...Avoiding Abilene Bea Carson Page 1 5/22/2006 AVOIDING ABILENE: BREAKING OUT OF GROUPTHINK by Dr. Bea Carson Introduction Have you been trapped in the frustration of meetings that were not functioning well? Have you sat in a meeting where you did not speak your mind because you knew the risk, or the futility of it? Perhaps you suffered in more bad meetings than you participated in useful ones. Did meetings, when nothing of value was accomplished, seem a terrible waste of time, yours and everyone else’s? Reflecting on it later, did you wonder what it was that caused the teams to be so ineffective? The situations that led to these non-working meetings tend to fall into three categories: 1) We are so sure that everyone is in agreement that we don’t want to be the lone dissenting voice. 2) Our team has always been “right.” We have been on the cutting edge for as long as anyone can remember – therefore we must be “right” now. 3) The boss says we must – therefore we must. After biting our tongues through these exasperating meetings, the next thing we know something blows up (figuratively or literally) and we berate ourselves for not having said something. What causes this ineffective – actually, dysfunctional – behavior and how do we stop it? Let’s start by putting names to those three situations described above. © 2006 Carson Consultants 1187 Neptune Place Annapolis, MD 21401 410-349-1326 www.carson-consultants.com Avoiding Abilene Bea Carson ...
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...More Than One Reality By: Ethan Caldwell Reality is kind of like a memory. Everyone has their own different ideas of what it should be but none are necessarily the truth. For example two people who were both in the great depression could have totally different thoughts on the difficult times. While one could have lived on the streets struggling every day to find food and water, the other could have been among the few rich people and lived in luxury. Both of them would have very different memories about how times were back then. The same goes for reality. While we all might agree on what is real or not our thoughts on reality could be on different sides of the spectrum. The definition of reality is “the state or quality of having existence or substance.” If something is real to me then that’s my reality and same goes for someone else, so who’s to say that there isn’t more than one reality and why is humanity so interested in reality? I believe that humanity is so interested in reality because we are naturally curious. They say curiosity killed the cat and I believe that saying is very true. We as humans always want our questions answered be it a simple question like two plus two or a complex question like what is reality with no real answer yet. This curiosity is just part of our nature and it can lead to obsessions. Some people are so obsessed with finding the answer to questions that they devote their whole life to it and this obsession consumes them. Even if we...
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...Tracy King 3DLA Reflective Statement Creating a Positive Learning Environment Learning environment – I chose to arrange the room in a horse-shoe shape with participants seated behind desks. This enabled everyone to have a clear view of the screen for my power-point point and video presentations. The desks were needed as the icebreaker and activities required making written notes. I provided fish shaped biscuits and sweets to promote the FISH theme and ensured participants had pens, post-it notes and paper required for the activities and icebreaker. I began my session my introducing everyone to Nemo swimming in his bowl of water. This was to attract their attention and give the indication that this session was informal and fun. My session started with a run through general housekeeping information to ensure members knew how long the presentation would last, where to locate toilets etc and a few rules on using mobile phones etc. The aim was to help participants to feel more relaxed and familiar with their surroundings. I also checked everyone was comfortable with the temperature and seating within the room. Presentation Strategies My presentation began with an icebreaker whereby everyone wrote their mood on a label and wear it throughout the session. Members were asked to read out their label in turn. The purpose of this activity was to get learners to think about how they were feeling, eg ‘tired, uncomfortable, stressed’. This was revisited at the end of...
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...Should Justin Ellsworth’s Parents Have Been Given Access to His Email? Abstract The question is, “Should Justin Ellsworth’s parent been given access to his email?” There are many things to consider when asking this question. Did they have the right to see it? Did he want them to see it? How would anyone ever know what his wishes were if they never talked about this subject? Did the parents only want the email to see what he was up to, or his personal thoughts? Would there be something in the e-mail that would make them think differently of their son? Is it legal for the parents to see this email? Is this a violation of privacy and policy? These are all fair questions in an ethical battle such as this one. What kind of stance would you take? In a perfect world, everyone would be happy with the outcome of any type of conflict morally, or ethically. However, we all have minds, opinions, and that pesky thing called…the law. In the situation of Justin Ellsworth, he didn’t really have a choice at all. He died as an adult, fighting for his country, and his parents wanted access to his personal email. We ask, is this a breech of policy, or is it a right of the parents to see this email because he was their son, and they wanted to know his final thoughts? There are issues here though, that go beyond just what the parents wanted. Issues exist such as whether or not Justin himself would have wanted them to see it, and whether or not the internet provider had to...
