Patrick Combs Self-Help Guide for Needful College Freshmen

If there is a recipe for self-help books, two of the necessary ingredients are an endorsement from a â€Å"name† self-help or motivation guru/author and trotting out the old Teddy Roosevelt â€Å"man in the arena† mantra. Combs has both: Tom Peters’ kudus on the cover and The Roughrider on page 28. What’s missing is a touch of truth and reality. Nowhere does Mr. Combs describe his own success (perhaps â€Å"I knew I’d never be happy until I got a self-help book published!†) or many student’s real world (perhaps a chapter on majoring in the success of your dysfunctional family, lack of money for traffic fines, broken or stolen personal property, drugged-out roommate and boy/girl friend issues). Instead, Mr. Combs supplies his readers with 154 pages detailing and expanding on a single maxim: figure out what you want to do it life, and do it. Major in Success has some major flaws as well as some great advice. Nonetheless there is a great deal to be gathered from Major in Success, but probably not in the manner Mr. Combs planned. Some great lessons can be learned from understanding not just what is in the book, but what it is that makes the book successful, despite its shortcomings. There are several flaws in Mr. Combs’ advice. First and foremost, the text is replete with anecdotal â€Å"evidence† and devoid of meaningful, quantifiable facts and statistics, and those used are rather disingenuous. In the chapter â€Å"Never Mind the Grades† he cites â€Å"a recent study by the College Review Board† indicating GPA is below ten other factors considered by employers (47).   He uses this â€Å"fact† to buttress his argument to â€Å"never mind the grades†. He fails to mention that in a very competitive job market when ALL of the applicants have those first ten factors, it will likely be factor 11—GPA—that makes the difference. The second glaring discrepancy relates not only to grades but also his contradictory attitude towards the significance of grades. His theory â€Å"college is for developing your talents to learn and do, so that you can learn and do anything you like† (20) begs the question â€Å"then how is that measured?† Most people, including employers, will use grades as the yardstick for learning ability. Mr. Combs fails to address the significance of a student’s â€Å"focus† or major in college. He claims if time spent on â€Å"extracurricular activities is having a negative impact on your grades, don’t panic† (50). He advises telling the prospective employer to the effect â€Å"sure my grades were mediocre, but various club memberships and internships were my priority.† Ask yourself if you would like to say that on a job interview, or â€Å"I managed to knock down a 3.7 GPA with a major in math and a minor in history while working 25 hours a week to help pay tuition and board†? Throughout the text Mr. Combs offers a â€Å"follow your inner voice, go for happiness, not money† philosophy. Goals change, life events come unexpected and being prepared to shift gears quickly is a key asset. A student may regret having used his college time to develop his knowledge and skills in an area of particular interest only to be caught short later when his interest, income needs, or location changes. The â€Å"follow your passion regardless of income† theory works well for those without monetary needs, retirees, and even second or third career adults capable of turning a hobby into a profitable business. However, the practicality of the theory may come into question years later, when either a more fundamental education (liberal arts) gives flexibility or a mainstream â€Å"certificate† program (nursing, teaching) provides job security. There are no less than three very good reasons to read this book. Mr. Combs has filled the margins with hundreds of â€Å"hot tips† and quotations. Included are a large number of references to other texts and sources. He also provides an excellent chapter entitled â€Å"Classes Worth Their Weight in Gold†, detailing almost a dozen courses with universal value. A concentration on these classes will do wonders for marketplace flexibility. The chapter â€Å"Really Get Into It† provides a detailed list of seventeen items designed to turn interest into expertise. There are less obvious lessons to be learned from Major in Success that are arguably just as important as the ideas expressed in the text. Mr. Combs has a â€Å"Special Thanks† page listing probably a hundred or more persons who assisted him. Success is usually a team sport, and the value of associating with mentors and goal-oriented people is invaluable. The book is very well organized; the Table of Contents lists three major sections divided into twenty-nine succinct chapters. If there is ever a life lesson to be learned, particularly for a college student, it is the value of organization. Additionally the text is filled with lists. Making lists is essential for planning, organizing, and tracking in college and throughout life, for anyone.   Finally, the format of the text is very effective, with graphics, margin notes, and lists in a unique and â€Å"out of the box† manner. Individuality cannot be overemphasized. Today there is no typical college student, and whether the reader is an eighteen-year-old freshman or an older adult returning for a second career they will find something in Major for Success applicable to their specific situation. Works Cited Combs, Patrick. Major in Success. California: Ten Speed Press, 1998.

