Monday, 19 October 2009
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
This week’s top plain English tips:
Don’t hide behind abstract terms or use them to avoid confronting difficult topics. If you have to use them, explain them or give the context in which you’re using them – even if this takes an extra sentence or two.
Don’t use terms like citizens, local people, residents, the public, interchangeably. Choose one and stick to it all the way through your document.
Avoid underlined and italic text. It is harder to read, especially for people with visual impairment.
To make sure your reader understands what you are saying always use acronyms and abbreviations properly and sparingly. Always give acronyms and abbreviations in full. If you’re going to repeat it in the same document, put it in full at first followed by the abbreviation in brackets.
Don’t use terms like citizens, local people, residents, the public, interchangeably. Choose one and stick to it all the way through your document.
Avoid underlined and italic text. It is harder to read, especially for people with visual impairment.
To make sure your reader understands what you are saying always use acronyms and abbreviations properly and sparingly. Always give acronyms and abbreviations in full. If you’re going to repeat it in the same document, put it in full at first followed by the abbreviation in brackets.
Monday, 5 October 2009
Embedding the UN Convention on the Rights of The Child (1989)
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is the overarching framework for the rights of children and young people to participation, protection and provision of services to fulfil their potential. Government and the services it is responsible for are answerable for progress under the Convention to make sure that all children and young people in the UK gain the best
possible start in life given the resources available. CWDC has adopted the Convention and upholds its importance in ensuring the best possible outcomes for children and young people.
1. General principles
Article 3 All organisations concerned with children and young people should work towards what is best for them.
Article 41 If the laws of a particular country protect children and young people better than the articles of the Convention, then those laws should stay.
2. Inclusion principles:
Article 1 Everyone under 18 years of age has all the rights in this Convention.
Article 2 The Convention applies to everyone under 18 whatever their race, religion, abilities, whatever they think or say, whatever type of family they come from.
Article 22 Children and young people who come into a country as refugees should have the same rights as children and young people born in that country.
Article 23 Children and young people who have any kind of disability should have special care and support so that they can lead full and independent lives.
3. Principles of family life
Article 5 Governments should respect the rights and responsibilities of families to direct and guide their children so that, as they grow, they learn to use their rights properly.
Article 7 All children and young people have the right to a legally registered name, the right to a nationality and their right to know and, as far as possible, to be cared for by their parents.
Article 8 Governments should respect children and young people’s right to a name,
a nationality and family ties.
Article 10 Families who live in different countries should be allowed to move between those countries so that parents and children and young people can stay in contact or get back together as a family.
Article 11 Governments should take steps to stop children and young people being taken out of their own country illegally.
Article 18 Both parents share responsibility for bringing up their children and should always consider what is best for each child. Governments should help parents by providing services to support them, especially if both parents work.
4. Participation principles:
Article 12 Children and young people have the right to say what they think should happen, when adults are making decisions that affect them and to have their opinions taken into account.
Article13 Children and young people have the right to get and to share information as long as the information is not damaging to them or to others.
Article 14 Children and young people have the right to think and believe what they want and to practice their religion, as long as they are not stopping other people from enjoying their rights. Parents should guide their children on these matters.
Article 15 Children and young people have the right to meet together and to join groups and organisations, as long as this does not stop other people from enjoying their rights.
Article 16 Children and young people have a right to privacy. The law should protect them from attacks against their way of life, their good name, their families and their homes.
Article 17 Children and young people have the right to reliable information from the mass media. Television, radio and newspapers should provide information that children and young people can understand and should not promote materials that could harm them.
5. Protection principles
Article 9 Children and young people should not be separated from their parents unless it is for their own good, for example if a parent is mistreating or neglecting a child. Children and young people whose parents have separated have the right to stay in contact with both parents, unless this might hurt the child.
Article 19 Governments should ensure that children and young people are properly cared for and protect them from violence, abuse and neglect by their parents or anyone else who looks after them.
Article 20 Children and young people who cannot be looked after by their own family must be looked after properly, by people who respect their religion, culture and language.
Article 21 When children and young people are adopted the first concern must be what
is best for them. The same rules should apply whether the children and young people are adopted in the country where they were born or taken to live in another country.
Article 22 Children and young people who come into a country as refugees should have the same rights as children and young people born in that country.
Article 25 Children and young people who are looked after by their local authority rather than their parents should have their situation reviewed regularly.
6. Provision principles
Article 26 The Government should provide extra money for the children and young people of families in need.
Article 27 Children and young people have a right to a standard of living that is good enough to meet their physical and mental needs. The Government should help families who cannot afford to provide this.
Article 28 Children and young people have a right to an education. Discipline in schools
should respect children and young people’s human dignity. Primary education should be free.
Wealthy countries should help poorer countries achieve this.
Article 29 Education should develop each child’s personality and talents to the full. It should encourage children and young people to respect their parents and their own and other cultures.
Article 30 Children and young people have a right to learn and use the language and customs of their families, whether these are shared by the majority of people in the country or not.
Article 31 All children and young people have a right to relax and play and to join in a wide range of activities.
possible start in life given the resources available. CWDC has adopted the Convention and upholds its importance in ensuring the best possible outcomes for children and young people.
1. General principles
Article 3 All organisations concerned with children and young people should work towards what is best for them.
Article 41 If the laws of a particular country protect children and young people better than the articles of the Convention, then those laws should stay.
2. Inclusion principles:
Article 1 Everyone under 18 years of age has all the rights in this Convention.
Article 2 The Convention applies to everyone under 18 whatever their race, religion, abilities, whatever they think or say, whatever type of family they come from.
Article 22 Children and young people who come into a country as refugees should have the same rights as children and young people born in that country.
Article 23 Children and young people who have any kind of disability should have special care and support so that they can lead full and independent lives.
3. Principles of family life
Article 5 Governments should respect the rights and responsibilities of families to direct and guide their children so that, as they grow, they learn to use their rights properly.
Article 7 All children and young people have the right to a legally registered name, the right to a nationality and their right to know and, as far as possible, to be cared for by their parents.
Article 8 Governments should respect children and young people’s right to a name,
a nationality and family ties.
Article 10 Families who live in different countries should be allowed to move between those countries so that parents and children and young people can stay in contact or get back together as a family.
Article 11 Governments should take steps to stop children and young people being taken out of their own country illegally.
Article 18 Both parents share responsibility for bringing up their children and should always consider what is best for each child. Governments should help parents by providing services to support them, especially if both parents work.
4. Participation principles:
Article 12 Children and young people have the right to say what they think should happen, when adults are making decisions that affect them and to have their opinions taken into account.
Article13 Children and young people have the right to get and to share information as long as the information is not damaging to them or to others.
Article 14 Children and young people have the right to think and believe what they want and to practice their religion, as long as they are not stopping other people from enjoying their rights. Parents should guide their children on these matters.
Article 15 Children and young people have the right to meet together and to join groups and organisations, as long as this does not stop other people from enjoying their rights.
Article 16 Children and young people have a right to privacy. The law should protect them from attacks against their way of life, their good name, their families and their homes.
Article 17 Children and young people have the right to reliable information from the mass media. Television, radio and newspapers should provide information that children and young people can understand and should not promote materials that could harm them.
5. Protection principles
Article 9 Children and young people should not be separated from their parents unless it is for their own good, for example if a parent is mistreating or neglecting a child. Children and young people whose parents have separated have the right to stay in contact with both parents, unless this might hurt the child.
Article 19 Governments should ensure that children and young people are properly cared for and protect them from violence, abuse and neglect by their parents or anyone else who looks after them.
Article 20 Children and young people who cannot be looked after by their own family must be looked after properly, by people who respect their religion, culture and language.
Article 21 When children and young people are adopted the first concern must be what
is best for them. The same rules should apply whether the children and young people are adopted in the country where they were born or taken to live in another country.
Article 22 Children and young people who come into a country as refugees should have the same rights as children and young people born in that country.
Article 25 Children and young people who are looked after by their local authority rather than their parents should have their situation reviewed regularly.
6. Provision principles
Article 26 The Government should provide extra money for the children and young people of families in need.
Article 27 Children and young people have a right to a standard of living that is good enough to meet their physical and mental needs. The Government should help families who cannot afford to provide this.
Article 28 Children and young people have a right to an education. Discipline in schools
should respect children and young people’s human dignity. Primary education should be free.
Wealthy countries should help poorer countries achieve this.
Article 29 Education should develop each child’s personality and talents to the full. It should encourage children and young people to respect their parents and their own and other cultures.
Article 30 Children and young people have a right to learn and use the language and customs of their families, whether these are shared by the majority of people in the country or not.
Article 31 All children and young people have a right to relax and play and to join in a wide range of activities.
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Childhood Development Lecture 2
Nuerologically and physically children have not changed much in thousands of years.
but their environent has changed. The cultural context.
kung bushmen
close
different from adults
tolerated
Agrarian communities- what can the child contribute? cooperation is key. Children given high leels of responsibility. Children thought of as 'adults'
technologicalcommunities return back to nuclear family. However, children are not valued as 'contributors' but valued 'in themselves' as having 'potential'.This is where schools developed.The term adolescent was developed in this time.
Pre-Industrial Europe - a time of flux andmess
6 phases of Childhood.
1. lack of concern for children
2. Children are evil and need redemption
3. The pre-empirical philosophy phase (eg Locke and Rousseau)
4. Observattional research
5. Grand phase of theoretical science
6. Contemporary diversity. (many Theories)
1. lack of concern for children
Parents 'ignored' and disregarded children.
High Infant mortality 1 in 4 chance past 6yrs of age.
Deplorable living conditions
1750 Paris 33% of births left in foundling homes/doorsteps.
A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift (1729) (English satiriist)
For Preventing The Children of Poor People in Ireland
From Being Aburden to Their Parents or Country, and
For Making Them Beneficial to The Public
”I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled ...”
Full Text Follows
It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags and importuning every passenger for an alms. These mothers, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants: who as they grow up either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes.
I think it is agreed by all parties that this prodigious number of children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, and frequently of their fathers, is in the present deplorable state of the kingdom a very great additional grievance; and, therefore, whoever could find out a fair, cheap, and easy method of making these children sound, useful members of the commonwealth, would deserve so well of the public as to have his statue set up for a preserver of the nation.
But my intention is very far from being confined to provide only for the children of professed beggars; it is of a much greater extent, and shall take in the whole number of infants at a certain age who are born of parents in effect as little able to support them as those who demand our charity in the streets.
”I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled ...”
As to my own part, having turned my thoughts for many years upon this important subject, and maturely weighed the several schemes of other projectors, I have always found them grossly mistaken in the computation. It is true, a child just dropped from its dam may be supported by her milk for a solar year, with little other nourishment; at most not above the value of 2s., which the mother may certainly get, or the value in scraps, by her lawful occupation of begging; and it is exactly at one year old that I propose to provide for them in such a manner as instead of being a charge upon their parents or the parish, or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall on the contrary contribute to the feeding, and partly to the clothing, of many thousands.
There is likewise another great advantage in my scheme, that it will prevent those voluntary abortions, and that horrid practice of women murdering their bastard children, alas! too frequent among us! sacrificing the poor innocent babes I doubt more to avoid the expense than the shame, which would move tears and pity in the most savage and inhuman breast.
The number of souls in this kingdom being usually reckoned one million and a half, of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand couple whose wives are breeders; from which number I subtract thirty thousand couples who are able to maintain their own children, although I apprehend there cannot be so many, under the present distresses of the kingdom; but this being granted, there will remain an hundred and seventy thousand breeders. I again subtract fifty thousand for those women who miscarry, or whose children die by accident or disease within the year. There only remains one hundred and twenty thousand children of poor parents annually born. The question therefore is, how this number shall be reared and provided for, which, as I have already said, under the present situation of affairs, is utterly impossible by all the methods hitherto proposed. For we can neither employ them in handicraft or agriculture; we neither build houses (I mean in the country) nor cultivate land: they can very seldom pick up a livelihood by stealing, till they arrive at six years old, except where they are of towardly parts, although I confess they learn the rudiments much earlier, during which time, they can however be properly looked upon only as probationers, as I have been informed by a principal gentleman in the county of Cavan, who protested to me that he never knew above one or two instances under the age of six, even in a part of the kingdom so renowned for the quickest proficiency in that art.
I am assured by our merchants, that a boy or a girl before twelve years old is no salable commodity; and even when they come to this age they will not yield above three pounds, or three pounds and half-a-crown at most on the exchange; which cannot turn to account either to the parents or kingdom, the charge of nutriment and rags having been at least four times that value.
I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection.
I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.
I do therefore humbly offer it to public consideration that of the hundred and twenty thousand children already computed, twenty thousand may be reserved for breed, whereof only one-fourth part to be males; which is more than we allow to sheep, black cattle or swine; and my reason is, that these children are seldom the fruits of marriage, a circumstance not much regarded by our savages, therefore one male will be sufficient to serve four females. That the remaining hundred thousand may, at a year old, be offered in the sale to the persons of quality and fortune through the kingdom; always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in the last month, so as to render them plump and fat for a good table. A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends; and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter.
