Lee Iacocca and My Noodle Bean Surprise

Have you ever felt a deep down desire to do something radical, something so different yet similar to things that are already around?  That special voice inside of you says how to make it different, how to expand an idea into something else--and you put it aside.

A proverb of Solomon says, "I wisdom swell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions." (8:12 KJV)  Wow, God gives me witty ideas through subtle wisdom.  That is having insight, common sense about something, a wise attitude or course (plan) of action.

As a minister of the gospel, a mom, writer/journalist, a woman, CEO/President of an international organization; so many hats, so many ideas and venues to keep track of and work in each, that sometimes it seems like too many ideas keep coming.  But God said that He doesn't give us more than we can handle.  So I was thinking about people who can handle stuff well.

It is said that Lee Iacocca, who was the brain-person behind the Chrysler turnaround in the 1980s, was not a good manager, but a dynamite leader.  He was able to get major corporations to trust and invest in his ideas, and the government to help.  Now that is a great leader in the world of economic culture.  (He has a book out called Where Have All the Leaders Gone).

He helped turn the corner on the car industry when it was in very bad shape because he was willing to try something radical.  How, you might ask?  When the ideas came, he thought about it, and then acted.  What was this radical feat?  One day he went down to the line floor of the Chrysler plant.  Cars were coming off the line and being checked.  Mr. Iacocca asked the lead engineer how long it would take to make a convertible.  The engineer thought about it for a few minutes and started to verbalize the steps necessary and time line to accomplish the request.  You see, none of the American auto makers were making convertibles at that time.  They weren't popular.

The engineer gave a time line of a few months, to which Mr. Iacocca calmly responded, I'll be down at 5 p.m. have me a convertible ready so I can drive it home.  Most of us would think our boss crazy and impossible, throw up our hands and be unable to deliver.  The leader understood what was being requested and went into "how" mode, radical as it was, but not impossible in the time line he had given to very talented people.

Mr. Iacocca left and went back to his office.  The lead engineer called some of the supervisors and workers together and told them what was expected.  At 5:10 p.m. Mr. Iacocca drove off in his brand new, straight off the line, convertible.  As he drove down the road people honked their cars, gave thumbs up, pointed and were asking the car dealer where they could get a convertible.  The car industry was revitalized by a radical idea, a man who was willing to risk, and employees who were willing to try something new--and meet a challenge.

That's the same formula moms go through when checking out a recipe, and she doesn't have all the ingredients.  What does she do?  Takes what she has, adds, subtracts, and cooks.  The results?  Raves about her "new" recipe.

Imagine, one is the leader of a Fortune 500 company, able to work with governments and major industry leaders, and the other a home-schooler mom, a working mom, a woman of destiny raising a new generation of leaders (that's called an incubation business) ... all with the same formula for success.

Now from experience we all know that the new idea doesn't work for everybody all the time.  Take for instance the night I did a "new" recipe for dinner when my children were small. Daddy came home and everybody sat down to dinner.  He said ti was terrible, the kids were licking their plates (almost), and Uncle XX comes to visit and he ends up cleaning out the pot--no leftovers.  Go figure!

Later that night I asked my husband why he didn't like it.  His response; he had expected something else. He had seen and smelled some of the ingredients and presumed what was going to be served.  His head and mouth were working from a different plan.

The moral--my idea might work for some, not for others, but in the end--it worked.  The goals of both scenarios were accomplished.  Everybody had dinner, and Mr. Iaccoca had his convertible and a revived industry.  Remember that "Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on."  Samuel Butler

Weekly Challenge: Listen to the small voice within showing you something new and try it.  Just one new experience leads to a lifetime of "new".  Come on over to the Differences Encouraged Group and tell us about your "new" thing. 

YOU are wonderfully and fearfully made to make a difference!  Be Encouraged this week in "new".

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Comments

[Shannon]

Susan,
Great analogy! Just the other night I had to improvise a meal because we ran out of milk, I had just been at the store and didnt want to back, so I diluted cream.... It turned out that no one noticed the difference and my meal was acomplished...

The Lord has taught me that the word CAN'T should be eliminated from my vocabulary. That every wall can become a door and that every obstacle no matter how challenging or scary can be an opportunity for greatness and victory....Thank you