Merry Christmas 2007       I hope 2007 was a great year for you. It was an interesting year for me and thus this is an unusual letter. Most of the year I worked part time and spent long hours writing a book on data processing. I learned a lot during this time. Let me explain.     I began my book by briefly describing the best practices for governance, projects, metrics and operations in a data processing center. In each chapter I explained that I have not yet found an organization that was able to implement the best practices for any of those four disciplines, let alone do all four at the same time. I then began studying organizational management in an effort to explain why we are failing. In brief, organizational theory was well known in the 1930s and 1940s for efficiency studies. Organizational management evolved into Human Resources and HR evolved into compliance regulation. Next came an emphasis on Leadership where one wise individual transforms the organization. That movement is still the most prolific with hundreds of books describing the wonderful success of some great leader. But those results do not last and of course none of this is new.     Two thousand years ago people in the Roman Empire lived in a society that taxed them excessively and expected them to do whatever it took to pay their taxes. The Romans kept looking for the ultimate leader that would make their empire even greater. The Jews looked for the leader that would defeat the Romans and establish God's Kingdom. Jesus came and through his death he led a group of fishermen to found a movement that overcame both the old view of the Roman Empire and of Judaism. The key concept in Christ's teaching is the "Kingdom of God".     What I am now wrestling with is the transformational power of the Kingdom of God. I now see it as a tangible object in our lives. And the resistance to the Kingdom of God is the same resistance that prevents companies from realizing their potential. We all work to serve ourselves and our families and our friends and colleagues and worthwhile causes. Most of us strive to serve God and country. And yet the result is chaos. There is only one person that has ever clearly described what will happen when the chaos ends - and that is Jesus Christ.     I got in a little running, some bicycling, choir and some teaching this year. I rode my bike 300 miles one week. Now I have set it aside to pursue the mystery of this conjunction. It is interesting that the deeper I go into researching why data processing shops cannot work efficiently the closer I come to an understanding of the Kingdom of God.     So here is what I know so far. Plotting the communication pathways used by an organization will reveal the depth of the chaos and the choke points where communication is stifled. Chaos is bad. Choke points are bad. Chaos is when we search for our own path. Choke points occur when one person has too much control over the communication and might be tempted to manipulate the communication to serve his or her own purpose.     Once I understood this I then tried to find as many places as I could to observe it in practice. I became a migratory consultant, seldom staying in one place very long. That search lasted most of the year. And then I settled back into a more traditional work routine. I am now typically on the freeway by 6:30am and seldom finish my last conference call of the day before 10:30pm. But in between that early start and late finish I try to squeeze in a few hours to work on my book, sing, work with a couple committees and teach an occasional class.     And I spend time thinking and researching and praying. The Kingdom of God is being formed right now. The way forward means aligning our strivings with the vision for the Kingdom. For example, consider the parable in Matthew 20. A manager went and hired some workers and put them to work for the day. Later in the day he found more workers and hired them. And near the end of the day he hired more workers, but it was so late that they were only able to work one hour. At the end of the day he paid them. Now, having been a part time contractor most of this year I can tell you first-hand how that works. There have been times when I spent one or two hours driving to a location only to be told that they did not need me that day and so I got paid nothing. Well, this particular manager is generous. He paid the workers that showed up last the amount most workers would earn in a whole day. Think about that from the point of view of someone who works part time. You might only get paid for one hour, and yet you still need to buy gas, eat, pay for your housing and utilities. All those expenses are the same whether your work one hour or twenty. So, from the point of view of the workers, their disadvantageous circumstances did not preclude them being able to earn enough to survive. The Kingdom of God means that everyone will be have enough.     Next think about this from the point of view of the manager. Many of the projects I have worked on this year have come about because companies want to shave a dollar or two off what they pay their workers, and so they turn to contractors and they send their work offshore. I help them do both. But what is their motivation - they are motivated by the fear that they cannot make enough profit. Now look at the behavior of the manager described in Matthew 20. He paid more than the union contract said he needed to pay. He paid what it took for his workers to survive, even if they were only there for one hour. The Kingdom of God means that you can be generous without fear. When we act with generosity we imitate the actions in this parable.     Finally, think about this parable from the point of view of the other workers. The workers that only worked one hour got paid wages for a full day, so the workers that worked the whole day expected more. But they got what they needed, rather than what they wanted, and they were disappointed. Where are we today? Are we content with having enough or are we afraid that we do not have as much as we need? As you look about, do you feel like everyone else is getting more than you? The message in this parable is that we should align ourselves with the kingdom. Give to those that need. Accept what we are given. And trust that there will be enough. This parable is a lesson in corporate management. The answer as to why data processing shops cannot implement what the industry calls best practices is that we are failing to implement what God calls best practices. I know that sounds "obvious" - but for once the linkages that perpetuate this are becoming clear to me.     Now, I just need to figure out how to explain this to the executives that I hope will read my book. The answer is that we all need to strive for the peace that comes from serving, not leading. We need to follow, not command. And we need to choose to work for companies that understand generosity and treat people with respect. We might not be able to change the world, but we can choose to work for people with integrity. What I need to do in 2008 is to package that message into my book. And then I need to put that vision into action - whatever that might mean. Like I said earlier, 2007 has been an interesting year.     Thank you for listening to my ramblings. I hope you have a fantastic Christmas and a wonderful 2008. I plan to have an interesting 2008.       Robert Perrine     New email -- robert@robertperrine.biz     Web site - http://www.robertperrine.biz