Mom & Pop to Big Business
Most Americans, no matter whether you politically consider yourself Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian or whatever, would agree that the government is not only corrupt, but broken completely. I don't usually wade into these type of political waters, but something hit me recently, so I decided to get it down while it was on my mind.
The fact hit me that it's no wonder the government is broken. The government has outgrown itself and isn't functioning like it should. This isn't a big government vs. small government debate. This is simply an operational issue. Before I started in ministry, I spent some time in the corporate food service and retail industry. What I realized was the fact that the government is just like a huge corporation...Walmart, Sears, JC Penny, KFC, McDonalds and so on. At one point, this nation was once a mom & pop outfit. It was small and easily managed. Casting vision wasn't difficult, communicating direction was fairly easy, and managing staff wasn't difficult because there weren't many 'employees'.
The trouble is that our little mom & pop store has grown up and become a major player in the business world. It's now on the level of a McDonald's or Walmart. Managing this business at this level is much different than managing it when it was small. The same tactics used at the smaller level do not work anymore. The leadership needed must be of a higher caliber and the trouble is that the political pool from which to draw leaders from is scarce. It more about wanting the power than actually running this thing.
The government is huge. Casting vision is difficult. Helping the 'company' catch that vision is a real challenge. By the way, so is communicating direction. Managing staff is much more difficult because you have a lot more employees to manage. You need higher caliber staff to manage each department. You need those leaders to catch said vision and direction. The trouble is that you change CEO's every 4 years...8 if the guy is lucky enough to stick around for another term. Any corporation that changes CEO's that much is likely to fail because there is no consistency.
Right now we are seeing department stores fail all across our country. Kmart and Sears are closing stores like wildfire. We saw Toys R Us fail...a company we thought would never fail. Now we are seeing Walmart have to compete with Amazon...who isn't a storefront business. It is forecasted that Amazon will overtake Walmart very soon. The trouble is that these stores that are struggling all fall into the same trap. They make cuts to dead weight. They cut spending in places like purchasing, inventory and staff. While cutting dead weight and unproductive stores is good, balancing budgets is a bit more tricky. They fall into the trap of trying to balance budgets and end up driving their stores deeper into the spiral of failure. Prices go up, customer service goes down, people wait in line where they didn't have to before, stores have less stock on shelves. Basically, people begin smelling the blood in the water like a shark. They flee these stores for places that are doing well.
Translating this to our government, all of the election cycles are power grabs. The 'issues' that come up are simply surface issues. They aren't going to fix the problem. They send the sharks in because they smell blood in the water. The things they think will fix it don't, it just sends them spiraling downward. So, what's the answer?
Well, unfortunately, I don't have that answer to that question. I just know that we are circling the drain and it's only a matter of time before this country self implodes. The issues we need to address are not the issues on the surface. The issues are much deeper. Corruption. Leadership quality. Vision. Direction. Management. Staff. Downsizing a bit? Perhaps. Elevating the level of the leaders? This is a must.
America was never designed to be a Theocracy (a government run by God alone.). However, it was designed for the leadership to be fully reliant upon God. Our leadership in this country has left that principle. In our pride and arrogance, we believe we can do better. Yes, our leadership changes every 4 years. Congress elects new members every 2, which goes in a rotation. In order to provide the consistency we need, God needs to be the CEO...the president simply needs to be the COO. This would provide the consistency we need in this country. Regardless of how we attack the problems in our country, a reliance upon God as Supreme would allow us to understand that is truly isn't about us. Big government, small government, doesn't make a difference. The level of the leadership in this country needs to elevate. Our level can only grow if we follow someone with a higher level of leadership than our own...God provides that. It's high time God was the CEO again.
The fact hit me that it's no wonder the government is broken. The government has outgrown itself and isn't functioning like it should. This isn't a big government vs. small government debate. This is simply an operational issue. Before I started in ministry, I spent some time in the corporate food service and retail industry. What I realized was the fact that the government is just like a huge corporation...Walmart, Sears, JC Penny, KFC, McDonalds and so on. At one point, this nation was once a mom & pop outfit. It was small and easily managed. Casting vision wasn't difficult, communicating direction was fairly easy, and managing staff wasn't difficult because there weren't many 'employees'.
The trouble is that our little mom & pop store has grown up and become a major player in the business world. It's now on the level of a McDonald's or Walmart. Managing this business at this level is much different than managing it when it was small. The same tactics used at the smaller level do not work anymore. The leadership needed must be of a higher caliber and the trouble is that the political pool from which to draw leaders from is scarce. It more about wanting the power than actually running this thing.
The government is huge. Casting vision is difficult. Helping the 'company' catch that vision is a real challenge. By the way, so is communicating direction. Managing staff is much more difficult because you have a lot more employees to manage. You need higher caliber staff to manage each department. You need those leaders to catch said vision and direction. The trouble is that you change CEO's every 4 years...8 if the guy is lucky enough to stick around for another term. Any corporation that changes CEO's that much is likely to fail because there is no consistency.
Right now we are seeing department stores fail all across our country. Kmart and Sears are closing stores like wildfire. We saw Toys R Us fail...a company we thought would never fail. Now we are seeing Walmart have to compete with Amazon...who isn't a storefront business. It is forecasted that Amazon will overtake Walmart very soon. The trouble is that these stores that are struggling all fall into the same trap. They make cuts to dead weight. They cut spending in places like purchasing, inventory and staff. While cutting dead weight and unproductive stores is good, balancing budgets is a bit more tricky. They fall into the trap of trying to balance budgets and end up driving their stores deeper into the spiral of failure. Prices go up, customer service goes down, people wait in line where they didn't have to before, stores have less stock on shelves. Basically, people begin smelling the blood in the water like a shark. They flee these stores for places that are doing well.
Translating this to our government, all of the election cycles are power grabs. The 'issues' that come up are simply surface issues. They aren't going to fix the problem. They send the sharks in because they smell blood in the water. The things they think will fix it don't, it just sends them spiraling downward. So, what's the answer?
Well, unfortunately, I don't have that answer to that question. I just know that we are circling the drain and it's only a matter of time before this country self implodes. The issues we need to address are not the issues on the surface. The issues are much deeper. Corruption. Leadership quality. Vision. Direction. Management. Staff. Downsizing a bit? Perhaps. Elevating the level of the leaders? This is a must.
America was never designed to be a Theocracy (a government run by God alone.). However, it was designed for the leadership to be fully reliant upon God. Our leadership in this country has left that principle. In our pride and arrogance, we believe we can do better. Yes, our leadership changes every 4 years. Congress elects new members every 2, which goes in a rotation. In order to provide the consistency we need, God needs to be the CEO...the president simply needs to be the COO. This would provide the consistency we need in this country. Regardless of how we attack the problems in our country, a reliance upon God as Supreme would allow us to understand that is truly isn't about us. Big government, small government, doesn't make a difference. The level of the leadership in this country needs to elevate. Our level can only grow if we follow someone with a higher level of leadership than our own...God provides that. It's high time God was the CEO again.
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