CLEOEJACKSONIII.COM
  • My Home Page
  • My Life and Ministry
  • My Ongoing Thoughts
  • My Favorite Bible Verses
  • My Favorite Stories
  • My Favorite Jokes
  • My Favorite Quotations
  • My Favorite Giving Thoughts
  • My Favorite Children's Stories
  • My Favorite Web Links
  • My Contact Info
"Helping Others Communicate"

THE LITTLE THINGS

3/23/2012

 
I grew up in back the 60’s and 70’s; and we all had our favorite rock and roll groups at the time.  Even in those days, however, we instinctively understood that many of our musical heroes were considered prima donnas. 

They were known for making outlandish demands in their contracts with concert promoters. Van Halen in particular is known for having insisted in their contracts that "a bowl of M&M's be provided backstage, but with every single brown M&M removed." They further stipulated that, if the band ever did discover that the bowl had any brown M&Ms in it, they could cancel the concert and still get full payment.   Wow! Talk about demanding!

However, in his book, The Checklist Manifesto, author Atul Gawande points out that there was actually a pretty good reason for having that clause in the contract. The absence of those M&Ms could be seen as a matter of life or death.  He quotes from lead singer David Lee Roth's memoir:

Roth explained [that] … "Van Halen was the first band to take huge productions into tertiary, third-level markets. We'd pull up with nine 18-wheeler trucks, full of gear, where the standard was three trucks, max. And there were many, many technical errors—whether it was the girders couldn't support the weight, or the flooring would sink in, or the doors weren't big enough to move the gear through. The contract rider read like a … Yellow Pages because there was so much equipment, and so many human beings to make it function."

So just as a little test, buried somewhere in the middle of the rider, would be Article 126, the no-brown-M&Ms clause. "When I would walk backstage, if I saw a brown M&M in that bowl," [Roth] wrote, "well, we'd line-check the entire production. Guaranteed you'd run into a problem." The mistakes could be life-threatening … In Colorado, the band found that the local promoters had failed to read the weight requirements and that the staging would have fallen through the arena floor.


In Jesus’ famous parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30, he has the Master commend the faithful stewards by saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.”   In Luke’s version (Luke 16), Jesus says, "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."  All of a sudden, Van Halen’s request doesn’t look so ridiculous, does it?

For my part, I am learning that no matter what God asks of me, no matter how seemingly small the task, it is imperative that I give it my best.  If I do not show myself trustworthy in the small areas, how can I ever hope to handle the larger ones?  So remember, be faithful in the small things, in the small ways, and with those whom the world considers small people.  It may appear that no one is looking; but I assure you that God is!

Source:  Atul Gawande, The Checklist Manifesto (Metropolitan Books, 2009), available at
http://books.google.com/books.  More information can also be found at: http://www.compliancebuilding.com/2009/08/03/compliance-van-halen-and-brown-mms/.

Comments are closed.

    Cleo E. Jackson, III

    Occasionally I will add
    a few thoughts to my blog. If you find them inspirational, I will be
    honored.

    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010

    Categories

    All