I have reckoned upon a medium that a child just born will weigh 12 pounds, and in a solar year, if tolerably nursed, increaseth to 28 pounds.
I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.
Infant's flesh will be in season throughout the year, but more plentiful in March, and a little before and after; for we are told by a grave author, an eminent French physician, that fish being a prolific diet, there are more children born in Roman Catholic countries about nine months after Lent than at any other season; therefore, reckoning a year after Lent, the markets will be more glutted than usual, because the number of popish infants is at least three to one in this kingdom: and therefore it will have one other collateral advantage, by lessening the number of papists among us.
I have already computed the charge of nursing a beggar's child (in which list I reckon all cottagers, laborers, and four-fifths of the farmers) to be about two shillings per annum, rags included; and I believe no gentleman would repine to give ten shillings for the carcass of a good fat child, which, as I have said, will make four dishes of excellent nutritive meat, when he hath only some particular friend or his own family to dine with him. Thus the squire will learn to be a good landlord, and grow popular among his tenants; the mother will have eight shillings net profit, and be fit for work till she produces another child.
Those who are more thrifty (as I must confess the times require) may flay the carcass; the skin of which artificially dressed will make admirable gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen.
As to our city of Dublin, shambles may be appointed for this purpose in the most convenient parts of it, and butchers we may be assured will not be wanting; although I rather recommend buying the children alive, and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs.
A very worthy person, a true lover of his country, and whose virtues I highly esteem, was lately pleased in discoursing on this matter to offer a refinement upon my scheme. He said that many gentlemen of this kingdom, having of late destroyed their deer, he conceived that the want of venison might be well supplied by the bodies of young lads and maidens, not exceeding fourteen years of age nor under twelve; so great a number of both sexes in every country being now ready to starve for want of work and service; and these to be disposed of by their parents, if alive, or otherwise by their nearest relations. But with due deference to so excellent a friend and so deserving a patriot, I cannot be altogether in his sentiments; for as to the males, my American acquaintance assured me, from frequent experience, that their flesh was generally tough and lean, like that of our schoolboys by continual exercise, and their taste disagreeable; and to fatten them would not answer the charge. Then as to the females, it would, I think, with humble submission be a loss to the public, because they soon would become breeders themselves; and besides, it is not improbable that some scrupulous people might be apt to censure such a practice (although indeed very unjustly), as a little bordering upon cruelty; which, I confess, hath always been with me the strongest objection against any project, however so well intended.
But in order to justify my friend, he confessed that this expedient was put into his head by the famous Psalmanazar, a native of the island Formosa, who came from thence to London above twenty years ago, and in conversation told my friend, that in his country when any young person happened to be put to death, the executioner sold the carcass to persons of quality as a prime dainty; and that in his time the body of a plump girl of fifteen, who was crucified for an attempt to poison the emperor, was sold to his imperial majesty's prime minister of state, and other great mandarins of the court, in joints from the gibbet, at four hundred crowns. Neither indeed can I deny, that if the same use were made of several plump young girls in this town, who without one single groat to their fortunes cannot stir abroad without a chair, and appear at playhouse and assemblies in foreign fineries which they never will pay for, the kingdom would not be the worse.
Some persons of a desponding spirit are in great concern about that vast number of poor people, who are aged, diseased, or maimed, and I have been desired to employ my thoughts what course may be taken to ease the nation of so grievous an encumbrance. But I am not in the least pain upon that matter, because it is very well known that they are every day dying and rotting by cold and famine, and filth and vermin, as fast as can be reasonably expected. And as to the young laborers, they are now in as hopeful a condition; they cannot get work, and consequently pine away for want of nourishment, to a degree that if at any time they are accidentally hired to common labor, they have not strength to perform it; and thus the country and themselves are happily delivered from the evils to come.
I have too long digressed, and therefore shall return to my subject. I think the advantages by the proposal which I have made are obvious and many, as well as of the highest importance.
For first, as I have already observed, it would greatly lessen the number of papists, with whom we are yearly overrun, being the principal breeders of the nation as well as our most dangerous enemies; and who stay at home on purpose with a design to deliver the kingdom to the Pretender, hoping to take their advantage by the absence of so many good protestants, who have chosen rather to leave their country than stay at home and pay tithes against their conscience to an episcopal curate.
Secondly, The poorer tenants will have something valuable of their own, which by law may be made liable to distress and help to pay their landlord's rent, their corn and cattle being already seized, and money a thing unknown.
Thirdly, Whereas the maintenance of an hundred thousand children, from two years old and upward, cannot be computed at less than ten shillings a-piece per annum, the nation's stock will be thereby increased fifty thousand pounds per annum, beside the profit of a new dish introduced to the tables of all gentlemen of fortune in the kingdom who have any refinement in taste. And the money will circulate among ourselves, the goods being entirely of our own growth and manufacture.
Fourthly, The constant breeders, beside the gain of eight shillings sterling per annum by the sale of their children, will be rid of the charge of maintaining them after the first year.
Fifthly, This food would likewise bring great custom to taverns; where the vintners will certainly be so prudent as to procure the best receipts for dressing it to perfection, and consequently have their houses frequented by all the fine gentlemen, who justly value themselves upon their knowledge in good eating: and a skilful cook, who understands how to oblige his guests, will contrive to make it as expensive as they please.
Sixthly, This would be a great inducement to marriage, which all wise nations have either encouraged by rewards or enforced by laws and penalties. It would increase the care and tenderness of mothers toward their children, when they were sure of a settlement for life to the poor babes, provided in some sort by the public, to their annual profit instead of expense. We should see an honest emulation among the married women, which of them could bring the fattest child to the market. Men would become as fond of their wives during the time of their pregnancy as they are now of their mares in foal, their cows in calf, their sows when they are ready to farrow; nor offer to beat or kick them (as is too frequent a practice) for fear of a miscarriage.
Many other advantages might be enumerated. For instance, the addition of some thousand carcasses in our exportation of barreled beef, the propagation of swine's flesh, and improvement in the art of making good bacon, so much wanted among us by the great destruction of pigs, too frequent at our tables; which are no way comparable in taste or magnificence to a well-grown, fat, yearling child, which roasted whole will make a considerable figure at a lord mayor's feast or any other public entertainment. But this and many others I omit, being studious of brevity.
Supposing that one thousand families in this city, would be constant customers for infants flesh, besides others who might have it at merry meetings, particularly at weddings and christenings, I compute that Dublin would take off annually about twenty thousand carcasses; and the rest of the kingdom (where probably they will be sold somewhat cheaper) the remaining eighty thousand.
I can think of no one objection, that will possibly be raised against this proposal, unless it should be urged, that the number of people will be thereby much lessened in the kingdom. This I freely own, and 'twas indeed one principal design in offering it to the world. I desire the reader will observe, that I calculate my remedy for this one individual Kingdom of Ireland, and for no other that ever was, is, or, I think, ever can be upon Earth. Therefore let no man talk to me of other expedients: Of taxing our absentees at five shillings a pound: Of using neither cloaths, nor houshold furniture, except what is of our own growth and manufacture: Of utterly rejecting the materials and instruments that promote foreign luxury: Of curing the expensiveness of pride, vanity, idleness, and gaming in our women: Of introducing a vein of parsimony, prudence and temperance: Of learning to love our country, wherein we differ even from Laplanders, and the inhabitants of Topinamboo: Of quitting our animosities and factions, nor acting any longer like the Jews, who were murdering one another at the very moment their city was taken: Of being a little cautious not to sell our country and consciences for nothing: Of teaching landlords to have at least one degree of mercy towards their tenants. Lastly, of putting a spirit of honesty, industry, and skill into our shop-keepers, who, if a resolution could now be taken to buy only our native goods, would immediately unite to cheat and exact upon us in the price, the measure, and the goodness, nor could ever yet be brought to make one fair proposal of just dealing, though often and earnestly invited to it.
Therefore I repeat, let no man talk to me of these and the like expedients, 'till he hath at least some glympse of hope, that there will ever be some hearty and sincere attempt to put them into practice.
But, as to my self, having been wearied out for many years with offering vain, idle, visionary thoughts, and at length utterly despairing of success, I fortunately fell upon this proposal, which, as it is wholly new, so it hath something solid and real, of no expence and little trouble, full in our own power, and whereby we can incur no danger in disobliging England. For this kind of commodity will not bear exportation, and flesh being of too tender a consistence, to admit a long continuance in salt, although perhaps I could name a country, which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without it.
After all, I am not so violently bent upon my own opinion as to reject any offer proposed by wise men, which shall be found equally innocent, cheap, easy, and effectual. But before something of that kind shall be advanced in contradiction to my scheme, and offering a better, I desire the author or authors will be pleased maturely to consider two points. First, as things now stand, how they will be able to find food and raiment for an hundred thousand useless mouths and backs. And secondly, there being a round million of creatures in human figure throughout this kingdom, whose whole subsistence put into a common stock would leave them in debt two millions of pounds sterling, adding those who are beggars by profession to the bulk of farmers, cottagers, and laborers, with their wives and children who are beggars in effect: I desire those politicians who dislike my overture, and may perhaps be so bold as to attempt an answer, that they will first ask the parents of these mortals, whether they would not at this day think it a great happiness to have been sold for food, at a year old in the manner I prescribe, and thereby have avoided such a perpetual scene of misfortunes as they have since gone through by the oppression of landlords, the impossibility of paying rent without money or trade, the want of common sustenance, with neither house nor clothes to cover them from the inclemencies of the weather, and the most inevitable prospect of entailing the like or greater miseries upon their breed for ever.
I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich. I have no children by which I can propose to get a single penny; the youngest being nine years old, and my wife past child-bearing.
The End
In England during the same period children were sent to the mines 4-5 years of age.
What was the cause of this lack of concern - one account is that the emotional investment is too great (a risk) when infant mortality is high? (are there similarities to some parents relationship children with terminal illness in modern times?)
The art of the times, children are depicted in paintings as looking somewhat like adults. Which reflects that children were seen as 'mini-adults'.
phase 2. Growing (religious)concern for children.
Original sin. Self will had led Adam and Eve astray. Hence, the child's natural self will must be brought under control.
John Wesley the rise of methodism "Spare the rod and ruin the child". The rise of the Sunday School Movement.
C. Stephen Finley, who reminds us that John Wesley, one of the early promoters of Methodism, acted "as a conservative counterweight to the liberating influence of Rousseau," explains the relation between his evangelical convicton of corrupt human nature and his attitudes toward raising children:
Wesley believed that man was by his very nature a "mere atheist." Children were, foremost, afflicted by "natural atheism," an atheism chiefly inherent in their innate capacity to enjoy and to love nature. Thus, the "wise parent" was impelled to break their will because such will would lead them to two damning desires: the "desire of the flesh" and the "desire of the eyes." Children desired first to enjoy earthly happiness, to experience what gratified the outward senses, such as taste or touch. More inimical to their spiritual well-being was the complementary "desire of the eyes": the "propensity to seek happiness in what gratifies the internal sense, the imagination, either by things grand, or new, or beautiful." Both desires for Wesley were only incriminating evidence of a child's inclination to fatal error, that is, to be "a lover of the creature, instead of the Creator." Parents could only deepen and harden such error by ascribing "the works of creation to nature," or by praising the beauty of man or woman or the natural world. Hence children were to be brought up in extreme austerity of diet and dress and were to be taught repeatedly how they were "fallen spirits." Such instruction would help them to realize that they were "more ignorant, more foolish, and more wicked, than they could possibly conceive." From this method of education they would emerge with firmly held conviction that their natural propensities were akin on the one hand to "the devil" and on the other to "the beasts of the field."
Are these opinions reflected in Dicken's works (Yes!)
But in America of the same time, a more Utopian and positive view of children abounded. (America was known as the 'new Jerusalem'). Hower all things were not equal as families would trade children with their nieghbours if the parent thought that they were getting too close to their own children (and hence compromising their moral development).
Next time (lecture 3) Locke's Tabula rasa, and Rousseau 'children's nature is essentially good: if encouraged by society.
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Ulrich Beck - The Risk Society
Ulrich Beck "The Risk Society (1992) : "It is the anxieties, rather than the ideals of electors and those that which to be elected by them that drive the political process" (John Pitts 2008 p30)
Friday, 25 September 2009
Human Development Lecture 1 Notes
What is Development?
Are children
1. Inherently bad and selfish (Freud)
2. Neither good nor bad (Locke)
3. Many positive qualities (Rousseau, Piaget)
Are People?
1. Active in determining their development (organismic approach)
2. Passive recipients of other influences (Mechanistic Approach) (environmental and biological factors)
What is Scientific Thoery?
What makes a ‘good’ scientific theory?
