Outliers

So I just finished Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Wow. What an interesting and engaging read. In Outliers, Gladwell seeks to repudiate the iconic American thesis that success is largely within a person's control. That is, the generic story of the "self-made person" is really a myth. To be sure, natural ability and hard work do matter, but, to Gladwell, two other factors matter just as much (if not more): opportunity and (cultural) legacy.

Opportunity is the chance gifts doled out by history. It's the practice time you are blessed with (Gladwell says it takes 10K hours to master a skill), the resources you were given as a youth, or, most serendipitously, the year you were born and the era you were born into. Opportunity is, fundamentally, out of your control. Again, you obviously have to do something with opportunity when you get it, but success comes via the open doors of chance. 

The second half of Outliers focuses on legacy. Legacy is the culturally-based understandings that we all have embedded within us. That is, we think, act and feel based at least in part on how our culture has shaped us. For me the most fascinating chapter of Outliers is the 7th chapter, provocatively entitled "The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes." To think that the Korean cultural value of politeness and deference could become a key factor in the tragic crashing of an airplane is at first glance preposterous. And yet, in the end, Gladwell's analysis of something called "Power Distance Index" makes it seem more cause and effect than crazy. For me chapter 7 feels like a must-read for anyone who is in regular cross-cultural communication situations.

I'll take away a lot from Outliers, from thinking through what opportunities have I been given in my life, to what opportunities I'm giving my children, to where I've invested my 10K hours (into thoughtful supervision that balances the mission and care for people, perhaps?), to how I have been formed by my cultural legacy, in particular as a middle-class white man.

Most of all, though, I find a key component of my worldview undergirded by Outliers. I grew up with the presupposition that an individual charted his or her own path to glory, that the "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" story was viable and even the goal to shoot for. Along the way, in particular as I've experienced displacement and the chance to walk in the shoes of others, I've come to realize that that story is way oversimplified. Success is about more than one person's self-determination, and the wider systemic factors have lots of power and are more than worth a critical and thoughtful examination. 

In the end, if you're interested in, or open to, having your presuppositions challenged, Outliers is the book for you. Two thumbs way up.

For my Christmas wish, I just wish Lily would come out of her shell a bit...

15 years on staff with InterVarsity!

As I've noted previously, I'm officially in year 15 with InterVarsity. In fact, November was the actual marker point. For our year-end prayer letter this year, we came up with 15 things that we are thankful for as we look back. Enjoy!

1. We’ve had the joy to serve and mentor hundreds of students over the course of our 15 years on staff!
2. We’ve also been able to equip and supervise some amazing staff through these years. What a privilege to have such great partners in ministry!
3. Being promoted 3 times over the years has increased our influence and caused us to learn new things about ourselves.
4. It wasn’t easy at the time, but we are thankful that God moved us to Fresno, for all that that has taught us and for the life He has provided for us here.
5. It’s been a blessing to serve as campus staff on multiple campuses: Cal Poly, Cuesta College, Hancock College and Fresno State.
6. We love it that we have a calling that allows us to do ministry as a family!
7. With that, it’s profound for us that our kids get to look at our staff and student partners and see what faithfulness to Jesus looks like. We love it that our kids have so many spiritual aunts and uncles in their lives!
8. We’ve been shaped by the Lord over these 15 years, in easy and hard ways, but always in ways that reflect the character of Jesus. Ministry is good for us!
9. We love how God has given us mentors during our time on staff, godly women and men who have invested so freely in us!
10. God has opened our eyes to what He is doing in the world! In particular, we are thankful for our time in Guatemala and in Bosnia.
11. We’re grateful to God for the many students who we have been able to see come to Jesus for the first time, or in a deeper way. What a joy to see new life in Christ!
12. Yes, we’re thankful for the fund development process, for how it has shaped our faith and tested our calling.
13. We’re thankful for our generous supporters who give thousands of dollars a year to sustain this ministry.
14. We’re glad for a call that has not waned since day one. Thank the Lord!
15. Most of all, we are thankful that 15 years on, we know Jesus better than we did at the beginning of this journey, and we love Him more now than ever!

What my 30s have been about

Last week my golf buddies and I celebrated 13 straight years of our yearly tournament. 13 years! For me those relationships and our yearly meet-up are something I deeply cherish.

Turns out that this particular trip was my last one in my 30s. That is, next year for the first time I'll tee it up as a 40 year old. At some point in the proceedings, I happened to mention that fact. One friend, always a great question-asker, then asked me the following question: "So, Rob, what have your 30s been about?!?"

Talk about deep thoughts! Keep in mind that a question that deep is far beyond the normal golfing fare that rarely strays beyond club selection, lunch options and past golfing glories (and, more often, failures).

"What have your 30s been about?" The question got me thinking. So there, ready to tee off, I paused to mull over my answer. Sometime mid-consideration, our friend Ed offered what has turned out to be a pretty thoughtful answer. He said:

"Diapers."

