by Dr. Richard Blackaby
The human brain is amazingly complex and powerful yet enormously underutilized. It is commonly believed that humans, on average, use only a small percentage of their brain’s capacity. We marvel at geniuses like Albert Einstein. Scientists studied his brain after he died to determine how it functioned at such a high level. His brain was not unusually large; he just made better use of what he had. Some people are undoubtedly smarter than others. Yet it is not always the people with the highest IQ who experience the greatest success.
Our capacity for success lies not so much with our intelligence but with our focus. When we mobilize our power of thought toward a single issue for a prolonged time, we can achieve spectacular results.
Unfortunately, people’s thinking is often scattered. We flit from one thought to the next without ever settling on one topic long enough to fully analyze the situation. For some, a normal day is simply a series of distractions. They multitask, juggling numerous balls in the air without making substantial progress. Touching a dozen issues is not equal to tackling one.
Bureaucrats scurry from meeting to meeting wearing a harried expression. They mutter about never having enough time. But they accomplish little of consequence. Warren Bennis once quipped, “I often observe people in top positions doing the wrong thing well.”[1] Peter Drucker noted, “. . . effective executives don’t splinter themselves. They concentrate on one task if at all possible. . . I have never encountered an executive who remains effective while tackling more than two tasks at a time.”[2]
Leaders are constantly bombarded with issues that demand their attention. Staying focused on the most important topic at hand until it is resolved takes willpower. Many great leaders in business, politics, and church ministry were famous for their powers of concentration. It was said that J.P. Morgan “. . . has one chief mental asset—a tremendous five minute’s concentration of thought.” John Rockefeller observed, “Do not many of us who fail to achieve big things . . . fail because we lack concentration—the art of concentrating the mind on the thing to be done at the proper time and to the exclusion of everything else?”
In the 1870s, Rockefeller inspected a plant in New York City. He observed workers soldering barrels of oil using 40 drops on each can. He asked if they had ever tried using 38 drops. They experimented, but cans with 38 drops occasionally leaked. When using 39 drops, however, no leakage occurred. The first year of using 39 drops saved the company $2,500. Over time, it saved hundreds of thousands of dollars. Rockefeller’s ability to concentrate on the matter at hand made him the wealthiest person in America.[3]
Winston Churchill also gave his full attention to important issues. One general referred to Churchill’s “fury of concentration.” He noted, “When his mind was occupied with a particular problem, it focused upon it relentlessly. Nobody could turn him aside.”[4] Casual consideration won’t solve today’s problems. To find answers, a person must set all else aside and focus deeply and relentlessly on an issue until powerful new insights emerge.
I should offer one caution. There is a difference between powerfully concentrating on a situation at the appropriate time and becoming consumed with an issue or activity. For that which can be our greatest strength can also lead to our most dismal failure. Many leaders are magnificent at solving problems at work but suffer intolerable failures at home.
William Carey was obsessed with taking the Gospel to foreign lands. As a result, he launched the modern missions movement. He was so consumed with missions, however, that he was prepared to leave his wife behind when he sailed to India. His beleaguered wife eventually joined him but lost her mind due to the burdens of being a pioneer missionary’s wife.
A.W. Tozer was one of the most powerful and insightful preachers of God’s word. He could see golden nuggets in Scripture that electrified his audiences. He poured himself into other young ministers who could multiply his efforts. But in his passion to preach and teach God’s word, he often neglected his wife, Ada. After Tozer died, his widow married a businessman named Leonard. When people asked her what it was like to go from being married to an esteemed man of God to being married to a businessman, she replied, “I have never been happier in my life. Aiden (Tozer) loved Jesus Christ, but Leonard Odam loves me.”[5] The ongoing challenge for married people with children is focusing their full attention on their work while they are on the job and then giving their undistracted attention to their family when they return home.
The key to success is focusing intently on the foremost matter. When you are at work addressing crucial concerns, set aside every secondary issue until you experience breakthrough thinking. When spending time with your Creator in the early morning hours, turn off social media, cell phones, and the daily news. It is an affront to God to enter His awesome presence in a distracted manner. When your children approach you with a need, set aside every work concern and devote your full attention to them. Only when you develop the habit of giving your full, undivided attention to the matter before you can you be successful in every area of life. Your relationship with your work, family, and God all demand your best.
Are you too distracted? Do you only seem to impact the people and issues around you at a superficial level? Are you constantly juggling numerous issues without bringing any of them to a satisfactory conclusion? If so, you may well need to give your full attention to the art of giving matters your full attention.
[1]Warren Bennis, Why Leaders Can’t Lead: The Unconscious Conspiracy Continues (San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers, 1989), 18.
[2]Peter Drucker, The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done (New York: Collins Press, 1967; reprint ed. 2006), xii.
[3]Ron Chernow, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. (New York: Vintage Books, 1998), 181.
[4]William Manchester, The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill Alone 1932-1940. (New York: Delta Publishing, 1988), 618.
[5]Lyle Dorsett, A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of A.W. Tozer (Chicago: Moody Press, 2008), 160.
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