1. Does the theory reflect the real world (Face validity)?
2. Is the theory supported by convincing evidence?
3. Does the theory explain the past and predict future outcomes?
4. Does the theory handle new data and new discoveries
5. Does the theory stimulate new research and new discoveries?
6. Is the theory clearly understandable?
7. Is the theory self-satisfying? (Does it move you? Aesthetics)
Caveat: Theories can bias our outlooks. A theory is a lot like a camera – it denies everything in existence which is outside the frame.
Course Outline
1. Frued’s psychodynamic theory
2. Erksons Psycho-social theoery
3. Balby and Ainsworth’s Attachment theory
4. Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (observation)
5. Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental theory
6. Vygotsky’s Cognitive Mediation theory (Social Constructs)
Are children
1. Inherently bad and selfish (Freud)
2. Neither good nor bad (Locke)
3. Many positive qualities (Rousseau, Piaget)
Are People?
1. Active in determining their development (organismic approach)
2. Passive recipients of other influences (Mechanistic Approach) (environmental and biological factors)
What is Scientific Thoery?
What makes a ‘good’ scientific theory?
1. Does the theory reflect the real world (Face validity)?
2. Is the theory supported by convincing evidence?
3. Does the theory explain the past and predict future outcomes?
4. Does the theory handle new data and new discoveries
5. Does the theory stimulate new research and new discoveries?
6. Is the theory clearly understandable?
7. Is the theory self-satisfying? (Does it move you? Aesthetics)
Caveat: Theories can bias our outlooks. A theory is a lot like a camera – it denies everything in existence which is outside the frame.
Course Outline
1. Frued’s psychodynamic theory
2. Erksons Psycho-social theoery
3. Balby and Ainsworth’s Attachment theory
4. Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (observation)
5. Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental theory
6. Vygotsky’s Cognitive Mediation theory (Social Constructs)
Monday, 21 September 2009
Patterns of Female Bullying - Val Besag
Anushka Asthana
The Observer, Sunday 20 January 2008
That, say experts, is exactly how girl-on-girl bullying starts and develops. 'Boys have a hierarchy based on physical power, girls have a hierarchy based on friendships,' said Besag, a former teacher.
'It is about who is Little Miss Popular. They have a best friend, a very best friend and a very, very best friend. It is an intense relationship with constant communication.
'They tell each other secrets but that tight bonding leads to jealousy and they are wary of what their friends are doing, who they are talking to.' When girls bully, she added, 'it can be more distressing because the attack is emotional and involves social exclusion.'
In her new book, Challenging Girls, Besag lists the typical forms of abuse used by girls, from making a teenager feel invisible to spreading secrets or gossip, calling them names, staring at them or sending hurtful text messages.
The guidance, which is based on time spent with thousands of girls, includes suggesting teenagers read the book Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood and watch the film Mean Girls starring Lindsay Lohan.
In the movie Lohan's character, Cady, joins the Plastics, the alpha clique of pretty, popular and bitchy girls at school with the aim of humiliating queen plastic, Regina. But the experience leads Cady into a bitchy world and it is she who ends up as the meanest girl in school.
Besag said the film could be used to show girls how they could be manipulated.
'The ways that girls and boys bully tends to be different from a very young age,' said Liz Carnell, director of the charity Bullying UK. 'Girls use social means; they take someone's friends away. In happier times they shared confidences and secrets and when they fall out they spread rumours and tell people, put it on the internet. They do not realise that they can be traced, that they have left behind their digital fingerprints.' Carnell said cyber-bulling by phone and online was the new version of passing notes in class.
In fact a five-year research project that is still ongoing has found that 'text-bulling' is far more prevalent in girls than boys. The work, which has so far involved 14,227 children, found that one in five girls reported being sent bullying messages by text, compared with just one in 10 boys. Research, which will be published later this year, found that girls were far more likely to send texts calling each other nasty names and ones that bitched about friendships and relationships.
At Cheltenham Ladies' College, Tuck said the same 'emotional intelligence' that could fuel back-stabbing in teenagers could also be channelled into turning women into successful leaders.
'It is women's strength and their potential weakness,' said Tuck, who felt teaching girls to manage relationships was key.
In the book, Challenging Girls, Val Besag advises teachers to use the film Mean Girls, starring Lindsay Lohan, to help girls understand the ways in which they could be manipulated. She suggests running sessions with girls to discuss the differences between gossip and rumour and to look into why and how girls bully each other. Part of the task is identifying the bully; a girl who will often appear to be little Miss Popular. Girls, the book says, must be informed about the power of secrets and know that while they are a strong bonding mechanism, they can be turned against them. Also key is helping girls learn how to make friends in difficult circumstances.
The Observer, Sunday 20 January 2008
That, say experts, is exactly how girl-on-girl bullying starts and develops. 'Boys have a hierarchy based on physical power, girls have a hierarchy based on friendships,' said Besag, a former teacher.
'It is about who is Little Miss Popular. They have a best friend, a very best friend and a very, very best friend. It is an intense relationship with constant communication.
'They tell each other secrets but that tight bonding leads to jealousy and they are wary of what their friends are doing, who they are talking to.' When girls bully, she added, 'it can be more distressing because the attack is emotional and involves social exclusion.'
In her new book, Challenging Girls, Besag lists the typical forms of abuse used by girls, from making a teenager feel invisible to spreading secrets or gossip, calling them names, staring at them or sending hurtful text messages.
The guidance, which is based on time spent with thousands of girls, includes suggesting teenagers read the book Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood and watch the film Mean Girls starring Lindsay Lohan.
In the movie Lohan's character, Cady, joins the Plastics, the alpha clique of pretty, popular and bitchy girls at school with the aim of humiliating queen plastic, Regina. But the experience leads Cady into a bitchy world and it is she who ends up as the meanest girl in school.
Besag said the film could be used to show girls how they could be manipulated.
'The ways that girls and boys bully tends to be different from a very young age,' said Liz Carnell, director of the charity Bullying UK. 'Girls use social means; they take someone's friends away. In happier times they shared confidences and secrets and when they fall out they spread rumours and tell people, put it on the internet. They do not realise that they can be traced, that they have left behind their digital fingerprints.' Carnell said cyber-bulling by phone and online was the new version of passing notes in class.
In fact a five-year research project that is still ongoing has found that 'text-bulling' is far more prevalent in girls than boys. The work, which has so far involved 14,227 children, found that one in five girls reported being sent bullying messages by text, compared with just one in 10 boys. Research, which will be published later this year, found that girls were far more likely to send texts calling each other nasty names and ones that bitched about friendships and relationships.
At Cheltenham Ladies' College, Tuck said the same 'emotional intelligence' that could fuel back-stabbing in teenagers could also be channelled into turning women into successful leaders.
'It is women's strength and their potential weakness,' said Tuck, who felt teaching girls to manage relationships was key.
In the book, Challenging Girls, Val Besag advises teachers to use the film Mean Girls, starring Lindsay Lohan, to help girls understand the ways in which they could be manipulated. She suggests running sessions with girls to discuss the differences between gossip and rumour and to look into why and how girls bully each other. Part of the task is identifying the bully; a girl who will often appear to be little Miss Popular. Girls, the book says, must be informed about the power of secrets and know that while they are a strong bonding mechanism, they can be turned against them. Also key is helping girls learn how to make friends in difficult circumstances.
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Social Work Task Force, and the Children and Families Select Committee’s reportn (Sept 2009)
The second interim report from the Social Work Task Force, and the Children and Families Select Committee’s report on its inquiry into Training of Children and Families Social Workers were both published at the end of July.
There are some important themes that are common to both reports - but while the Select Committee report makes recommendations, the Task Force at this stage flags up issues that it aims to cover in its final report in October.
Some common themes in the two reports are:
the need to improve initial training – with stronger quality assurance of degree courses, a more focussed curriculum, better practice learning opportunities, and formal partnerships between HEIs and local employers.
the need for a proper NQSW year for all new graduates – better training, guaranteed supervision, lower workloads, and protection from complex cases.
the need to embed a culture of continuing professional development in social work - all social workers should expect to go on updating their skills throughout their working lives.
the need to strengthen PRTL requirements - employers should be providing ongoing training as a matter of course and not "if funds permit". PQ courses should be available for all (and perhaps compulsory for some).
the GSCC code of practice for employers should be mandatory so that all employers adopt best practice and provide support for social workers to develop their skills.
there needs to be stronger national leadership - simplification of the complex national arrangements, and the establishment of a new national body, either a social work development agency or a national college of social work.
there needs to be stronger national leadership - simplification of the complex national arrangements, and the establishment of a new national body, either a social work development agency or a national college of social work.
There are some important themes that are common to both reports - but while the Select Committee report makes recommendations, the Task Force at this stage flags up issues that it aims to cover in its final report in October.
Some common themes in the two reports are:
the need to improve initial training – with stronger quality assurance of degree courses, a more focussed curriculum, better practice learning opportunities, and formal partnerships between HEIs and local employers.
the need for a proper NQSW year for all new graduates – better training, guaranteed supervision, lower workloads, and protection from complex cases.
the need to embed a culture of continuing professional development in social work - all social workers should expect to go on updating their skills throughout their working lives.
the need to strengthen PRTL requirements - employers should be providing ongoing training as a matter of course and not "if funds permit". PQ courses should be available for all (and perhaps compulsory for some).
the GSCC code of practice for employers should be mandatory so that all employers adopt best practice and provide support for social workers to develop their skills.
there needs to be stronger national leadership - simplification of the complex national arrangements, and the establishment of a new national body, either a social work development agency or a national college of social work.
there needs to be stronger national leadership - simplification of the complex national arrangements, and the establishment of a new national body, either a social work development agency or a national college of social work.
http://news.independentminds.livejournal.com/
Live Journal Blog Response to comments on the SW Sickness article, provoked be SW's are "incompetent" and "leadswingers" type comments:
You have no idea, do you? antwhi2001 wrote:
Wednesday, 16 September 2009 at 09:45 am (UTC)
I'm not in Social Work, I'm in the NHS, which also has categories of jobs involving similar pressures. Some of the comments here are moronic and all they demonstrate is a lack of intelligent thought. If we have to speak in generalisations :1. These people are generally not lazy or shirkers. If they were, (a) they wouldn't have gone into a notoriously difficult field of work, and (b) they wouldn't be working an average of 12% above their contracted hours.2. Inadequate pay results in difficulty recruiting. That leads to vacant posts which other workers have to do their best to cover. Doing your best but knowing it isn't enough is soul destroying when the welfare of children is at stake. Doing it month in month out is stressful for any caring individual. Physical and mental illness is inevitable for some.3. Getting rid of the "shirkers" who are working flat out isn't the answer. Employing more, and better, staff is. That takes time and money. Are taxpayers willing to pay for it? If not, it won't happen. I am. Are you?4. I have been trying to do an impossible job for 5 years with inadequate staffing (due to financial constraints). I have not had a lot of time off sick. I have however been on prescription drugs for stress management for the last 3 years. Pressure takes it's toll. Don't blame the people in the system. Fix the system.
You have no idea, do you? antwhi2001 wrote:
Wednesday, 16 September 2009 at 09:45 am (UTC)
I'm not in Social Work, I'm in the NHS, which also has categories of jobs involving similar pressures. Some of the comments here are moronic and all they demonstrate is a lack of intelligent thought. If we have to speak in generalisations :1. These people are generally not lazy or shirkers. If they were, (a) they wouldn't have gone into a notoriously difficult field of work, and (b) they wouldn't be working an average of 12% above their contracted hours.2. Inadequate pay results in difficulty recruiting. That leads to vacant posts which other workers have to do their best to cover. Doing your best but knowing it isn't enough is soul destroying when the welfare of children is at stake. Doing it month in month out is stressful for any caring individual. Physical and mental illness is inevitable for some.3. Getting rid of the "shirkers" who are working flat out isn't the answer. Employing more, and better, staff is. That takes time and money. Are taxpayers willing to pay for it? If not, it won't happen. I am. Are you?4. I have been trying to do an impossible job for 5 years with inadequate staffing (due to financial constraints). I have not had a lot of time off sick. I have however been on prescription drugs for stress management for the last 3 years. Pressure takes it's toll. Don't blame the people in the system. Fix the system.
Comment on SW Sickness by BASW Chief Exec
Last night Hilton Dawson, the chief executive of the British Association of Social Workers, said: "They face stress, an inordinate workload, intrusive managements and very difficult work situations. The media coverage of the profession is horrendous. It's the most undervalued, least respected and least understood profession in Britain."
He said that new recruits were often thrown into the most difficult situations, adding: "I regularly hear about newly qualified social workers being burnt-out after just 18 months in the job."
He said that new recruits were often thrown into the most difficult situations, adding: "I regularly hear about newly qualified social workers being burnt-out after just 18 months in the job."
