A lot of important decisions are being made at Yates: the budget, calling a new music minister, deacons for next year, to name a few. How can we make these decisions when we don’t know what our vision is? In one sense, this is the right way of thinking. When we know who we are and where we are going, then we will know what to do. All of our decisions become much easier when they can be made in the context of a clear vision.
Perhaps a lesson from the corporate world can help us. Consider what Zat Rana, writer and philosopher, has to say about Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon. He’s most famous today for being the richest person alive, and while his image in the media oscillates between good and bad, one thing is for certain—no one doubts him anymore. Amazon is an absolute giant of a company.
That said, for the first 20 or so years, things were different. Amazon almost never made a profit, they seemed to lack focus, and their corporate valuation was universally acknowledged as being out of touch. Yet, if you had really paid attention to what Bezos was saying during this time, you would have known that none of that criticism mattered. He had a simple, but very effective, decision-making system that almost guaranteed that what he was doing was exactly what he should have been doing. The world was looking at a checkerboard while he was playing chess.
The foundation of his secret is that he was on an entirely different time-horizon. He didn’t care to win over a period defined by someone else, whether that be the media or Wall Street; rather, he was doing his own thing today while being relentlessly focused on tomorrow. Observing this, if there is one skill that separates Bezos from other effective CEOs—and really most people in general—it’s the ability to make optimal decisions in the face of a future he doesn’t fully understand.
Most of us have to make similar decisions all the time, and these decisions are incredibly important, and their consequences can ripple for decades. Having a framework is absolutely crucial. The biggest paradox we face when it comes to decision-making is that we are forced to make decisions now about something that doesn’t exist. Who’s to say that you will be as happy with your choice of work or spouse in 10 years—when you’re a different person and living in a different reality—as you were when you made it? In fact, the chances are that you won’t be. Things happen and people change. More importantly, the future is unpredictable. We live in a complex world with an infinite number of variables that interact with each other. Yet without a long-term compass to guide us, it’s hard to be intentional. We need a rough idea of where we want to be in 10, 20, and 30 years.
When it comes to making the most important and longest-term decisions, Bezos has a simple rule that’s quite useful: “Focus on the things that won’t change.” At Amazon, this means that everything is built around their value of customer obsession. They don’t try to hop on every new fad because they don’t know which one will still matter. They do, however, know that in 20 years, customers will still want faster deliveries and cheaper products. They can build a future around making that a primary area of focus.
Perhaps God imagines that Yates Baptist Church can be widely successful, too. There are dynamics about church life that are different today than they were yesterday or will be tomorrow. But there are fundamentals of our spirituality that never change. We can make great decisions when we keep our focus on the one thing that never changes: our eternal God, Father and Creator. As we strive toward understanding God’s vision for us, we can take heart; though there will be trouble in this world, Jesus Christ has overcome the world! Let the Lord be our vision and trust what God will accomplish!
Sean Fenton
The Visioning Leadership Team is eager for you to engage the unfolding vision process at Yates. If you have curiosities, questions, feedback, thoughts or ideas, feel free to bring them to any member of the team: Rachael Cruickshank, Sean Fenton, Sam Haithcock, Tarvick Linder, Richard Poindexter, Linda Mercer, Courtney Thornton, or our pastor, Christopher Ingram.