Diapers. Truly, diapers are one way to define my 30s. Because the reality is that I changed my first diaper just 2 days into my 30s. Since then, I've changed countless diapers on four different tushies. And now, just 4 months away from the big 4-0, the end is in sight, if only our darling Lily would cooperate. So, diapers. Yes, diapers. Lots and lots of smelly, stinky, nasty diapers. On kids that I love very much and am blessed to have welcomed into the world over the last decade. 

So until I come up with a better answer to the question, let's go with diapers. My 30s have been about diapers. 

Until I come up with something better and more profound, please, offer up a prayer that Lily gets her act together and I'm not changing diapers into my 40s!

Time with Mr. Claus

So it was sorta breezy last night...

Advent is here!

For this coming year, I'm trying to connect in a fresh way with the historic church calendar. To do so, I'm using this book. As it so happens, the calendar started on November 27 with the first day of Advent. Wanting to share the Advent experience with the kids, I went on the hunt the other day for an Advent candle holder. The problem? I came up empty. Nada. Zilch. Nothing at Pier One, Michaels or KMart. Maybe I should have gone up to the Bible store, but there in the aisle at Michaels, I had a vision. And here it is:

What old married couples do on lazy Friday afternoons...

About that running thing...

So it turns out that 2011 was a tough year for this particular runner. When I look back at my 2011 goals and intentions, I note that I accomplished, well, none of my goals. Instead, it was a year of injuries (primarily my right calf and knee) and, grrr, lots of races registered for but not finished. In fact, I only managed to really race once in 2011 and in the end, I'll have hit just over 500 miles total when I was aiming for 1000.

Because of this, I'm on a break. I'm opting to not run through Christmas, hoping that Santa will put 3 easy miles in my stocking. Along the way, I'm working on a few things:

1. Becoming pain free in my knee. So far, so good, but I'm thinking about going back to the ortho to take a look at it nonetheless.

2. Stretching. Trying to loosen up daily.

3. Riding. I'm aiming for 75 miles a week on the road bike. That's a lot of time in spandex right there. 

4. Reading. I'm working on digesting Daniel's Running Formula by famed running coach Jack Daniels. A different Jack Daniels.

5. Planning. I'm looking ahead toward a 2012 where there can be racing! Thinking about this one and then dreaming of this one.

In the meantime, here's a shot from the Two Cities half from earlier this month:

You know you're married to an author when...

...one of the after-dinner family games in our rotation is a game called "Storytelling." The goal of this game is to go around the circle and tell a communal story. Each time it's your turn, you pull a piece of paper out of the hat, then whatever is written on it becomes the thing you need to work into the story when it's your turn.

Which brings me to tonight's story, the one where ol' George the confused rabbit was up in the hot air balloon. And just before the part where the clown springs up surprising him, and a few steps before the pirate poked a hole in the balloon sending it earthward into the apple tree, there was Josh's part. Here's my paraphrase:

"And then, this bird, this bird comes flying by and it, it...poops onto the balloon. It poops, onto the balloon, and then, the poop, the poop, it becomes.......................chocolate ice cream."

Yep, his word was chocolate ice cream.

So look for Amy's book Baffled George and the Chocolate Poopy Cream coming soon to a store near you...

Fundraising: Sometimes you feel like a spiritual giant...

...and other times you feel like this. Thanks Krizel.

Fall highlight & wow I'm tall...

What do YOU do when you spill hot chocolate on your keyboard?!?

Most bizarre roadside marker ever?

As a history major, I'm all for roadside historical markers, and I've been known to stop and gawk at a few in my day. But there's this one on one of the trails that I run on that always strikes me as kinda random. 

 

 















I wonder if it was even successful?!?

Fall Conferencing!

Just over a week ago we had our annual Surf and Turf Fall Conference. What a moment! 250 students, lots of decisions to move toward Jesus and having it in the grand ballroom at the beach-side Crowne Plaza Ventura wasn't bad either!

There are two ways in which I can engage you visually with what happened. There's this excellent summary video, and then there are the following pictures. Yes, it was a daddy/daughter weekend!

I get more nervous when Josh races than when I do!

Snack time Daddy style!

Our baby turned 3 on Saturday!

A New Kind of Birth Announcement

So we know a thing or four about birth announcements here in the Dixon house. Recently, we've had the opportunity to let the world know the great news that Amy is giving birth (so to speak) to a book, due next Fall. For this momentous occasion, we have two announcements. There's Amy's blog post on the topic here. Or see below for the official industry announcement that went out today on Publisher's Marketplace.

Keep you posted after you see the ultrasound...

Ignite 2011 Video

Two weeks ago some buddies and I spent a day creating a summary video for our Region's annual Ignite evangelism training conference. Start to finish, it took us 11 hours. We barely got it done in time! Enjoy the story of what God was doing that day, through the lenses of 4 students from around the Region...


Ignite: Proclaim through Word & Power from Adam Loveridge on Vimeo.