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We Know That Being Too Comfortable and Complacent is a Recipe for Disaster

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So why is it That We Continually Do It When We Know Better?

Comfort and complacency seem easier in the moment. “I can sit here and build my own little world just the way I want.” The problem is this kind of world isn’t real. It’s just a way of avoiding the discomfort of the real world.

We convince ourselves that our story is a good story, and maybe it is. But often, it’s just fantasy. Don’t get me wrong, I love fantasy. But fantasy isn’t real.

The “here and now” kind of easy isn’t so easy later, and it usually comes with consequences.

The Scripture used in the sermon this past Sunday was Matthew 1:18-25. This passage talks about Jesus being born as a baby to a young couple just preparing to start their life together. This was not what the Jewish people expected for Jesus’ coming. They were looking for a powerful ruler to swoop in and be their hero.

Pastor Lee said that if he had been in charge of Jesus’ coming, it would have been different. It would have involved loud explosions, bright flashes of light and maybe even some erupting volcanoes. It would have been a grand production…

It was the coming of the Savior of the world after all!

We’ve all heard the story of Jesus being born in a manger in Bethlehem to this young unknow couple. We’ve heard it over and over, probably a thousand times.

It isn’t a very dramatic entrance, and this is where our complacency begins to creep in.

It’s a little like the man who loved to play chess and got an electronic chess game for Christmas. He played and played with this game, constantly losing…and nobody likes losing, especially to a machine.

One day he got so mad that he threw the game across the room and accused it of cheating.

Later he said that the game hadn’t cheated. It had just made a small unexpected winning move early and the man had missed it.

This is what God did when he sent Jesus as a baby. It was a small, unexpected move and a lot of people missed it then and continue to miss it now.

If we allow comfort and complacency to enter our lives when it comes to Jesus and the Bible…we are setting ourselves up for disaster.

Don’t get comfortable in the routines of life, wanting things to just stay the way they are. This is where complacency sets in, and we close ourselves off to the small miracles that have a big impact.

Your Business Doesn’t Have to be a Scary Movie

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How to Avoid Business Disaster

Have you ever noticed how in horror movie’s people make the worst possible decisions? The Geico commercial where the young people decide to hide behind the chainsaws (while funny in the commercial) is way too real for most construction companies. In the commercial they choose to ignore the one running car that would help them avoid the catastrophe that is otherwise inevitable.

Why do so many businesses hide behind the chainsaws?

In most cases it’s written in the script. This is the way it’s always been done. Like in the movies, this will end in disaster. It’s time to rewrite your script.

In construction one of the root causes for disaster is not having a safe and secure method for doing proposals. A silver bullet is used for stopping a werewolf, witch, vampire or other monster. The Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal is just such a bullet.

Here are 7 common mistakes that cost contractors a fortune…but don’t have to.

  1. Your customer lacks clarity – Crystal clear communication is critical to your success. A clear scope of work avoids confusion between you and your customers.

2. Production crews lack clarity – Like the customer, the people working on the project need to know what’s expected. If the wrong things, too much or too little is done it results in losing money and/or unhappy customers.

3. Unclear production budget – If subs/employees don’t know what the budget is, how can you expect them to not overspend. This is a sure way to lose money.

4. Unsatisfied customers – Your customers have hired you to provide a completed construction project. If everyone isn’t clear about the expectations the customer is not going to be satisfied in the end.

5. Taking on unprofitable projects – Guessing at what your labor and material cost are going to be is a huge risk. Having a system that uses, cubic feet, square feet, lineal feet, etc. removes the guess work. Not to mention having predetermined overhead and profit margins.

6. Trying to do everything – In small companies your focus is on the physical construction. This doesn’t leave much time for doing bids. This proposal system allows you to delegate work to others. It’s less expensive to hire administrative people than construction personnel.

7. You don’t have a system that is customizable or scales – Most construction projects consist of a variety of different areas of construction, not to mention different markets and geographic locations. Add to that markups and profits that can be adjusted. You need to have a system that can be made to fit your specific needs.

Small and medium sized construction companies too often follow the same script that everyone else is. They hide behind the chainsaws, even though they know this is a bad idea.

Don’t hide behind the chainsaws!

Rewrite your script so that there’s a silver bullet to stop the proposal monster. At the very least…get in the running car.