“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”. – Psalm 23:5,6.

The inspiration for this week’s column is embedded in the following extract from a Joel & Victoria Osteen blog: “In the Bible, oil is symbolic of the anointing of God. Do you know what oil does? It makes things flow. Whenever there is friction or something gets stuck, putting oil on it makes it become more fluid.”

We would have all experienced how “oil makes things flow” in the context of engines, machines and hinges. We need to extend this context to human beings and businesses.To satisfy my curiosity, I did some research on how “oil makes things flow” in the context of the human being.

The skeleton and muscles of a human body provide its structure. There are more than 250 joints in the body depending on whether we perceive the skull as a single unit or made up of a large number of small bony plates that knit together along their edges into a permanently fused structure. According to Professor David Wynik there are approximately 640 skeletal muscles (connected to bones by tendons) within the typical human body.

Oil is well known to increase joint mobility and to reduce pain in aching muscles.

The nails, hair and skin provide protection externally. Oil provides beauty and health benefits. The immune system gives protection to the body internally against disease. Oil strengthens the immune system.

The brain and the central nervous system control most functions in the human body. Together with the heart and lungs they bring life to the body. Oil provides both preventive and curative therapy in this regard.

Well selected and prepared food intake, good digestion and efficient elimination of waste facilitates growth in the body. The use of good oil in our daily food intake is an important part of overall well-being.

Fertilization and procreation drives the sustainability of mankind. Oils help with overall female reproductive health and also strengthen the male reproductive organs. We may therefore conclude that “Oils are Us”.

If we map this human systems analogy of Structure, Protection, Life, Growth and Sustainability into the business systems context, Corporate Governance, Finance, Marketing, Operations and People Development emerge and are used in the management of business systems.

Why not let God anoint our heads with oil across the board so that when there is friction or something gets stuck, we are equipped to make it become more fluid.

Let us pray that God “anoints our heads with oil” so that we are blessed, guided and empowered with insight, understanding and wisdom to fulfill, in the face of adversity, the goal of sustainable success in our businesses and our private lives.