I have enjoyed my Entrepreneurship class this semester. I have appreciated the direction regarding business from the perspective of an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is a different approach than would be taught any place else in the world! I am grateful for BYUI and the opportunity to learn with other committed members of the Lord's church. I hope that I am learning and applying the teachings in my life the way He would have me!
This week we have been studying the idea of becoming a change-maker. I love the story of the little boy who is on the beach, throwing star fish into the water as fast as he can. A man comes to him and says there is no way that you are going to be able to rescue all these fish, and the little man looks up at the grumpy one, and says, "No, but I can make a difference for this one!" as he tosses a star fish as hard as he can back into the water.
I know that there is not much I do that will be recognized by anyone in the world! However, I also know that every voice is important and should be heard! When those choirs tell me not to sing, I think of this cute video story by Elder Holland:
In the introduction to the topic this week a quote from the movie Wall Street is mentioned. That movie has some history in my family. My husband was in law school in Memphis Tennessee. He was in his second semester, a semester where they try to drop by failure half the class! His professors let them know in NO uncertain terms that they were not to come to class unprepared! Over the Christmas break, they had been given some assignments that had to be done before the first day in the new semester of the new year. One of those was to watch that movie. It is rated R. We don't watch even PG-13 movies. Brad and I decided long ago we just wouldn't do it! We never have. He decided he was not going to watch it even though it was the assignment. He went to class that day, with a professor known as one of the most strict, difficult professors in the school! He sat down, and the Professor said "Mr. Harr, let's talk about Wall Street." Brad had to tell him that he didn't watch it. He yelled something about coming unprepared, and Brad replied simply I don't watch rated R videos. I am sorry I didn't watch it. The professor questioned if this guy was for real, and others in the class vouched for Brad and said he was Mormon and they did strange things. Over and over in that semester, the Professor would want to mention something about that movie, and without thinking, he would call on Brad again and again. Finally one day he said in disgust, will someone please go edit that video so Mr. Harr will watch it?
Brad and that professor became good friends. Years later after graduation, Brad had a legal question, and he felt to call that professor. He did. That man remembered Brad had not watched Wall Street and asked him if he had seen it yet. Brad replied No.
I have not watched that video. I don't know what they said, or the context of this quote, but the introduction this week says: "In the film Wall Street, Gordon Gecko says, "Greed... is good." The text goes on to question: "Can someone be motivated just as much by addressing social causes rather than being motivated by greed?"
We listened and read a talk by Elder Gay titled "Entrepreneurship and Consecration." Here are some quotes I appreciated from the reading:
Today as in times past, new frontiers grow only out of facing adversity and skepticism, and by stepping outside what is the logical voice of the world and hearkening to the voice within. Indeed, moving this world forward can be done in no other way. If we only hear the voice outside, we will likely never find the destiny that comes from the voice inside.
I believe that what the Lord would call success is quite different than what the world would call success. And therefore it is highly unlikely that the world’s model will yield what the Lord expects of us from our business entrepreneurship. My experience tells me that if we follow the world’s model of logic, it will lead us to situations and places of unrest and discontent. We will unlikely in the end, as in my example cited above, create products, markets and wealth that offer no reward, or peace. It may cause unintended harm. Brigham Young spoke to this when he said, “I know that there is no man on this earth who can call around him property. Be he a merchant, a tradesman, or a farmer with his mind continually occupied with ‘how shall I get this or that? How rich can I get? How much can I get out of this brother, or from that brother? And dicker and work can take advantage here and there.’ No such man can ever magnify the priesthood, nor enter the celestial kingdom.”
Forgotten is the fact that our assignment is to use these many resources in our families and our quorums to build up the kingdom of God. To further the missionary effort, and the genealogical and temple work. To raise our children as fruitful servants unto the Lord, to bless others in every way that they may also be fruitful.”
“In the days of service, all things were founded, in the days of special privilege, they deteriorated, and in the days of vanity they are destroyed.” -Franca Rene de Shetobreyon
Do not get trapped in the reason and logic and wisdom of this world, that you understand that there are far more important factors that have bearing upon life and business than is talked about by those around you. That you follow in your heritage and become a pioneer who puts your hand out into an uncertain world, and meets the challenges of adversity with the purpose of changing the very fabric of the condition of mankind. In the words of the poet often quoted by President Monson, “And I said to the man who stood at the gate of here, ‘Give me a light that I tread safely into the unknown.’ And he replied ‘go into the darkness, and put your hand in the hand of God; that to you shall be better than light, and safer than a known way.’”
It is a great article. I wish I could find a way to reference it here, it is an embedded video in my assignment and doesn't have info about where and when it was given.
There were some questions I was to answer in this blog post about my learning this week: In a Harvard Business Review article titled "What's a Business For?" by Charles Handy written in 2002. I feel this article is dated, and our world has only become so much worse especially in the last 6 months. he scams and disasters discussed and lamented about in this article today are seen as mild compared to what is happening today! The article talks about the problems with business. They claim that virtue and integrity are melting away. Yes. they are! They claim that business no longer exists to help people, but only for their personal ambition and financial gain. Yes, this is so true, and now in 2020 different order to those numbers, the complications of the debt of America is mind shattering! We will never see the end of the debt of this country after this CoVid virus and the disaster to our economy that this has been! Business is not just to make a profit so that the business can do something more or better. We sincerely hope that we are making a difference for each of our clients as well as for our employees.
I appreciated the thoughts and message of Elder Gay so much! I am grateful for the hope of the Savior and the promise of His return! I don't know what will happen in the coming days, but I do know that the Savior will come again! I hope soon!