Introduction: Do you always think that you are not endowed with qualities for success? Even though we don’t have all the ideal resources, we actually possess more resources than we think we have.

Hi everyone, welcome to today’s Global Reachout programme on ‘Workplace Strategy’.

In the previous episode, I introduced the book ‘STRETCH’ to you. In this book, the author Scott Sonenshein suggested that we get rid of the traditional way of thinking, that is, ‘I need to have a particular thing for a certain accomplishment’. Instead, we should try adopting another approach and say: “Even if I don’t have it, I can still do it…”

The author reminded us that if we look around, we can discover that we have numerous resources waiting for us to use. On the other hand, those resources, which we think we should have, could be non-essential.

In order to prove this view, the author recorded a lot of examples regarding individuals and enterprises. In the previous episode, we shared about the experience of Phil Hansen, an artist. He was passionate about drawing. However, his permanently damaged nerve caused his right hand to tremble so much so that he couldn’t draw smooth lines anymore. After such a devastating setback, he chose to ‘gladly accept’ the disease that has limited his physiology and found another way to display his artistic talent.

Regarding this true story, a reader commented: Hansen is indeed inspirational! However, such people are few, as most of us do not have such abilities.

Dear friends, what are your perceptions? Do you agree with our reader?

Our answers to such a question reflect our ‘expectations’ in life. The author of ‘STRETCH’ thinks that our expectations towards others and ourselves directly influence how we use our resources.

In fact, we observe that in our daily lives and work, everyone responds to others according to our expectations for them. Therefore, our expectations of ourselves or expectations of others towards us have an impact on our actions. Ultimately, this will affect our future.

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We know that some parents don’t know how to educate or love their children. They always say to their children: “Why are you so stupid? You can’t do well in anything. You are useless!” What is the result? Their children grow up not achieving anything in life. They even have issues in their personalities and character. On the contrary, other parents know how to encourage their children. They may not grow up to be renowned people, but they can definitely display the full potential of their strengths. Their personalities and character are also more holistic.

Parental expectations shape the behaviour and future of their children. Everyone is endowed with the ability to influence others with our expectations. In life, we have lots of opportunities to convey our expectations to others. Those around us will perform differently based on our expectations towards them.

Typically, people strive to live up to the expectations of influential people. Thus, when we are in positions of authority, we must set higher expectations so that others will perform better. When the staff notices that their leaders have higher expectations at the workplace, their own expectations will also increase. It drives them to work harder. As employee performance begins to improve, their expectations will, in turn, be raised. This forms a virtuous cycle.

The regret is that we easily have negative expectations, especially towards others.

Dear friends, do you discover that we always attribute the failure of others to factors within their control such as abilities, morals and others? When it comes to success, we adopt a different attitude. We attribute their accomplishments to external factors that are outside of their control such as luck, having a millionaire father, and other outside circumstances? Such selfish ways of evaluation protect our self-esteem at the expense of our expectations of others. There are many such people. They feel good about themselves but have poor evaluation of others. When we have the worst form of expectations, we will also reap bad fruit from it.

The author for ‘STRETCH’ points out that negative expectations at the workplace do not help us to reach the goal. For example, in organisational changes, the management is concerned that there might be obstacles to the new measures. Such a way of thinking gives rise to obstacles that they have to overcome. In reality, the staff usually don’t support or oppose changes. They are neutral to them. However, if the management expects resistance, their staff’s neutral attitude will also quickly change to that of resistance.

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It is the same for our lives and workplace. When we expect the worst, such as thinking the boss won’t understand, the team is unreliable, the colleagues employ tactics, or the children are lazy, we will get the worst responses and results from others.

Of course, our own expectations are also extremely important. If we think that we can’t do something, we will not act on those expectations.

Therefore, the stretching of ‘resources’ has to start with our attitude. We need to adjust our perceptions towards others and things. When we are broad-minded, we can be stretched in all aspects.

From here, we can see why Christians need to understand God’s expectations towards us in the Bible. The reason is because people’s perceptions are distorted, either too high or too low. They are inclined towards elevating themselves or putting down others, resulting in lots of hurts. We need to be humble so as to find our true position in the Word of God and be clear about the meaning of our lives.

With respect to our position in life, the famous evangelist, Rev Stephen Tong, once expounded on Romans 12:3. Let me share with our friends here.

First of all, Apostle Paul reminded us in Romans 12:3 (in the Bible) that: we should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Rev Stephen Tong emphasized that ‘to think with sober judgement’ is to take a balanced approach. That is, not to think too highly or too low of oneself, not to be jealous, not to look down on others and complain. He thinks that a person who thinks too highly of himself will sin in 3 areas: firstly, he will despise others. Secondly, he will take away glory from God. Finally, he will do what he should not do. When a person thinks too lowly of himself, he will also sin in 3 areas. First of all, he will be easily jealous. Next, he does not believe in God. Ultimately, he will not have the courage to do the right things.

Rev Stephen Tong continued to stress that a lot of waste is caused as a result of thinking too highly or too lowly of oneself. When we think too highly of ourselves, we tend to oppress others and make little use of their abilities. When we think too lowly of ourselves, we are wasting our talents and lives. The results are the same, for we cannot fully display our greatest potential. He thinks that it is common to see such things in the church.

Therefore, Rev Stephen Tong reminded us that: even though we are imperfect beings, we can still have perfect resolutions through wholehearted devotion. Even if we do not have full quantities, we can still be complete in terms of quality. Although we may not obtain the full results or rewards, we can put our mind to it entirely.

This pastor, who has served God wholeheartedly, prayed to Him: May the Lord enable us to evaluate our abilities and be contented with whatever You have provided us with. May You help us treat our co-workers with an open heart. I would serve the Lord in whatever capacity You require of me and strive to the best of my abilities. At the same time, I thank God for the abilities to serve.

Dear friends, at this point in time, let us ask ourselves again: Can we have a breakthrough if we have inadequate resources?

Let us bring our insufficiency before the Lord in prayer. May the Lord enable us to adjust our expectations towards ourselves and others so that we aren’t arrogant. May we seek not to waste the resources and talents that He has given us.

The author of ‘STRETCH’ suggested that we ask ourselves a few questions: what are the resources, such as skills, knowledge and relationships, that I have put on hold? What about those resources that are put aside at the workplace such as products, culture, facilities, relationships and others? Then, we start to think and list the uses of such under-utilized resources. Finally, we can write down the immediate actions that we can take to use such underutilised resources.

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In the tidying process, you will most likely discover that you have some special qualities and abilities that you think aren’t important or of much use. Actually, they can be put to good use if we change the venue, method or combination of resources. Those ‘useless resources’ are in fact put in the wrong place.

I hope that these two episodes of sharing have reminded you that we need to learn not to fret over things that we don’t have. Rather, we should appreciate all the resources that we possess. It is a form of happiness and freedom! Now, we invite Rev Tony Tay, the founder of Global Jireh, to pray for us.

Scott Sonenshein：STRETCH: Unlock the Power of Less and Achieve More Than You Ever Imagined 《延展》

Critical Thinking Questions:

1. What are your expectations towards your coworkers and yourself at your work place? How would these expectations affect your performance at work?

2. How do you think your expectation towards yourself at workplace can influence your performance?

3. What do you think is God’s expectation towards us in our daily life?