2023

September Edition

Welcome to the September edition of A Few Good Things with Chris Young! This month, I have four things that I wanted to pass on to you that I think you’ll find valuable. Thank you for reading and being a part of The Good Place Institute community.

When we read the creation account in the book of Genesis, we find that God put people in the garden “to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). One could say that God wrote the very first job description, right? Humans were created to work as imager bearers and partners with God in His work in the world, and it was a good thing.

This work environment had a sense of shalom—a sense of harmony, peace, completeness, well-being, and wholeness. Our work was intended to be meaningful, fulfilling, and a way we develop ourselves and steward the creation around us. This idea of shalom is a primary characteristic of what people have in Good Places, whether in the Garden of Eden, the Promised Land, the Church, God’s Kingdom on earth now, or the future new Jerusalem. 

When we view our work as God intended it to be (as a means of grace, a spiritual, sacred act that impacts ourselves and others and makes the world a better place), we redeem and recapture God’s idea of shalom. Our work and organizational life have an opportunity to be a transformative place where we are building up hearts of love and lives of shalom. That sounds like a Good Place. 

I want to build a Good Place Organization →

Good resources and tools are essential for a leadership journey. I’d like to introduce you to, if you are not already familiar with, The Good Place Institute’s book titled The Good Place Organization: A Leader’s Guide to Stewarding Good Place Organizations.

This book can be an informational guide and reference resource if you are:

• Building or leading a business as a mission or a Kingdom impact organization.

• Building or leading an organization for social responsibility or positive global impact.

• Looking for a theology of work and organizational life.

• Looking for how to live out your faith as a business owner or organizational leader uniquely called to steward the organization.

• Looking for an organizational operating system or the “how-to” to help build an organization that values people, positively impacts the community, is economically regenerative, achieves Kingdom success, and fulfills the purpose of business in God’s economy.

• Looking for the why, what, and how of building and leading a Good Place organization.

As a newsletter subscriber you can receive 15% off your purchase until November 1st. Use the coupon code GoodPlaceNewsletter when checking out online. 

Get 15% off the Leader's Guide →

“Work gives us an opportunity to fulfill parts of our design, a means to change us and develop us into our God-given potential, an opportunity to image God, the original Creator, and ongoing Worker, an opportunity to become more like Jesus, the perfect embodiment of God’s image, an opportunity to use our gifts in service to a greater good, ultimately glorifying God and bringing shalom to ourselves and the world around us.”

— The Good Place Organization: A Leader’s Guide to Stewarding Good Place Organizations (page 47)

Where do you need to experience more shalom in your work or organization? 

Reflect on your thinking, leading, and operating at work and how you could bring about more shalom to yourself, the workplace, and the world around you.

Thank you for reading A Few Good Things. If you find the content to be beneficial and adding value to your leadership, could you do me a favor and share this email with a friend who might enjoy receiving it? Lastly, if you have any feedback on how we can make this newsletter more valuable, hit reply and let me know. Thanks in advance!

— Chris Young

You are receiving this because we value your relationship, we've connected at some point, or we think you're a like-minded individual who wants to build and steward organizations that thrive. Once a month, we promise to deliver ‘A Few Good Things’ in a brief, value-packed, and easy-to-read format without adding more clutter to your inbox. Thank you for being awesome and making the world a better place.