Last Updated on 23 June 2009

Have you seen last year’s movie Evan Almighty? (I’m on a movie kick this week…)

Evan Almighty

Briefly, the plot…

Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) is a newscaster who was just elected to Congress. His slogan was “Change the World”. He moves his family to Virginia to start his new life. What Evan doesn’t know is that his world was about to change. Evan prays for guidance in his new house and the next morning he begins to encounter strange things…. God (Morgan Freeman) appears to Evan, and commands him to build an ARK just as Noah did before him. (Paraphrased from IMDb)

Life Lesson

There is a great scene, just past the mid-point of the movie, where Evan’s wife speaks with God posing as a waiter in a restaurant. She has taken the kids and is heading to her mother’s to get away from Evan’s crazy behavior. She confides in the waiter (God), reveals that she’s the wife of the “New York Noah” and God gives her advice.

God says the situation looks like an opportunity.

He offers this life lesson.

Watch the Clip

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Get the Gist

If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does He give them the opportunity to be patient?

If they prayed for courage, does God give them courage, or does He give them the opportunity to be courageous?

If someone prayed for their family to be closer, you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings? Or does he give them opportunities to love each other?

I could stop there… but I want to take this a bit further…

Business Lesson

Idea Sandbox helps companies be remarkable. Most businesses (and people) want to be remarkable.

But, like the lesson from Evan Almighty, there is no miracle that zaps a company (or person) into being remarkable.

Let me put it this way… If you wish for remarkability, do you think you simply *poof* become remarkable? Or are you offered the opportunity to be remarkable?

I know, it’s a trick question. But think about it. Both the life lesson and the business lesson.

If you want to be something you need to take the opportunity to be it.

Is your company simply wanting to be remarkable? Or are actually doing remarkable things? Doing remarkable can make you remarkable.