Congress (28%) or a Union Leader (17%).
Here is their list of positions in order of prestige:
- Firefighter
- Scientist
- Doctor
- Nurse
- Military officer
- Teacher
- Police officer
- Priest/Minister/Clergy
- Engineer
- Farmer
- Architect
- Member of Congress
- Lawyer
- Business executive
- Athlete
- Journalist
- Union Leader
- Entertainer
- Banker
- Actor
- Stockbroker
- Accountant
- Real estate agent/broker
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We often make the mistake of assuming that navigating a complex world requires complex answers. As a result we end up with even more complexity … confusion … chaos. The absurd behavior of key players in the recent meltdown of the American economy is a macrocosm of the nonsense which results from such thinking and which is ubiquitous in today’s business and social organizations, including the Local Church.
Maybe the current crisis will provide the impetus we need to cut out the nonsense. In some ways it now seems that there is developing a cultural zeitgeist in which people are demanding more common sense in our institutions [perhaps everywhere except in politics and in our churches]. It is time to re-evaluate what we are doing and how we are doing it. It is time to cut through the nonsense and do things right.
So, I heartily recommend Jack Trout’s book The Power Of Simplicity: A Management Guide to Cutting Through the Nonsense and Doing Things Right
Trout introduces his book to us with the following quote from John Scully, “Everything we have learned in the industrial age has tended to create more and more complication. I think that more and more people are learning that you have to simplify, not complicate. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
It that sense, Trout’s book is very sophisticated. He argues his thesis straightforwardly in clear language, short chapters and concrete action steps. This book organization is not only consistent with the premise but allowed me to conveniently imbibe bite-size portions. I read it a few minutes each day over the course of a couple of weeks.
The Power Of Simplicity
- He believes mission statements add needless confusion
- He believes long-term planning is just wishful thinking
- He believes that goals sound nice but accomplish little
- He believes growth can be bad for your business
Sound intriguing? Maybe, … but Trout keeps it simple.
Tolle lege.
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I plead guilty. Like most preachers I don’t do as good a job as I could of keeping my family’s life private. My wife and kids appear as characters in far too many of my sermon illustrations (and blog posts). It is tough enough to live in a glass house without your husband / father exposing you further. I heard one pastor say that he always asks his family members for permission before including them in a narrative. That is probably good advice.
And, now for those of you who just don’t get it, here is an educational video:
