tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59224513191193267582024-02-19T07:56:25.697+01:00Lonely DonkeyStuff you may find interesting...Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-91585009923125963452010-06-09T22:32:00.006+02:002010-06-09T22:40:28.870+02:00What Motivates Us?<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Just the other day I had posted the review of some studies done by D. Ariely on the relationship between bonuses and performance. Today I found this great animation of some of the studies carried out in the field of motivation. Very fun to watch!</span></span></div><br /><object width="390" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/u6XAPnuFjJc&hl=it_IT&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/u6XAPnuFjJc&hl=it_IT&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="390" height="295"></embed></object>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-19844442881540524402010-06-09T11:07:00.009+02:002010-06-09T12:03:06.979+02:00Apple to Enter the Ad Business<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkyqpqWKy8-sAhRaCOFbjuLsheFJhCnPFBoPKO2xs8iGjm7Elme5Te-CuKRc5pNRu0qB3NU7Pd1j_QuSihDuPXWozTssE1-HVPPtToego8kZYbyozXcsXDm3azqHkCsY7oIETMxlUSLwo/s1600/apple_iad.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 125px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkyqpqWKy8-sAhRaCOFbjuLsheFJhCnPFBoPKO2xs8iGjm7Elme5Te-CuKRc5pNRu0qB3NU7Pd1j_QuSihDuPXWozTssE1-HVPPtToego8kZYbyozXcsXDm3azqHkCsY7oIETMxlUSLwo/s200/apple_iad.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480711319772308994" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Apple recently reached the 1 billionth app sold on its App Store. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> The lucky guy who downloaded the billionth app won a $10,000 iTunes gift card, an iPod touch, a Time Capsule and a MacBook Pro. That's a nice way of gaining fidelity from customers! More recently the iPad was released worldwide and in a few moths the new iPhone will hit the markets. In a few words this means that people are going to download more and more apps. That's why Steve & Co. must have thought that it was worth milking the cow in as many ways as possible: for example, by entering the ad business.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Nowadays developers already put advertisements into their applications, but that's done in a kinda goofy and frustrating way. Every time you mistakenly press with your finger on one of those stupid banners contained in the apps you are ripped out of the app and taken into the browser into a page that you could not care less about. The result, as mentioned by Jobs himself, is that people do not press on the banners.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Apple decided to develop a way in which it could be possible to see ads by remaining in the app. The ads are going to be interactive, emotionally engaging and very easy to develop. Steve jobs recently showed in a </span></span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7WVt63S49s"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC0000;">presentation</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> how the new ad platform is going to work; strangely enough the ad used for the demo was the ad for the new upcoming Toy Story 3 produced by </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Disney </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Pixar (Jobs sits in the board of directors) which as humbly admitted by Steve is "awesome" and "really good". </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Developers will get the 60% of the revenues from these ads; the rest will probably go into Apple's safe. Given the huge number of apps sold by the Cuppertino company this may be a good move. Moreover, this is going to help developers to make some money so that they will keep developing applications, ma</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">ybe make some money out of it and - most of all - prices wil remain reasonably low for consumers.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">If you are interested in learning more about Apple's (well, Steve's) vision of the future you can give a look at the videos of this year "All Things Digital" conference (covered by yesterday's Wall Street Journal). Here Steve talked about why he believes the iPad is the first step towards the end of traditional PCs and about Apple's idea to enter the ad business. Also present at the conference were other big fishes such as Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, James Cameron, Steve Ballmer, etc... . If you want to see the videos you can click </span><a href="http://d8.allthingsd.com/?mod=D8180jobs"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC0000;">here</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. Enjoy!</span></span></span></div>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-57657492326442176232010-06-07T22:00:00.007+02:002010-06-09T22:38:19.305+02:00Big Bonus = Better Performance?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzFBa3HcWKl3-4sT0s27sK3KDUHxZ7dAphcfT6w5gTQdKrjWOTQB6K4n61YsFM-G_n_bJ94z9Wg5YXca1m6bZypiLQYIMMEbywl1abSrDa1IPwiCOadd_XZuX5ed28851uaR8Pho0EAvk/s1600/TheUpsideOfIrrationality2-197x300.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 197px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzFBa3HcWKl3-4sT0s27sK3KDUHxZ7dAphcfT6w5gTQdKrjWOTQB6K4n61YsFM-G_n_bJ94z9Wg5YXca1m6bZypiLQYIMMEbywl1abSrDa1IPwiCOadd_XZuX5ed28851uaR8Pho0EAvk/s320/TheUpsideOfIrrationality2-197x300.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480132131674933282" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">What's the relationship between pay and performance? Is it wise to pay executives with incredible bonuses? Higher pay equals more motivation? Dan Ariely, professor at Duke University and author of "</span></span><a href="http://lonelydonkey.blogspot.com/2009/09/predictably-irrational.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Predictably Irrational</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">" and most recently of the new book "The Upside of Irrationality" tried to answer these questions (and many others) with one of his nice experiments.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Imagine the following experiment: you are given six tasks to perform. All the tasks require a mix "creativity, concentration, memory and problem-solving skills". Each task lasts for some minutes; all together they last for about an hour. In the first condition you are told that if you do very well in the six task you will get the equivalent of one day of compensation. In the second condition you are given two weeks of compensation. In a third condition you are given, instead, five months of compensation! </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Professor Ariely and his collaborators run this experiments in rural India (where the average person monthly spending is about $11). In this way they could perfom the experiment without "raising the eyebrows and ire of the university's accounting system", but still offer very meaningful rewards to the people involved.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The results showed that money can be a "double-edged sword". In fact more money are motivating you to perform better. But, this holds true up to a certain point. After a certain amount, big bonuses have a stressing effect: you feel like you have to give more but enter into a stressed state of mind and are not able to perform well anymore. As mentioned by Ariely in a </span></span><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127352130"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">recent interview</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> on his book: "</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">when it comes to creativity and problem solving and thinking and memory and concentration, it turns out you can't will yourself to higher level of performance. And instead, the high bonus actually got people to be very stressed." </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Therefore, according to Ariely's experiments, the incredible bonuses executives are taking would not lead them to perform better. If you want to find out more about the relationship discussed here and learn much more about the way in which irrationality governs our life give a look to Dan Ariely last book: </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Upside of Irrationality: the Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div></div>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-35583901457751866632009-12-26T22:07:00.006+01:002009-12-26T23:04:58.497+01:00This Post is About...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmyDdzfseY4oK4jPRvAuiucUFnxJuXhM3JvFU_AUv7wLh8xLXO3aHAq9occ8h1hZSeUM9kf6Ot4pae4cqTigwCCU0YvASubFwLvbWM7TFKH-sUFXbyDiZFAWHGkRB4aMBfYqTJiIn50M/s1600-h/06kiss.2_span.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 254px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmyDdzfseY4oK4jPRvAuiucUFnxJuXhM3JvFU_AUv7wLh8xLXO3aHAq9occ8h1hZSeUM9kf6Ot4pae4cqTigwCCU0YvASubFwLvbWM7TFKH-sUFXbyDiZFAWHGkRB4aMBfYqTJiIn50M/s320/06kiss.2_span.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419667875750902962" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Here is a nice and funny story I've read in P. Watzlawick's book "How Real is Real". It may be useful to describe the problems of intercultural communication, the various problems of "translation" that may occur when people coming from two different cultures are interacting. When a healthy meta-communication is lacking, misunderstandings like these may touch everyone. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">During the last years of World War II, a great number of American soldiers stepped on the English soil. This event granted the occasion to better study the effects of the penetration of one culture into another one. Among the various aspects investigated in this study was the one of courtship. It is funny to read the results of the study since it appears that both the American soldiers and the English girls were claiming that the other party was too explicit and wanted to get to quickly to the moment of having sex. How is that possible that both were making a similar affirmation? Here is what was found after some time.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Apparently, in both cultures the models of courtship (from the first glance to the moment of having sex) consisted in a series of about 30 steps. These 30 steps were the same in both cultures, but the problem was that they were positioned in different ways. Thus, for example, the kiss could have been the fifth step for the american guy, whereas it could have been the 25th for the English girl. Therefore, when the American guy decided to kiss the English girl (thinking that it was an extremely innocent gesture), she would think something like: "This pig is already kissing me!" Anyway, at this point she had to decide whether to run away or to get ready to have sex. If she went for the second choice the American guy would probably think: "Jesus, these English chicks are dirty!" </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Therefore that's why the two parties were blaming each other for being too "dirty". Can we blame any of the two groups? Of course not; it is the nature of the interaction that makes such things happen. If we make the error of taking one's point of view as THE point of view, we fail to understand a key point in how human beings should approach one another. Misunderstandings as the one described above do not necessarily happen only to people coming from different cultures. As I have mentioned at the beginning of this post, if meta-communication of any kind is missing the risk for mistaking others' intentions is always behind the corner. I am going to say something more about that in one of the next posts...</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-8620587530974963082009-12-09T18:38:00.004+01:002009-12-09T18:45:23.985+01:00COP15: What do People Say?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnDLGn54MMqUkYUdaMIfuJ-LtUbe9SUglCRpEsEDltr4FS9m2ue-nMSlcpIf_cQyIyM2pjfy3H2RuuwsqFVAJXrECO70kTFM1Tf-TeuK2Tz4ywIAk285hUd0Q8EjJKx8pYz-v47SrH7g/s1600-h/COP15_LOGO_A_S.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" 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Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">COP15 has officially started</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">. Great hope for what is being decided in Copenhagen. In the editorial office of the <i>Lonely Donkey Blog</i> I had a discussion with myself and decided that I had to post something about it. Everybody is jumping on the bandwagon! Actually , to be honest, I am not writing anything, only pointing at a couple of interesting links (in my opinion) discussing about the climate conference.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">1. <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/ariel-schwartz/sustainability/copenhagen-best-place-un-climate-change-conference"><b>Is Copenhagen the Best Place for the UN Climate Change Conference?</b></a> An article appeared on <b><i>FastCompany</i></b> where the author ask himself and his readers if Copenhagen is really the a good place to host the conference. Apparently Denmark is not that green; or maybe it is?</span>
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<br /><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">2. <a href="http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/what-is-china-saying-in-copenhagen/"><b>What is China saying in Copenhagen?</b></a> A blog entry taken from <b><i>Freakonomics Blog</i></b> written by <b><i>Stephen Dubner</i></b> disussing the role of China.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">3. <a href="http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15060638"><b>The Copenhagen Climate Conference. Green Enough?</b></a> A nice diary of what is happening at COP15 from <b><i>The Economist</i></b> website. Apparently the whole thing is less interesting that we would expect. (thanks to Simone Moriconi for the link)</span>
