Every decision usually has three questions within it. Is this a good idea? Do we know how to make it work? What will happen if we do this? One can state the questions first or provide the answers, either way, in making a decision we want to know the answer to the three.
For those filled with doubt, usually around the premise of the decision being a good idea or that one can make it work, there is a request for proof. Show me the evidence! Let me see the results. Why should I believe – where are the facts and figures?
I would like to challenge the premise that answers alone provide evidence to support the direction a pending decision should take. Just because there is a correlation between a question and outcomes, it does not follow that the idea is a good one. Bad ideas do produce predictable outcomes! Just because one can show a before and after, it does not follow that one has the ability to execute a particular decision. All three elements need to be present.
As I watch a recent decision unfold, I was struck by the intensity around a single element. It was as if they were screaming old words in a new setting; “Finish them off in fine style! Finish them off for good! Then all the world will see that God rules well in Jacob, everywhere that God’s in charge.” (Psalm 59.13)
Life likes to remind me that good decisions follow good ideas, not bad ones. There are challenges at every turn, being able to execute a decision is critical if one expects to get to the anticipated result. Dreams are just dreams unless they are linked to something more.
As a new day unfolds I am looking for more than just proof of an outcome. I want to see the whole package, understand the story end to end, especially where I fit. Know that it is a good idea is the why. Knowing one can make it work, the how. Outcomes are the result, the what.
