Do you think we should go back to the basics, or give the perception we are creating something new, i.e. Six Sigma, Seven Sigma, Eight Sigma, etc.?
Whenever I do research for my training programs, I go back as far as I can, which in some cases means going back through Biblical references that relate to the topic I am researching.
Recently, in a quest for information related to making “good management decisions,” I went into my archives and was pleased to find research on Biblical management.
The story of Biblical management begins in the book of Exodus where God is explaining to Moses the plan he has for freeing the Isrealites from the Pharaoh in Egypt (Exodus 7 through 7:7). However, Moses was not buying in to God’s plan, which entailed the following:
- God will tell Moses what to say to the Pharaoh.
- Moses will tell Aaron.
- Aaron will tell the Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.
- God will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and Pharaoh will not listen to Moses and Aaron even after these signs and wonders from God:
- Blood in the Nile, fish died, the Nile became foul
- Frog infestation
- Lice in the dust of air that infected man and beast
- Flies
- Cattle disease
- Boils
- Hailstorms
- Clouds of Locusts
- Finally, God will lay his hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment, He will bring out His divisions and His people, and the Pharaoh will release the Israelites.
Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? To top it off Moses, is over 80 years old and has a speech impediment (Exodus 4:14). Yet, he was called upon by God to convince the Pharaoh of Egypt to “Let My People Go.” And, did I mention that the Pharaoh would behead anyone who did not obey his orders?
When God is your CEO, it is hard to believe that anyone could argue with Him. Yet, Moses did argue with God, even though God promised a positive outcome, and God’s plan did achieve what He had promised, delivering the Isrealites from the evil Pharaoh and into Moses’ leadership.
Now, let’s fast forward to Exodus 12:37, where Moses is now leading what some estimate to be about a million people through the desert to the Promised Land. He receives a visit from his father-in-law, Jethro, and during the first night of the visit, Jethro talked of how proud he is that Moses had freed the Israelites, parted the Red Sea and destroyed more than half of Pharaoh’s army when the Red Sea closed in on the soldiers.
Jethro visits Moses again the next morning and observes him at work, sitting as judge, while all of the people stand around from morning until evening waiting for Moses to rule on conflicts and other troubling matters. Jethro said to Moses, “listen to me, what you are doing is not good, the work is to heavy for you, and you can not handle it alone.” Jethro offered the following advise to Moses:
- You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him.
- You must teach them the decrees and laws.
- You must show them the way to live, and the duties they are to perform.
- You must select capable men from all the people:
- Men who fear God, and trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain.
- Appoint these men as officials over:
- Thousands
- Hundreds
- Fifty
- Ten
- You must have them serve as judges for the people at all times, bringing every difficult case to you, and handing simple cases on their own.
- If you do this and God so commands, you will withstand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.
While this was thousands of years ago, if you look at the elements of leadership, as outlined by Jethro to Moses, they are the same leadership traits that should be used today. Leaders should not believe they are God, they should be educated and educators that assign responsibility and authority to others. Leaders are capable men that are serving the people and resolving disputes at the appropriate level of leadership without any thought of self-gain.
Do you think we should go back to the basics, or give the perception we are creating something new, i.e. Six Sigma, Seven Sigma, Eight Sigma, etc.?