Shocking Sickness Rates in Social Work (The Independent 16 09 2009)
'Shocking' sickness rates in social work
Posted by n_morris
Wednesday, 16 September 2009 at 02:40 am
Author: By Nigel Morris, Deputy Political Editor
Freedom of Information requests discovered that the average social worker takes almost 12 days off a year through illness ? with one in 10 calling in sick at least 20 times. The figures emerged after the government launched a campaign to recruit more than 5,000 new social workers. There are currently 2,700 vacancies in the profession amid fears that the outrage over Baby P's death has deterred many people from choosing a social work career.
Posted by n_morris
Wednesday, 16 September 2009 at 02:40 am
Author: By Nigel Morris, Deputy Political Editor
Freedom of Information requests discovered that the average social worker takes almost 12 days off a year through illness ? with one in 10 calling in sick at least 20 times. The figures emerged after the government launched a campaign to recruit more than 5,000 new social workers. There are currently 2,700 vacancies in the profession amid fears that the outrage over Baby P's death has deterred many people from choosing a social work career.
The Power Presenter by Jerry Weissman (2009)
How Much Do Your Words Matter?
When it comes to public speaking, the words you use are not as important as how you
use them (vocal delivery) and how you present yourself (body language). Indeed, words
account for only 7% of the impact of any presentation, whereas the “vocal component”
accounts for 38% and the “visual component,” a whopping 55%.
seven steps to help you plan and prepare the most effective presentation:
1. “Establish the framework” – Weigh your objective, your “call to action,” against
the makeup of your audience. Consider your audience’s stand “point A” and your
objective “point B.” Persuasive communication centers on the movement from point
A to point B.
2. “Brainstorm: Consider all the possibilities” – Write down all the information
your presentation could include. Separate the good ideas from the bad ones, and
the great ideas from the good ones. Organize the best concepts. Develop some
primary themes.
3. “Find a mnemonic device for your main themes” – Ancient Roman orators used to
deliver their lectures as they moved from one marble column to the next in the forum.
Why? The wily speakers used the individual pillars as memorization aids: They
assigned a primary point to each column. Develop your own mnemonic devices.
4. “Provide a road map” – Develop a “flow structure” (novelists and screenwriters
term this the “story arc”) for your presentation. Tie the individual points and themes
into a unified, organized whole.
5. “Use visual aids” – Make your graphics support your story arc. Unfortunately, many
of today’s speakers focus on visual aids (particularly PowerPoint slides) as if they are
the primary reason for their presentations. This is exactly backward. Use graphics
sparingly. Do not let them dominate your speech.
6. “Ownership: Don’t pass the buck” – If you are speaking from material that someone
else developed, such as a corporate speechwriter, being passionate is more difficult.
Play an active role in preparing your take on the presentation.
7. “Practice the right way” – Rehearse the words of your speech over and over to discover
how you want to emphasize and accent specific points. This will help you memorize
your presentation or, at least, become deeply familiar with its primary concepts.
The Power of You
At the same time, strive to be as “conversational” as possible. Get out of “presentation
mode” and into “conversational mode.” Focus on one person from the audience. Do not
“present” to that person, but rather “chat” with him or her. According to a Yale study,
“you” is among the 12 “most persuasive words in the English language.” Therefore, plug
the word “you” into your presentation wherever possible: “The reason this is important
to you is …” or “Let me show you.”
When it comes to public speaking, the words you use are not as important as how you
use them (vocal delivery) and how you present yourself (body language). Indeed, words
account for only 7% of the impact of any presentation, whereas the “vocal component”
accounts for 38% and the “visual component,” a whopping 55%.
seven steps to help you plan and prepare the most effective presentation:
1. “Establish the framework” – Weigh your objective, your “call to action,” against
the makeup of your audience. Consider your audience’s stand “point A” and your
objective “point B.” Persuasive communication centers on the movement from point
A to point B.
2. “Brainstorm: Consider all the possibilities” – Write down all the information
your presentation could include. Separate the good ideas from the bad ones, and
the great ideas from the good ones. Organize the best concepts. Develop some
primary themes.
3. “Find a mnemonic device for your main themes” – Ancient Roman orators used to
deliver their lectures as they moved from one marble column to the next in the forum.
Why? The wily speakers used the individual pillars as memorization aids: They
assigned a primary point to each column. Develop your own mnemonic devices.
4. “Provide a road map” – Develop a “flow structure” (novelists and screenwriters
term this the “story arc”) for your presentation. Tie the individual points and themes
into a unified, organized whole.
5. “Use visual aids” – Make your graphics support your story arc. Unfortunately, many
of today’s speakers focus on visual aids (particularly PowerPoint slides) as if they are
the primary reason for their presentations. This is exactly backward. Use graphics
sparingly. Do not let them dominate your speech.
6. “Ownership: Don’t pass the buck” – If you are speaking from material that someone
else developed, such as a corporate speechwriter, being passionate is more difficult.
Play an active role in preparing your take on the presentation.
7. “Practice the right way” – Rehearse the words of your speech over and over to discover
how you want to emphasize and accent specific points. This will help you memorize
your presentation or, at least, become deeply familiar with its primary concepts.
The Power of You
At the same time, strive to be as “conversational” as possible. Get out of “presentation
mode” and into “conversational mode.” Focus on one person from the audience. Do not
“present” to that person, but rather “chat” with him or her. According to a Yale study,
“you” is among the 12 “most persuasive words in the English language.” Therefore, plug
the word “you” into your presentation wherever possible: “The reason this is important
to you is …” or “Let me show you.”
We Think - Charles Leadbeater (2008)
We-Think
Mass Innovation, Not Mass Production by Charles Leadbeater
Profile Books © 2008 290 pages
• The Internet radically increases your level of connection with others.
• When you become more connected, you increase your chances for collaboration.
• But by becoming more connected you also increase your vulnerability.
• “We-Think” is a term for Internet-enabled collective thinking: “We think, therefore we are.”
• This collaboration will transform some industries completely, change some
industries somewhat and touch some industries almost not at all.
• We-Think offers powerful new potential for political action and social justice.
• It offers greater economic equality because it freely shares pivotal economic tools.
• We-Think combines innovative, collective aspects of the counterculture, academia and geek experimentation.
• It democratizes the world, widely spreading access to media and information.
• The broader collaboration enabled by the Internet increases freedom by multiplying individual choices.
Charles Leadbeater’s awareness of the limits of Internet-enabled
collaboration lends weight to his discussion of its possibilities and all aspects of the World Wide Web’s real future potential.
The Internet is transforming the world in good and bad ways. It opens access to
information and the media, and allows people to network, despite geographic distance.
Yet, the Web expands the chance that onlookers can monitor individual actions; it exposes
you to unprecedented, unexpected intrusions. The Web is above all open – a place where
barriers are missing or porous; that means both risk and opportunity. Now the Internet
is reaching a crucial point in its development. Use has spread so widely that the Web has
begun to influence everything people do. The core issue is not how many individuals
use the Web, but what happens when they “share and then combine” their thoughts. The
Internet matters most as a platform for sharing.
This sharing provokes a fundamental shift in self-definition. Philosopher René Descartes’
famous line about identity and self-knowledge, “I think, therefore I am,” is changing
amid this connection and collaboration. Today’s motto might be “We think, therefore
we are.” That’s the essence of “We-Think.” Projects like Wikipedia show its possibilities,
negative and positive. “Wikipedia is prone to more errors” than usual encyclopedias,
and took several iterations to come into being. But the voluntary contributors who write
it fix its errors faster than traditional reference works fix theirs, and it is growing at a
tremendous rate, including entries on odd or obscure topics.
We-Think Principles
We-Think’s changes are immense and widespread, but not absolute. The collaborative
principles that define We-Think will not apply in every circumstance. Rather, expect
to see a tremendous clash over the next few years, as collaboration and the traditional
hierarchy push and pull at one another. Expect the results to fall along a spectrum, with
We-Think endeavors at one end and traditionally hierarchical organizations at the other.
And that’s fine. We-Think is founded on voluntary collaboration and choices, not on
dictating any one mode of organization.
We-Think doesn’t require anyone to buy into a specific ideology. It is being adapted
where it works. Take the mapping of the “worm-genome” as an example of We-Think
in action. Nobel laureate Sydney Brenner started mapping the genome of C. elegans
in 1965, but the project was too big for his lab, and too complex for any lab at the time.
Therefore, Brenner shared what he and his team were learning, and other researchers
began to voluntarily take on different aspects of it. As this far-flung community grew,
the technology radically advanced. The Worm Breeder’s Gazette shared the results with the community, as face-to-face meetings provided direction and group identity.
This project took place as computers were really just emerging, and well before many
people were using the Internet. Yet computers, the Web and other modes of connectivity
that define the information age (cell phones, text messaging) have allowed similar
projects, like Linux and the open source code movement, to succeed even faster. These
projects start with “a good core” of dedicated people who provide expertise and initial
direction. Then they blossom as the core “creators give away the material on which others
can work.” This opens the community, providing ways for new members to take part and
supplying much-needed conceptual tools. As people connect, a self-regulating social
structure emerges. The core often remains influential, due to its greater knowledge, but
not due to a need to control the project.
We-Think projects function like working cities. A diverse population allows more
perspectives to emerge; trust and respect provide a frame for interaction. This
population then collaborates, not just in creating new things but also in organizing
them. The various elements of a We-Think community may work independently on
different portions of a shared project (mapping a genome, writing code). People work
on these projects for the joy of it and for recognition from the community. Often this
means hashing out ideas in discussion forums.
Market forces don’t drive pure We-Think projects. Instead, these projects, like
Wikipedia, offer alternatives to products created by the market. This happens, in part,
because market forces tend to focus investigation and creativity too narrowly, shutting
down real creativeness. That said, We-Think offers some alternative business models
with options that are not available in a traditional hierarchy. We-Think thrives on openended
conversations. It both offers and depends on a sense of community, which large
corporations often lack. Rather than using a model in which products flow from producers
to consumers, We-Think engages consumers in co-creation and welcomes product
modifications. For example, take the video game World of Warcraft, where players’ social
interaction fleshes out and partially creates the game’s structure. We-Think redistributes
ownership and leadership fluidly according to individual contributions, not hierarchy.
Where Does We-Think Come From?
You might see We-Think as a collaboration among “a computer nerd, an academic, a
hippie and a peasant.” Actually, its history blends many attitudes that these groups
articulate. The first public discussions of networked computers happened in the late
1960s, as the counterculture was flourishing and many Americans lived on communes.
The movements became directly connected when Fred Moore – part of the Whole
Earth Catalog, which provided a range of tools for counterculture activities – started
organizations to explore “the social impact of computers.”
Numerous 20th century thinkers called for the increased citizen involvement you now
see online. Marshall McLuhan advocated “a retribalization of society” to counter mass
culture. Ivan Illich and Guy Debord supported shifting away from consumption and
spectacle, and toward dialogue and action. Finally, E. F. Schumacher, who wrote Small
is Beautiful, called for “production by the masses, not for the masses.”
These qualities abound in online activity. Social networking sites (for example, MySpace)
create connections. Blogs and wikis let passive spectators become active producers.
South Korea’s OhmyNews uses “55,000 citizen journalists” to provide alternative news
coverage. Media-sharing sites (YouTube for videos; Flickr for photos), let individuals
share and enjoy media that once was available only through mass corporate or government
venues. The most successful sites operate with “a spirit of collaborative self-government,”
like the way traditional peasant groups governed the use of the commons. A Web of
expectations emerges through repeated community interactions that happen with little
top-down adjudication, though small-scale negotiations may continue. While community
governance of a commons can break down, especially if the community collapses, the
Web’s conceptual resources are less vulnerable. Shared use is often strengthening. Taking
too many fish from a lake can deplete it, but taking ideas from a shared pool multiplies
their power, rather than sapping it. The result is a bit like folk music, where people
borrow musical structures from a shared tradition without concern for ownership.
The Implications of We-Think
We-Think won’t move through all areas of the economy equally or at equal speed, but it
is already transforming professions that organize and distribute information. Librarians
face huge change as they try to decide what happens when they no longer shepherd
physical collections of books, but rather conduct access to a digital collection. Moving
academic journals online, and letting manuscripts circulate is speeding up the spread
of information. Journalism, music, publishing…any information-processing venue will
change quickly and immediately; that’s roughly 20% of the Western economy.
Another 50% of the economy is involved in “medium-impact” enterprises, where We-
Think will proceed unevenly. These are fields, like mining, that still employ some
major component directly from the industrial age, or industries that use little digitized
information, such as service companies. Even these areas will come to incorporate We-
Think in surprising ways.
More generally, proprietors are distributing “open-source designs” to do-it-yourself
enthusiasts who want to modify mass products. Various scientists are ambitiously
working on mobile fabrication units that could make anything that matched stored plans.
One version, the “Fab Lab” developed by MIT’s Neil Gershenfeld, is already in limited
use. A few medical communities are experimenting with involving patients more in their
own care by training people with chronic conditions to monitor themselves and share the
results with their medical teams, all electronically.
