How's that Performance

Last night the Council started my performance review. The majority of it is good and a positive experience – but some of the discussions remind me of a Charles Swindoll illustration.

He uses the example of the northeastern codfish and their known adversary the catfish. “In the northeastern United States codfish are a big commercial business. There is a market for eastern cod all over, especially in sections farthest removed from the northeast coastline. This public demand posed a problem to the shippers. At first they froze the cod, then shipped them elsewhere, but the freeze took away much of the flavor. So they experimented with shipping them alive, in tanks of seawater, but that proved even worse. Not only was it more expensive, the cod still lost its flavor and, in addition, became soft and mushy. The texture was seriously affected. Finally, some creative person solved the problem in a most innovative manner. The codfish were placed in the tank of water along with their natural enemy–the catfish. From the time the cod left the East Coast until it arrived at its westernmost destination, those ornery catfish chased the cod all over the tank. And, you guessed it, when the cod arrived at the market; they were as fresh as when they were first caught. There was no loss of flavor nor was the texture affected. If anything, it was better than before.

Each one of us is in a tank of particular and inescapable circumstances. It is painful enough to stay in the tank. But in addition to our situation, there are “catfish” to bring sufficient tension that keeps us alive, alert, fresh and growing. It’s all part of shaping our character.

Would you like me to give you a formula for... success? It's quite simply, really. Double your rate of failure... You're thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn't at all... You can be discouraged by failure -- or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember that's where you'll find success. On the far side of failure. Thomas J. Watson

From the way one makes it sound – I’ll be a success real soon.