Jack’s Winning Words 9/2/14
“If you’re the smartest person in the room, find a different room.”  (Richard Rusczyk)  Most of us can point to people who have come into our life and made a huge difference in our way of thinking.  Maybe it’s been a teacher, a relative, a friend, or even an experience.  For me, it’s been all of them…at different stages.  It’s good to avoid the pompous Bullwinkle-type character who pretends to be Mr.-Know-It-All.    ;-)  Jack

FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  Maybe it would be a good idea to find a different room on occasion even if you're not the smartest person in the room. Just like taking a different seat every Sunday at the service, I meet different people and I get a different perspective....variety and spice.====JACK:  On one occasion, at the beginning of the worship service, I asked the people to get up and move to a different pew in order to experience "church" n a new way.  I could see that some made the change with a smile.  However, it was not unanimous.  Just recently someone told me that she made a first-time visit to a church.  Not many people were there, so she took a seat in one of the empty pews.  Pretty soon someone came up to her and said, "You're sitting in my pew."

 FROM INDIANA NORM:  Good one Jack:  That's great sent it onto many!  I hope all is well, I have a new three year old grand son just adopted (his name is Jack) and another one on its way. ====JACK:  Sometimes I wonder hos many WWs readers forward the message on to others.  It's fun to be a grandpa, isn't it?

FROM RI IN BOSTON:  Those WW are an excellent bit of advice, a way to "grow" instead of "show".  I've attended events where group participation was expected, but became aware I was doing most of the talking.  It's kind of "scary" to realize you're leading the pack.  Seems to me it's important to have some other points of view.====JACK:  One of the things I like about doing WWs compared to preaching on a Sunday is the immediate feedback that the blog provides.  I can't remember that anyone ever raised their hand on a Sunday morning and asked for clarification.  I take that back.  One Sunday, when I was having a public discussion with a confirmation class, someone did raise his hand and ask it if was OK to ask the pastor some questions.  I said, "Sure!"  It turned out that he had an "agenda." 

FROM HONEST JOHN:  Dr Celms would almost always be the smartest person in the room...but he wouldn't make anything of it.====JACK:  As you know, Dr Celms and his family came to the United States as "refugees."  I first got to know the Celms family as members of our church, before I ever encountered Dr Celms in a college classroom.  What nice people!

FROM HAPPY TRAILS IN NOVA SCOTIA:  This was the person who most played that role for me:  GEORGE F. DORIOT DIES AT 87; MOLDER OF U.S. BUSINESSMEN
Georges Frederic Doriot, a professor at the Harvard Business School for four decades who was widely credited with inspiring and training more leaders of American corporations than any other person, died of lung cancer in Boston yesterday. He was 87 years old and lived in Boston.
Mr. Doriot was a founder and the first president of the American Research and Development Corporation, formed in 1946 as the first venture capital concern in the United States that was not family-owned.  Under his guidance, American Research and Development made its most successful investment in 1960, when it gave $70,000 to a young researcher who used it to start the Digital Equipment Corporation. Only 12 years later, the computer manufacturer had grown from three employees to 7,000.  Mr. Doriot remained president of American Research and Development until 1972, when it was merged with Textron. An All-Encompassing Course
I was privileged to be a member of his last class. I sometimes view “smart” people as cleverer, smarter and/or wiser than I am. The ones whose minds I admire the most, including General Doriot (which is how we always addressed him), were wiser than I was and smart enough to get the job done.  When I was involved in some difficult business decisions with potential impact on others, I sometimes pretended I was making a presentation to the General on what I had decided and why. I have known some people who were more clever than wise; their external impact has sometimes been damage. “The General” was short and thin, spoke quietly, and as the obit shows, was at least overtly modest about his own abilities. As I got to know him better in school and in a later visit with him at his home, I found him confident and centered, not so much in himself as in his view of the world.
====JACK:  I have found you to be such a person as "the general"...quietly wise...and funny, too.

FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  I've done a lot of wrestling with the subject of these WW. Know some people who have lectured me more than anything else and gone to a different room and felt badly that I couldn't get along better with them. Somewhere heard that when a person has one finger pointing at another, that person also has five fingers pointing back at them so wonder if the reason the "expert" bothers me with their lecturing is that I'm basically the same kind of know-it-all or something. Even if I don't know anything, one thing I realize is don't like being lectured at. Thought-provoking WW again this morning, appreciate them.====JACK:  Lectures usually take place in a university setting, but some schools are replacing them with other styles of communication.  Old-time preaching often used the "lecture-method."  This has been replaced by some who use the conversational style and even the power-point.  Parenting "experts" recommend other methods instead of "lecturing."  Having said that, there were times when I benefitted from a lecturing session.

FROM RF AT U OF M:  This is a very fitting quote for our first day of classes here at UMich! Thanks!====JACK:  You'll find some "smart" ones sitting with you at Ross.

FROM BB IN ILLINOIS:  Amen..,.but I always enjoy talking with the smartest person in the room.  Think people are afraid to sometimes be shown up for what they don’t know.  Mom always said you can’t know everything so, let someone else shine and enjoy their light, no?====JACK:  We tend to gravitate toward people who seem interested in what we say and do...and vice versa.  That's how friends are made.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  WE ALL HAVE THINGS TO LEARN FROM OTHERS, EITHER KNOWLEDGE OR A SKILL! SEEING DR. CELMS NAME FROM AUGIE,  IN YOUR BLOG SURE BROUGHT BACK SOME MEMORIES. BILL HAD GREAT RESPECT FOR HIM. HE HELPED YOU THINK THINGS THROUGH, DIDN'T HE?? YES, "SITTING" IN DIFFERENT "ROOMS" IS CERTAINLY BENEFICIAL. THANKS  FOR THE NUDGE IN THAT DIRECTION. ====JACK:  I did not have Dr Celms for any classes, but he was a member of our church, and I recall that he would always greet me with a great big smile.  I liked that about him.

FROM SBP IN FLORIDA:  Many, many years ago The cover of Time magazine featured a head/brain with a funnel inserted into the skull....depicting how most teaching (preaching?) was being delivered. WW lets me pursue knowledge, discover "connections", reflect and be stimulated to further thinking regarding the substance of the sermonettes. I take it from there. Thank you for not using a funnel.====JACK:  One of my seminary professors said it well.  "You can't find God at the end of a logical syllogism." 

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  my choices are extremely limited! hahahahaha!!!