Group Dynamics and Leadership Essay

Abstract: Why are some teams successful and others unsuccessful? What criteria or attributes are needed for success? Contemporary teaching and learning practice over the past few years in higher education institutions has seen a proliferation of open-ended constructivist learning designs that incorporate collaboration. This has promoted the need for identifying essential attributes needed for successful teamwork. This study reviews the literature with a view of identifying a framework that educators can use to help promote effective teamwork in their classes. A case study is used to investigate two teams of final year multimedia students completing a project-based unit, in which teamwork was an essential ingredient and immersed in an authentic context. Attributes gleaned from the literature for successful teamwork was used to compare the two diverse teams. Keywords: Teamwork, higher education, authentic environment Introduction With the shift from a predominately instructivist to constructivist pedagogy the need for tertiary educators to use a variety of teaching strategies and methods is becoming increasingly important. Learning designs need to incorporate student-centred team based learning pedagogy such as project-based, case-based, inquiry-based and problem-based scenarios (Oliver, 2001). Students need to be immersed in learning environments that promote real learning in real contexts. Teams and teamwork help to promote deep learning that occurs through interaction, problem solving, dialogue, cooperation and collaboration (Johnson & Johnson, 1995). These learning designs promote the construction of knowledge as they are embedded in a social experience with a team environment (Vygotsky, 1978). Effective teamwork can affect the successful delivery and implementation of these learning designs. Tertiary educators cannot assume students will the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to create and contribute to a synergistic team environment. Through a review of the literature, this paper identifies a range of attributes considered necessary for successful teamwork. These are then used to compare two contrasting teams with a view of confirming their validity through a case study. Research has provided a number of attributes required for successful teamwork. Many of these attributes have been consistently identified in the literature. Table 1 provides a summary of literature on the successful attributes needed for effective teamwork as follows: †¢ Commitment to team success and shared goals – team members are committed to the success of the team and their shared goals for the project. Successful teams are motivated, engaged and aim to achieve at the highest level; †¢ Interdependence – team members need to create an environment where together they can contribute far more than as individuals. A positive interdependent team environment brings out the best in each person enabling the team to achieve their goals at a far superior level (Johnson & Johnson, 1995, 1999). Individuals promote and encourage their fellow team members to achieve, contribute, and learn; †¢ Interpersonal Skills includes the ability to discuss issues openly with team members, be honest, trustworthy, supportive and show respect and commitment to the team and to its individuals. Fostering a caring work environment is important including the ability to work effectively with other team members; †¢ Open Communication and positive feedback – actively listening to the concerns and needs of team members and valuing their contribution and expressing this helps to create an effective work environment. Team members should be willing to give and receive constructive criticism and provide authentic feedback; †¢ Appropriate team composition is essential in the creation of a successful team. Team members need to be fully aware of their specific team role and understand what is expected of them in terms of their contribution to the team and the project; and †¢ Commitment to team processes, leadership & accountability – team members need to be accountable for their contribution to the team and the project. They need to be aware of team processes, best practice and new ideas. Effective leadership is essential for team success including shared decision-making and problem solving. Case Study Final year students enrolled in the Interactive Multimedia course at Edith Cowan University are required to develop skills and expertise in managing the design and development of client web sites. The unit IMM 3228/4228 – â€Å"Project Management Methodologies†, uses teams of  four or five students to utilise their specialist skills to meet a â€Å"real need† for an industry client. Team roles include programmers, graphic designers and project managers. There were 82 students (20 teams) completing this unit. The aim was to have students experience project management issues that occur when dealing with â€Å"real† clients in â€Å"real† projects and was heavily focused on teamwork and problem solving. The environment was based on the learning principles of authenticity, self-regulation and reflection (Luca & Oliver, 2001). Features included student contracts, journals (for self/peer assessment & reflection), â€Å"Conference Centre† for problem solving, bulletin boards, time management tools, syllabus and assessment materials, lecture notes, legal/QA templates, relevant URL’s, web sites and assignments developed by previous students and a student details database. Within this setting, two teams were selected for investigation. One team was highly successful in developing a quality product, and collaborated in a highly successful manner. Another team, experienced severe team problems, which caused it to become dysfunctional and had to be split. Data was collected on both of these teams from focus groups sessions, interviews and questionnaires that were recorded and transcribed for analysis. A summary of the results is discussed below with reference to key attributes needed for successful teamwork as outlined in   participants understand their purpose and share their goals – the co mbination achieves mission (Francis & Young, 1979) members must share a strong common goal (Kets De Vries, 1999) groups provide each member of the team with prestige and recognition (Scarnati, 2001) successful teams are motivated to succeed (Bradley & Frederic, 1997) there is strong team commitment to succeed (Critchley & Casey, 1986) members have strong shared values and beliefs (Kets De Vries, 1999) engaged in and satisfied with their work (Wageman, 1997) creation of a team atmosphere that is informal, relaxed, comfortable and non-judgemental (Harris & Harris, 1996) †¢ promote group cohesion (Bradley & Frederic, 1997) †¢ people enjoy regular interaction with individuals who have similar interests and goals (Scarnati, 2001). Interdependence †¢ one cannot succeed unless the other members of the group succeed (Smith, 1996) †¢ together the group can deliver more than the individuals who compromise it could do in isolation (Francis & Young, 1979) †¢ team members must work together effectively to produce successful systems (Bradley & Frederic, 1997) †¢ team members interact to help each other accomplish the task and promote one another’s success (Smith, 1996) †¢ team members build on the capabilities of their fellows – the combinations energised through synergy (Francis & Young, 1979) †¢ team members must take an interest in both the group and each individuals achievement (Harris & Harris, 1996) †¢ team members must never be fully self-directed or completely independent (Johnson, Heimann, & O’Neill, 2000) †¢ teams are often empowered to accomplish tasks not available to individuals (Scarnati, 2001) †¢ Individuals experience a wide range of new ideas and skills when interacting with team members (Scarnati, 2001) †¢ team members learn together so that they can subsequently perform better as individuals (Smith, 1996) Successful Team This team of students was highly successful in developing a quality product, as well as being highly collaborative. Their journal entries continually reflected positive comments about other team members, and at no stage during the semester was there a request or requirement to transfer marks from one team member to another. Team meetings were always friendly, and at no stage were team issues discussed as being problematic. The team always focused on the project and how the process of development could be improved by exploring expectations of the tutor, client and end users. An analysis of the data collected from this team indicated that they showed the attributes needed for successful teamwork. In almost all of their responses in interviews, focus group meetings and questionnaires it was evident that this team was committed to: Commitment to team success and shared goals – the team was highly focused on delivering a quality product, and not pre-occupied by personal issues that might have interrupted this objective. They facilitated and nurtured positive, cooperative-working relationships based upon the focus of developing a quality final product that would impress their client tutor, peers and end users. The whole team was strongly motivated to out-perform other teams and shared a strong common goal of wanting to develop a product that would support their chances of gaining employment at the end of the course. This was evident in almost all of their responses; Interdependence – the team members