Presby-Musings

How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In by Jim Collins (Harper Collins, 2010) When Jim Collins wrote his books "Built to Last"and "Good to Great" some years ago, he had no idea that some of the companies that he would be profiling as bastions of corporate success and longevity would be gone or nearly gone just a few short years later.  No one--or hardly anyone--foresaw the bloodletting that would take place in the global economy throughout 2008-2009--a bloodletting that resulted in the demise of more than one corporate giant.  Collins latest book, "How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In" begins by surveying the destruction of the Great Recession, and taking stock of the many companies that were "built to last," but didn't.  What Collins discovered, as he and his team culled through the names of once-great companies in recent history that have gone the way of the dodo, was that many of the "mighty...

There are a lot of good things about being the pastor of an historic, mainline church with actual budgets and structures.  I get dental insurance, which is good considering my kid needs braces, and I get several weeks of paid vacation, and I get to go on paid study leave for two weeks a year.  I also get to wear a neat black robe and colorful stoles, which is just a bonus really.  I'd wear those things without getting paid.  They make me happy.   In the midst of attending seminars, listening to preaching and jaunting around San Diego with my wife, I find that I have neglected to follow up on something that needs to be done before I go back to work on Sunday morning.  By "something," I mean my sermon, which over 300 people will be waiting to hear round about 10 of the clock this coming Sunday morning.   (Qualifier:  I am not placing the number of folks that attend our only worship service in this blog as a means to brag, merely as a means to convey the amount of people who...