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...reaction paper, I’ll review some of the same difficulties that I went through as a younger student. I will also describe how this video has impacted me and what I will take away from this video. Also, what will be discussed are three accommodations that I saw in the video. Lastly what will be discussed is my definition of fairness as taken from the video, along with an event in my educational history where I’ve appreciated an accommodation. This is what my reaction paper will consist of. In my first paragraph, I will discuss some of the same difficulties that I went through that Mr. Lavoie described in the video. The first one that really grabbed my attention is when he was asking the questions about the various movies in which involve a pig. Once he asked this question, and he got his first “I don’t know” answer, he accepted it. Since he accepted this answer from one student, the next three students thought that it was acceptable to respond with the same answer. I too have went through this as a student. Once I found out that the teacher would accept my “I don’t know” as an answer, the more I’d respond in this manner. I did this for as long as I can remember unless I was 100% sure that my answer was correct. Nothing was done on the part of the instructor in order to get me to try and expand or fix this problem. I got over this problem when I recognized it and decided it was time to change this problem of mine. This was a problem that I had that was...
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...government and they are taking questions from undecided voters to see who will be mayor. It then goes to an undecided voter who asks a question to the guy Lois is running against and instead of answering the question the guy just goes up to the undecided voter and shakes his hand and looks him in the eye. The voter replies “Oh I like him he looks me in the eye” and there is a commotion among the crowd and someone says “I am voting for him”. It then goes to Lois who is very confused because she does not get why the people love the other guy when he did not even answer the question. Then Brian who is a different character on the show says “Just say short things that everyone agrees on”. So then it is Lois turn to answer a question from the undecided voters and it did not matter what the question was she kept replying “911 is bad.” The crowd of undecided cheered every time she said that despite the fact that 9-11 had nothing to do with the questions. For example one time she said that 911 is bad someone from the crowd said I agree with that like as if he was going to vote for her just because of that. This fits in psychology class in a few ways first of all it is an example of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is if you believe in something and someone else shares that belief that you are going to be more likely to over look some of the things that you do not agree about. This is shown in the family guy episode because instead of answering the questions which the other guy that...
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...Revision/Examination Advice Revision Everyone is different - we all work at our best in different ways and at different times. Tips Before starting your revision, think about: * Which times suit you best, day or evening? * Being comfortable - which surroundings and conditions help you to concentrate? * How to vary the work you are doing and how you are doing it. * Give yourself targets, rewards and breaks (but not too many) * Avoid situations that irritate you, prevent you from concentrating or distract you * Get down to work, rather than wasting time thinking about how much you have to do. * Try not to stare at notes, papers or books - have a break and start again * Break up your revision - It's easier to remember information from a few shorter study sessions than one long one * Use practical memory aids where relevant: audio-visual aids; podcasts; you tube photographs; pictures * Eat well and exercise for at least 30mins, even just a walk will help. Revision Techniques: * Mind map * Make a poster, cartoon, picture * Say key ideas out loud and tell someone else the main points * Ask someone to test you * Play background music * Plan revision time – make a timetable * Highlight the main points * Reduce notes to key words * Tick each topic as it has been revised * Complete past exam questions * Association – picture a familiar room in your mind and associate events with it – e.g close your...