felt that they had a responsibility towards the other members of the team and that the success of the project was based upon each team member’s contribution. Team members were always happy to help peers when they were experiencing difficulties. The team would proactively brainstorm problems individuals team members were having and offer assistance if needed; Interpersonal skills – the team recognised that team members had different personalities and experienced problems at different stages. They showed consideration for each other, respected and supported others in difficult times. Open communication and positive feedback – the team recognised that it was a â€Å"healthy thing† to discuss problems or difficult issues and try to offer constructive help/criticism in trying to resolve these. They strongly valued open dialogue that enabled team members to express their concerns in a non-defensive manner. They were open and truthful about all aspects of the project; Appropriate team composition – this team was proactive in selecting their team members well in advance for this unit. They had carefully considered the skills needed for each team member, and also the type of personality for each team member. These were carefully discussed and considered by two team members four months before the unit commenced; Commitment to team processes, leadership & accountability – team members were all aware of the importance of everyone’s role within the team and the process used by the team to plan and track the timing and quality of required tasks. The project manager was well respected by the team, and always consulted the team before making any major decisions. Also, the team had a number of quality assurance procedures which helped monitor activities as well as individual team members’ accountabilities; Unsuccessful Team Another team of students experienced severe team problems, which caused it to become dysfunctional and had to be split. At the first peer assessment session, marks were transferred between team members, as it was perceived that some team members weren’t contributing. Even though agreement was made at this meeting that marks should be transferred, and suggestions were made about how to improve the situation, resentment amongst team members escalated. This was clearly evident from the comments being made through the confidential on-line journal entries each week. The tutor had several meetings with the project manager and individuals to help try to resolve issues, but to no avail. At one of the team meetings a serious disagreement occurred, in which one of the team members verbally berated another, from which point there was no reconciliation. After this altercation, team members felt they could no longer work together, so even though they would experience a heavier workload, they unanimously agreed to split and form two separate teams. An analysis of the responses given by the successful team indicated that this team had a strong awareness of the attributes needed for successful teamwork. Comparing responses from this team against the key attributes needed for successful teams shown in Table 1, it was evident that this team was not congruent with these criteria: Commitment to team success and shared goals – one team member was highly motivated to achieve a high quality product, though two others were content with merely just gaining a pass i.e. they were happy to put in minimal effort. This mismatch of expectations caused many problems and frustration for team members early in the semester; Interdependence – two team members were highly competitive in this team that negated the development of a synergistic team environment. They were highly focused on our own tasks, and were not interested in helping others who may have been having problems. If others weren’t performing, then the attitude was that peer assessment should be applied, rather than trying to support and help the individual. This caused a lack of team cohesion and cooperation, a feeling of disempowerment, and resulting in the eventual split of the team; Interpersonal skills – the team showed little consideration for each other and gave almost no support for others in difficult times. Team members seemed unaware and very surprised that they had upset other team members by their comments. They seemed to have not detected they were hurting others feelings by their comments and the approaches taken to solve team problems; Open communication and positive feedback – comments made by team members indicated that peers were inconsiderate of their situation and problems, and were not inclined to discuss problems, as they would only attract criticism and negative feedback. This resulted in team members not communicating freely or discussing their problems that had potentially damaging effect on the team; Appropriate team composition– this team was formed haphazardly. Three of the original team members had a quick discussion in the class and decided to make a team, and another team member arrived a week later, so the team agreed to accept them in their team, as they needed to make a team of four. Expectations and skill were not carefully considered; Commitment to team processes, leadership & accountability – the project manager happened to be the youngest in the team, and didn’t command the respect needed. Team members often complained about team meetings being a waste of time, and also of team members being late or contributing effectively. One team member felt that he was not included in decision-making and did not receive all communication regarding the progress and development of the project from the project manager. The overall management of this team was perceived to be ineffective by most of the team members; Summary and Conclusions This study compared how well two teams performed by comparing attributes identified for successful teamwork, as shown in Table 1. From the results it is evident that these attributes played an important role in determining the success of these teams. The results show a compelling relationship between how the teams embraced these six attributes, and how successful the team was in collaborating and developing a quality product. The results from this study indicate that these key attributes need to be carefully considered by both tutors and students when teamwork activities are proposed. Further research needs to be considered on how best to implement these strategies in a methodological fashion to ensure tutors and students acknowledge and understand the importance of how to implement each attribute i.e. a template outlining implications for best practice when designing and implementing constructivist learning designs which incorporate teamwork activities. References Bradley, J. H., & Frederic, J. H. (1997). The effect of personality type on team performance. Journal of Management Development, 16(5), p. 337-353. Critchley, B., & Case, D. (1986). Teambuilding – At what price and at whose cost? In A.Mumford (Ed.) Handbook of Management Development. Gower Publishing Company Limited, University Press Cambridge Fisher, S. G., Hunter, T. A., & Macrosson, W. D. K. (1997). Team or group? Managers’ perceptions of the differences. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 12(4), 232-242. Flynn, G. (1997). How do you know if your work teams work? Workforce, 76 (5), May p. 7 Francis, D., & Young, D. (1979). Improving Work Groups. San Diego, California: University Associates. Harris, P. R., & Harris, K. G. (1996). Managing effectively through teams. Team Performance Management: An International Journal, 2(3), 23-36. Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1995). Social Interdependence – Cooperative Learning in Education. In B. Bunker & J. Z. Rubin (Eds.), Conflict, Cooperation, and Justice (pp. 205-251). San Francisco: JosseyBass Publishers. Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1999). Learning Together and Alone: Cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning ( 5th ed.). Needham Heights: Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon. Johnson, P. R., Heimann, V. L., & O’Neill, K. (2000). The wolf pack: team dynamics for the 21st century. Journal of Workplace Learning: Employee Counselling Today, 12(4), 159-164. Kets De Vries, M.F.R. (1999) High-performance teams: Lessons from the Pygmies. Organisational Dynamics, Winter, p. 66-77. Luca, J., & Tarricone, P. (2001). Does emotional intelligence affect successful teamwork? Proceedings of the th 18 Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education at the ASCILITE, p. 367 – 376, Melbourne: University of Melbourne. Luca, J., & Oliver, R. (2001). Developing Generic Skills through On-line Courses. Paper presented at the EdMedia 2001, Tampere, Finland. Oliver, R. (2001). Developing e-learning environments that support knowledge construction in higher education. Presented at the 2nd International We-B Conference, p. 407 – 416. Perth, Western Australia. Parker, G. M. (1990). Team Players and Teamwork. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Scarnati, J. T. (2001). On becoming a team player. Team Performance Management: An International Journal, 7(1/2), 5-10. Smith, K. (1996). Cooperative Learning: make groupwork work. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 67, Fall, pp. 71-82. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Wageman, R. (1997). Critical success factors for creating superb self-managing teams. Organsiational Dynamics, 26 (1), Summer, 49-62.