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<br /><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">4. <a href="http://blogs.ft.com/undercover/2009/11/political-ill-wind-blows-a-hole-in-the-climate-change-debate/"><b>Political ill wind blows a hole in the climate change debate</b></a> A little piece written by <b><i>Tim Harford</i></b> criticizing the approach taken by the world leaders.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Enjoy Responsibly! </span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">PS: a lot of noise is being made about this whole thing of lowering our CO2 emissions. Someone suggests that much cheaper and quick approaches are possible. I had written a post on this interesting approach. You can find it </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://lonelydonkey.blogspot.com/2009/10/alternative-solutions-to-stop-global.html"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">here</span></a></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<br /><span style="font-size:10pt;"><a href="http://lonelydonkey.blogspot.com/2009/10/alternative-solutions-to-stop-global.html"><span style=";font-family:";" ></span></a></span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span><p></p> Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-53222539809607128292009-12-06T13:47:00.003+01:002009-12-06T13:56:27.042+01:00Identity, Discourse and Organizations: Managism<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 150%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">In the </span></span><a href="http://lonelydonkey.blogspot.com/2009/12/identity-discourse-and-organizations.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">last post</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> I had promised to write a piece to make what I had written there a bit more concrete. Here I am! I want to discuss the implications of a certain type of discourse on managers’ identities. The managism discourse can be defined as: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top:12.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left: 35.4pt;text-align:justify;line-height:115%"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">An everyday discourse at the hearth of which is the belief that there is a distinctive managerial expertise based on a body of objective management knowledge which managers should apply to enable them rationally to design, maintain and drive organisational systems in the same way that expert engineers design, maintain and drive machines. (Watson, 2006)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:150%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 150%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Think about it: almost all management books, MBAs promotional material and similar stuff tend to advance a similar discourse. Let us analyze the possible implications. Watson calls </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">managism </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">an “operating faith”; he says that one function of it is to comfort people and basically give them the sense of security they need in order to cope with the complexities of the profession. Watson tells us how the rhetoric used by this promotional material works as many stories do: “it builds up anxieties in the reader and then implies that these anxieties will be overcome by the purchase of the product”. The product being the book or the MBA program.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:150%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 150%; "><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Anyway there is also a potentially dangerous side in the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">managism </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Discourse: it creates the idea that managers are very rational, cool, calculating and visionary leaders (better if equipped with an MBA from a top Business School). Managers are presented as heroes. This Discourse can therefore raise the level of expectations to an unattainable level making it very difficult to keep up with them. “And, of course, it demands [managers] that they prove themselves all the time by achieving more demanding ‘results’ ” (Watson, 2006). The results of not being able to cope with these expectations can be tragic (e.g.: stress, depression, suicide).</span></span></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:150%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 150%; "><o:p><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 150%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Sveningsson and Larsson (2006) suggest and interesting and alternative way in which managers may end up coping with the Discourses (of leadership): </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">fantasy</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">. In their article, they describe the interesting case of a middle manager whose actual inability to lead in a </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">transformational </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">way is compensated with a sort of “identity immune system” which makes him think that he is actually a transformational leader, despite what others think and say. Reality is compensated with fantasy. In describing the manager way of seeing himself Sveningsson and Larsson wrote: “</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">self-identity as a transformative and visionary leader has taken on the quality of fantasy, understood as an idea that is disconnected from current reality […]”.</span></span></span></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:150%;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">We have therefore briefly discussed the implications of the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">managism</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> Discourse on managers’ identities. Of course, one should also understand that, luckily, there is space left for choice. In fact, as discussed in the last post, there are many contradicting and competing discourses on which we can draw. People are still </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">active agents</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> and therefore are not completely constrained in their actions. As Watson (2006) writes “there is a mixture of choice and constraint”. Different people </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">make sense</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> differently of such texts, depending on their identities, past experiences, etc… Since there are many different Discourses, there is room for choice, but sometimes the space may not be enough we could say. In fact, I think that it may be very difficult to step away from certain Discourses when living in a certain world (e.g.: business world) where they are so dominating. The </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">managism </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Discourse is probably the strongest one and, I have to admit, that I also tend to be trapped in it when I think of the implications of undertaking a career in business. </span></span></span></p>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-32099564454586811462009-12-01T09:16:00.008+01:002009-12-01T19:51:44.854+01:00Identity, Discourse & Organizations<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7AeqvXT6NqeI1wYy1481gXkeDRqnP2MvvRXSjKude0wSHtv31Q99ft1VK2yCROrDWky20VcbJh8LwBT78bEK9LKZhdF1h-SN-IrHIemO1AM58D9qK1_UPfupE6HpOg8KvT7rf2LLppY8/s1600/equilibrium__fs.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7AeqvXT6NqeI1wYy1481gXkeDRqnP2MvvRXSjKude0wSHtv31Q99ft1VK2yCROrDWky20VcbJh8LwBT78bEK9LKZhdF1h-SN-IrHIemO1AM58D9qK1_UPfupE6HpOg8KvT7rf2LLppY8/s200/equilibrium__fs.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410340759463633202" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Common sense – derived from a strictly modernist understanding of the world - describes the individual as a fixed entity with a certain given and stable personality. In fact, identity has been classically conceptualized as a well defined and stable construct: the idea being that it stabilizes itself and never changes, except in exceptional circumstances, once one reaches adulthood.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A post-modernist approach would instead suggest that the individual is rather, using George Herbert Mead words, a “parliament of selves” or, using another metaphor taken from Karl Weick, an “ongoing puzzle that is undergoing continuous redefinition”. A process of never ending negotiation, of struggle is what therefore characterizes the “identity work” we need to engage in, in order to try to reach the necessary sense of perceived stability. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In fact, we try to make sense of who we are by drawing on various cultural/linguistic resources such as narratives and discourses. The assumption here, as discussed in another <a href="http://lonelydonkey.blogspot.com/2009/10/language-thought-and-reality_03.html">post</a>, is that language shapes the ways in which reality is constructed. This last point is easily understood if we consider how "we cannot know, think about or analyse the world without using concepts, language, [categories] and "frames of reference", which come from the social world that we are part of" (Watson, 2006). </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">For example discourses - understood as the historically contextualized collection of texts, logics and assumptions about something - can a have a more or less strong influence on the way we can plausibly think, or talk about a certain subject, on the way we enact reality and therefore make sense of ourselves. Various competing and contradicting discourses coexist at the same time and, almost certainly, none is going to offer a sufficiently strong grip in order to guarantee to the individual the comfort of a sense of coherence and stability. In fact, as humans we are better understood as strategic and situationally oriented: the specific context, the various ongoing projects, the competing discourses present at a given time and many other factors are going to influence the current sense of self and consequently how we make sense of reality. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">From an organizational point of view this is interesting because this continuous struggle to define one’s identity is going to influence and, at the same time, to be influenced by organizational life. For example, people’s <i>work orientation</i> – the meaning and attitudes toward work – are going to change over time together with what an individual is going to be willing to exchange with the organization: the inputs, the physical and mental effort, the responsibilities, willingness to accept risk-taking, acceptance of managerial control and so on and so forth. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Moreover understanding people in this more process-relational way may help us understanding how there is actually a limit to the extent of control that a manager can reach over the people working in the organization: it is in fact impossible to <i>herd the cats</i>, or to <i>control the uncontrollable</i>.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">To conclude, I think that the practical implications of this paradigm shift in how we conceptualize individuals are not to be underestimated. In fact, as we know, theories in social sciences tend to have the property of self-fulfilling prophecies: “If men define situations as real they are real in their consequences.”</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In the next post on this theme, in order to make what I have explained here a bit more concrete, I am going to analyze the implications of a certain discursive approach to management.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">PS: Most of Ideas for this post were taken from: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Tony Watson (2006) </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Organizing and Managing Work. </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Financial Times/Prentice Hall</span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-US" style="Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language:EN-USfont-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-74087259662163667202009-11-18T17:53:00.010+01:002009-11-18T21:41:37.705+01:00Don't Eat that Marshmallow!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqHRUoLNNwP16WNA4W4xXIZoxDvz0xC1yKkBoXo8ek7QvazgtGucVi1eueU9hfCdcsxY9jqMkIQ0_Ywa4iXR_g-S8ze3Mu1bm9GYfeN6SHq16-xHjd-wzvk5XX661o2fdGjV3aapk0_Y/s1600/20080310marshmallow.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 191px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqHRUoLNNwP16WNA4W4xXIZoxDvz0xC1yKkBoXo8ek7QvazgtGucVi1eueU9hfCdcsxY9jqMkIQ0_Ywa4iXR_g-S8ze3Mu1bm9GYfeN6SHq16-xHjd-wzvk5XX661o2fdGjV3aapk0_Y/s200/20080310marshmallow.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405501965148588338" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In Psychology related fields, some <b>great experiments</b> - yeah, I mean those strange tests performed by people wearing white lab coats - were carried out. Among the more interesting we can list Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment (1971), Milgram's Obedience Experiment (1963), Festinger and Carlsmith Experiment on Cognitive Dissonace (1959), Asch experiments on conformity (1950s) the more recent "jam tasting" Experiment by </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lepper and Iyengar (2000)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, and so on and so forth... These experiments were great because they were able to tell something about human nature in a very simple way.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Today I want to briefly describe one of these very famous experiments: <b>W. Mischel's Marshmallow experiment</b>; here is what happened. Children were invited in the laboratory and given a Marshmallow. Then the experimenter would tell the little kid: "Now I have to go away for some time. You can decide whether you want to eat your marshmallow now or when I come back. If you can wait till I come back I'll give you another one, so you can have two". Some kids would eat it right after the guy left the room, others tried for a while but could not resits the temptation. At the end, it turned out that only one out of three kids was able to wait the twenty minutes before the researcher would come back<b>. (if you want to give a look at how children behaved in a recent reproduction of the experiment watch the video below; it's hilarious trust me)</b>.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Now comes the interesting part. The children were tracked down years and years later and it turned out that those who were able to wait were on average more successful adults and apparently more intelligent (they scored, on average, 210 point higher on the SAT test) Incredible isn't it? From such a simple experiment it is possible to predict whether a child has more or less probabilities of being succesful. Self discipline - the ability to delay gratification in exchange for long-term goal achievement - would be therefore an important factor in determining people success (according to the experiment).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This example can be used to discuss an important aspect of our lives with which we have to deal on a daily basis: <b>self contro</b><b>l</b>. Think about it, how many times every day you have to deal with it? Here are just a couple of situations we find ourselves continuosly: shall I wake up and go to class or sleep another hour? Am I having another beer? C'mon another slice of cake is not going to kill me! (this was for girls) I can't eat out every day. I am spending too much! from <i>tomorrow</i> I'll stop! Yeah, I'll have another cigarette; the last one for today... I have to go to the gym... and so on and so forth... I bet you can recognize yourself in at least one of the examples I provided above. If not... Congratulations! ...or better: start enjoying life a bit more!