Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better

In one of the offices I worked in the company was big on promoting “collaboration”. It was an open floor plan that highly encouraged folks to be willing to work together. The company wanted everyone to get to a point that they could solve a problem they faced or come up with new ideas by working together as a team.

At this particular job site there was a person that we all worked with that was very smart. They were very creative, had lots of great ideas, and could really come up with amazing solutions to problems we faced.

But this person always thought they could do the job better than anyone else in the room.

In meetings, as we went through solving a problem that faced us, this person would always be overtly telling others what to do and how to do it. Even though they may have lacked experience or had limited knowledge of that particular person’s area, this person would feel compelled to tell their co-workers in the room how things should go and what they could do to make things better.

I have talked before about us all having a teachable spirit and willing to take advice and correction, but that is not what I am talking about here.

I’m talking about someone having humility.

A person that always feels like they know how to do the other person’s job better and feels that they need to always tell them this does not operate from a position of humility.

A Real Christian Businessman must rise above actions like this when faced with these situations. We must not get defensive when someone embarrasses us in a meeting by acting like they have more knowledge about our job skills than we do. We must remember to keep our words few.

“Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.” Prov 17:28 ESV

If you are faced with a situation like this in your workplace, remember to rise above it. Keep your words to a minimum. The words that are spoken by the “better” person will reveal their true character and wisdom to all.