In honor of my good friend Ken, I would like to offer my own “Yes and No”… except with an extra Yes.

Yes and Yes and No

It’s going to be a great weekend in Anderson. So don’t miss the Yeses!

Creativity requires risk. So do exploration and innovation. Anyone who thinks outside the box is taking a risk. Leadership brings many risks. Investments involve risks. Decision making always means a certain degree of risk.

The most important developments in science, history, technology and the arts came from taking risks.

Ben Carson, MD.

Dr. Carson writes this book to challenge those who read it to take risks and do so by following a way of processing decisions that he has used for years. His Best and Worst Case Analysis format is easy to digest and could provide a systematic way to help anyone who has a tough decision to make.

Here are the four questions he asks:
1. What is the best thing that can happen if I do this?
2. What is the worst thing that can happen if I do this?
3. What is the best thing that can happen if I don’t do this?
4. What is the worst thing that can happen if I don’t do this?

Dr. Carson is a world renown neurologist and surgeon who is also a strong believer in Jesus Christ. His faith is at the foundation of the questions above and in his reasoning to act or not act. He says plainly in this book that we are “always safe in Jesus Christ.” He has been involved in some of the most incredible and dangerous surgeries in medical history and shares those stories in this book.

All the above is good and will be helpful to me as a new way to think through tough decisions. But, the real gem in this book is found in chapters 10 (Faith is a Risk Whatever You Believe) and 11 (Living Your Faith in an Uncertain World). In these chapters Dr. Carson offers the most complete yet simple and concise explanation of how science continues to support creationism. He makes it obvious that faith in evolution takes a much larger leap than believing in an all powerful God. He completely dismantles Darwinism and it’s proponents.

***The following is not in the book it’s just something the book caused me to consider***

One thing I love about God is that he is incapable of risks. I don’t believe the bible offers a God that has to do a Best Worst Case Analysis himself. Risk, by its very nature, involves uncertainty and if God is uncertain about anything then he can’t be God. In Exodus 3:14 God says, “I am who I am” not “I am who I think I am”.

It is on this foundation that any believer can say along with Dr. Carson that we are “always safe in Jesus Christ”. We then are left to wrestle with the reality that sometimes what we consider as risk is really a matter of trust.

I’m back from an incredible vacation at the beach with my family. As you would expect, there were a lot of other people at the beach who came in all sorts of shapes and sizes. One afternoon there was a guy who really got my attention because of how muscular his arms, neck and chest were. I saw him playing in the water with a child that I assume was his son. They were in shallow water obviously sitting down as I could only see them from the waste up.

When I say this guy was “ripped” I am guilty of a severe understatement. He was huge. Anyway, once I noticed him (and became jealous for a moment and then ascribed his physique to being on the “juice”) I then moved on out into the waves to the side of one of my kids. After a little while in the ocean I started to make my way back to the beach and I noticed this same guy coming up out of the water… with the aid of metal crutches… revealing severely deformed and unusable legs. Whoa! It took my breath away for a moment.

I had really misjudged this guy and the now obvious reason for his muscular upper body. I went through what I assume are “normal” reactions from an experience like this. I was shocked at first and then a bit sad both for him and at my own attitude toward him before knowing all the information.

I made a mistake in this situation that I’m afraid I make way too often. I am guilty, at times, of making final judgements about a person based only on partial information. I am also sometimes guilty of making the same mistake when it comes to leadership decisions. I can be too quick to act on what ends up being only partial information which leads to having to make another decision instead of having initially making a wise one.

Making final judgements based only on partial information is not wise. It can cost a number of things including time, energy and embarrassment. It could also potentially undercut my influence as a leader… which is arguably my most valuable asset in leadership.

Proverbs 18:15

The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of the wise seek it out.

What I hope to gain from this experience is a TiVo like playback of that guy coming up out of the water anytime I’m about to make a final decision or cast an opinion (in my mind or out loud). So that in that moment I’m reminded to ask myself if I have all the information needed to make a wise decision. Then… here’s the hard part for me… be patient enough and diligent enough to seek out whatever or whoever is necessary so a wise decision can be made and another (potentially costly) decision can be avoided.