</span></span></div><br /><object width="410" height="310"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/M0yhHKWUa0g&hl=it_IT&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/M0yhHKWUa0g&hl=it_IT&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="310"></embed></object>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-65192152674463958892009-11-15T18:59:00.005+01:002009-11-15T19:52:18.476+01:00Leadership and Orchestra Conductors<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Some time ago I had written a </span></span><a href="http://lonelydonkey.blogspot.com/2009/10/leadership-towards-paradigm-shift.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">post</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> on the paradigm shift we are assisting to in the world of leadership. It just happened to me to find this fascinating talk, performed by orchestra conductor Itay Talgam, on the lessons we can draw by simply observing the leadership style displayed by a certain conductor. </span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><object width="410" height="310"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/R9g3Q-qvtss&hl=it_IT&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/R9g3Q-qvtss&hl=it_IT&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="310"></embed></object>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-19419338744517976412009-11-12T23:23:00.008+01:002009-11-14T11:37:00.524+01:00From Experience to Transformation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbm9dBpkNzF2AMYKZ7FBUDiAEXldTqL7VSdpWsWihjOQvRgYQ4JbN7j8pCW4AxRGDztOHyEOE9z0-aPbPbiCP6UghCchIVJBaaUZsnivsSTXZo21FnhTaq_AI_HuxT530jGfwUeIG84Z4/s1600-h/experience.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 141px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbm9dBpkNzF2AMYKZ7FBUDiAEXldTqL7VSdpWsWihjOQvRgYQ4JbN7j8pCW4AxRGDztOHyEOE9z0-aPbPbiCP6UghCchIVJBaaUZsnivsSTXZo21FnhTaq_AI_HuxT530jGfwUeIG84Z4/s200/experience.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403347928666193490" border="0" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Today we have the great honor of having the first guest post here at Lonelydonkey! The author is my (almost homonym) friend </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Simone Moriconi</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. Enjoy!</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">For a firm, to create an experience means to make the product alive, to make its identity visible through a sensorial and emotional involvement of customers (Pine and Gilmore, 2000). We know that some product categories are suitable in nature for experience strategies</span></span><span style="color:blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">such as sport activities, travels, cars and motorbikes and so on…Some products and services have a real experience DNA. That means that after having used it, we remind that experience positively, we tell other people with fervour what happened to us and we keep those happenings in memory for a long time. The fact is that in our everyday lives we often find ourselves facing advertisings that present something as “true experience”. It is noticeable that a lot of companies just use this approach to enrich their value proposition, as every object or action could basically be “experientiable”. But we know that, for instance, it’s impossible to have an experience in using our hair shampoo, or wearing our brand new shoes. We can feel positive sensations but it’s not something that change us.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A real experience is a big change, it’s something that transforms us, since after having tried it we don’t feel the same as before. Furthermore, an experience is something absolutely specific, which is lived by a definite person in a well definite moment (Codeluppi, 2007). So, each experience is lived differently according to the single customer, since we are diverse, we have different mentalities, background and past occurrences. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Then, we must switch the concept: what a true experience must give is not a simple feeling, but a real </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">transformation</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> of the individual. According to Pine and Gilmore (2000) firms should create “</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">positive changes in the individual’s sphere</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">” (physical, mental, aptitude) through the development of strong and long-time relationships with customers. The more is possible to generate proximity with them, the more companies have the basis for building authentic experiences.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In business we find a lot of actors which don’t present their products as an experience, but actually offer it. Facebook is the most emblematic case: people have found new ways of communicating, playing, contacting friends and organizing meetings in a very efficient way (less time and less money). They spend their time doing different activities than before. Their life is no longer the same. They have been revolutionized by it. Is it not a real transformation? </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Another example is the university. Students start their studies at the early age of 19 and graduate at 24/25. University is their point of reference for at least three or four years of their lives. They enter in the process without having clear ideas on their future and they go out (luckily) with a job, or anyway with a precise idea of how their existence will go on. Academic and life experiences shape them, changing their view of the world and inserting them in a life-long network of people. Professors teach them how to analyse articles, books and speeches. They give them a method and new perspectives to evaluate happenings around them. Travels abroad and exchange projects catapult them in a completely new environment where they discover new cultures and languages. Universities transform students following them through an irreversible path of life. From this point of view, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">the student becomes the product</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> to be transformed, with all its strategic implications.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">However, it seems that few universities realized to have this huge potential so far. Some of them do a lot of communication activities and initiatives in order to involve students and grow them up - especially for what concerns contacts with companies and career opportunities - but none of them implement a complete and explicit strategy of experiential marketing. The guidelines of the Customer Experience Management suggested by Schmitt (2003) should be applied even by that big range of firms that provide experiences without having consciousness of that. And those that sell commodities should choose a softer line of communication in order not to create great expectations that they will never be able to fulfil. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">References:</span></span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin-left: 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Codeluppi V. (2007), “La dimensione spaziale della marca”, in M. Ferraresi, P. Parmigiani (a cura di), </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">L’esperienza degli spazi di consumo,</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"> Franco Angeli, Milano, pp. 11-18.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin-left: 18pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Pine B.J., Gilmore J.H. (2000), </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">L’economia delle esperienze</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">, Etas, Milano.</span></span></p> <span lang="EN-GB"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Schmitt B.H. (2003), </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Customer Experience Management</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">, </span></span><st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Hoboken</span></span></st1:city></st1:place><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"> John Wiley&Sons, NJ.</span></span></div></span>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-38697321326868694132009-11-08T23:48:00.015+01:002009-11-10T22:43:01.505+01:00Stumbleupon.com: the Definitive Solution Against Boredom?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLMQRAru6shePV4usw9XVj2nndJ276A-fzDDquvKcB8TXS9bh_E9OfP8RIz76oPu06Zh11TQRzJ-6IuIATzMY1G294bPNkSv9uhVkllXrRzr4lov919_BNO0o46cH6EnYMDvEJmc6zQs/s1600-h/stumbleupon_collage.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLMQRAru6shePV4usw9XVj2nndJ276A-fzDDquvKcB8TXS9bh_E9OfP8RIz76oPu06Zh11TQRzJ-6IuIATzMY1G294bPNkSv9uhVkllXrRzr4lov919_BNO0o46cH6EnYMDvEJmc6zQs/s200/stumbleupon_collage.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402583950500918834" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I am sure this has already happened to you: you are sitting in front of your pc and want to surf the web, but you have no idea on where to go... Inspiration is lacking... You start getting bored... You probably end up wasting time in Facebook by looking at pictures of people you barely know. Does it happen to you? Well, it happens to me! The interesting thing is: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I may have discovered the definitive solution against boredom. I mean, I haven't really discovered it, I just found it by chance. It is called </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Stumbleupon</span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. According to Wikipedia: </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">StumbleUpon</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> is an Internet Community</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> that allows its users to discover and rate Web pages, photos, and videos. It is a </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">personalized r</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">ecommendation engine</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> which uses peer and s</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">ocial-networking</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> principles."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Apart from the definition, what you get is simply a random walk through the web with the high probability of stumbling on something interesting. You can download the toolbar or simply go to stumbleupon.com and start by clicking on the </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Stumble!</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> button. Every time you click on it you are redirected </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">almost randomly <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">to a new</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> website. I said a</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">lmost randomly </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">because you can set your preferences (e.g.: music, art, culture, technology, etc...). When you stumble on a page you can rate it. You don't have to subscribe, but if you think you are going to use it more than once you'd better to, in fact if you start rating pages, after a while, you get more tailored results. I think it is definitely an interesting way to navigate the web; it allows you to discover pages you would never discover otherwhise. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Here are some of the sites I have found. Incredibly useless, but worth visiting:</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://www.questfortherest.com/">http://www.questfortherest.com/</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A wonderful little game. You just have to click around and try to understand what you can do. The aim of the game is to get the little men to complete the mission. Nerd satisfaction guarantee!</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://www.futureme.org/">http://www.futureme.org/</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Here you can write yourself an email and decide when you want to have it delivered. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://ml.hoogerbrugge.com/">http://ml.hoogerbrugge.com/</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I don't know what this site is about, but it is totally sick. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">...and many other nice (actually more useful) pages! Hope you can discover something interesting yourself. Enjoy!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px; font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-34979087782709963842009-11-08T11:19:00.005+01:002009-11-08T11:34:45.976+01:00Marriage: a Romantic view...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTWjaR7KgLTbz8pwAi5CcR4EZaBNMnhF5HKFEYlpMj7-K0aPKAyaKPVvmS8M3zs2x5awww11Xn5R7IclQ1ZSZa8BEu09Kuvtgh0bWjWtp32AO7bG0JKdvl72H4OmHiOJohl5ScqB7dI7w/s1600-h/marriagecontract.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 197px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTWjaR7KgLTbz8pwAi5CcR4EZaBNMnhF5HKFEYlpMj7-K0aPKAyaKPVvmS8M3zs2x5awww11Xn5R7IclQ1ZSZa8BEu09Kuvtgh0bWjWtp32AO7bG0JKdvl72H4OmHiOJohl5ScqB7dI7w/s200/marriagecontract.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401678388429586274" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 14px; font-family:Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:15.6pt;margin-left: 0cm;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Betsey Stevenson, economist at Wharton, shares her view on love (click</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span style="color:#333333;"><a href="http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/08/27/pm-stevenson/"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">here</span></span></span></a></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">for the full article):</span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:15.6pt;margin-left: 0cm;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">[...]</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Economists simply can't believe in one soulmate. There are too many people in the world and the odds of finding that one person in five billion are, well, you can do the math.</span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:15.6pt;margin-left: 0cm;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So if economists don't believe in soulmates, why do we think people get married?</span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:15.6pt;margin-left: 0cm;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Searching for a spouse is very similar to searching for a job. There is not one perfect job for each of us, but there are clearly better and worse jobs. So we hunt, for a spouse and a job. When do we stop? When the offer in the hand is better than the likely offer in the bush.</span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:15.6pt;margin-left: 0cm;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">At a wedding I see a relationship that is good enough to settle down and start investing in.</span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:15.6pt;margin-left: 0cm;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If you get a reasonable rate of return, investment in your relationship will make it truly better than any other relationship you could have. And that's why I listen to people's vows: to understand what they want out of their marriage or in economist-speak, what they are contracting over.