Online you have access to more open market choices. The combination of cyber-stores’
lower overhead costs and the consumer’s ability to search for any possible purchase
creates countless market niches. The Internet also provides tools that multiply creativity,
allowing you to make art more quickly and spread self-expression more widely.
In politics, increased connectivity and communication have mixed effects. Some critics
say that the Web makes a crowded, noisy world more so. While most political participants
in democratic countries can use the Web, “fundamentalist populist movements” get a
disproportionate amount of online attention. Even terrorists use the Internet to stay in
contact. In general, the Web has contributed to the disruption of hierarchical order. Even
when democratic movements use the Web ethically, for instance, to organize for the civic
good, it has not yet produced more reflective debate, as its champions hoped. Instead,
most people connect with like-minded cohorts.
On the positive side, the Internet brings youth into the political process. In the Philippines,
protestors have used multiple routes (the Internet, mobile phones) to share messages,
circulate petitions, organize demonstrations, spread information and expose corruption.
Many bloggers move faster than the mainstream media to catch cover-ups and distortions.
While China is trying to censor the Internet, even there, activists show online how the
government acts. The Web also enables “ultra-local politics,” letting neighbors connect
in new ways; in some cities, including Boston and Toronto, people in social networks are
getting deeper into politics. Overall, the Web benefits democracy.
The Internet may have some negative effect on equality, in that it connects the already
connected, thus increasing the influence of the few who are already socially and
economically ahead. More basically, many online perks don’t address the needs of the
poor: Shared music doesn’t feed the hungry. Yet, as Yochai Benkler argues in The Wealth
of Networks, “information, knowledge and culture” are essential factors for “human
welfare.” The Web makes it possible to share scientific breakthroughs and mass reference
works (i.e., Wikipedia) with the emerging world.
A tug-of-war between traditional models and We-Think is emerging in several areas. For
example, Cambia, an Australian nonprofit organization, discovered a bacteria that can
replace patented biotechnology, solving some agricultural challenges for poor countries
that can’t afford patent fees. When Alwyn Noronha tried to introduce computers to schools
in the Indian state of Goa, the educational system couldn’t afford Microsoft licensing and
maintenance, so the schools turned to “Linux and other open-source” software. We-Think
leads to the use of “mobile phones to connect borrowers and lenders” for “microfinance”
loans, giving small businesses access to previously unavailable investment dollars.
Skeptics have legitimate reasons to worry about the Internet’s impact on freedom. The
same electronic Web that lets you connect voluntarily can be turned against a free
society: Technology could enable someone to track your actions or expose your secrets.
Instead of fostering collaboration, participating in an online community could create
“group-think,” where everyone follows the herd and individual creativity gives way to
derivative thinking. While those concerns are genuine, electronic connectivity ultimately
enhances your freedom in some key areas. By offering alternatives to mass media, the
Web provides more chances to think freely, to speak back to the media or even to start
your own media outlet at little cost.
Individual identity is not swamped in continual online contact, but rather negotiated,
in a sort of dialogue. Young people who have grown up online are adept at shifting
personas and finding comfortable contacts. Yes, they need skills to do so, but that’s
true in the physical world, too.
Mass Innovation, Not Mass Production by Charles Leadbeater
Profile Books © 2008 290 pages
• The Internet radically increases your level of connection with others.
• When you become more connected, you increase your chances for collaboration.
• But by becoming more connected you also increase your vulnerability.
• “We-Think” is a term for Internet-enabled collective thinking: “We think, therefore we are.”
• This collaboration will transform some industries completely, change some
industries somewhat and touch some industries almost not at all.
• We-Think offers powerful new potential for political action and social justice.
• It offers greater economic equality because it freely shares pivotal economic tools.
• We-Think combines innovative, collective aspects of the counterculture, academia and geek experimentation.
• It democratizes the world, widely spreading access to media and information.
• The broader collaboration enabled by the Internet increases freedom by multiplying individual choices.
Charles Leadbeater’s awareness of the limits of Internet-enabled
collaboration lends weight to his discussion of its possibilities and all aspects of the World Wide Web’s real future potential.
The Internet is transforming the world in good and bad ways. It opens access to
information and the media, and allows people to network, despite geographic distance.
Yet, the Web expands the chance that onlookers can monitor individual actions; it exposes
you to unprecedented, unexpected intrusions. The Web is above all open – a place where
barriers are missing or porous; that means both risk and opportunity. Now the Internet
is reaching a crucial point in its development. Use has spread so widely that the Web has
begun to influence everything people do. The core issue is not how many individuals
use the Web, but what happens when they “share and then combine” their thoughts. The
Internet matters most as a platform for sharing.
This sharing provokes a fundamental shift in self-definition. Philosopher René Descartes’
famous line about identity and self-knowledge, “I think, therefore I am,” is changing
amid this connection and collaboration. Today’s motto might be “We think, therefore
we are.” That’s the essence of “We-Think.” Projects like Wikipedia show its possibilities,
negative and positive. “Wikipedia is prone to more errors” than usual encyclopedias,
and took several iterations to come into being. But the voluntary contributors who write
it fix its errors faster than traditional reference works fix theirs, and it is growing at a
tremendous rate, including entries on odd or obscure topics.
We-Think Principles
We-Think’s changes are immense and widespread, but not absolute. The collaborative
principles that define We-Think will not apply in every circumstance. Rather, expect
to see a tremendous clash over the next few years, as collaboration and the traditional
hierarchy push and pull at one another. Expect the results to fall along a spectrum, with
We-Think endeavors at one end and traditionally hierarchical organizations at the other.
And that’s fine. We-Think is founded on voluntary collaboration and choices, not on
dictating any one mode of organization.
We-Think doesn’t require anyone to buy into a specific ideology. It is being adapted
where it works. Take the mapping of the “worm-genome” as an example of We-Think
in action. Nobel laureate Sydney Brenner started mapping the genome of C. elegans
in 1965, but the project was too big for his lab, and too complex for any lab at the time.
Therefore, Brenner shared what he and his team were learning, and other researchers
began to voluntarily take on different aspects of it. As this far-flung community grew,
the technology radically advanced. The Worm Breeder’s Gazette shared the results with the community, as face-to-face meetings provided direction and group identity.
This project took place as computers were really just emerging, and well before many
people were using the Internet. Yet computers, the Web and other modes of connectivity
that define the information age (cell phones, text messaging) have allowed similar
projects, like Linux and the open source code movement, to succeed even faster. These
projects start with “a good core” of dedicated people who provide expertise and initial
direction. Then they blossom as the core “creators give away the material on which others
can work.” This opens the community, providing ways for new members to take part and
supplying much-needed conceptual tools. As people connect, a self-regulating social
structure emerges. The core often remains influential, due to its greater knowledge, but
not due to a need to control the project.
We-Think projects function like working cities. A diverse population allows more
perspectives to emerge; trust and respect provide a frame for interaction. This
population then collaborates, not just in creating new things but also in organizing
them. The various elements of a We-Think community may work independently on
different portions of a shared project (mapping a genome, writing code). People work
on these projects for the joy of it and for recognition from the community. Often this
means hashing out ideas in discussion forums.
Market forces don’t drive pure We-Think projects. Instead, these projects, like
Wikipedia, offer alternatives to products created by the market. This happens, in part,
because market forces tend to focus investigation and creativity too narrowly, shutting
down real creativeness. That said, We-Think offers some alternative business models
with options that are not available in a traditional hierarchy. We-Think thrives on openended
conversations. It both offers and depends on a sense of community, which large
corporations often lack. Rather than using a model in which products flow from producers
to consumers, We-Think engages consumers in co-creation and welcomes product
modifications. For example, take the video game World of Warcraft, where players’ social
interaction fleshes out and partially creates the game’s structure. We-Think redistributes
ownership and leadership fluidly according to individual contributions, not hierarchy.
Where Does We-Think Come From?
You might see We-Think as a collaboration among “a computer nerd, an academic, a
hippie and a peasant.” Actually, its history blends many attitudes that these groups
articulate. The first public discussions of networked computers happened in the late
1960s, as the counterculture was flourishing and many Americans lived on communes.
The movements became directly connected when Fred Moore – part of the Whole
Earth Catalog, which provided a range of tools for counterculture activities – started
organizations to explore “the social impact of computers.”
Numerous 20th century thinkers called for the increased citizen involvement you now
see online. Marshall McLuhan advocated “a retribalization of society” to counter mass
culture. Ivan Illich and Guy Debord supported shifting away from consumption and
spectacle, and toward dialogue and action. Finally, E. F. Schumacher, who wrote Small
is Beautiful, called for “production by the masses, not for the masses.”
These qualities abound in online activity. Social networking sites (for example, MySpace)
create connections. Blogs and wikis let passive spectators become active producers.
South Korea’s OhmyNews uses “55,000 citizen journalists” to provide alternative news
coverage. Media-sharing sites (YouTube for videos; Flickr for photos), let individuals
share and enjoy media that once was available only through mass corporate or government
venues. The most successful sites operate with “a spirit of collaborative self-government,”
like the way traditional peasant groups governed the use of the commons. A Web of
expectations emerges through repeated community interactions that happen with little
top-down adjudication, though small-scale negotiations may continue. While community
governance of a commons can break down, especially if the community collapses, the
Web’s conceptual resources are less vulnerable. Shared use is often strengthening. Taking
too many fish from a lake can deplete it, but taking ideas from a shared pool multiplies
their power, rather than sapping it. The result is a bit like folk music, where people
borrow musical structures from a shared tradition without concern for ownership.
The Implications of We-Think
We-Think won’t move through all areas of the economy equally or at equal speed, but it
is already transforming professions that organize and distribute information. Librarians
face huge change as they try to decide what happens when they no longer shepherd
physical collections of books, but rather conduct access to a digital collection. Moving
academic journals online, and letting manuscripts circulate is speeding up the spread
of information. Journalism, music, publishing…any information-processing venue will
change quickly and immediately; that’s roughly 20% of the Western economy.
Another 50% of the economy is involved in “medium-impact” enterprises, where We-
Think will proceed unevenly. These are fields, like mining, that still employ some
major component directly from the industrial age, or industries that use little digitized
information, such as service companies. Even these areas will come to incorporate We-
Think in surprising ways.
More generally, proprietors are distributing “open-source designs” to do-it-yourself
enthusiasts who want to modify mass products. Various scientists are ambitiously
working on mobile fabrication units that could make anything that matched stored plans.
One version, the “Fab Lab” developed by MIT’s Neil Gershenfeld, is already in limited
use. A few medical communities are experimenting with involving patients more in their
own care by training people with chronic conditions to monitor themselves and share the
results with their medical teams, all electronically.
Online you have access to more open market choices. The combination of cyber-stores’
lower overhead costs and the consumer’s ability to search for any possible purchase
creates countless market niches. The Internet also provides tools that multiply creativity,
allowing you to make art more quickly and spread self-expression more widely.
In politics, increased connectivity and communication have mixed effects. Some critics
say that the Web makes a crowded, noisy world more so. While most political participants
in democratic countries can use the Web, “fundamentalist populist movements” get a
disproportionate amount of online attention. Even terrorists use the Internet to stay in
contact. In general, the Web has contributed to the disruption of hierarchical order. Even
when democratic movements use the Web ethically, for instance, to organize for the civic
good, it has not yet produced more reflective debate, as its champions hoped. Instead,
most people connect with like-minded cohorts.
On the positive side, the Internet brings youth into the political process. In the Philippines,
protestors have used multiple routes (the Internet, mobile phones) to share messages,
circulate petitions, organize demonstrations, spread information and expose corruption.
Many bloggers move faster than the mainstream media to catch cover-ups and distortions.
While China is trying to censor the Internet, even there, activists show online how the
government acts. The Web also enables “ultra-local politics,” letting neighbors connect
in new ways; in some cities, including Boston and Toronto, people in social networks are
getting deeper into politics. Overall, the Web benefits democracy.
The Internet may have some negative effect on equality, in that it connects the already
connected, thus increasing the influence of the few who are already socially and
economically ahead. More basically, many online perks don’t address the needs of the
poor: Shared music doesn’t feed the hungry. Yet, as Yochai Benkler argues in The Wealth
of Networks, “information, knowledge and culture” are essential factors for “human
welfare.” The Web makes it possible to share scientific breakthroughs and mass reference
works (i.e., Wikipedia) with the emerging world.
A tug-of-war between traditional models and We-Think is emerging in several areas. For
example, Cambia, an Australian nonprofit organization, discovered a bacteria that can
replace patented biotechnology, solving some agricultural challenges for poor countries
that can’t afford patent fees. When Alwyn Noronha tried to introduce computers to schools
in the Indian state of Goa, the educational system couldn’t afford Microsoft licensing and
maintenance, so the schools turned to “Linux and other open-source” software. We-Think
leads to the use of “mobile phones to connect borrowers and lenders” for “microfinance”
loans, giving small businesses access to previously unavailable investment dollars.