Negotiation styles & strategies

The teachers were very un-collaborative in their approach towards the negotiation and seemed quite unwilling to bend in their resolve not to accept the proposal offered by the board of Education. The teachers basically attempted to force the hand of the board by deciding to go on a strike. Considering that the area had only recently suffered from the effects of the September 11 strike on the Twin Towers and that there was some amount of adjusting to be done, the teachers seem to have manipulated the situation in order to achieve their objectives.The strike commenced only a few hours after the end of an agreed moratorium period according to Hanley (2001a). This is suggesting that little or inadequate attempt was made to pursue peaceful negotiations prior to decide to enter into an industrial strike. Furthermore the teachers made no attempt to relent or relax their position but were willing, even under punishment of imprisonment, to hold firm to their original position without any or l ittle adjustments or compromise. The board wanted to increase the teachers’ maximum contributions to the health insurance scheme from $250 to $860 (Hanley & Jacobs, 2001). The teachers were adamant in refusing any sort of increasing wanting the figure to remain as was.So determined was their resolve that at the time of the unsuccessful conclusion of the negotiations 225 teachers, secretaries and other union members had being jailed because of their refusal to obey the court order to return to work (Hanley, 2001c). Had the union leaders not decided on the 29th of November to instruct its members to obey the court order to return to work, the impasse would have probably continued with even more teachers being jailed.The union however, seemed at one point willing to relax the teachers’ position on the issue of the proposed increase in teachers’ contributions to the health fund. The teachers relaxed their positions partially when they agreed to a set of settlement r ecommendations proposed by the mediators which would have seen them compromising their position significantly. However the position of the board was even more adamant and thus no solution was arrived on the issue.The teachers attempted to justify their rejection of the proposal put forward to them. The proposal put forward by the board sought to increase maximum payments by about thirty per cent in one instant. This amount appears to be very unreasonable. Of course the board could not accept the teachers’ proposition that the fees stay as they were before. In their opinion, payments for teachers’ health benefits was costing the district much too much, approximately $8 million (Hanley & Jacobs, 2001). On the extreme though the proposed level of increase in itself appeared exorbitant and too great a percentage increase.Additionally the teachers felt that their proposal was a lot more reasonable. They suggested helping the board to cut costs by no longer requiring reimbur sements on prescriptions (Hanley, 2001b). This proposal would lead to saving on the part of the board and would also ensure that the teachers do not have to pay increased premiums. This alternative seems like a very feasible position but the board was not willing to negotiate on this issue.On the 29th of November the teachers were instructed by their union leaders to return to work even though the negotiations had not concluded and there was no decision on the issue. It would seem in this regard that the teachers were the ones to have lost because, aside from being imprisoned for a few days, they have to suffer the embarrassment of returning to work without their original demands being met.It would therefore seem that the teachers did not carry out the negotiations as best as they could since they did not end up reaching a reasonable solution. A number of factors could have contributed to this failure suggesting of course, that the teachers erred in a few areas. First the teachers d id not choose an appropriate time to commence the industrial strike. While, in their view the matter seemed to be urgent, they did not consider the psychological environment at the time. The area had only recently been affected by the terrorist bombing of the World Trade Centers. The district was still recovering from the effects of this national disaster and therefore it was not appropriate for the teachers to strike at this particular time.In addition the teachers did not garner enough support from the community. Hanley & Jacobs (2001) point out that â€Å"it was hard to find support for the teachers among Middletown residents.† The members of the community were upset that the teachers chose such an inappropriate time to strike. They were also concerned about the welfare of the students who would be without instruction until the issue was resolved.Probably a meeting with the parents of students prior to going on a strike could have explained the seriousness of the teachersà ¢â‚¬â„¢ position to them and asked for support. In addition many parents did not agree that in that economic climate that the proposed increase was as terrible as the teachers were making it out to be. The fact that there was not widespread support for the teachers’ strike may have pushed the union to demand its teachers back in the classroom even though negotiations were not finalized.Finally the teachers themselves seemed not to have entered the negotiation with a correct mindset. They seemed only to be heading for a win/win decision and were not willing to lose not even a little bit. The option they proposed to the board, though it sounded reasonable, did not see them compromising as significantly as they expected the board to compromise to meet their demands. The teachers were unwilling to collaborate effectively to come to a decision feasible and acceptable to both sides.REFERENCESHanley, R. (2001a, Nov 30). Abrupt Walkout by Teachers Closes Schools in Middletown, N.J. T he New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)), D5.Hanley, R. (2001b, Dec 4). New Jersey Teachers Jailed for Continuing to Strike. The New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)), D1.Hanley, R. (2001c, Dec 8). In Middletown, A Strike Ends Without a Deal For Teachers. The New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)), D1.Hanley, R. & Jacobs, A. (2001, Dec 6). Teachers' Strike Grows Angrier, But Support of Residents Is Elusive. The New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)), D1.

