But Daniel appealed to a steward who had been assigned by the head of the palace staff to be in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: "Try us out for ten days on a simple diet of vegetables and water. Then compare us with the young men who eat from the royal menu. Make your decision on the basis of what you see." Daniel 1:11-13 (MSG)

The consulting group I work with was founded with a stated mission of applying Biblical principles in our work. We're certainly not perfect, but we do make an honest and sincere effort to apply God's word to what we do. For example, many businesses and firms who operate on a contractual basis will try to sign long-term contracts clients. The idea is that the longer the contract you can convince your client to sign, the greater security you have. However, our group does not believe that our security lies in contracts or clients. So, we have never agreed to a contract longer than twelve months. The underlying idea is that we must be good stewards of the annual contractual opportunities our clients give us and continually prove our worth if we hope to have our contract renewed.

That principle is expanded in the way our group approaches potential new clients. We typically ask a new client only to sign up for a "pilot project" that may last 60-90 days. We ask them to give us an opportunity to show them what we can do. If they find measurable value in that project, we'll ask them to commit to a broader annual offering. It's the same thing that Daniel did when he asked the king's steward to give his diet a chance and make his judgement based on the result. Give it a chance. Put it to the test. Then make the decision.

Many people will only make decisions based on the results they see, not just onthe pitch they hear.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and macroberts