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...Assessment Activity BSBWOR501A Manage personal work priorities and professional development Assessment 76 Student ID: Question # Question Type: Assignment Name: Duration/Due: 1 week Marks 1 10 SKILLS THAT WEREN’T EVEN INVENTED A FEW YEARS AGO ARE ESSENTIAL FOR THE NEAR FUTURE By looking at new positions that are emerging in the workplace, supervisors can get some idea of some of the skills they will have to develop in the future. There are three areas that seem to be emerging in a way that will have a major impact on the workplace: information, etiquette and life-work balance. Information is coming at us at an increasing rate. We have now stepped into what is known as the knowledge age, where information (converted to knowledge) is what will provide the competitive edge for organisations. Information and knowledge are fast replacing capital equipment as the key asset for conducting business. Administrative assistants will become information co-ordinators, managing the vast amounts of information to ensure that everyone has access to and is aware of the existence of information that will help them better perform their jobs. The supervisor will also have to manage larger amounts of information, ensuring their staff have access to information that is important to their job. Life-balance is a term appearing in more and more magazines and management books. Many workers have been thrust into the position of caring for ageing parents while also caring for their...
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...“Two Questions,” by Lynda Barry, is a short story about believing in yourself and your work. Barry talks about something that everyone goes through sometimes in their lives. We all criticize ourselves trying to please others. Criticizing ourselves will only lower our self confidence. Lynda Barry teaches us not to care about others opinion and do what makes us happy. If we try to please others’ then we’ll never be happy. While reading the story, I realized that I used to ask the same two questions as Lynda Barry when I finished my work. The two questions Barry asks are, “Is this good? Does this suck?" (168). Throughout middle school and some parts of high school, I used to always second guess myself by asking these two questions. I would rely on others’ opinion. I didn’t think that it was good enough until someone else told me it was. “But the two questions find everybody” (Barry, 170). Just like me, you might find yourself asking these same questions. You might also find yourself asking these questions to others. You might rely on others opinion more than your own. You might trust their opinions more then you trust your own. This text agrees with the view I have of the world. Our society cares more about others opinion than their own. “As, for bad drawings, I tried my best not to ever make them”. We try to please others more than ourselves. That is how our society works. We believe in others more than we believe in ourselves. “For the next 30 years I chased after...
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...to my wedding? This is a very interesting question. When you see it if no one asks you to think about it one is likely to think “what a stupid question, that has an obvious answer”, but you would be wrong. A person that works in a company will most likely spend more time there then at home. It shouldn't be to much of a predicament if the person holding the wedding gets is friends with everyone at work, which might happen if you work for a small company, and the work space consists of a small work force. What if you don’t like some one in your work place? or even if one feels that the time they spend with their colleagues is more then enough? It really depends on the person who is about to take the ultimate step in a relationship. One can invite everyone and just have to deal with those who are not to their liking, which will prevent any future resentments. One can invite just the ones they get along with, this with the notion that others will find out about the happening, and might result in future quarrels in the future. A politically correct approach can be taken by not inviting their co-workers to the wedding using the expenses as an excuse. As a person that has never worked in an office environment, and hasn’t even pondered on the idea of getting engaged, it is hard to considered the approach that I would take. Based on school environment birthdays, I believe if I was eccomicly able to do so I would invite everyone in the office, and ignore thoose would did not please...
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...Ikeas questions 1. Are you aware of the sustainability strategy of IKEA? Yes, I am. 2. What comes to your mind when you get asked about the sustainability strategy of IKEA? That IKEA is companies that really prioritize the sustainability issue. IKEA works in many ways to be as environment-friendly as possible. From the sustainable products to the ambition that every warehouse have a goal to be self-sufficient. But also by helping local and global charity organisations. 3. When did IKEA start to put a major effort into sustainability and why? - 4. What part of IKEAs sustainability strategy (environmental, social, economical) would you say is most important in your daily working life with the customers or are they equally important? For me I think the most important strategy is the environmental. It is so easy to follow up and everyone can contribute in the everyday life. But of course the other strategies are also very important but I don’t feel that I communicate that strategy with the costumers. 5. Is there any difference in awareness in the different work positions? No not what I have experienced. IKEA has goals and visions that the whole company works towards no matter if you are a worker or manager. 6. How do/did you as a co-worker become aware of your sustainability strategy? * leaflets, reports * training days * dialogue * formal course (ousourced?) (Take whatever fits and provide a detailed answer to that question please) I think that it is a mix of all...
