The moment we begin to interact with another person, we establish a communication climate. Once this climate develops, it can set in motion a reciprocal pattern—like begets like. Pay attention to the external Source and the internal power will be there. We lose power because we do not focus on the right things. Concentrate on God’s focal point. Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in our highest heights. Oh, God, do not keep silent; be not quiet, oh God, be not still. See how your enemies are astir, how your foes rear their heads.

With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish. With one mind, they plot together. Group hate is real. So, are groups as inept as the moldy jokes and acerbic assessments indicate? They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the Earth are shaken. A competitive culture endures by tearing down people. However, in a competitive environment, the most skillful are valued. The less skillful just make defeat more probably and thereby become a burden on the team.

 

So to detract from their failure, they ruin the reputations of others.  LORD, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you. May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my call. For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave. I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like a man without strength. I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care. You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depth. Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. You have taken from my closet friends and have me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; my eyes are din with grief. I call to you, LORD, I spread out my hands to you.

Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion? However, I cry to you for help, LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you. God does not give us overcoming life—He gives us lifer as we overcome. The strain of life is what builds our strength. If there is no strain, there will be no strength. Are you asking God to give you life, liberty, and joy? He cannot, unless you are willing to accept the strain. And once you face the strain, you will immediately get the strength. Overcome your own timidity and take the first step. Parceling out reward or meeting out punishment can be an important source of power. Salaries, bonuses, work schedules, perks, hiring, and firings are typical career-related rewards and punishments.

Money, privacy, car keys, and grounding are a few of the rewards and punishments found in family situations. Social approval and disapproval, performance awards, suspensions and expulsion are a few of the rewards and punishments available to educators when dealing with students. Punishment is a source of power if it can be and likely will be exercised. If employees are protected from termination, by civil service regulations or tenure, threatening to fire them is laughable. Threats of punishment, however, seem to be more effective when we perceive that the chances of punishment are highly probable. There are serious drawbacks to using punishment to influence group members, however. First punishment indicates what you should not do, but it does not indicate what you should do.

Firing a worker does not teach that person how to perform better in the future. Second, targets of punishment can become angry and hostile toward their perceived tormenters. If the punishment is perceived to be unfair or excessive, a backlash can easily occur from other group members. Third, punishment can produce a negative ripple effect throughout the group. If the punishment does not achieve the desired effect, other group member may be encouraged to engage in similar deviance. Issues of fairness and just cause may surface and escalate into ugly conflicts, spreading tensions and creating a competitive group climate. There are questions in this life with which we must grapple, or be lost; and when, hunted by that cold eye of intense inner-consciousness, the clearest soul becomes a cunning fox, if it have not courage to stand and do battle.

After violent emotions most people and all boys demand food. Rewards, viewed as the opposite of punishment, seem as though they would produce only beneficial results for groups. Everyone likes to be rewarded, so surely this is a powerful resource for influencing group members. A reward can be an effective powerful resource. Rewards, however, should be used carefully. Let us all think well before anything is added that may make what is already bad still more bitter. Consider the story of an old man, who was besieged daily, by a group of 10-year-old boys, hurling insults at him, as they passed his house, on their way home from school.

One day, after enduring the boys’ abusive remarks about how stupid, bald, and ugly he was, he decided on a plan to deal with the little troublemakers. One the following day, he approached the boys and told them that anyone who came the next day and shouted insults at him would receive a dollar. Dumbfounded, the boys left and returned the next afternoon to scream epithets at the old man. He gave each boy a dollar. He then told them that he would pay each boy $.50 if they returned the next afternoon and repeated the rude behavior. They returned, shouted insults, and were paid. The old man then said that he would pay them only a die if they returned the next day and repeated their ugly behavior. At this point, the boys said, “Forget it. It is not worth it. They never returned.

This story illustrates how an extrinsic reward can diminish intrinsic motivation to behave in certain ways. An extrinsic reward motivates us to behave or perform by offering us an external inducement such as money, grades, praise, recognition, or prestige. An intrinsic reward is enjoying what one does for its own sake. An intrinsic reward motivates us to continue doing what brings us pleasure. The boys initially were intrinsically motivated by preserve pleasure in tormenting the old man. When paid to continue the torment, it became more like a job. Once the pay became minimal, the job seemed pointless and they quit. “Works sucks, but I need the bucks” is a bumper sticker that expresses the common effect an extrinsic reward such as money can have on our interest in and enjoyment of work.

Work teams are likely to perform well when members are intrinsically motivated by commitment to shared goals, a desire to change the world or a keen interest in the task. Teams that are held together only by the extrinsic rewards of money, recognition, or prestige are not as likely to be effective. 95 percent of 500 professionals found that pay and benefits were not the main motivation in their decision whether or not to stay with the job. The key issues were the ability to develop trusting relationships with upper management. The intrinsic reward of the pleasure derived from good relationships and a trusting group climate outweighs the extrinsic reward of money and benefits.

The World is before you; and it is most probable that as you enter it, so it will receive you. Trust in nothing but in Providence and your own efforts. Never separate the two. LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you. You rule over the surging sea; when it waves mount up, you still them. You crushed my enemies like one of the slain; with your strong arm, you scattered your enemies. The Heavens are yours, and yours also the Earth; you founded the World and all that is in it. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, Lord.