Chaos and Order

â€Å"I will not let you fall. I will hold you up high as I stand on a ball. With a book on one hand! And a cup on my hat! But that is not all I can do† â€Å"Look at me! Look at me now! With a cup and a cake on the top of my hat! I can hold up the fish and a little toy ship! And some milk on a dish, and look! I can hop up and down on the ball! But that is not all!†¦ † â€Å"†¦. It is fun to have fun but you have to know ho. I can hold up the cup and the milk and the cake! I can hold up these books, and the fish on a rake! I can hold the toy ship and a little toy man! And look, with my tail I can hold a red fan!I can fan with the fan as I hop on the ball!†¦. † â€Å"That is what the cat said, then he fell on his head! He came down with a bump from up there on the ball. And Sally and I, we saw all the things fall. † â€Å"†¦We saw those two things bump their kits on the wall! Bump! Thump! Bump! Thump! Down the wall in the hall† â €Å"Thing two and thing one, they ran up they ran down. On the string of one kite, we saw mothers new gown with dots that are pink, white and red. Then we saw one kite bump on the head of her bed. † â€Å"I will not let you fall. I will hold you up high as I stand on a ball. With a book on one hand!And a cup on my hat! But that is not all I can do† â€Å"Look at me! Look at me now! With a cup and a cake on the top of my hat! I can hold up the fish and a little toy ship! And some milk on a dish, and look! I can hop up and down on the ball! But that is not all!†¦ † â€Å"†¦. It is fun to have fun but you have to know ho. I can hold up the cup and the milk and the cake! I can hold up these books, and the fish on a rake! I can hold the toy ship and a little toy man! And look, with my tail I can hold a red fan! I can fan with the fan as I hop on the ball!†¦. † â€Å"That is what the cat said, then he fell on his head!He came down with a bump fr om up there on the ball. And Sally and I, we saw all the things fall. † â€Å"†¦We saw those two things bump their kits on the wall! Bump! Thump! Bump! Thump! Down the wall in the hall† â€Å"Thing two and thing one, they ran up they ran down. On the string of one kite, we saw mothers new gown with dots that are pink, white and red. Then we saw one kite bump on the head of her bed. † I have chosen the book The Cat in the Hat. Simply because it’s a classic and I still enjoy reading it. I also chose this book because I see A LOT of chaos in the story followed by order.In the box above, you can see that I have quoted the things I noticed was chaotic. â€Å"†¦. He picked up the cake, and the rake, and the gown, and the milk, and the strings, and the books, and the dish, and the fan, and the cup, and the ship and the fish and he put them away†¦.. † â€Å"†¦. He picked up the cake, and the rake, and the gown, and the milk, and the str ings, and the books, and the dish, and the fan, and the cup, and the ship and the fish and he put them away†¦.. † In the box above, you can see that I have quoted what I thought would be order. I think Dr. Seuss does suggest the possibility of achieving a healthy balance between chaos and order. Because he showed that you can have responsible fun but at the same time, you have to clean up any mess made, solve any problems, and make sure things are in order when all the fun and games are done. * Along with entertainment, I believe that the story is to portray a lesson for kids. As Ive said before, you can have tons of fun, you just have to be responsible and clean up anything when done. * Dr. Seuss does use a rhyme scheme in this story.