Skeptics have legitimate reasons to worry about the Internet’s impact on freedom. The
same electronic Web that lets you connect voluntarily can be turned against a free
society: Technology could enable someone to track your actions or expose your secrets.
Instead of fostering collaboration, participating in an online community could create
“group-think,” where everyone follows the herd and individual creativity gives way to
derivative thinking. While those concerns are genuine, electronic connectivity ultimately
enhances your freedom in some key areas. By offering alternatives to mass media, the
Web provides more chances to think freely, to speak back to the media or even to start
your own media outlet at little cost.
Individual identity is not swamped in continual online contact, but rather negotiated,
in a sort of dialogue. Young people who have grown up online are adept at shifting
personas and finding comfortable contacts. Yes, they need skills to do so, but that’s
true in the physical world, too.
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Reis & Trout - The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
Law #1: The Law of Leadership
The Law of Leadership affirms the importance of being number one in a category. People usually know who the number one player is, but often cannot even name the number two. Ries and Trout also claim that the first player to appear in a category usually ends up being the number one player. There are plenty of good examples of this. Chrysler brought us the first minivan and still leads the category.
Law #2: The Law of the Category
The Law of the Category says that if you cannot be first in your category, setup a new category. This is really just another way of explaining a concept called "differentiation".
New entrepreneurs tend to think purely in terms of finding a product which is better than the competition. But so very often, it is more important to be different than to be better. Every difference defines a category. And for each category, somebody is the leader. In other words, a large market is really just a cluster of small markets. Tackle the large market and you will probably lose. Tackle a small market and you might just win.
Law #3: The Law of the Mind
The Law of the Mind says it is better to be first in the mind than first in the marketplace.
Law #4: The Law of Perception
The Law of Perception says that in the battle between products, perception is more important than reality.
People tend to think that the best product will win. However, as Ries and Trout say, "Marketing is not a battle of products, it's a battle of perceptions." Sometimes the best product does not win.
This concept seems unfair, but it's fundamental and we might as well get used to it. Ries and Trout go so far as to say that "Most marketing mistakes stem from the assumption that you're fighting a product battle rooted in reality. All the laws in this book are derived from the exact opposite point of view."
Subjectivity
The real issue here is that the words "better" and "best" are subjective terms. People have different requirements and preferences upon which they form very different opinions. There are very few absolutes.
Law #5: The Law of Focus
This is one of my favorite chapters. The Law of Focus says that "the most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect's mind." This law challenges us to boil our marketing message down to just one idea. If you can teach your market segment to associate your product with a single idea, perhaps even a single word, you can be a market leader.
Count Your Words
When entrepreneurs ask me for advice, I usually ask them to explain their product in 25 words or less.
Crafting Your Message
It's okay to have more information handy. Datasheets and whitepapers are great. Once people get interested, they will probably want all the detail you can provide. But for first impressions, you should tell the world only one thing about your product. You can use 2-3 words as long as you are not trying to sneak in extra ideas. Usually, you need only one word. But which word to pick?
• Pick a reasonably common word out of the dictionary. It should be a word that everybody understands. Don't invent a new word that nobody has ever heard.
• Don't try to associate your product with a word in the customer's mind if that word is already associated with your competitor.
• Don't pick the word "cheap" or any of its synonyms. Very few businesses can thrive while making low price their primary message. Wal-Mart is one of those businesses. Your small ISV is not.
• Don't pick the word "quality" unless you can prove that you care about quality a lot more than everybody else. As Ries and Trout say, "everybody stands for quality. As a result, nobody does."
Law #6: The Law of Exclusivity
The Law of Exclusivity says that "Two companies cannot own the same word in the prospect's mind."
It's time to face the facts. Some of these laws seem to have more punch than others. For example, I find the Law of Focus to be a concept with a lot of impact. It's very counter-intuitive, and yet very powerful.
Other laws here seem almost, well ... obvious. These other laws don't seem to deserve their pages quite as much as the great ones like the Law of Focus. I speculate that for some reason, Ries and Trout wanted exactly 22, so they kept adding laws until they got the right number. Too bad. If they had stopped at 21 they could have used some sort of a blackjack theme.
The Law of Exclusivity would have been a candidate for removal. It is fairly intuitive to me that two companies cannot have the same market position.
Still, let's not dismiss this law too quickly. After all, obviousness is not always a reason to ignore a topic. It is obvious that we should all eat better and exercise more, but we don't.
Similarly, marketers do routinely find a way to violate this law. They do a Smart Thing by following the Law of Focus and choosing one key benefit around which they build their product message. Then do a Dumb Thing by choosing the same benefit as somebody else. Almost invariably, they end up beating their head against the wall in futility. It is obvious that we should not try to beat somebody else at their own game. And yet, we often try.
Law #7: The Law of the Ladder
The Law of the Ladder acknowledges that in most market categories, there is actually more than one available slot in the mind of the customer.
The Hierarchy of Categories
In our discussion of the previous laws, we have emphasized the importance being different, the important of finding a subcategory in which you can be #1. However, when you pop the stack frame up one level to the enclosing category, we find that you are ranked on a ladder among the other players.
Three Tidbits about Ladders
1. The mind of the customer can only remember a few rungs. Research indicates a maximum of about seven, and a more practical limit of about two or three. How many brands of toothpaste can you name? How many brands of cola? How many brands of automobiles? Some categories have more rungs than others.
2. The best strategy for you depends entirely on your ranking on the ladder. The right strategy for the #1 player is probably wrong for the #2 player, and vice versa. The authors cite the Avis rent-a-car example, where they gained tremendous results from simply acknowledging their status as #2. This example has been very much-discussed in the ten years since the book was
written, but it still rings with a bell of wisdom. Avis showed a lot of self-awareness. Customers respected that.
3. There is a typical mapping of market share onto ladder position. The authors claim that each rung on the ladder has twice the market share of the rung below it. These guidelines are obviously very rough, and all kinds of exceptions do apply. Still, when we see a ladder where the market share ratios are not even close to this rule of thumb, we are motivated to ask why.
Law #8: The Law of Duality
The Law of Duality says that "in the long run, every market becomes a two-horse race."
Young markets have many rungs on the ladder. They are highly fragmented. Gradually, as the market matures, players disappear and the market settles on exactly two primary players. Examples of this phenomenon are everywhere:
• Coke and Pepsi
• Canon and Nikon
• Nike and Reebok
• GM and Ford
• McDonalds and Burger King
It often takes a long time for things to settle down, but in the end, markets usually give people what they want, which is two strong choices. Buyers don't like choosing between ten or twenty players. It's too stressful.
A big reason for this effect is that most people don't make their own buying decisions. People tend to buy what somebody else is buying. Pragmatists buy something only after they see the Early Adopters buying it. Conservatives buy it only after the Pragmatists are buying it. Laggards buy it only when the peer pressure and ridicule is so severe that they look like absurd for not buying it. Market share begets market share, and the rich get richer.
Even as the market gets very mature, it will continue to tolerate the presence of more than two players. However, the top two will have the lion's share of the market. All other players are essentially in niche segments.
Once a market reaches this state, it will generally not allow #1 and #2 to move around. For example, the market will never allow the top two players to change positions. Burger King will never be #1.
Furthermore, the market will not allow #1 to get too far ahead. Just as markets hate having a ten-horse race, they also hate having a one-horse race. When #1 gets too far ahead of #2, the market will usually correct the problem.
Law #9: The Law of the Opposite
The Law of the Opposite says that the #2 player should generally do the opposite of what the #1 player is doing.
If you are #2 in your category, you want to be #1, right?
Wrong. You can't choose to be #1, but you can certainly choose to be #3 or #4. The worst thing you can do is to try and beat the #1 player at his own game. Instead, realize that not everyone in the market wants to play that game. Offer those people an alternative.
Law #10: The Law of Division
The Law of Division observes that over time, a category tends to divide and become two or more categories.
A new market category starts out very broad. For example, in the beginning of the automobile industry, the only category was "cars". Over time, categories break up into smaller and more specialized subcategories. Today, there are quite a few brands of car, each catering to a specialized niche.
This effect is an obvious and natural consequence of other laws. Each company will try to setup a new category in which it can be #1. Not all of these categories will end up becoming real, but some will.
This law is a good place to remind ourselves that Ries and Trout primarily consult for companies like Pepsi, McDonalds and General Motors, not for small ISVs. There is a bit of an impedance mismatch between their world and ours. Those companies do business in mature industries selling mass market consumer products. Those products are easily interchangeable. I can switch from Pepsi to Coke with no major costs associated with the transition and deployment. Categories split into subcategories over very slight differences in consumer preference. Brand building is absolutely critical. General Motors understands that some car buyers want to feel like they are buying something sporty, whereas others want to feel like they are buying something conservative. So, they sell basically the same car under the Pontiac and the Buick name, managing each of these brands very carefully. The underlying engineering is identical, but the message of these two brands is very different.
Law #11: The Law of Perspective
The Law of Perspective says that "marketing effects take place over an extended period of time", but the basic point of this chapter is that some marketing actions are negative in the long-term even though they seem positive in the short-term.
Short-Term Highs
The authors include an interesting discussion of sales and coupons in the retailing industry. They argue that these devices are like drugs – they produce a short-term high, but the only way to maintain the high is to keep going. Eventually, you have to "keep those coupons rolling out not to increase sales but to keep sales from falling off if you stop." I assume this is the reason that our local furniture store is always running a sale – they are afraid of going through withdrawal.
Law #12: The Law of Line Extension
The Law of Line Extension says that it is a mistake to take the name of one product and apply it to another. Companies do this often, but it basically never works. We think that the power of the brand will help sell the new product. Instead, the brand itself is tarnished. People start to get confused about what the brand means. Quite often it is necessary to kill the second product before it causes too much damage to the first one.
Law #13: The Law of Sacrifice
The Law of Sacrifice says that "you have to give up something in order to get something".
The cool thing about this law is that it's not automatically attractive. It makes you think.
The Law of Focus isn't like that. When people hear about the Law of Focus, the first reaction is to say, "Yes, yes, focus is good." People seem to forget that the word "focus" implies a decision about what you are not going to do. With the word "sacrifice", that particular implication is much clearer.
But in some sense, these two laws are the same idea with different expressions. There is power in focus, but to get there, we have to make tough decisions about what things we will not do.
Saying "No"
The Law of Sacrifice is all about saying "no" to opportunities. This skill is incredibly difficult to learn. I suspect that the only way to learn to say "no" is to experience the pain of saying "yes" too often.
Law #14: The Law of Attributes
The Law of Attributes says that "for every attribute, there is an opposite, effective attribute."
Fussy
There was quite an uproar from fans after the recent season finale for Star Trek Enterprise18. You see, the episode contained a serious error. One of the characters states that the year is 2152 when in fact, as every Trek fan knows, the current episodes take place in the year 2154.
I've heard several people say that this mistake ruined the whole episode.
I concede the mistake is silly, but come’ on -- the whole episode? Perhaps we need a bit of perspective. That date wasn't a central point of the show. It's a detail, and aside from the fact that it was incorrect, it doesn't matter.
Incidentally, guys, this is the reason why your girlfriend or wife doesn't like going to see movies with you. Nobody wants to watch a film with some anal-retentive dork who is ready and waiting to discard the entire film because the producers made a minor mistake in science or technology. Try to just enjoy the movie, or at the very least, shut your pie hole so that she can. (This tidbit of relationship advice is provided at no extra charge. ☺)
Marketing Books
Geeks like us are lousy at marketing for the same reason that nobody wants to see movies with us. Marketing books are written for big-picture thinkers. They contain broad sweeping generalizations which are only true most of the time. Guys like Ries and Trout don't feel the need for a lot of precision.
So a geek sits down to read this book. Somehow he manages to cope with the word "immutable" in the title, which is obviously a gross exaggeration. Somehow he manages to smile at the examples, which are now ten years out of date, especially the one about Lotus Notes. Somehow he manages to overlook most of the little imprecisions in the first 13 chapters.
Law #15: The Law of Candor
The Law of Candor says that "when you admit a negative, the prospect will give you a positive". As usual, the examples from the book are mainstream consumer products:
• Listerine did it when they acknowledged that their mouthwash tastes terrible.
• Avis did it when they acknowledged that they are #2.
• Volkswagen did it when they acknowledged that the "bug" is ugly.
Each of these companies gained a lot when they applied the Law of Candor. People respect the courage and honesty it takes to admit that not everything is perfect.
Being Genuine
The Law of Candor is another one which is simply not intuitive. Most marcomm people are terrified of it. Conventional wisdom says that absolutely everything in your marketing message must be positive. In fact, a primary function of the marcomm team is to sanitize all public statements ensuring that the company never says anything it does not want to say.
