I talk a lot about focusing on results, however the context around those results is just as important – and may even be more important than the results themselves. Often, though, we ignore the context. A poorly set up context can invalidate the results we worked so hard to achieve. Context is everything.
Let me explain what I mean. Joe and Sally got an A in Trigonometry class, but the context in which they received that A is not the same. You see, Joe cheated in Trig. He got the A, but he didn’t earn it. Now both Joe and Sally are advancing to Calculus. Sally is set up to do well in Calculus, but Joe is not set up to succeed. The context around how they got their A in Trig makes all the difference.
Here are a few more examples:
- Employee awards are given out once a month, but to be fair, the company gives out awards to everyone whether they did a spankin’ job or not. In this context, what should be a moment of positive praise becomes a moment that tears down employee morale.
- Bob and Joe are both given $1,000. However, bob never learned how to manage and make money. In this context, the $1,000 is not the blessing to Bob as it is to Joe. Bob will quickly blow through the $1,000 and will not know how to replace it. Bob will just be ever increasingly jealous of Joe and frustrated at his unchanging situation.
- A young high-school couple is having sex, and she gets pregnant. The context around the pregnancy is not great. Instead of creating a context for a loving family for the child, this couple is now unprepared and afraid for their livelihoods. What should be an incredibly wonderful experience is now a frightful mess.
- Sally loves to complain. Every time she gets together with her friends, she takes every advantage to complain about her situation and other people. This seems harmless, but it sets a context. Sally’s friends will never, ever share anything personal with her as they fear they will become fodder for the latest gossip going around. Sally often wonders why she doesn’t have deep relationships like she sees with other people.
Context is everything. Too often we drive toward a goal and forget about the context we are creating around the goal.
They key point to today’s message is that we need to create, cultivate and guard the contexts in our life. In our relationships, in our workplace, in our endeavors, in our methods to help people, are we setting up great contexts in which people can flourish? Are we even aware of the contexts we are creating?