Open Work Space Research Essay

The Study Recently in the work space, there seems to be a shift from this traditional cubicle style to a more open environment for the employees. This shift has me questioning why are innovative companies shifting towards this more open environment? It seems that these companies are looking not only for a change in scenery, but a change in the how there employees utilize the environment.During this study, I will use a variety of sources in order to understand a comma NYSE work space environment and other information pertaining the architectural design of a company. The questions especially want to explore are: How does the open workspace effect the collaboration between employees? How does this work space attempt to foster an environment for creativity and innovation? Informational Sources The sources have used ranged from a variety of places.The information I collected from Kidders Studio and Kramer Design Group was a large group interview which was required for a summer class where we studied cultures of creativity in Detroit, Michigan. These two interviews took place on August 24, 2013. The large group interview also included a tour of both companies to actually see the working environment firsthand. Field notes were also taken to help record detailed descriptions of the environment at both companies. Another source used for this research included an online magazine called 991. . This magazine publishes research in a condensed and easy to understand format for the general public. It described research on how to build a collaborative work space. I read this to help better my understanding of what a collaborative work space might look like and what re some key components for a creative work space. Also watched a video created by Wall Street Journal on Google's New York work space because, have never been there. This video allowed me to visually see the environment where Google employees work.Another source utilized was a prCICS completed from an article called Building Research and Information. It included research done in this area which helped me orient myself with prior research already completed on this topic. Previous Research Completed on Work Space Environment One research prCICS I looked at included the importance of collaboration in the work space. They looked at three behaviors that contribute to effective collaboration: â€Å"awareness, brief interaction, and collaboration (working together)† (Hearing, Compromisers, Powell, and Loftiness, par. 2).This term awareness means to understand what is going on in the environment around you. You are able to process this through â€Å"spatial features that promote awareness† and organizational factors that allow you to see other employees (Hearing, Compromisers, Powell, and Loftiness, pars. 4-5). They noted Some benefits to this ‘high awareness' Were rapid information sharing and ability to recognize when other employees were struggling Hearing, Compromisers, Powell, and Loftiness, par. 6). However there are some concerns for ‘high awareness' in a collaborative environment also.It can be distracting, noisy from employees talking, and create a loss of privacy for the workers (Hearing, Compromisers, Powell, and Loftiness, par. 7). Another term discussed was ‘brief interactions' which means unplanned and short discussions you have with other employees. This results in â€Å"spatial features that promote interaction† and organizational factors that allow you to run into other employees (Hearing, Compromisers, Powell, and Loftiness, pars. 9-10). Some benefits include improved information flow, increased learning, and increased development Of friendships (Hearing, Compromisers, Powell, and Loftiness, par. 1). There are, however, some drawbacks which include a high potential for stress, an increase in distractions, and the potential for over communicating with employees (Hearing, Compromisers, Powell, and Loftiness, par. 12). The ot her term discussed in the prCICS was collaboration. Collaboration in the work space can result in organizational factors that allow employees to work in project rooms (Hangmen, Compromisers, Powell, and Loftiness, ears. 18-19). Some benefits from these project rooms are quicker answers, access to other team members, and better project tracking (Hearing, Compromisers, Powell, and Loftiness, par. 0). Despite these benefits, there are some concerns including the possibility for information overload, a shorter amount of time on certain tasks, and less privacy for employees (Hearing, Compromisers, Powell, and Loftiness, par. 21). Evaluating Google and Two Outside Innovative Companies Google is the company which typifies an open work space concept. However, I needed to use Kidders Studio and Kramer Design Group in Detroit, Michigan because they were local and accessible. Both of these companies were much smaller than Google.However, there are innovative and utilize the open work space con cept. Google is known for their web search engine and try to make information easily accessible to the users. The Google New York campus occupies an entire floor and parts of other floors in a building covering an entire â€Å"city block in Manhattans Chelsea neighborhood† (Alter, par. 7). This campus has grown from around 2,000 employees to nearly 3,000 and hiring in the areas of media and advertising (Jordan). Due to the arrival of additional employees, the newly hired have had to move from floor to floor (Jordan).In this campus as opposed to Silicon Valley, it is less tech focused and gives the employees a more natural working environment (Jordan). Google's competitive and innovative nature attracts many young employees to their company. Despite Google's great benefits, there is still a high turnover rate, which means they have a limited amount of time with their employees. Kidders Studio is an innovative company which is a part Of the creative community in Detroit, Michig an. Since 1 959, Kidders Studio has earned a beatable name for solving problems with designs.They started off solving problems by designing logos for the automotive companies in Detroit. In 201 1, Kidders moved to their new location on Broadway Street near the Detroit Tigers Stadium. Their diverse team of 25 office employees design logos and websites for advertisements, but their goal is to create the extraordinary (Patrick). They started with 16 employees and are looking to expand to 35 employees. Some of their biggest clients are Dave and Buster's, Detroit Tigers, and Andiron Restaurant. At Kramer Design Group in Detroit, they specialize in designing the interiors of buildings.There are about 18 to 28 people that work at the office, because there are only 28 desks available. When they work with their clients, they focus on creating a particular environment in order to invoke a certain feeling (Kramer). They strive for listening to the client. However, sometimes the client does not know what they want until you show it to them. This company provides swatches of materials to help visualize the production or prototype built. They are known for creating traditional architecture, hotels, and presidential lofts. They have completed such projects in Detroit like theMadison Building, Broodier Towers, and Whitney Building (Kramer). Kramer Design Group is starting to pick up some business throughout the state. Kramer Design Group and Kidders Studio Work Space Company ices are redesigning offices in order to get a more spacious working environment for their employees. This open work space is intended to foster creativity and innovation. Designing a place to enhance creativity takes a lot of work not only on the companies half, but on the architects half as well. It is important the architect works in collaboration with their client to create a specific environment.In this case, the architect needs to create an environment that is not only functional to the employees, b ut pleasing to the customer. Open office spaces seem to fuel this creativity through the collaboration of diverse groups of people, the flexibility of the work space, and the atmosphere of the room with numerous examples from Detroit, Machine's Kidders Studio and Kramer Design Group. A key component to this creativity and innovation is allowing the mixture of diverse groups of people to work together in an open area.To define diverse, this word is meant to describe how individuals with various job titles and functions can ark cohesively together. Providing people an open environment encourages informal connections to be made and ideas to be bounced off one another (Patrick). For example, at Kidders Studio, their work place fosters an environment where colleagues can collaborate with each other (Patrick). The studio is set up with no doors on any of the offices, even the Coo's office. Over the years, the company has developed this process to be successful.During their meetings, they encourage administrative workers, designers, marketers, and writers to brainstorm ideas for projects (Patrick). These brainstorming sessions involve everyone in the company to work on a project where titles mean nothing (Patrick). Sometimes, disagreement can be a bad thing. But it has become a useful tool because, it encourages ideas to be explored and defended by the creator (Patrick). The end result is a better thought out solution which provides the customer with an outstanding product.Creating flexibility in the work