</span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:15.6pt;margin-left: 0cm;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">How important are fidelity, loyalty, generosity, kindness? As an economist I think that a good marriage, like a good employment relationship, has shared vision, common interests, complementary abilities, and gains from specialization.</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">[...]</span></span></span><span style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:15.6pt;margin-left: 0cm;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Shall we really look at it from this perspective? </span></span></span></p></span><p></p></span>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-71404683425734021652009-11-06T20:21:00.008+01:002009-11-07T12:26:17.190+01:00If the World Were Perfect...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCyyhjNgdVT2sL0p3GryDIkvpMN79R7QvADNSvz5cap9_3wzaN5-vXeg0hSNZEVCQ3fBMvAcXAbfLKGZfICkvxTIBl-rLxmFSuXtZnUujGMS1aubnOK2lB3-etAjzqpqaKtSNMtlYzzj4/s1600-h/Groucho-Marx-Poster-Card-C10204491.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCyyhjNgdVT2sL0p3GryDIkvpMN79R7QvADNSvz5cap9_3wzaN5-vXeg0hSNZEVCQ3fBMvAcXAbfLKGZfICkvxTIBl-rLxmFSuXtZnUujGMS1aubnOK2lB3-etAjzqpqaKtSNMtlYzzj4/s320/Groucho-Marx-Poster-Card-C10204491.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401320550340310690" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;font-size:small;">"We should often blush at our noblest deeds if the world were to see all their underlying motives."</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">La Rochefoucauld</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"In science, as in love, too much concentration on technique is likely to lead to impotence." </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Peter L. Berger</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"Talking nonsense is man's only privilege that distinguishes him from all other organisms."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Fëdor M. Dostoevskij</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"This is the course in advanced physics. That means the instructor finds the subject confusing. If he didn't, the course would be called elementary physics."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Luis Alvarez</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Can we actually "know" the universe? My God, it's hard enough finding your way around in Chinatown."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Woody Allen</span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences." </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">W. I. Thomas </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception"</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Groucho Marx</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"A cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Dr Samuel Johnson</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"The future ain't what it used to be" </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be"</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Yogi Berra</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-13565228317541199322009-11-05T00:04:00.015+01:002009-11-05T10:21:47.693+01:00Applying Sensemaking: the Amadou Diallo Tragedy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSvTaudzzmMeXOYWO4TzBc1WghqPV5TfC6FJWHZMpffSSOZgQq-m1m7xINfMfep70e1GAoBLlxTiMHU1PQTnM2m5ezwuAc1C4iSK30_2pRQjKnlVfCYmmvsM_a8LWCONuG7D29jzvIFZE/s1600-h/diallohead2.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSvTaudzzmMeXOYWO4TzBc1WghqPV5TfC6FJWHZMpffSSOZgQq-m1m7xINfMfep70e1GAoBLlxTiMHU1PQTnM2m5ezwuAc1C4iSK30_2pRQjKnlVfCYmmvsM_a8LWCONuG7D29jzvIFZE/s200/diallohead2.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400409918356691410" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Yes, I know, I know: I had written that I was going to write only two posts on </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensemaking. </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">But the other day I was thinking: "Ok, I have written two very theoretical posts on </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensemaking</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. Wouldn't it be nice to try to write a more "applied" one?" So, I started to think about possible examples of "</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensemakin</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">g in action" and the famous story of the murder of Amadou Diallo came to my mind. I had previously read it in Malcolm Gladwell's book </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Blink</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, and I already knew Bruce Springsteen had written a song about it [</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">American Skin (</span></span></i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">41 Shots)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">]</span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, but it is anyway easy to find a description of the events in the internet. So, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I decided I would</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> try to briefly apply the theoretical points we have seen in the two previous posts (</span></span><a href="http://lonelydonkey.blogspot.com/2009/10/understanding-sensemaking-part-1.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">first</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> & </span></span><a href="http://lonelydonkey.blogspot.com/2009/11/understanding-sensemaking-part-2.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">second</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">) to the Diallo murder case to better understand how sensemaking works. Actually, the following case is a case where </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensemaking</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> miserably failed, or, better didn't work in the right way. Here's shortly what happened (</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">if you want a more detailed description of what happened you can follow </span></span><a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_149_24/ai_65910628/?tag=content;col1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">this link</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">February 1999. That night, four plainclothes officers of the NYPD were patrolling in the Bronx. Amadou Diallo, a 23 years old afroamerican guy, was outside of his building taking some fresh air. When the policemen noticed him, they thought that he was fitting the description of a suspect that had previously raped numerous women in the area. They stopped and got out of the car. Diallo, noticed these four big men coming towards him and probably got scared. They told him that they were police officers and asked to have a talk. He probably didn't believe them and started running inside, towards his appartment. Two of the four policemen started chasing him. As he was reaching for his door, he noticed the two guys approaching and pulled of his wallet out of his pocket . One of the two officers, noticing that Diallo was taking a black square object out of his pocket, started yelling: "He's got a gun, he's got a gun!". The two policemen, also scared, started fire. One of the two policemen, instintively backpedalling, fell off the stairs. The other guys, in the general mess caused by the yelling and the gunshots, thought he had been hit by a gunshot and opened fire too. After Diallo was lying death on the floor, the shooting stopped. One of the NYPD officers approached the Guinean guy to sadly discover that the thing he had taken out of his pocket was only a black wallet, not a gun. Diallo had thought that the four guys wanted to rob him or maybe wanted to show his ID card. 41 gunshots were fired, 19 hit the guy.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We can say that correct <i>sensemaking</i> failed in both directions. Both "parties", constructed and interpreted the situation in the wrong way. Take into consideration, that the whole event happened very very fast. For simplicity reasons I will analyze the case only from the NYPD department side (I will purposely try to avoid any judgment on the matter)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. So, the first important point to notice is, in my opinion, the situation (point 3: </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">enacted environment</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">) and how it interacted with the four policemen identities (point 1: the role of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">identity</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> in "deciding" through which lenses we see the world): they were in the Bronx, notoriously one of the most dangerous zones in NY. Moreover, the four policemen were already looking for a suspect. Therefore as they noticed Diallo outside of his door, they immediately thought he was the guy they were looking for. As we have seen in the last post on the topic, sensemaking is </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">f</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 22px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">ocused on extracted cues</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> (point 6):</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 22px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">a</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> black guy standing out of a bulding in the Bronx doing nothing in the middle of the night. In an</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> immediate retrospective analysis</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> (point 2) of the situation they thought that something was not right, so they decided to interrogate the black guy. The fact that Diallo started running as they asked him to have a talk, probably confirmed their beliefs (another <i>extracted</i> <i>cue</i> on which they focused on in making sense of the situation). The fact that they thought that the "black thing" Diallo was taking out of his pocket, and later, when the police officer fell off the stairs, that he had been shot, are two other elements going in the same direction of the previous one (</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">extracted cues</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">). You can also notice how all the other points that I haven't mentioned so far played a role: the social stereotypes about black people living in the Bronx surely influenced how the whole situation was </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">enacted</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. Also the idea that sensemaking is </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">driven by plausibility rather than accuracy </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">is quite evident and doesn't need to be commented. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">So, I hope that with this example I have been able to give a quick flavour of how the theory I had presented on sensemaking can be applied to reality. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Of course, the analysis I just suggested is very personal and superficial, but the aim of this post was not to offer a detailed analysis of a very complex case, but rather to offer an example of how the concept of sensemaking is useful in interpreting situations. If you are interested in such themes, and would like to read more, you can read K. Weick's analysis of the Mann Gulch disaster (a big fire in which 13 smoke jumpers lost their lives). In </span></span><a href="http://projects.ischool.washington.edu/mcdonald/courses/insc598_wi04/supplement/weick-mann.gulch.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">the article</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> he provides a thorough analysis of the case and shows why and how </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensemaking</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> failed in that occasion.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></div>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-36910086616144654732009-11-03T21:46:00.005+01:002009-11-03T23:19:37.698+01:00Understanding Sensemaking, part 2<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxOPXEJdfOJBKAetqNmP7OU36Tw7wP3t6N4ZSFfSGaHpMh43pMDA2khfc3H1a2okrwdF7LrEfINpge1CxYWe4FdeOm2920DbMKTEwFJCRdHIUQxRzLDh3p9gMCGBT-gGb9xA6CXrQ7TDE/s1600-h/Chimpanzee_thinking_poster.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 156px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxOPXEJdfOJBKAetqNmP7OU36Tw7wP3t6N4ZSFfSGaHpMh43pMDA2khfc3H1a2okrwdF7LrEfINpge1CxYWe4FdeOm2920DbMKTEwFJCRdHIUQxRzLDh3p9gMCGBT-gGb9xA6CXrQ7TDE/s200/Chimpanzee_thinking_poster.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399981792261035506" /></a><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In </span><a href="http://lonelydonkey.blogspot.com/2009/10/understanding-sensemaking-part-1.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> this previous post</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, we discussed the idea of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensemaking</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> and how this concept is different (in some aspects) from the concept of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">interpretation</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. Now, in order to really grasp the meaning of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensemaking</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> we need to explain its seven distinctive features:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">1. G</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">rounded in Indentity Construction: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">w</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">hen we define a situation and interpret it we do it according to who we are and how we see ourselves. Our identity (identities) influences how we interpret the world. "I make sense of whatetever happens to me by asking, what implications do these events have for who I will be? What the situation will have meant to me is dictated by the identity I adopt in dealing with it" (Weick, 1995). Therefore we "decide" which aspects of reality are relevant and then interpret it according to who we are.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">2. