God's Day Planner: From Chaos to Very Good

Often in life, we can find ourselves in a rut. Going through the motions but not feeling like we are "getting anywhere". Over the past year, I've been studying and building a class on Origins, Morality, Meaning and Destiny as a tool to help people understand what they believe and what the Bible teaches on these topics. During Origins I was astounded by Creation week in Genesis 1, by what God said and what was created. He established the Sabbath as a lasting ordinance. The stars moon and sun were created to mark the time and seasons.

I got to thinking what if we modeled our days after the creation week. Would we be more productive, more fulfilled and have better relationships?
Sun 1. Team Vision Day: Seeing forward
Mon 2. Team Evaluation Day: The space between
Tue 3. Team Planning Day: Plant to produce
Wed 4. Teamwork Schedule Day: Lights, Separation, and Signals
Thu 5. Teamwork Day: Be fruitful and multiply
Fri 6. Teamwork Day 2: Be fruitful and multiply
Sat 7. Reflection Day: Look backward

1. Team Vision Day: Let there be light and there was light

Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”

Let there be light. Be honest, impartial, humble and see. What do you see around you? Start with God, what gifts have you been given that maybe you haven't opened to see what it is. 

Be nearsighted in thanksgiving, be farsighted in hope, be present in faith and love.  

Separate light from darkness. Spend time hearing from God, this is our Sunday. Remember we go to church Sunday to celebrate and remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

2. Team Evaluation Day: The space between

Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. God called the space “sky.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.

See space between heaven (desire) and water (life)

What's happened in the past week? What did you set out to achieve, what did you achieve? Did your actions result in the expected benefits? 

"You are here". Look at your roadmap or directory and see where you are. Take time to understand your cycle of life. In my job we have a Software Development Lifecycle, We also follow a Capability Maturity Model, in everything we look to make process improvements in our delivery. We use Six Sigma and build feedback mechanisms in order to help us make informed evaluations and develop recommendations for improvements. At other points in my career, we've had month end, quarter end cycles. At other points weekly staff scheduling and inventory management and coordinated product releases. 

As a Project Manager, I developed plans that help determine adjustments to time, cost and scope that are needed based on where we are according to plan. I've never seen a day go by without change, we want to identify, embrace and drive change for the benefit of God's plan in our lives. 

Let there be space between water (life) and earth (legacy)

Separate the water from the earth: In your evaluation see where water is stale and creating problems. Where is water needed, how can you create a channel for the water to flow from where it's a problem to where it's needed? Start with the end in mine.

3. Team Planning Day: Plant to produce (scope the work)

Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.

Healthy ground is created when obstacles are removed and the field is level. Good leaders and managers see the vision, evaluate the place we are and create a healthy environment for plans to flourish and produce good results. 

Make good soil; the primary ingredients are organics and water. Organics can be created quickly by setting dead things on fire or overtime with composting. Fertilization adds something new to the mix. I think of fertilization as innovation, adding something external to an internal problem.

You may gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. There will be no food on the ground that day. They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you. That is why he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must each stay in your place. Do not go out to pick up food on the seventh day.” Exodus 16:26,29

4. Teamwork Schedule Day: Lights, Separation, and Signals

Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.

The night sky has bright stars that help give direction, but the brightest object appears once a month. The full moon. Every year constellations show us what time it is and predictable cycles of life emerge. We all have schedules but not all of the time we spend is spent well. Take time on Wednesday to evaluate your use of time. Looks at the bright lights in your industry to see what makes them shine brighter. If you can, ask them or read up on what they do - or who their inspiration is. 

Separation of duties is essential in providing a quality system. I work in software development and when a complete system is developed by one person it's almost always a mess to maintain. This is because they assume they're the only one who will work on it. They find it easier to "just do it" rather than following S.O.L.I.D principles and when the developer is the tester they typically don't include clear signals of success or failure. 

Signals are needed to tell you and your team what needed in the short term and long term. We call these leading indicators. Many people struggle with defining lead indicators but a simple starting point is who and when categories around your "what". Build categories of who (top, aspiring top, middle, at risk, in trouble) and categories of when (up to date, need status, stale, not being worked on). If your "what" is prioritized from Tuesday (because it's achieving your vision from Sunday) - now your signals will make Monday's evaluation a lot easier. I use Sharepoint modified date to enable this automatically. 

5. Teamwork Day: Be fruitful and multiply

Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day.

I love how Jesus talks about living water and the image of waters swarming with life. I had the opportunity to swim in Maui Hawawii after Kim and I were married. It was one of the most amazing experiences I've had.

Being fruitful happens naturally when we've taken care of preparing for healthy growth and success. I think of a team building a sky scrapper. There is a clear order but once the foundation is laid - each floor goes through the process. the first floor can nearly be finished while the top floors are still being framed.

Being fruitful in our work means we are united in vision (long-term plan), aligned on evaluation (status),  know the scope of work for the next 90 days and who will do the work (roles).

6. Teamwork Day 2: Be fruitful and multiply

Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the seat, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened.
Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!
And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.

• We learn from earth's ecosystems and natural production
• We reign over everything, bearing God's image
• We fill and govern the earth, everything that has life
• It's not good to be alone, we need husbands and wives, moms and dads and family

7. Reflection Day: Look backward

So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

Exodus 13:8
“On the seventh day you must explain to your children, ‘I am celebrating what the Lord did for me when I left Egypt.’

“Remember the Sabbath (seventh) day to keep it holy (set apart, dedicated to God). For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. Exodus 20:8,11,
“You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working. This gives your ox and your donkey a chance to rest. It also allows your slaves and the foreigners living among you to be refreshed. Exodus 23:12

On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud. (Exodus 24:16)