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...In “The Ultimate Voice”, by Oral Robert was about his testimony and what he went through in life. Oral answer many question about hearing God voice and Oral review many characteristics of God’s spoken words, and how it relates to people lives today. In the beginning of the book Oral answer this question “Dose God speaks to every person” I think that God does speak to every person because he wants us to grow in his words. However, Oral answer to the question was that he believe that God speak to each and everyone one earth. In the book Oral explain that God speaks to everybody, but not everyone can hear God voice at all time. Also, Oral explains that God’s voice can be very quiet and small most of the time, so we need to listen very well and...
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...Complexities Ever wondered why we create complexities for ourselves? Is it our nature like Goulish tried to tell us? All these questions could pop up into anyone’s head once he/ she really put their heads into it. Upon taking just a glance at our lives we could manage to understand that we make things more complex than they have to. Confucius once said, “Life is simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” This quote ostensibly covers the whole idea of this essay. We as humans have had rough time through our evolution; we have gone through much as a race that it has affected us to our core. Goulish explains it in his essay that it is our nature to complicate things. “Irreducible complexity seems to characterize the late twentieth century itself” (Goulish 557). Goulish seems to have a pretty good idea of what complexities are and how this trait of human beings has been us for as long as we can remember. Goulish does not hesitate to explain to his readers that making things complex is our nature. Goulish hits this spot right from the beginning of his essay, “Each time we experience a work of performance, we start over almost from nothing” (Goulish 557). Why does he say that? Goulish tells us that when we experience an act of performance we tend to look at it from the fresh eye instead of using our previous encounters in similar situations. He tells his readers that, come what may, we will look at things with the thought in our head that we have never encountered it before...
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...Analiysis ‘Muscle Binds’ Sport has been the object of cult for many centuries. However not everyone shares this position. The author of the article ‘Muscle binds’, Dina La Vardera, expresses her attitude to the sports activity. The article touches the problems of obsession by physical exercises. The author calls upon to remember that there are a lot of other pleasures except sport and it occasions more health and social problems than it seems. Being an expensive short-lasting fashion, exercises make people forget about everything except their beauty, even their own death does not matter anymore. They train the bodies but neglect the minds. According to the author it’s better to be a couch potato but not a self-righteous young person with rippling muscles. The title of the article reflects the contents of the article in full measure: one is bound to train not to have cellulite, one is bound to train to follow the fashion, one is bound to train to come to term with oneself, and finally, one is bound to train to be healthy. As the article is written in ironic way it is quite easy to read but the real sense is caught only by the end. It makes the reader understand that he/she is either a silly “hunk” or a lazy “potato”. The passage is written in a very chatty informal publicistic style to draw reader’s attention, to persuade them to get the author’s point of view and to entertain them. It is chosen for the target audience who consists of young people...
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...Being part of a community helps a person feel secure and comfortable. Community also helps provide people with a sense of stability. In comparing “A Secret Society of the Starving” by Mim Udovitch and “Can You Tell the Truth in a Small Town” by Kathleen Norris some important things will be talked about. In this paper what holds these groups together, the secret society vs. the small town will be answered. How could someone fit into each of these groups is a question that we should ask ourselves. Communities have only our best interests at heart. Individuals in a community always know and are free to determine what their best interests are. How do these communities affect others lives and what is it is the main question that will be answered today. “A Secret Society of the Starving” is a place on the internet where people can go and talk to others who have the same issues as them when it comes to Bulimia or Anorexia. The website is “...a way into city of woe, I am the way to the forsaken people. I am the way into the eternal sorrow.”(113) which they are paved with. By having a lot of people on this website with common things as each other it holds the people together. These websites that they have posted to try to helps resolve the issue or if its there for just support, it does help. The websites seems to reinforce the secretiveness and the ‘specialness’ of the disorder”, (111) which is why people go to these websites. Basically it seems that you fit into these comminutes as...
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