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Retrospective: </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">time is basically a pure duration, a </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">stream of experience</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, it has no end nor a beginning. It flows. When time takes the form of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">distinct events </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">that have a beginning and an end it is because we are interpreting it. It is like if we step away from it and look at it from an observer position. Therefore the direct implication of this is that the creation of meaning is a process that can only be </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">retrospective</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">3. Enactive of Sensible Environments</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">: the idea of this point is that reality is not already defined, we define it. We decide what are the aspects of it that are part of our interest. We produce the environment we face. Reality is not something that is out there, it is mainly defined by ourseleves. Again, our mental schemes, our culture, our identiy influences what are the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensible environments</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">to be </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">enacted. </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">But, it is important to be aware that </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">we</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> have defined those environments and that, therefore, we have defined the limits of the situations.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">4. </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Social: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">the way in which we see the world is socially defined. Basically, we can summarize this point with Donne's expression "No man is an island". In fact, there is no way in which we can think, speak or act without being influenced by culture/society.</span></span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">5. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Ongoing: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">here, again, the idea is that </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">pure duration </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(time) never stops flowing. "People are always in the middle of things, which become things, only when those same people focus on the past from some point beyond it" (Weick, 1995). German philosopher M. Heidegger, created the concept of </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">thrownness </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">to describe the idea that we find ourselves thrown in the middle of ongoing situations. The idea is also that we are in the middle of different competing things (called projects); how we see the world in a given moment is determined by these projects. Therefore, sensemaking doesn't have a clear beginning, nor a clear end and is strongly influenced by emotions.</span></span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">6. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Focused on and by Extracted Cues</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">: we extract "elements of analysis" (cues) from the experience we are leaving and then focus on these elements to "perform" our interpretative work. Weick writes, "extracted cues are simple, familiar structures that are seeds from which people develop a larger sense of what may be occurring". Context influences what is extracted as a </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">cue</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">and also how it will be interpreted.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">7. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Driven by Plausibility Rather Than Accuracy:</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> The idea here is that, in order to make sense of reality, we do not need to have all the necessary "data". We only need enough of it in order to get to our conclusions. Therefore, the precedence is given to satisfaction and plausibility rather than perfection and accuracy. This is also because of our </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">bounded rationality, </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">we can't, in fact, store and later elaborate all the information available. We have to filter information and with what we got we create plausible realities.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Ok, now we have know all the elements of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensemaking</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> (hooray!!). At this point, we can continue with the exercise that I proposed in the <a href="http://lonelydonkey.blogspot.com/2009/10/understanding-sensemaking-part-1.html">previous post</a> on the topic and refine it with the newly acquired categories. Try to notice, for example, how your identity (at a given time) influences how you build and later interpret a situation (point 1); Try to appreciate how reality is a shapeless thing and how you desperately and continuosly strive to define it and extract cues on which to focus (points 3 and 6), and so on and so forth... With all the points in place, if you really exercise, your ability to understand the phenomenon will grow significantly. It is working with me so far!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A little summary</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">: the idea is that we live in a senseless and shapeless reality. It is not exactly something that is out there ready to be objectively described. We live in a "stream of experience".</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Reality is </span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">enacted: </span></b></i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">it emerges from an ongoing interpreting and updating of our past experience that is inevitably influenced by our social selves (social identity) and by the context itself.</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> This is </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensmaking<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">!</span></span></i></span></div>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-56108366862786840902009-11-02T23:18:00.013+01:002009-11-03T18:07:37.538+01:00Why are We Happy?<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Moreese Bickham spent 37 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He later got exonerated through DNA evidence. He commented: "I don't have one minute's regret. It was a glorious experience." Glorious experience?! How is that possible?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Daniel Gilbert, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, tries to answer this and other similar questions in order to investigate on the secret of happiness. </span></span></div><br /><object width="410" height="310"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LTO_dZUvbJA&hl=it&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LTO_dZUvbJA&hl=it&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="310"></embed></object>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-65342130144576979852009-10-31T22:26:00.020+01:002009-11-02T22:05:50.909+01:00Corporate Lingo<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT_3zP0kbiBQIophDRGtUsVvNU70SZRnD9voHUE9J4V5hRiSlyTv0A9F-e0pTZTxnexmeJyoG7F6nns91KuPNkBC77CxJt2udCKMxp9YEm1nzW8oFW4encKNXxEwm4FNM52NAU9NmQm9s/s1600-h/corporate_jargon.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 353px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT_3zP0kbiBQIophDRGtUsVvNU70SZRnD9voHUE9J4V5hRiSlyTv0A9F-e0pTZTxnexmeJyoG7F6nns91KuPNkBC77CxJt2udCKMxp9YEm1nzW8oFW4encKNXxEwm4FNM52NAU9NmQm9s/s400/corporate_jargon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398896149563023938" border="0" /></a><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Managerial Pseudo-Jargon:</span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> a form of language widely used in corporate settings which is neither a jargon in the sense of the specialised language of a group of experts nor a jargon in the sense of meaningless verbal noise making but which uses metaphors and expressions which tend to make organisations sound more solid than they really are and make managerial work sound more "special" activity than it actually is. (Watson, 2006)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ok, every profession has its specific jargon: doctors, lawyers, plumbers and sailors (probably also prostitutes have one). Therefore, also managers, and corporate people in general, deserve this right. But, I have the impression that the managerial jargon is not really necessary as others may be. Many things could be said in "normal" languague, but probably they wouldn't sound as cool. Probably, one of the main functions of this way of speaking is to discriminate between those who are "in" and those who are "out"; therefore a </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">signalling</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> function. Or maybe, as pointed out in the quotation at the beginning, to make things sound more solid and special than they actually are. Anyway, this time I don't want to enter into any philosophical question about the managerial jargon, I just want to make fun of it (Ok, I am probably going to use it myself in my career, but who cares for now). I surfed the web to look for lists and definitions of the most common business terms (if you are studying a business-related topic or if you're already working in any type of business environment you'll know most of them) and collected some here (there are thousands, I have taken the ones I liked the most). Enjoy!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The following are taken from </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;"><a href="http://www.buzzwhack.com/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.buzzwhack.com/</span></span></span></a></span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Absolutely:</span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Over-enthusiastic, over-affirming four-syllable response used in place of a simple "yes."</span></span></span></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Adhocracy:</span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> An organization with little structure run by creating a series of temporary cross-functional teams to do specific tasks. Depending upon execution, the result is either efficient problem-solving or utter chaos.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">B2B:</span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Business-to-business was too traditional sounding. B-to-b was too clunky. But B2B is way-cool and much easier to work into headlines and ads.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">B2C:</span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> The abbreviation insanity continues. Now we have Business to Consumer.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Best practices:</span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> A term bandied about in business management circles and describes business tactics (and strategies) used in successful companies. The term, however, can be misleading. While "best practices" seems to imply success, they may have nothing to do with the actual success of the company.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Cannibalism:</span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> When a new marketing channel steals business from existing channels without adding new growth. While this is a legitimate business concern, it</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">'</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">s downright frightening to the executive whose bonus is tied to the </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">old</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> channels.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Empowerment:</span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> The corporate mantra of the late '90s used to deceive subordinates into believing they actually were allowed to think and make decisions on their own.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">First mover:</span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> In business, it’s the company that gets its new innovative product or service (or solution) to market first. Supposedly, this gives them a "first-mover advantage" and the opportunity to dominate the market </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">making it difficult for others to compete against them.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Leveraging our assets:</span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">T</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">his </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">probably </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">meant something</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> once</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, but today EVERY COMPANY seems to leverage its assets. Doesn't it make sense that a company would put its resources, whether it's money, location or talent, to best use in order to make a profit</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">?</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Out of office:</span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> The annoying subject line of auto-reply e-mail that announces everyone else is on vacation </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">or at a cool conference </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">while you’re still slaving away at work.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Outshore:</span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> The practice of outsourcing a company's computer programming needs and development to a country where high tech labor is cheap (China and India come to mind).</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Rightsizing:</span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> A perversion of "downsizing," meant to showcase the wisdom acquired by the "sizer" since his/her last foray into the re-scaling jungle.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Win/win:</span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> A fascinating business concept that somehow eliminates the "loser" in any deal or project. Loose translation: "This really works for us and we all pray it works for you, too."</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The following are taken from </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;"><a href="http://www.mainframe.org/humour/various_corp_lingo.htm"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color:blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.mainframe.org/humour/various_corp_lingo.htm</span></span></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">must be deadline oriented: </span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">you'll be six months behind schedule on your first day.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">some public relations required: </span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">if we're in trouble, you'll go on tv and get us out of it.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">self-motivated: </span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">management won't answer questions.