Credibility
Ignoring the Law of Candor can kill your credibility. Whatever your negative issue is, everybody already knows about it anyway. If you don't talk about it, then it will become "the elephant in the room". When you issue yet another sanitized press release, your customers eagerly read it, hoping to see some evidence that you have any self-awareness at all. They ask themselves, "Don't these people realize how awful their mouthwash tastes?"
As Ries and Trout say in the chapter, "Every negative statement you make about yourself is instantly accepted as truth. Positive statements, on the other hand, are looked at as dubious at best."
Law #16: The Law of Singularity
The Law of Singularity says that "in each situation only one move will produce substantial results".
We literalists will once again have to endure the authors' word choice. The above statement is almost certainly not true. ☺
And yet, Ries and Trout make two important points in this chapter, which I will paraphrase as follows:
• One bold stroke is much better than a bunch of small marketing efforts.
• Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing people.
Law #17: The Law of Unpredictability
The Law of Unpredictability says, "Unless you write your competitors' plans, you can't predict the future."
But that doesn't seem to be the main point of this chapter. What the authors are really saying is that long-range planning doesn't work. We can try to observe and follow trends. We can make big-picture predictions. But if we try to make detailed plans over the long term, our competitors will surprise us and those plans will end up getting scrapped.
Law #18: The Law of Success
The Law of Success says that "success often leads to arrogance, and arrogance to failure".
The basic point of this chapter is a warning to not let yourself get too far from your customers. Truly small ISVs may not need to worry too much about this, but the admonition is valuable nonetheless.
As companies grow, the CEO tends to get busy with other stuff. She doesn't spend much time "in the trenches" anymore. He goes to a lot of meetings and spends a lot of time working on the big picture. In the process, she loses touch with the customer.
Despite what the chapter says, I think this effect may or may not be rooted in arrogance. The root problem might be simpler and more innocent. Maybe the CEO simply let himself get too busy. It seems quite possible to become detached from the basic activities of the company without growing a big ego.
But either way, forgetting the customer is a fatal disease. Fortunately, this disease is also preventable and treatable. Don't let it happen to you. Even as your company grows, stay involved in the basic stuff, at least a little bit.
Law #19: The Law of Failure
The Law of Failure says that "failure is to be expected and accepted".
Nothing interesting ever happens unless we take risks. The authors encourage an atmosphere of risk-taking with a good discussion of why individuals tend to be afraid of taking risks.
The chapter also includes another important point: When you realize you've made a mistake, cut your losses.
It's just so hard to admit a mistake. Denial is a wonderful thing.
Law #20: The Law of Hype
The Law of Hype talks about the fact that "history is filled with marketing failures that were successful in the press".
This chapter talks primarily about new things which claim to make existing things obsolete. Such products tend to become darlings in the press, because the notion of breakthrough innovation is very attractive to readers. People love to read stories about things like the personal helicopter which was supposed to make cars obsolete several decades ago. So the press jumps on the bandwagon, stories get written, newspapers get sold, and people get excited. And they still drive their cars to work everyday.
What I love about this chapter is that it was written in the early nineties, before the Web, and it still rings amazingly true. The Web was supposed to obsolete almost everything. Today we can see that the Web has changed life in many ways, but most of the previous structures and systems are still with us.
Law #21: The Law of Acceleration
The Law of Acceleration says that "successful programs are not built on fads, they're built on trends".
Drawing their examples from mainstream consumer products, the authors observe the tendency for companies to overestimate short-term fads. When something new becomes big and hot, companies jump on the bandwagon, spending a lot of money doing so. They restructure. They invest in new equipment. They work hard to make themselves prepared to deliver products for the fad.
And then the fad stops, and the company is left with problems:
• "What am I going to do with all the olive green refrigerators and orange carpeting I bought just before the fashion changed?"
• "Oh, great -- I can produce fifty gazillion Cabbage Patch dolls per day. That'll come in handy now that nobody wants them anymore."
• "Darn it! I just bought a warehouse of fruit-colored translucent plastic, and now I find that the next iMac looks like a white desk lamp."
Fads accelerate very quickly, but often don't last long. Trends have a much slower acceleration but eventually run fast and steady. Chasing fads is expensive, so it becomes very
Law #22: The Law of Resources
The Law of Resources says that "without adequate funding, an idea won't get off the ground". The gist of the chapter is that marketing is very expensive and you have to be prepared to spend big bucks on advertising if you want to be successful, so you're going to need a lot of funding from your VC.
Preaching these ideas to small ISVs is like showing up at your local Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and telling everyone that a little red wine every day helps the heart.
The Law of Leadership affirms the importance of being number one in a category. People usually know who the number one player is, but often cannot even name the number two. Ries and Trout also claim that the first player to appear in a category usually ends up being the number one player. There are plenty of good examples of this. Chrysler brought us the first minivan and still leads the category.
Law #2: The Law of the Category
The Law of the Category says that if you cannot be first in your category, setup a new category. This is really just another way of explaining a concept called "differentiation".
New entrepreneurs tend to think purely in terms of finding a product which is better than the competition. But so very often, it is more important to be different than to be better. Every difference defines a category. And for each category, somebody is the leader. In other words, a large market is really just a cluster of small markets. Tackle the large market and you will probably lose. Tackle a small market and you might just win.
Law #3: The Law of the Mind
The Law of the Mind says it is better to be first in the mind than first in the marketplace.
Law #4: The Law of Perception
The Law of Perception says that in the battle between products, perception is more important than reality.
People tend to think that the best product will win. However, as Ries and Trout say, "Marketing is not a battle of products, it's a battle of perceptions." Sometimes the best product does not win.
This concept seems unfair, but it's fundamental and we might as well get used to it. Ries and Trout go so far as to say that "Most marketing mistakes stem from the assumption that you're fighting a product battle rooted in reality. All the laws in this book are derived from the exact opposite point of view."
Subjectivity
The real issue here is that the words "better" and "best" are subjective terms. People have different requirements and preferences upon which they form very different opinions. There are very few absolutes.
Law #5: The Law of Focus
This is one of my favorite chapters. The Law of Focus says that "the most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect's mind." This law challenges us to boil our marketing message down to just one idea. If you can teach your market segment to associate your product with a single idea, perhaps even a single word, you can be a market leader.
Count Your Words
When entrepreneurs ask me for advice, I usually ask them to explain their product in 25 words or less.
Crafting Your Message
It's okay to have more information handy. Datasheets and whitepapers are great. Once people get interested, they will probably want all the detail you can provide. But for first impressions, you should tell the world only one thing about your product. You can use 2-3 words as long as you are not trying to sneak in extra ideas. Usually, you need only one word. But which word to pick?
• Pick a reasonably common word out of the dictionary. It should be a word that everybody understands. Don't invent a new word that nobody has ever heard.
• Don't try to associate your product with a word in the customer's mind if that word is already associated with your competitor.
• Don't pick the word "cheap" or any of its synonyms. Very few businesses can thrive while making low price their primary message. Wal-Mart is one of those businesses. Your small ISV is not.
• Don't pick the word "quality" unless you can prove that you care about quality a lot more than everybody else. As Ries and Trout say, "everybody stands for quality. As a result, nobody does."
Law #6: The Law of Exclusivity
The Law of Exclusivity says that "Two companies cannot own the same word in the prospect's mind."
It's time to face the facts. Some of these laws seem to have more punch than others. For example, I find the Law of Focus to be a concept with a lot of impact. It's very counter-intuitive, and yet very powerful.
Other laws here seem almost, well ... obvious. These other laws don't seem to deserve their pages quite as much as the great ones like the Law of Focus. I speculate that for some reason, Ries and Trout wanted exactly 22, so they kept adding laws until they got the right number. Too bad. If they had stopped at 21 they could have used some sort of a blackjack theme.
The Law of Exclusivity would have been a candidate for removal. It is fairly intuitive to me that two companies cannot have the same market position.
Still, let's not dismiss this law too quickly. After all, obviousness is not always a reason to ignore a topic. It is obvious that we should all eat better and exercise more, but we don't.
Similarly, marketers do routinely find a way to violate this law. They do a Smart Thing by following the Law of Focus and choosing one key benefit around which they build their product message. Then do a Dumb Thing by choosing the same benefit as somebody else. Almost invariably, they end up beating their head against the wall in futility. It is obvious that we should not try to beat somebody else at their own game. And yet, we often try.
Law #7: The Law of the Ladder
The Law of the Ladder acknowledges that in most market categories, there is actually more than one available slot in the mind of the customer.
The Hierarchy of Categories
In our discussion of the previous laws, we have emphasized the importance being different, the important of finding a subcategory in which you can be #1. However, when you pop the stack frame up one level to the enclosing category, we find that you are ranked on a ladder among the other players.
Three Tidbits about Ladders
1. The mind of the customer can only remember a few rungs. Research indicates a maximum of about seven, and a more practical limit of about two or three. How many brands of toothpaste can you name? How many brands of cola? How many brands of automobiles? Some categories have more rungs than others.
2. The best strategy for you depends entirely on your ranking on the ladder. The right strategy for the #1 player is probably wrong for the #2 player, and vice versa. The authors cite the Avis rent-a-car example, where they gained tremendous results from simply acknowledging their status as #2. This example has been very much-discussed in the ten years since the book was
written, but it still rings with a bell of wisdom. Avis showed a lot of self-awareness. Customers respected that.
3. There is a typical mapping of market share onto ladder position. The authors claim that each rung on the ladder has twice the market share of the rung below it. These guidelines are obviously very rough, and all kinds of exceptions do apply. Still, when we see a ladder where the market share ratios are not even close to this rule of thumb, we are motivated to ask why.
Law #8: The Law of Duality
The Law of Duality says that "in the long run, every market becomes a two-horse race."
Young markets have many rungs on the ladder. They are highly fragmented. Gradually, as the market matures, players disappear and the market settles on exactly two primary players. Examples of this phenomenon are everywhere:
• Coke and Pepsi
• Canon and Nikon
• Nike and Reebok
• GM and Ford
• McDonalds and Burger King
It often takes a long time for things to settle down, but in the end, markets usually give people what they want, which is two strong choices. Buyers don't like choosing between ten or twenty players. It's too stressful.
A big reason for this effect is that most people don't make their own buying decisions. People tend to buy what somebody else is buying. Pragmatists buy something only after they see the Early Adopters buying it. Conservatives buy it only after the Pragmatists are buying it. Laggards buy it only when the peer pressure and ridicule is so severe that they look like absurd for not buying it. Market share begets market share, and the rich get richer.
Even as the market gets very mature, it will continue to tolerate the presence of more than two players. However, the top two will have the lion's share of the market. All other players are essentially in niche segments.
Once a market reaches this state, it will generally not allow #1 and #2 to move around. For example, the market will never allow the top two players to change positions. Burger King will never be #1.
Furthermore, the market will not allow #1 to get too far ahead. Just as markets hate having a ten-horse race, they also hate having a one-horse race. When #1 gets too far ahead of #2, the market will usually correct the problem.
Law #9: The Law of the Opposite
The Law of the Opposite says that the #2 player should generally do the opposite of what the #1 player is doing.
If you are #2 in your category, you want to be #1, right?
Wrong. You can't choose to be #1, but you can certainly choose to be #3 or #4. The worst thing you can do is to try and beat the #1 player at his own game. Instead, realize that not everyone in the market wants to play that game. Offer those people an alternative.
Law #10: The Law of Division
The Law of Division observes that over time, a category tends to divide and become two or more categories.
A new market category starts out very broad. For example, in the beginning of the automobile industry, the only category was "cars". Over time, categories break up into smaller and more specialized subcategories. Today, there are quite a few brands of car, each catering to a specialized niche.
This effect is an obvious and natural consequence of other laws. Each company will try to setup a new category in which it can be #1. Not all of these categories will end up becoming real, but some will.
This law is a good place to remind ourselves that Ries and Trout primarily consult for companies like Pepsi, McDonalds and General Motors, not for small ISVs. There is a bit of an impedance mismatch between their world and ours. Those companies do business in mature industries selling mass market consumer products. Those products are easily interchangeable. I can switch from Pepsi to Coke with no major costs associated with the transition and deployment. Categories split into subcategories over very slight differences in consumer preference. Brand building is absolutely critical. General Motors understands that some car buyers want to feel like they are buying something sporty, whereas others want to feel like they are buying something conservative. So, they sell basically the same car under the Pontiac and the Buick name, managing each of these brands very carefully. The underlying engineering is identical, but the message of these two brands is very different.
Law #11: The Law of Perspective
The Law of Perspective says that "marketing effects take place over an extended period of time", but the basic point of this chapter is that some marketing actions are negative in the long-term even though they seem positive in the short-term.
Short-Term Highs
The authors include an interesting discussion of sales and coupons in the retailing industry. They argue that these devices are like drugs – they produce a short-term high, but the only way to maintain the high is to keep going. Eventually, you have to "keep those coupons rolling out not to increase sales but to keep sales from falling off if you stop." I assume this is the reason that our local furniture store is always running a sale – they are afraid of going through withdrawal.