space seems to be another crucial element which allows this creativity and innovation to flourish. Kramer Design Group utilizes the portability and disability of the room to create an environment where creativity is maximized. The portable chairs in the lunch space allow the user to rearrange the space. The emphasis on designing a flexible work space allows people to freely converse amongst one another (Kramer). It also gives the workers an environment which allows easy access to coworkers (Kramer).Some of the offices have glass walls to give the illusion of a more open space (Kramer). One thing that stands out is there are few private offices. Private offices close workers off from the company and do not allow for ideas to be exchanged while the open spaces help stimulate creativity. In an open space, the atmosphere plays an important role in the minimization of creativity and innovation. Kramer Design Group's office is designed with a level of sophistication and professionalism to illustrate their knowledge in the design field (Kramer).The minute you step into the office, it is meant to create a feeling bigger than meets the eye. There is wall to wall glass to give an expansive feeling to the area and it makes the ceiling appear taller (Kramer). In the hallway, there are columns spaced equal distances apart and a white strip on the carpet to give the illusion of a never ending hall (Kramer). Even the lighting plays into the comfortable ambia nce of the room with their modern looking lights which use some incandescent lighting. Their office provides a creative, yet comfortable environment.It allows their employees to think freely in the office with the respect of their fellow colleagues. Google's Innovative Design Google's New York campus has a similar goal in their office design like Kidders Studio and Kramer Design Group. â€Å"All of the design is meant to encourage interaction between structurally separate teams† (Jordan). By implementing this open work space, it influences the way groups of Google's collaborate. Google's intention by using an open work space is to create an environment specifically for the interaction between the workers.A fun design plan Google's architects implemented is the vertical ladder chutes between floors, because the elevators are never known to be on time. This vertical ladder chute promotes unplanned collaborations (Alter, par. 7). Another touch Google added was giving the employe es a bag to place their laptop in while climbing up the ladder (Jordan). This bag helped Google's minimize the chance of dropping their laptops. When workers causally intermingle, it encourages informal connections to be made among colleagues. Senior software engineer, Mike Labels moved from Google's Silicon Valley to Google's New York campus.At Google's Silicon Valley, their offices are created as an individual place with their own unique perks and specific design, which help the worker relate to their environment Road). Since Labels has transferred to Google's New York office, he feels that coming to work here you will not mistake you are in some room at an ordinary building; you will know you are at Google in New York (Jordan). It seems Google's New York office has created their own city within their building. Even some of their conference rooms are designed as a New York apartment to create a close environment for colleagues to collaborate within.Directly outside these conferenc e rooms, it is setup like city with a fire hydrant, subway grates on the floor, and a narrow hallway with a cityscape on the wall (Jordan). This use of schematics throughout areas of their building makes it seem like the real New York City outside of the building. Collaboration is a good thing, but too much can also be a bad thing sometimes. There are many places to get away from the hustle and bustle of the office area. These areas include a reflecting room, a library, a private hone booth, and more. The library is dotted with Victorian photos from Star Wars hanging on the walls (Jordan).There are also secret door bookcases leading to refection or reading rooms (Jordan). Throughout the library are many books to help employees on coding, programming and working with different types of computers (Jordan). One of the coolest features is the virtual wall of books where employees can download books to their phones (Jordan). Theses rooms are meant to give the workers a place to escape to when they get stressed at work. Google jobs can cause high stress because Of all the work demands. They can stop by the library and pick out a book or even download one from the virtual wall.By creating this comfortable environment, it gives the employees a place to relieve their stress. Regional facilities manager, Laura Gimped mentioned with groups growing in Google how proprieties and juxtaposition effect the workers interactions (loran). Laura understands generally information and ideas are shared with co-workers who are nearby. This is part of the reason that Google has positioned their offices no more than 150 feet away from food to enhance informal interactions between its employees. So at any office location there s a micro-kitchen, a restaurant, or cafeteria nearby.This place encourages fellow Google's to go grab a bite to eat whenever and where ever they may be in the building (Jordan). Their set up enables employees to â€Å"bump into coworkers from different teams with in the† work space (Alter, par. 8). She has taken into account the growth of the company with an eye towards this idea of casual collision in the work space (Jordan). This allows fellow Google's to have the opportunity to discuss an idea with someone they normally do not work with (Jordan). Some of the greatest ideas are inspired from unexpected inventions between people.Findings Coming from an architectural background has enabled me to see rooms differently from other people. However, after this research, I was able to look at a room and see the choices and decisions the architect had to make in designing the room. For example, their placement of furniture, walls, doors and windows in a room plays a critical role in how the work space is used. The way an architect designs a room actually plays an important role for what the customer ultimately wants. Each of the companies I research ultimately had a similar goal through using the open work space concept.Kidder's goals was to create the extraordinary through logos and design. Their office design fostered their employees to be creative. Kramer Design Group specialized in interior designing. Their open work space also did the same by providing their employees with a creative environment. Both of these places were designed, so the employees interacted regularly in order to get their ideas. Through my research even though did not actually visit, Google, the above examples helped me visualize what I could not see at Google. I have come to greater appreciate the open work space concept and its purpose atGoogle is to maximize its employees creativity. Through my research on open work spaces at Google, I have come to understand the choices the architects had to make while designing Google's New York office. They choose to design the environment with many unique features to enhance the collaboration between employees. I have now come to see that through creating an open work space it results in good ideas from em ployees. Essentially, these good ideas are able to be obtained through creating these unexpected conversations and casual collisions. This new understanding can help companies understand ways to obtain ideas from their employees.Through creating this type of environment similar to Google, companies will be able to design an environment to maximize the productivity of workers. Conclusion Google is known as the gold standard for innovation and creativity. Their architects have used the open work space to help them achieve this goal. Through the design of the open work space, Google's from different teams or backgrounds bump into each other casually throughout the day. The intent is for these Google's to discuss an idea with someone they may not work with daily. This chance interaction may be the catalyst for a new and creative idea.This new open work space approach is intended to inspire its employees and support creativity where new ideas can be developed and new discoveries made. Fu rther Questions If another research paper was completed, it may be interesting to see how other innovative companies like Apple, Paxar, and Twitter are set up in regards to their work space design. It would be interesting to see how these companies layout their work space, because there could be similar correlations to how their employee's collaborate like Google. In order to answer this question, you would need to look at the interactions between the errors of the company.Since work spaces are always being remodeled by companies, it would be interesting to track innovative companies over the next five year to see how their work space changed over time. It would be ideal to interview employees throughout the change of the work space to see how it has effected them. It may be interesting to also speak to the management to determine whether there were more ideas generated in the newer work space than in the current type work space. This could help understand the reason behind why comp anies design a creative environment for their workers.