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">seeking candidates with a wide variety of experience: </span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">you'll need it to replace three people who just left.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">problem-solving skills a must: </span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">you're walking into a company in perpetual chaos.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">requires team leadership skills: </span></span></span></b><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">you'll have the responsibilities of a manager, without the pay or respect.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;" lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The list could go on </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">ad infinitum </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">with other terms and expressions such as </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Brain storming, Learning curve, Big picture, Benchmark, Downsize, Synergy, Walk the talk, Strategic fit</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">... </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 150%;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But I guess it's enough for the moment!</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></p></div>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-65185087385722465592009-10-29T21:57:00.015+01:002009-11-03T23:22:50.021+01:00Understanding Sensemaking, part 1<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfjHBhuBmIeirTHPvTyP0aFTF-EXSbBrGEH9CfRVd1Os3qKdnre5nwxaCliH2nc0AG8h9F5sDEIY8Jf0gBzq9CMkpdHFclCQtI2mLlNymuVD-8BRWoTyOCYVA2AjXNIHszI0lWP4swPiE/s1600-h/ThinkingMonkey.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfjHBhuBmIeirTHPvTyP0aFTF-EXSbBrGEH9CfRVd1Os3qKdnre5nwxaCliH2nc0AG8h9F5sDEIY8Jf0gBzq9CMkpdHFclCQtI2mLlNymuVD-8BRWoTyOCYVA2AjXNIHszI0lWP4swPiE/s200/ThinkingMonkey.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398169195170841666" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">n these days I am reading a book called </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Sensemaking in Organizations,</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> written by Karl E. Weick, professor of Organizational Behavior and Psychology at the University of Michigan. I am supposed to read this book for a class I am following here in Copenhagen, but I am, anyway, getting more and more interested in the phenomenon of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensemaking</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> (apart from the necessity to read the book for the exam!). I have to admit that I am having a hard time understanding the book, because it is pretty dense and complex, so that's why I decided to write a post about it: it may be a good exercise for me (so I understand if I have understood) and a nice reading for you (hopefully). The phenomenon described in this book - </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensemaking</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> - is an activity we are continuosly engaging in (on a more than daily basis I would say); so that's another reason for the legitimacy (and usefulness) of this post. In order not to make the post boring, I will try to be very concise and therefore explain only the basics aspects of the concept. I will split the discussion in two posts: a first one where in which I will define the concept and a <a href="http://lonelydonkey.blogspot.com/2009/11/understanding-sensemaking-part-2.html">second one</a> in which I will explain the seven distinctive features of this phenomenon (always according to K. weick).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">So, let's start with some definitions: </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Sensemaking</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> is, in plain words, the process of giving a sense to reality. The idea is that we live in a continuos "stream of experience" that has no meaning in itself. It only gets a meaning when we attach one to it. Therefore, we place the various stimuli which reality offers into a given framework of understanding. We create cognitive maps of an environment we wouldn't otherwise understand.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A useful way to better appreciate the concept of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensemaking</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> is to differentiate it from the similar notion of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">interpretation</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. The difference between these two concepts is subtle and difficult to understand, but if you manage to get it, it probably means that you have truly understood the meaning of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensemaking</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. Interpretation involves the existence of an object that has to be interpreted. The object to be interpreted is, anyway, already given, it already exists. You interpret a situation, a text, an affirmation, and so on. </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Sensemaking,</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> instead, also adresses how that situation, is built. Weick (1995) writes: "the concept of sensemaking is valuable because it highlights the invention that precedes interpretation." Interpretation is a component of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensemaking</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, but the latter is also about how the situation is built. The assumption here is that we define reality. </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Sensemaking</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> is about "authoring as well as reading"; whereas, interpretation is only about "reading". </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Therefore, we can summarize the forementioned ideas by understanding how "people make sense of things by seeing a world on which they already imposed what they believe." With this quote we can well understand how </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensemaking</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> implies the construction of a given reality and the subsequent interpretation of it. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In the <a href="http://lonelydonkey.blogspot.com/2009/11/understanding-sensemaking-part-2.html">next post</a>, as mentioned above, we are going to dig deeper and discover the seven distinctive features of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sensemaking</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. In the meantime, as an exercise, you can try to start to pay attention to when your are involved in making sense of situations: think about something that happened to you recently, try to understand how you made sense of it and pay particular attention to how you have defined the situation (and also try to understand if that was the only way in which you could have defined it). After some exercising (I am also doing it in these days) you will become more acute and attentive to these processes. Moreover, you will also be able to understand when other people involve in <i>sensemaking</i> and, last but not least, you will be able to better appreciate the <a href="http://lonelydonkey.blogspot.com/2009/11/understanding-sensemaking-part-2.html">next post</a> on the topic.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-59825789648245173002009-10-24T18:36:00.020+02:002009-10-27T18:36:17.886+01:00Alternative Solutions to Stop Global Warming?<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg67H5eJIgkDYRmAbWXMRoIvpo23Wix5LsZToP2aYF1ddgZdAJEBnDwz8poELMs2xmOTG11q9bff-ECiOBiDUgEbCPMd_c-zWQEp2n6OQiMhaUhI3S4unovjQnwauSbp4WYB_YbHbT76pM/s1600-h/599px-The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg67H5eJIgkDYRmAbWXMRoIvpo23Wix5LsZToP2aYF1ddgZdAJEBnDwz8poELMs2xmOTG11q9bff-ECiOBiDUgEbCPMd_c-zWQEp2n6OQiMhaUhI3S4unovjQnwauSbp4WYB_YbHbT76pM/s200/599px-The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396222005880098418" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner, authors of <span style="font-style: italic;">Freakonomics</span> and now of <span style="font-style: italic;">Superfreakonomics</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>(published a couple of days ago), are always able to spread strong controversy with their writings. In <span style="font-style: italic;">Freakonomics</span> it was the case of Levitt's famous study claiming that the significant reduction in crime that the US witnessed in the nineties was mainly due to the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Roe vs. Wade</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"> law that authorized abortion (I had written a post on this research, you can read it <a href="http://lonelydonkey.blogspot.com/2009/09/effect-of-abortion-on-crime-rates.html">here</a>). You can imagine how a similar statement was taken by certain political/religious groups. This time, with </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Superfreakonomics</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">, they managed to create a new, possibly harsher, debate on the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">hot</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"> (allow me to use this term) theme of global warming and climate change. In this chapter, always using their economist lenses, they discuss the various implications of the phenomenon, therefore the "the risks, uncertainties, misperceptions, and proposed solutions" (Freakonomics blog) to Global warming.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">In the chapter, Levitt & Dubner discuss about the various difficulties in reducing our carbon emission significantly. It would take many and many years, they say, and the costs of trying to reduce the emissions would be huge ($ 1 trillion per year they say). Moreover, "even the most sophisticated climate models are limited in their ability to predict the future, and [there is a] large measure of uncertainty in this realm, given that global climate is such a complex and dynamic system." (Freakonomics Blog). They also write that even if start reducing our carbon emissions today the Earth would continue to get warmer every day.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Therefore, given all these seemingly insurmountable difficulties, the solution of </span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><i>geo-engineering</i></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"> is proposed: basically trying to lower the temperature of the Earth by artificially decreasing it. Obviously, being economists, they did not invent this technique, but they give voice the ideas of different scientists. In their blog (where they are fighting the battle against the strong criticism following from their statements) they write:</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">"A much better approach, we conclude, is <span style="font-style: italic;">geoengineering</span>. The scientific evidence suggests that either the stratoshield [a technique that "involves the controlled injection of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere to cool ground temperatures"] or increased oceanic clouds [another strange technique to lower the Earth's temperature] would have a large and immediate impact on cooling the Earth, unlike carbon-emission reductions. The cost of these solutions is trivial compared to the cost of lowering carbon emissions — literally thousands of times cheaper! Perhaps best of all, if something goes wrong and we decide we don’t like the results of the stratoshield or the oceanic clouds, we can stop the programs immediately and any effects will quickly disappear. These two geo-engineering solutions are completely reversible." (Freakonimcs Blog).</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Now, the solution they put forward is at least interesting (also kind of complex to understand, let's admit it). But, it definitely goes against the mainstream line of thought and, obviously, this creates a strong debate. Ok, you may argue: proposing similar controversial themes also creates a lot of advertising for their book. But, apart from this considerations, I think that, when discussing about such important themes (like global warming), it is very important to really listen to all the different voices in the debate (if we want to enrich it). Otherwise we may end up running blindly in one direction without thinking about the possible consequences of that. In fact, on a purely intuitive level, it is easy to understand that lowering significantly our carbon emissions may be very difficult: more than two billion people (China and India mainly) are starting/have already started to have higher consumption levels and therefore the overall level of pollution is rising tremendously. I don't think they would be happy if we'd ask them something like: "Could you please stop developing so fast?" Therefore alternative solutions deserve to be, at least, taken into consideration without arguing that those putting them forward are terrorists!</span><br /></div><br /></div>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-59042114025522220862009-10-19T22:50:00.019+02:002009-10-19T23:21:04.071+02:00A Brilliant Lesson on Creating Value<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Advertising guru Rory Sutherland gives a brilliant and hilarious talk on creating value by changing our perception of the product, rather than the product itself. Please don't stop the video unless you have seen the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Shreddies </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">example towards the end of the lecture (from 12:00).</span></span></div><br /><object width="410" height="310"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/audakxABYUc&hl=it&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/audakxABYUc&hl=it&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="310"></embed></object>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-28406582905807840142009-10-17T21:48:00.017+02:002009-11-24T12:47:47.349+01:00Leadership: Towards a Paradigm Shift<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0oF6EkS40dv-lZpUxrMl9xPG8m7eWOR6i73RlwQ9hG7ZpBpjM26XBAlUYo1CDJPQ9dYPuyML6Liv6gAnm2Wl3P3fZeaILRaJnXLNClisK_57vaUoZA2or0d3u2vCy4UzkRoypm-LEAPw/s1600/leadership-risesmart.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0oF6EkS40dv-lZpUxrMl9xPG8m7eWOR6i73RlwQ9hG7ZpBpjM26XBAlUYo1CDJPQ9dYPuyML6Liv6gAnm2Wl3P3fZeaILRaJnXLNClisK_57vaUoZA2or0d3u2vCy4UzkRoypm-LEAPw/s400/leadership-risesmart.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407634856343800882" border="0" /></a>
<br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">According to M. Popper (2004), "The first modern attempt to formulate a theory of leadership appears to be that of the Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle (1841)". Carlyle, describes the leaders as the ones leading the masses, the ones who are responsible for cultural changes, the ones who make history. Leaders are prophets, heroes, martyrs, fighters and other similar outstanding figures. Outliers. We, mere mortals, cannot even think of being one.