Law #12: The Law of Line Extension
The Law of Line Extension says that it is a mistake to take the name of one product and apply it to another. Companies do this often, but it basically never works. We think that the power of the brand will help sell the new product. Instead, the brand itself is tarnished. People start to get confused about what the brand means. Quite often it is necessary to kill the second product before it causes too much damage to the first one.
Law #13: The Law of Sacrifice
The Law of Sacrifice says that "you have to give up something in order to get something".
The cool thing about this law is that it's not automatically attractive. It makes you think.
The Law of Focus isn't like that. When people hear about the Law of Focus, the first reaction is to say, "Yes, yes, focus is good." People seem to forget that the word "focus" implies a decision about what you are not going to do. With the word "sacrifice", that particular implication is much clearer.
But in some sense, these two laws are the same idea with different expressions. There is power in focus, but to get there, we have to make tough decisions about what things we will not do.
Saying "No"
The Law of Sacrifice is all about saying "no" to opportunities. This skill is incredibly difficult to learn. I suspect that the only way to learn to say "no" is to experience the pain of saying "yes" too often.
Law #14: The Law of Attributes
The Law of Attributes says that "for every attribute, there is an opposite, effective attribute."
Fussy
There was quite an uproar from fans after the recent season finale for Star Trek Enterprise18. You see, the episode contained a serious error. One of the characters states that the year is 2152 when in fact, as every Trek fan knows, the current episodes take place in the year 2154.
I've heard several people say that this mistake ruined the whole episode.
I concede the mistake is silly, but come’ on -- the whole episode? Perhaps we need a bit of perspective. That date wasn't a central point of the show. It's a detail, and aside from the fact that it was incorrect, it doesn't matter.
Incidentally, guys, this is the reason why your girlfriend or wife doesn't like going to see movies with you. Nobody wants to watch a film with some anal-retentive dork who is ready and waiting to discard the entire film because the producers made a minor mistake in science or technology. Try to just enjoy the movie, or at the very least, shut your pie hole so that she can. (This tidbit of relationship advice is provided at no extra charge. ☺)
Marketing Books
Geeks like us are lousy at marketing for the same reason that nobody wants to see movies with us. Marketing books are written for big-picture thinkers. They contain broad sweeping generalizations which are only true most of the time. Guys like Ries and Trout don't feel the need for a lot of precision.
So a geek sits down to read this book. Somehow he manages to cope with the word "immutable" in the title, which is obviously a gross exaggeration. Somehow he manages to smile at the examples, which are now ten years out of date, especially the one about Lotus Notes. Somehow he manages to overlook most of the little imprecisions in the first 13 chapters.
Law #15: The Law of Candor
The Law of Candor says that "when you admit a negative, the prospect will give you a positive". As usual, the examples from the book are mainstream consumer products:
• Listerine did it when they acknowledged that their mouthwash tastes terrible.
• Avis did it when they acknowledged that they are #2.
• Volkswagen did it when they acknowledged that the "bug" is ugly.
Each of these companies gained a lot when they applied the Law of Candor. People respect the courage and honesty it takes to admit that not everything is perfect.
Being Genuine
The Law of Candor is another one which is simply not intuitive. Most marcomm people are terrified of it. Conventional wisdom says that absolutely everything in your marketing message must be positive. In fact, a primary function of the marcomm team is to sanitize all public statements ensuring that the company never says anything it does not want to say.
Credibility
Ignoring the Law of Candor can kill your credibility. Whatever your negative issue is, everybody already knows about it anyway. If you don't talk about it, then it will become "the elephant in the room". When you issue yet another sanitized press release, your customers eagerly read it, hoping to see some evidence that you have any self-awareness at all. They ask themselves, "Don't these people realize how awful their mouthwash tastes?"
As Ries and Trout say in the chapter, "Every negative statement you make about yourself is instantly accepted as truth. Positive statements, on the other hand, are looked at as dubious at best."
Law #16: The Law of Singularity
The Law of Singularity says that "in each situation only one move will produce substantial results".
We literalists will once again have to endure the authors' word choice. The above statement is almost certainly not true. ☺
And yet, Ries and Trout make two important points in this chapter, which I will paraphrase as follows:
• One bold stroke is much better than a bunch of small marketing efforts.
• Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing people.
Law #17: The Law of Unpredictability
The Law of Unpredictability says, "Unless you write your competitors' plans, you can't predict the future."
But that doesn't seem to be the main point of this chapter. What the authors are really saying is that long-range planning doesn't work. We can try to observe and follow trends. We can make big-picture predictions. But if we try to make detailed plans over the long term, our competitors will surprise us and those plans will end up getting scrapped.
Law #18: The Law of Success
The Law of Success says that "success often leads to arrogance, and arrogance to failure".
The basic point of this chapter is a warning to not let yourself get too far from your customers. Truly small ISVs may not need to worry too much about this, but the admonition is valuable nonetheless.
As companies grow, the CEO tends to get busy with other stuff. She doesn't spend much time "in the trenches" anymore. He goes to a lot of meetings and spends a lot of time working on the big picture. In the process, she loses touch with the customer.
Despite what the chapter says, I think this effect may or may not be rooted in arrogance. The root problem might be simpler and more innocent. Maybe the CEO simply let himself get too busy. It seems quite possible to become detached from the basic activities of the company without growing a big ego.
But either way, forgetting the customer is a fatal disease. Fortunately, this disease is also preventable and treatable. Don't let it happen to you. Even as your company grows, stay involved in the basic stuff, at least a little bit.
Law #19: The Law of Failure
The Law of Failure says that "failure is to be expected and accepted".
Nothing interesting ever happens unless we take risks. The authors encourage an atmosphere of risk-taking with a good discussion of why individuals tend to be afraid of taking risks.
The chapter also includes another important point: When you realize you've made a mistake, cut your losses.
It's just so hard to admit a mistake. Denial is a wonderful thing.
Law #20: The Law of Hype
The Law of Hype talks about the fact that "history is filled with marketing failures that were successful in the press".
This chapter talks primarily about new things which claim to make existing things obsolete. Such products tend to become darlings in the press, because the notion of breakthrough innovation is very attractive to readers. People love to read stories about things like the personal helicopter which was supposed to make cars obsolete several decades ago. So the press jumps on the bandwagon, stories get written, newspapers get sold, and people get excited. And they still drive their cars to work everyday.
What I love about this chapter is that it was written in the early nineties, before the Web, and it still rings amazingly true. The Web was supposed to obsolete almost everything. Today we can see that the Web has changed life in many ways, but most of the previous structures and systems are still with us.
Law #21: The Law of Acceleration
The Law of Acceleration says that "successful programs are not built on fads, they're built on trends".
Drawing their examples from mainstream consumer products, the authors observe the tendency for companies to overestimate short-term fads. When something new becomes big and hot, companies jump on the bandwagon, spending a lot of money doing so. They restructure. They invest in new equipment. They work hard to make themselves prepared to deliver products for the fad.
And then the fad stops, and the company is left with problems:
• "What am I going to do with all the olive green refrigerators and orange carpeting I bought just before the fashion changed?"
• "Oh, great -- I can produce fifty gazillion Cabbage Patch dolls per day. That'll come in handy now that nobody wants them anymore."
• "Darn it! I just bought a warehouse of fruit-colored translucent plastic, and now I find that the next iMac looks like a white desk lamp."
Fads accelerate very quickly, but often don't last long. Trends have a much slower acceleration but eventually run fast and steady. Chasing fads is expensive, so it becomes very
Law #22: The Law of Resources
The Law of Resources says that "without adequate funding, an idea won't get off the ground". The gist of the chapter is that marketing is very expensive and you have to be prepared to spend big bucks on advertising if you want to be successful, so you're going to need a lot of funding from your VC.
Preaching these ideas to small ISVs is like showing up at your local Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and telling everyone that a little red wine every day helps the heart.
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Uncertainty Avoidance
Uncertainty avoidance deals with a society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; it ultimately refers to man’s search for Truth. It indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising, and different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth; ‘there can only be one Truth and we have it’.
For example, in Germany there is a reasonable high uncertainty avoidance (65) compared to countries as Singapore (8) and neighbouring country Denmark (23). Germans are not to keen on uncertainty, by planning everything carefully they try to avoid the uncertainty. In Germany there is a society that relies on rules, laws and regulations. Germany wants to reduce its risks to the minimum and proceed with changes step by step.
The United States scores a 46 compared to the 65 of the German culture. Uncertainty avoidance in the US is relatively low, which can clearly be viewed through the national cultures.
http://www.clearlycultural.com/geert-hofstede-cultural-dimensions/uncertainty-avoidance-index/
see also:
managerial grid model
The managerial grid model (1964) is a behavioralleadership model developed by Robert Blake andJane Mouton. This model originally identified five different leadership styles based on the concern for people and the concern for production. The optimal leadership style in this model is based on Theory Y.
The grid theory has continued to evolve and develop. Robert Blake updated it with (?) in (?) (Daft, 2008). The theory was updated with two additional leadership styles and with a new element, resilience. In 1999, the grid managerial seminar began using a new text, The Power to Change.
Monday, 23 March 2009
Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Maps
Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Maps
Barbara Pease, Allan Pease | ISBN: 1566491568 | Publisher: Welcome Rain | 2000-06- 254 | English | PDF | 2.7 MB
The premises behind Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Maps is that all too often, these differences get in the way of fulfilling relationships and that understanding our basic urges can lead to greater self-awareness and improved relations between the sexes. The Peases spent three years researching their book–traveling the globe, talking to experts, and studying the cutting-edge research of ethnologists, psychologists, biologists, and neuroscientists–yet their work does not read a bit like “hard science.” In fact, the authors go to considerable lengths to point out that their book is intended to be funny, interesting, and easy to read; in short, this is a book whose primary purpose is to talk about “average men and women, that is, how most men and women behave most of the time, in most situations, and for most of the past.”
Malcolm Gladwell - Blink (2005)
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking is a 2005 book by Malcolm Gladwell, in which he explores the power of the trained mind to make split second decisions.
The author describes the main subject of his book as "thin-slicing": our ability to gauge what is really important from a very narrow period of experience. In other words, spontaneous decisions are often as good as—or even better than—carefully planned and considered ones. Gladwell draws on examples from science, advertising, sales, medicine, and popular music to reinforce his ideas. Gladwell also uses many examples of regular people's experiences with "thin-slicing."
Gladwell explains how an expert's ability to "thin slice" can be corrupted by their likes and dislikes, prejudices and stereotypes (even unconscious ones), and how they can be overloaded by too much information. Gladwell also tells us about our instinctive ability to mind read, which is how we can get to know what emotions a person is feeling just by looking at his or her face. He informs us that with experience, we can become masters at the game of "thin slicing".
Gladwell maintains that we "blink" when we think without thinking. We do that by "thin-slicing," using limited information to come to our conclusion. In what Gladwell contends is an age of information overload, he finds that experts often make better decisions with snap judgments than they do with volumes of analysis.
Gladwell addresses the questions about thin-slicing and gives a wide range of examples of blinking from the worlds of experts in gambling, speed dating, tennis, military war games, the movies, malpractice suits, popular music, and predicting divorce. Interspersed are accounts of scientific studies that partially, but never completely, explain the largely unconscious phenomenon that we have all experienced at one time or another in our lives.
Gladwell also mentions that sometimes having too much information can interfere with the accuracy of a judgment, or a doctor's diagnosis. The challenge is to identify and focus on only the most significant information. The other information could be just noise and can confuse the decision maker. Collecting more and more information, in most cases, just reinforces our judgment but does not help to make it more accurate. He explains that better judgments can be executed from simplicity and frugality of information, rather than the more common belief that greater information about a patient is proportional to an improved diagnosis.
http://depositfiles.com/files/5sggu8rsdOver Justification Effect (Greene)
The overjustification effect occurs when an external incentive such as money or prizes decreases a person's intrinsic motivation to perform a task. According to self-perception theory, people pay more attention to the incentive, and less attention to the enjoyment and satisfaction that they receive from performing the activity. The overall effect is a shift in motivation to extrinsic factors and the undermining of pre-existing intrinsic motivation.
In one of the earliest demonstrations of this effect, researchers promised a group of 3-5 year old children that they would receive a "good player" ribbon for drawing with felt-tipped pens. A second group of children played with the pens and received an unexpected reward (the same ribbon), and a third group was not given a reward. All of the children played with the pens, a typically enjoyable activity for preschoolers. Later, when observed in a free-play setting, the children who received a reward that had been promised to them played significantly less with the felt-tipped pens. The researchers concluded that expected rewards undermine intrinsic motivation in previously enjoyable activitiesLepper, M. R., Greene, D., & Nisbett, R. E. (1973). Undermining children's intrinsic interest with extrinsic reward: A test of the "overjustification" hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 28, 129-137.
http://depositfiles.com/files/jw6ranvt4
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