The Effect of the Unemployment Rate on Rape Essay

The Effect of the Unemployment Rate on Rape - Essay Example Table 1: Raw employment and rape data from each of the 50 states for the year of 2010. Unemployment Rape 9.5 28.2 8 75 10 33.9 7.9 45 12.4 22.4 8.9 43.7 9.1 16.3 8.5 34.7 9.6 31.1 11.5 28.6 10.2 21.6 6.6 26.8 9.3 33.5 10.3 23.6 10.2 27.2 6.1 27.4 7 38.8 7.5 31.8 7.9 27.2 7.5 29.3 8.5 21.3 12.5 26.7 7.3 47.3 10.4 33.9 9.6 31.2 7.2 23.9 4.7 32.4 14.9 36.8 6.1 35.7 9.5 31.3 8.4 11.2 8.6 46.5 10.6 14.3 3.9 21.1 7 35.2 10.1 32.1 7.1 38.7 10.8 31.7 8.7 26.9 11.6 28.1 11.2 31.7 4.8 47.9 9.7 33.7 8.2 33.3 7.7 34.3 6.2 21.1 9.6 31.1 9.1 38.1 9.1 19.1 8.3 20.9 7 29.1 The Pearson Product-Moment Correlation was used to test for a significant correlation between the two variables (Table 2). A two tailed test was used. The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was -0.137 which indicates that there is a weakly negative relationship. For this study, an ? value of less than 0.05 was taken to mean the result was significant (at ?=0.05, the result has a 5% likelihood of being incorrect) (Lehman, 2005). T he p value for the correlation was 0.336, indicating that there was no statistically significant relationship between the two variables. Table 2: Output of Pearson Product-Moment Correlation test for the raw data given in Table 1. Unemployment Rape Unemployment Pearson Correlation 1 -0.137 Sig. (2-tailed) 0.336 N 51 51 Rape Pearson Correlation -0.137 1 Sig. ... nsequence of these results, the null hypothesis, that there is no statistically significant relationship between the rates of rape and unemployment, is not rejected. These results mean that as the unemployment rate increased, the number of rapes per 100,000 people decreased. However, this trend was slight, and not significantly significant. Consequently, the most reliable and accurate conclusion from the data would be that the unemployment rate had no significant effect on the number of rapes. Policy and Research Effects The results of this study, as well as its policy implications, indicate little to no effect of unemployment rate on rape. Furthermore, the small effect that was observed was in the opposite effect than was predicted. It suggests that rape and unemployment are distinct factors that do not influence one another. As a consequence, and if the results of more rigorous studies support this finding, policy should not look at trying to decrease the amount of rape by decreasi ng unemployment, but rather work at developing solutions to both problems independently. The effect of unemployment on rape have been the focus of many studies, however the results from the current paper indicate that there may not be an effect. I would recommend that studies examine this trend over a longer period of time, as only one year was considered for this paper. In addition, it would be worth widening the focus to include other factors that may correlate with levels of rape, such as the prevalence of internet pornography, which has been suggested to decrease rape due to providing release for potential offenders. Other factors that have also been suggested to affect the amount of rape occurring include: the level of crime overall, availability of alcohol and drugs, poverty and

Ultimate Nature Food Project Proposal Assignment

Ultimate Nature Food Project Proposal - Assignment Example The company has diversified its services to include stocking and supply of health supplements. The idea behind the formation of the company was initiated by three entrepreneurs who are graduates from different Universities. During its startup, the company had only a handful of workers. The working force has since increased with the gradual growth of the business. The company was co-founded by Thomas Welbeck, Daniel Frasch, and Rebecca Roberts. Mr. Wellbeck is a Harvard graduate, holding a degree in economics. Frasch and Roberts are graduates of Yale University. They both hold master’s degree in management. The three are the directors of the Ultimate Nature Food. The company has added staff members that oversee the managerial operations on behalf of the directors. The members include James Rafaela, Lorna Randon, Collins Dale and Wayne Weldon. The members hold different degrees from different universities in the United Kingdom. The company operates under the guidance of the laws enacted by the UK government to control business activities (Baourakis 125). The business startup capital was raised through individual efforts and grants provided by the Prince’s Trust. Part of the initial capital raised by the founders was used in acquiring a building that housed the first offices of the business. The startup capital has been used in st ocking produce and conducting viable market research. The company was formed following a preliminary investigation that was conducted to determine a business venture that was considered a potential market opportunity in the city of Brixton. Though the business was established when other market players providing the same services as Ultimate Nature Food were in existence, the idea behind the formation of the company was based on the need to provide quality products at a satisfactory price.