Surrender is a step to success.

“Do I have to do this assignment?” asked a strong-willed student with a reputation for being a troublemaker. Her eyes flashed an unmistakable challenge: Just try and make me.

The teacher responded, “No, you don’t have to do it.”

Surprised, the student asked, “You mean I get an ‘A’ and I don’t have to do it?” The teacher shook his head. “No, you get an ‘F’ … but you don’t have to do it.” The student frowned, shrugged her shoulders and went back to her seat. In moments, she began work on the assignment. The student just wanted to let the teacher know she could get an ‘F’ if she wanted to. The student surrendered to the best course of action.(1)

According to Rick Warren in his book, The Purpose Driven Life, “Surrender is an unpopular word. Surrender evokes the unpleasant images of admitting defeat in battle, forfeiting a game, or yielding to a stronger opponent. Surrender may mean the exact opposite: sacrificing your life or suffering in order to change what needs to be changed.” (2)

Surrender can be a positive course of action, as exhibited with the student’s decision to do the class assignment. In today’s challenging economic conditions, competitive marketplace and macho culture, people are taught and expected to never give up, never give in. Yet we don’t hear or read much about surrendering. Giving up is surrendering. But surrendering is not necessarily giving up. Surrender may be the most important decision you or your organization will make this year successful instead of sad.

Seven Characteristics of Surrender

• Surrender is sensible.It is not a foolish emotional impulse. Surrender is a rational, intelligent act, the most responsible and sensible thing you can do with your life. To become healthy, I must surrender to a healthy lifestyle and diet. To be successful, people and organizations must give up to go up.
• Surrender is an admission of limitations. Pride prevents productivity improvement in people and organizations. I will know you’ve surrendered when you don’t defend yourself when receiving constructive criticism. Surrender is demonstrated through obedience, e.g., “Yes, I’ll do that”. “Yes” is a condition of surrender. “No” is a contradiction to surrender.
• Surrender to unavoidable. Surrender to something or someone eventually happens to everyone. Therefore, we should make a concerted effort to surrender to good, not bad. The greatness of a man, woman or organization’s power can be found in the selection and measure of their surrender.
• Surrender is hard work. Unlike the picture of someone raising his or her arms in the air, the true practice of surrender is arms-down work. Surrender is the activity of doing what’s best for our organization or ourselves. An organization that surrenders to the principles and practices of Activity Based Cost Management (ABM/ABC) will find implementation and sustaining the system to be work, but work that bears much fruit.
• Surrender brings peace. The Bible says in Job 22:21 “Submit to God and be at peace with him”. You will experience peace when you turn your personal and professional challenges over to a greater authority. Surrender is an act of faith. Surrender is adjusting your ways to His ways. Peace comes from surrendering your problems and troubles to someone who can easily handle them.
• Surrender brings freedom. Surrendering to the teacher’s explanation of the assignment and consequences provided the student freedom of choice. Peace prevails when freedom of choice exists. Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar says, “You cannot solve a problem until you acknowledge that you have one and accept responsibility for solving it.”(3) Choosing to admit and confront problems opens a door to finding and freely choosing solutions.
• Surrender requires trust. Surrender exists when you allow others to set the agenda and control the situation. If a management team trusts the principles of Activity Based Management but not the provider (i.e., project leader, consultant, software vendor, accountants), it’s a partial surrender. And partial surrender is no surrender at all.

Partial surrender is no surrender at all.
On of the most profound business management statements I’ve ever heard came from my pastor and friend Barry Cameron. He tells every prospective new member, “Partial surrender is no surrender at all. You can’t surrender your heart to Jesus on Sunday and keep living in sin every other day of the week.”

The police say, “A criminal who surrenders to authorities but keeps his handgun is no surrender at all.” Marriage counselors say, “A person who surrenders to spending more time with their family but continues to spend evenings and weekends answering office e-mail has not surrendered at all.”

The principle… partial surrender is no surrender at all… has several business applications. For example:

• Management can’t surrender to the principles of Six Sigma total quality management but keep enlarging the quality inspection department.
• CFO’s can’t surrender to ethical accounting principles and keep writing monthly journal entries to make numbers match the budget.
• Managers can’t surrender to the principle of teaching employees “how to fish” yet keep giving them “fish” to do every day of the week.
• Employees can’t surrender to a mission statement they don’t remember or believe.
• Trainers can’t surrender to Bob Pikes’ principle of being “the guide on the side” while continuing to dominate workshop time being “the sage on the stage”.
• Senior managers can’t fully surrender to the principles of Activity Based Management and keep focusing on the measurement of direct versus indirect headcount, fixed versus variable expenses and manufacturing overhead rates.

Is it time to surrender?

• If you and your management team are frustrated and foiled by the existing legacy accounting system, it’s time to surrender to an improved cost management system that provides new perspectives and action plans to grow sales and profits.
• If you’ve been laid off and looking for a new job for several months, maybe it’s time to surrender to a new career. In a new book titled Second Acts, Margaret Young suggests, “Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they really want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.” (4)
• If you have no idea how to achieve this year’s financial plan, it may be the right time to surrender to Activity Based Management.
• If you’re a distributor frustrated with declining margins, it’s time to surrender to a new and improved pricing method such as ICMS’ Gross Margin Profiling ABC system.
• If you’re personally at wits end, it may be time to surrender to God.
• If you and your staff are not excited about the coming year, maybe it’s time to surrender to a motivational speaker, coach or consultant.
• If your management team is about to abandon an Activity Based Cost system that you worked hard to create, maybe it’s time to submit to an experienced authority at ICMS who knows how to revitalize ABC.

Conclusion
Susi Fryer and Patty Bender of R Plus More, Inc. help organizations create “want to” performance. Most people are miserable when they feel they “have to” do something. Some say, “You can’t make me.” On the other hand, if those same people are given an exciting mission, confident leader, well-defined plan and a job comprised of value-added activities, they will “want to” surrender to providing high quality products and services.

“Let me warn you: When you decide to live a totally surrendered life, that decision will be tested. Sometimes it will mean doing inconvenient, unpopular, costly, or seemingly impossible tasks. It will often mean doing the opposite of what you feel like doing.” (2)

Success is not logical. Logical… doing what the majority of people and organizations do… leads most to a mess, not success. Upon close investigation, most people and organizations are not actually successful. Achieving success requires illogical actions. Success for you or your organization will require what may seem illogical… surrender.

Surviving and thriving during the most challenging economic conditions any of us have ever experienced requires surrender to new missions, new methods and new authorities. Surrender represents change, something most people and organizations resist. But with surrender and change comes new hope. Not just for survival, but instead renewed, sustained success.

Answer the following question: I need to surrender to _______________________ this year. Answering it is a step towards your success.

My only condition for your surrender? Consider us first if you need help.

Send your comments or questions on this article to Tom Pryor at TomPryor@icms.net.

Call 817-475-2945 to talk to Tom Pryor, President of ICMS, about your ABM needs.

(1) An illustration adapted from “You Can’t Make Me: But I Can Be Persuaded”, Cynthia Ulrich Tobias, Waterbrook Press, 1999

(2) “The Purpose Driven Life”, Rick Warren, Zondervan, 2002

(3) “Over the Top”, Zig Ziglar, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994

(4) “Second Acts”, Stephen Pollan and Mark Levine, Harper Resources, 2003