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<br />The dominant (stereotypical) idea of a leader is precisely the one described above. Leaders are very rare individuals with even more rare attributes: they are able to transform and inspire people to become their followers. They have a vision and they change things dramatically. German sociologist, M. Weber called these leaders charismatic: they do not derive their power from legal sources (they are appointed as leaders because some law or regulation wants it) or customs (they are appointed as leaders because the tradition wants it), rather they are like that because of their traits, their characteristics, their charisma.
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<br />The reasons why we have this kind of implicit leadership theory (Schyns and Meindl, 2005) can be explained in various ways. The first, more evident, one is the fundamental attribution error (Ross, Amebile & Steinmatz, 1977). This bias refers to the fact that we tend to overestimate dispositional, personality-based explanations when trying to understand/explain someone actions, and therefore undervalue the influence of context. It is very difficult to understand how things really work, therefore we attribute the success of a given firm only to the CEO. Such phenomenon is called by J. Meindl the Romance of Leadership, describing the tendency to excessively attribute to a leader the success or failure of an entire organization. "In the absence of direct, unambiguous information about an organization, respondents would tend to ascribe control and responsibility to leaders with events and outcome to which they could be plausibly linked to (Meindl et al. 1985, cited by Jackson & Perry, 2008). It is a mental shortcut, in fact it would be definitely too difficult (if not impossible) to investigate and try to understand the complexity of a given chain of events. Media also play an important role in creating such figures. They need them to attract our attention and we need their narratives to better understand reality. These narratives are made of heroes crafting events. There is no space left for circumstances, structural forces and so on.
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<br />Anyway in the last years, some scholars have been trying to promote a paradigm shift in the discourse (as meant by Foucault) of leadership. A discourse defines and thus limits the ways in which a topic can be plausibly reasoned and/or talked about: hundreds of years, books and university courses describing leadership in a certain way have shaped our way of thinking about the topic. As written above, the classic, hegemonic view on leadership tended to promote the idea that leaders are people with larger-than-life personalities, capable of changing people's mind with their charisma, communication abilities, and so on and so forth.
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<br />J. Badaracco, though, challenges this view. In fact, he speaks of quiet leaders as those people who lead behind the scenes in a silent way we can say. He writes: "over the course of a career spent studying management and leadership, I have observed that the most effective leaders are rarely public heroes. [...] They move patiently, carefully and incrementally. They do what is right - for their organizations, for the people around them, and for themselves [...]" (Badaracco, 2002). So leaders, according to Harvard professor Badaracco, are not those people (e.g.: CEOs & co.) constantly standing in the spotlight making dramatic decisions for their blind followers. They are normal people. A similar concept, critical to the classic idea of leaders, was also put forward by Jim Collins in his book Good to Great (2001). In his study of various successful US organizations over several years, he concludes that: "these CEOs represented the antithesis of the charismatic and narcissistic turnaround kings who were held up as the archetypical CEOs during the financial booms of the 1980s and 1990s." (Jackson & Perry, 2008).
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<br />This new way of thinking about leaders may not take into consideration the whole truth. In fact, we definitely have and need "classic charismatic leaders", but it is useful to counterbalance the more traditional approach with a more quiet view on the phenomenon. The idea that you don't necessarily need to have an extra strong personality to be a leader is definitely intriguing. The understanding of the fact that those who are defining the game may be playing off stage is even more attracting and encouraging in today's mediatized world, where if you're not in the media you don't exist. This and other critical approaches to leadership are therefore very useful in widening and deepening our understanding of this very complex and interesting social phenomenon.
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mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:";font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span> Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-75334188950579666752009-10-17T16:19:00.017+02:002009-10-17T18:55:51.457+02:00Did You Know That...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPwuxHw20OQn7Ik8LwL2zjZzasEK3D7ab2YsvGiq8fNJ0EjVej6CszMGBcVuDYXWsBj687rJuJgRMrpSTDxg7vDlAQBjZrh3P2p2wwyVQMRg72iRL_IetpB4ZbvrnOW4ozd1qfgr5vK2g/s1600-h/040109.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPwuxHw20OQn7Ik8LwL2zjZzasEK3D7ab2YsvGiq8fNJ0EjVej6CszMGBcVuDYXWsBj687rJuJgRMrpSTDxg7vDlAQBjZrh3P2p2wwyVQMRg72iRL_IetpB4ZbvrnOW4ozd1qfgr5vK2g/s320/040109.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5393611936882016738" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >More or less:</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" > </span><ul><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">there are 31,000 McDonald's in the world,</span> </span></li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">20 hours of video are posted on YouTube every minute,</span> </span></li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">5 babies are born every second,</span> </span></li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">2 persons die every second,</span> </span></li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Micheal Jackson's </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Thriller </span><span style="font-family:arial;">sold 110 million of copies,</span> </span></li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">32,000,000 people are infected with HIV,</span> </span></li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >o<span style="font-family:arial;">ver 3 billion people live on less than $ 2.50 a day,</span> </span></li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">there are 16,100 Starbucks in the world,</span> </span></li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">300 million people are on Facebook,</span> </span></li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">almost 53 millions of cars were produced in 2008,</span></span></li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">if you google Google, you get 173,000,000 result in about 0.08 seconds,</span> </span></li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">160 million copies of the IKEA catalogue were printed in 2006,</span> </span></li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">J. R. R. Tolkien's </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >The Lord of the Rings </span><span style="font-family:arial;">sold 150 million of copies (someone says only 100...),</span> </span></li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Almost the 25% of the world population has access to Internet,</span> </span></li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >almost 340 million of people are obese in the world,</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">painting <span style="font-style: italic;">No. 5</span> (1948) by American artist <span style="font-style: italic;">Jackson Pollock</span> was sold for $140 million,</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">10.4 billion male condoms were used worldwide in 2005,</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">the average American spends 9 hours a day in front of some kind of screen (Tv, Pc, Mobile phone, etc...),</span></span><br /></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">in 1917 Coke was already selling 3 million bottles a day,</span></span></li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >about 1,000 movies are produced by Bollywood each year,</span></li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >21.17 millon of IPhones were sold until today,</span> </li><li><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Martini was the most googled "cocktail" of 2008 (mojito following).</span></li></ul><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">...Last but not least: today I was supposed to spend some time studying, but I´ve spent an awful lot of time looking for these useless stats! ...That's the way the cookie crumbles...</span></span><br /></div><br /></div>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-60598673188598164662009-10-11T17:46:00.018+02:002009-10-11T22:28:46.213+02:00Obama, the Nobel Prize and the Power of Symbols<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgex4J_AMGkvQqciCglh58H3uze9fX9jxB9LN2ihxefnnvmW7FyguCQfVZg7NhkG-qedgGTFm6wtmTKQj_53-an4JmZTjec-M0OR5c0irsI25eU4LyHIrp4BfikJpyvGoTLWd_sB0yg924/s1600-h/shepard-fairey-barack-obama.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgex4J_AMGkvQqciCglh58H3uze9fX9jxB9LN2ihxefnnvmW7FyguCQfVZg7NhkG-qedgGTFm6wtmTKQj_53-an4JmZTjec-M0OR5c0irsI25eU4LyHIrp4BfikJpyvGoTLWd_sB0yg924/s200/shepard-fairey-barack-obama.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391430371367850690" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Friday Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel peace prize for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy". The general reaction was one of astonishment. Let's admit it, nobody was really expecting it! According to experts, Obama wasn't even in the list of the favorites. Lots of people are still trying to understand what was passing through the heads of the Nobel prize committee when they decided to give the prize to Mr. Obama. Among the previous winners were big names like Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Mother Teresa, Lech Walesa, Henry Kissinger. They were awarded the prize mainly for their achievements, not for their good promises/premises.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />In today's Financial Times one could read that the prize was awarded "just after 263 days after taking office, triggering praise and incredulity across the world over a decision that rewards him more for promise than achievement". That's why everybody was amazed: "more for promise than achievement". Obama himself said the he was "surprised and humbled" by the decision and that he did not feel worth to be counted among the great figures that had previously won the prize.<br /><br />Now, I am far away from being an expert in such matters, that's why I tried to make myself an idea on why a similar decision was taken, and on what was the message that the Nobel Prize committee was trying to convey. I have read a couple of articles on the web, some blogs and various newspapers trying to understand how people were making sense of the extraordinary event. Overall, the reactions can be divided in two groups: those who are saying "C'mon, wasn'it a bit too early?!" and those who are saying: "That's a good thing! The guy has a vision!". Here are three quotes that summarize the spirit of the interpretations that I found more interesting and more realistic (in explaining why the prize was awarded to Obama):<br /><br />"Obama has been widely credited with improving America's global image after the eight-year presidency of Bush, who alienated friends and foes with policies that often aroused international ire like the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq." (Reuters)<br /><br />"Mr Obama, or his administration, has set in motion a process of having a nuke-free world, arresting climate change, diplomatically engaging countries belonging to what his predecessor called "axis of evil," building a true state of Palestine and putting pressure on Israel to end the Palestinian occupation, closing the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, and making human rights violators of the previous administration accountable for their wrongdoing." (Business World)<br /><br />"This is an interesting question for those who study signaling theory. [...] First, Obama has strongly signaled his plans for the future to many other world leaders. Second, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has signaled its belief in Obama’s follow-through skills. If he were a stock future, he would have quadrupled in price, split a few times, and quadrupled again, all overnight. If he were a horse, his odds would have been extraordinarily steep." (Freakonomics Blog)<br /><br />Probably the fact that G. W. Bush was the previous president of the US helped a lot! Anyway, the main aim of the committee was probably to give a strong signal to the world. I think that is the most likely and healthy interpretation. Obama is a symbol of change, novelty, hope, dialogue and peace. These are the values the committee wanted to reward. Anyway, apart from that, this decision is going to further increase the already unrealistic expectations in Obama's presidency. He has good ideas and prospects, but there's probably a limit to his abilities. And it will take more than a few weeks to understand whether he really deserved the prestigious prize. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">PS: You can obviously argue that he did not deserve it, that it is too early, that many others deserved it more, etc... </span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-20031073331184113252009-10-09T18:16:00.014+02:002009-10-10T12:37:52.011+02:00Amazon Kindle: What Would Gutenberg Say?<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; font-family:arial;"><span lang="DA"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">As I had written in a </span></span><a href="http://lonelydonkey.blogspot.com/2009/09/google-fast-flip-looking-for-new-ways.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">previous post</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, Google just released a new product in its labs: Google Fast Flip. The aim of the product is to change the way in which we read news on the web. Someone else, though, is trying to make a much more agressive move in trying to change our reading habits. As you may have noticed in fact, in these days (Christmas is coming?) we are assisting to a massive marketing push by Amazon in this direction. I guess you have already understood what I'm referring to: Amazon Kindle. The product has been around for quite a while now, but in these days a newer and cheaper version is being made available to the international market (more than 100 countries). In fact, until a couple of weeks ago Amazon e-reader was only available in the States. Competitors are also jumping on the bandwagon: Sony e-reader and rumoured Barnes & Nobles Android-powered reading device are two of the main competitors for the Kindle.