Work Around and Through the Broken Places

One of the keys on my laptop no longer works properly.  The key gets stuck some and mostly doesn’t work at all.  The computer warranty covers the problem, but creates another one – namely the need to use other tools for about two weeks.

Ugh.

You should know, too, that the key does not belong to some random, rarely-used category of keyboardery.  No, as the alphabet goes, that key’s a major player.

The Bluetooth keyboard from my desktop helps for now, but eventually my most trusted work ally must be surrendered to the tech people somewhere far away.  But for now, you may note that the post you read comes from the faulty keyboard – mostly to see whether a whole post can be created apart from the help of that major letter.

Have you detected what letter’s AWOL yet?  No, not the Q, X or Z. That would be too easy. No doubt you’ll trace the absent letter eventually.  As you do, here are some lessons we can apply to our work and our personal selves.

1. What to do when you’re frustrated.

More than once the keyboard problem has left me annoyed and frustrated. Oh well. Too bad.  The problem’s nevertheless the problem.

Deal.  Adjust.  Solve.  Adapt.

Fusses and fumes only got me more frustrated.  The same’ll be true for you.

Hey, you may as well make a game out of the problem – or maybe a challenge, such as the one that comes from the essay you’re reading.

2. How bad do you want to press through?

Setbacks and challenges can be tough. They test your resolve. The easy approach would be to make excuses and forget about the goal. Just surrender to the obstacle or problem.

Any goal worth your effort may well be tested, and you’d better have a source of perseverance and a means to solve problems.  The appearance of a problem does not excuse the surrender of a grace-laced goal or dream.  Solve the problem. Execute the courage necessary to press through.  That suggests…

3. Create or adapt new workarounds.

Some of the most famous products or latest stages of technology were the result of the need to work around or solve what appeared to be an unsolvable problem. Just remember what the dude named Alexander found he could do when he used bread mold to address a health problem.  That was a major workaround.

Or how about 3M, Arthur Fry, and those cute yellow note pads?  Another example of someone who adjusted and adapted to address common problems.

Okay so your most trusted team member left for some other place, or one of your greatest assets needs major work or replacement. You can do more than you know! And you probably have more resources than you are aware of. But often we don’t know what we have unless we’re forced to locate those resources and use them.

4. Own your role(s) on the team.

A keyboard works as a team of sorts.  Each letter has a role to perform and each must be ready to perform that task when called upon. As each key does the job the key was created to do, and as the person at the keyboard (me) does not make a bunch of typos, a coherent document gets produced.

But let one of the keys break down, and the “team” part of “teamwork” suffers a major setback. That’s true of keyboards… and the teams that depend on you.  Sure, there are ways that the team can adapt – and should! After all, none of us are as non-replaceable as we may act.  But everybody has a place and job to do, and that means you.

Own your job. Do your part. The team needs you and you need the team.  Maybe you want another role or even to be on another team. OK. Execute where you are today – new doors can open later. But not when you drop the ball on today’s jobs or challenges.

5. Embrace your weaknesses.

Maybe you feel as though you yourself are “one key short of a QWERTY” or one letter short of an alphabet.  Maybe you have some weakness, some assumed flaw that reduces your performance. But remember what the Lord told Paul about that “thorn” – that Jesus’ strength becomes perfect at just the place of our weaknesses.

He can be your “word” when you have no words. He can be your strength when you have no strength. He becomes your way when you have lost your way.  Don’t run from your weaknesses – embrace them as gateways to grace you would never know any other way.

No doubt tests, workarounds, team roles and weaknesses can lead to some major “eye trouble.”  (Wonder whether you’ll get that pun? Anyway…)  But they can also produce new advances, growth, and great heart development.

Don’t let your obstacles have the last word. By God’s grace, work around and through the broken places.

Tagged as: Creativity, Frustration, Innovation, Perseverance, Responsibility, Teamwork, Weakness