This article by Tim O’Reilly, which expounded on his thoughts about working on “stuff that matters,” rocked my face this afternoon. If you’ve got a few moments, scan it and I hope it does the same for you.
I’m constantly gutchecking myself to see if I’m really working on “stuff that matters.” It is so easy to work on stuff in high tech that’s “cool,” “fun,” “exciting,” “cutting edge,” or does pretty much the same thing as the previous thing but adds a useless bell or worthless whistle.
I think O’Reilly is spot on with his few remarks and there is one specifically that has been on my heart for a while now: “Creating More Value than You Capture.”
The simple fact is that I’m selfish. We all are.
And as much as one may preach that they like “giving more than receiving” it’s often times hard to truly believe. We like getting stuff in return for our work, services, time, energy, and money. Either we feel like we are “owed” this or that we’re “entitled” to it.
But we gotta kill that. We gotta stop that.
The blogging medium has an opportunity to really take it up a notch on the “creating more value” though, and that’s what I love about it.
With tremendous speed I can share some of my thoughts, strategies, or even software and applications and give them to the general public. Within moments, this created “value” can spread virally, reaching people that I would have never imagined possible, impacting (hopefully for the good) many peoples.
That’s what I was thinking about when I launched the latest WordPress theme. I thanked God for the opportunity to create “value” for the community, not just the evangelical line that trolls these parts but also for those that wouldn’t have anything to do with Jesus (yet).
That’s value. That’s cool. That’s doing “stuff that matters.”
When we begin to impact the much larger community of web users, and when that becomes our mission and our heartbeat, I believe that we begin to use technology as God intended it to be used: as a powerful tool for effectively communicating His Message.
It may not be explicit “His Message” (like a WordPress theme) out the gate, but it provides a channel that can be tapped strategically much later.
I want to do stuff that matters. I want it to count. I want it to reap “eternal” results. So, I’m gonna dive right in. Gonna make some waves. Create some turbulence. Make a mess.
What about you?
Being a producer rather than a consumer, a "net" producer, that's value.
Storing up treasure in heaven, that's true value. Not only for the treasudre that is stored, but how you go about storing it.
ah. the means and the ends… good reminder!
ah. the means and the ends… good reminder!
Thanks for the article link – always good to be reminded on narrowing our focus! Now one just needs to do it
Very true stu… (can i call you stu?) – get to it!
have a great week man.
You can call me whatever you like! So long as it isn't Shirley
will do…. i mean… i won't.
I find that what I do (as in blogging about video, editing, vfx, etc) gives me an 'In' that I might be able to invest in a few lives on the net; lives that share the same interests and passions as me. I often find myself being more worried about the benefits to me, I am human hey (terrible excuse I know).
So it is good to keep reminding yourself to remain focused and pray for the opportunity where you can invest in someone's life to the point where they might come to Church and find Christ.
It is very far fetched, I know, to think that what you write may affect a life like that in another country because of what you write, but God can use anything – and the more you Glorify Him the more He can use you.
Well, I need to remind myself more often about that.
Well said here bro. well said. the things that God does with our simple words is amazing… you never really know.
Good words. We have to look at this as a mission field. I often think about Paul working as a tent-maker while ministering and planting churches as to not be a burden.
Funny you should mention this topic. I met my former boss for coffee on Saturday and we discussed this issue. I suggested that find something that he enjoyed or a hobby and think about a blog. I explained that when you create a vehicle to talk about something you are passionate about, chances are you will put more effort into the creation than if you had to write about taking out the trash. This way, when you really have to or need to create a blog for career pursuits, you already know what it takes because you've done it. He told me that I gave him a lot to process and that he was intrigued. That is a lot of feedback from this guy!
I talked to my Mom on the way home and we had the duplicate conversation. I asked about her interests and she told me that she always wanted to write! What?! I didn't know that! I told her that I like to write, too.We are going to start a blog to swap stories. I told her that once she started, she would be hooked.
Good topic.
sweet!