</span></span></span><span lang="DA"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; font-family:arial;"><span lang="DA"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "></div><p style="margin-right: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:arial;"><span lang="DA"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Amazon's move is fairly audacious. Trying to change our reading habits is not exactly an easy move. The pleasure of reading a book is not easily replicable. The feeling of holding the book in your hands, going through the pages, smelling it, contemplating it or also the simple fact of having it in your library are all things that e-books cannot substitute for. Moreover reading from a screen is kind of frustrating and tiring after a while. Of course there are also some advantages: you can have thousands of books, newspapers, pdf or Word files following you wherever you go. Not bad. Moreover, you can almost instantly wirelessly download books directly on the device at a cheaper price.</span></span></span><span lang="DA"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "></div><p style="margin-right: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:arial;"><span lang="DA"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Anyway, a recent experiment run in various US univerities revealed that e-readers are not going to have an easy life. Students and professors were given a Kindle for a certain period of time. They had to use it as a study tool and later reveal their impressions about dealing with the device. Here are some not so enthusiastic quotes:</span></span></span><span lang="DA"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><u4:p></u4:p></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; font-family:arial;"><span lang="DA"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"Much of my learning comes form a physical interaction with the text: boomarks, highlight, page-tearing, sticky notes and other marks representing the importance of certain passages [...] All these things have been lost, and if not they're too slow to keep up with my thinking, and the 'features' have been rendered useless"</span></span></span><span lang="DA"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; font-family:arial;"><span lang="DA"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span><span lang="DA"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><u4:p></u4:p></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; font-family:arial;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"For some people, electronic reading can never replace the functionality and 'feel' of reading off paper"<br /><br />Therefore it looks like people do not like the Kindle if they need it for study-related purposes. But, Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO) is writing that "kindle is the most wished for, the most gifted, and the #1 bestselling product across all the millions of items we sell on Amazon.com." It looks like people are definetely interested in the gizmo! Otherwise Amazon wouldn't have decided to go for such a bold move.</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "></div><p style="margin-right: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:arial;"><span lang="DA"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Feeling curious about the matter I decided to run a little test to see whether Amazon & co. (competitors!) efforts are being reflected in people's interests. I used </span></span><em><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Google Insights for Search</span></span></span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">: a program that gives you various statistics regarding googled words. You google the word(s) you are interested in and you can see how much it was/were searched for in Google.</span></span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; font-family:arial;"><span><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "></div><p style="margin-right: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:arial;"><span lang="DA"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Here is what I got (click on the image to enlarge it):</span></span></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "><span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjuZLs2sCqgWAsZEqP3PXB89CzOd-NpT5EmF9hAnJ5Id-sDiC0Y0oIXxHlyN7YGaGrjDNGcBA5Dth1neoArIY7CmsJqWD6SyZXNVG4Wa5CYHBTrpWg1R5WzL-50bTDe5roPSarthvA9QA/s1600-h/google.bmp"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjuZLs2sCqgWAsZEqP3PXB89CzOd-NpT5EmF9hAnJ5Id-sDiC0Y0oIXxHlyN7YGaGrjDNGcBA5Dth1neoArIY7CmsJqWD6SyZXNVG4Wa5CYHBTrpWg1R5WzL-50bTDe5roPSarthvA9QA/s400/google.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390635294612766258" border="0" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 259px; " /></span></span></a></span></div><p style="margin-right: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:arial;"><span lang="DA"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">People are definetely getting more interested in e-reading devices. But it looks like they are googling more the Sony product than Amazon Kindle! Is it because sony's device costs $200, instead of the $259 for the Kindle? Google is not anwering that (sic). Anyway, US based Forrester research doesn't seem to agree: Forrester raised its forecasts for Kindle "e-reader sales in the United States to 3 million units from its previous prediction of 2 million sales. Forrester Research also expects Amazon’s Kindle to command about 60 percent of the e-reader market in 2009, compared with 35 percent for Sony’s Reader."</span></span></span></p><p style="margin-right: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I think that the day when we'll be reading from a screen is still far to come. Anyway, there is definetely an interest in such a trend, and maybe the two things should not be thought as mutually exclusive, but rather as two complementary possibilities. Luckily, we are going to read paper books for many years to come, but this doesn't exclude that we could read some stuff from a digital device and enjoy it!</span></span></p>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5922451319119326758.post-6110635678826305812009-10-03T12:13:00.006+02:002009-10-03T13:23:34.035+02:00Language, Thought and Reality<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH-b8aze7ScfnGofWDA7_4r0N5nCz2YuVc1CuIBlIfEef_JAfD26x8GcwSP7b5k96iL7Cmkq_PjZ9NEquLCpOTqv4xWu4-acHZxL1Zrp_LTHKtcJvQ1vN1LenqK1lhHuuidrOhWnnDfqE/s1600-h/lost_in_translation.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 130px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH-b8aze7ScfnGofWDA7_4r0N5nCz2YuVc1CuIBlIfEef_JAfD26x8GcwSP7b5k96iL7Cmkq_PjZ9NEquLCpOTqv4xWu4-acHZxL1Zrp_LTHKtcJvQ1vN1LenqK1lhHuuidrOhWnnDfqE/s200/lost_in_translation.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388315021304966482" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;text-align:justify; line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">One of the most revolutionary discoveries/learnings of my life (a couple of years ago) is the fact that (to a certain extent) there is no</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">one</span></span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">single objective reality</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Actually, I had never thought about it before: reality is mostly a social construct. And as written by Watzlawick in his book</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">How real is real?:</span></span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"the most dangerous illusion of all is [thinking] that there is only one reality." In fact, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">common sense</span></span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">suggests that reality is</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">one</span></span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">and that it is out there, ready to be observed and described using the various tools that we have such as </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">language</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. But, think about it if you never did it before: "we cannot know, think about or analyse the world without using concepts, language, [categories] and "frames of reference", which come from the social world that we are part of" (Watson, 2006). We know the world through a series of categories that are culturally, socially built and agreed upon. Different cultures, different views. Different people, different</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">mental programmings</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. Not acknowledging this thing, not being able to recognize that we all have different unconscious assumptions, different mental models of reality is probably one of the most common source of interpersonal and intercultural problems. "Social constructionism cautions us to be ever suspicious of our assumptions about how the world appears to be" (Burr, 1995). Anyway, I don't want to write a dissertation about</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">social constructivism/constructionism </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">here (very interesting school of thought!), I just wanted to introduce the topic of how language contributes in constructing the reality that we see. Different languages (therefore cultures) see reality in different ways. Subtle variations you may say, but interesting ones I would answer!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><u1:p></u1:p> </span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;text-align:justify; line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;color:black;"><u1:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Swiss linguist</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Ferdinand de Saussure</span></span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">is one of the founding fathers of structuralism (in linguistic). The idea at the heart of this school of thought is that language determines how our mind is structured. Language and thought are not two separated phenomena; language provides the basis for our thought (Burr, 1995).</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Linguistic signs,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">according to Saussure, are composed by two parts: a </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">signifier</span></span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">and a</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">signified</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. The</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">signifier</span></span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">('Home', 'Tree', 'Cat', 'Bike', etc...) is the sound that we use to represent a</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">signified</span></span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(an object, a concept, an idea, etc...). The link between the word and the signified concept is arbitrary, only a convention. The interesting part is anyway the following: Saussure claimed that also the categories (the concepts) that we use are conventional categorizations of how we experience reality. Remember different cultures, different views. The fact that we have divided the world in</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">dogs, pigs, houses, flowers, books, watches, etc...</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">reflects how we see reality. A classic example (I don't know if it is true, but it is anyway useful) is the following: we have only one word to describe</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">snow,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">whereas the legend wants that eskimos have various words to describe what we call</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">snow</span></span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">depending on various variables. This reflects their relationship with that particular portion of the world and therefore is going to shape how they perceive it.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></u1:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;text-align:justify; line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;color:black;"><u1:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It is therefore interesting, when learning or approaching a new language or culture (different from ours) to try to grasp these little differences that reveals something about a culture. The other day I read an</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></u1:p></span><span style="color:black;"><a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/karin-fong/between-spaces/lost-translation-five-words-we-should-import"><span lang="EN-GB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">article</span></span></span></a></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">listing some of these words. The one I liked the most was the German </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Shadenfreude</span></span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">which means "the happiness felt at another misfortune". Apparently in English (I would say neither in Italian) there is not a word to describe this concept. Another good one (always from the same article) is the Dutch</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> G</span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">ezelling:</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">it can "be described as a cozy, communal feeling, like the warm sensation one has [when] surrounded by good friends at a long meal, with the conversation flowing". Another very nice one I was told about once is the Spanish word</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> <i>D</i></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i>uende</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. It describes the state of exaltation, of visceral reaction to music. The very emotional state you feel when music (or art in general I think) is flowing through your veins. The concept expressed by the word</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">duende</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">is anyway so complex that books are being written about it!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;text-align:justify; line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;color:black;"><u1:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Some words are probably truly understood in their completeness only by people coming from a certain culture. In fact they're the probably the only ones able to really grasp the whole complexity, the reverberation of meanings that one word is carrying with itself (that's why in Italian we say </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">traduttore traditore</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">). Anyway, this is definitely a nice exercise, a thing worth paying attention when approaching a new culture/language, therefore new people.</span></span><o:p></o:p></u1:p></span></p>Simone Maricondahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15273187049792145974noreply@blogger.com0