Reflection Paper: An Inconvenient Truth

      In 2006, former Vice President Al Gore produced a documentary called “An Inconvenient Truth.” In this documentary he included scientific analysis of the deterioration of the protective ozone layer of the Earth, trapped CO2 causing the greenhouse effect and consequent warming of the Earth’s atmosphere and mankind’s contribution to this process, accelerated by use of fossil fuels. He presented that Earth’s future is at stake if drastic measures are not taken by mankind to help slow down and correct this process.  

                  I had the awesome pleasure of being able to attend one of Al Gore’s presentations.  He explained global warming and how it causes the ocean temperature to rise and storms that form in the ocean to get stronger. In addition there are several ecological problems that can occur due to global warming. Some of the problems are: bleached coral reefs, extinction of animal species, melting of the glaciers, drowning of the polar bears because the ice is melting, chicks and caterpillars hatching earlier, new diseases and the re-emergence of old diseases that were under control. What I found extremely interesting is that ice bubbles trapped thousands of years ago in glaciers can tell us exactly what year the bubble was formed and what the temperature was during that year.

     Immediately after his presentation I purchased the DVD “An Inconvenient Truth” and watched its’ content in its entirety. I support Gore’s documentary because the Earth’s climate activity is changing, however the Earth could be experiencing a warming trend to cool again in the future as past history indicates.

    Gore’s documentary has experienced extreme criticism and has been critiqued by a variety of disciplines. A poll was taken on public perceptions about global warming.

Statement	% agree	Year
(US) Global Warming is very/extremely important[26]	49	2006
(International) Climate change is a serious problem.[28]	90	2006
(International) Human activity is a significant cause of climate change.[27]	79	2007
(US) It's necessary to take major steps starting very soon.[27]	59	2007
(Weart, 2007).

    The debate continues even though many denounce its accuracy. There does seem to be a scientific consensus that mankind is warming the Earth, but politics and debates within the media have slowed down the work to prevent future warming and correct past emissions.

     The documentary film, "An Inconvenient Truth," provides an unequivocally thorough and critical analysis of the Earth’s current environment that is experiencing climate change and global warming. Gore educates, instills interest, raises awareness and advocates for a need to change the thinking for the benefit of the future.

     Before I went to this presentation I did not understand the changes occurring to the Earth. Seeing his facts, diagrams, and pictures made me realize that something needs to be done no matter how small. I had always been a minor ecologist by nature; however after this presentation I became more serious about the Earth. I actively collect pop cans for return, pick up trash along the road, turn off the lights when I leave the room, turn off electronics when I am not using them, recycle everything possible, stopped using aerosols and turn off the water when I brush my teeth. These are just some of the things that I do to help the Earth on a daily basis. I initiated a recycling program at my high school because of Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” and its impact upon me. My high school recycles pop cans and paper because I encouraged and collected these items every day.

         It upsets me when people do not help the Earth. I educate and remind the people around me to recycle, turn off the lights or do any action that can help the Earth. One of the selling points for me to come to Alfred State College was because there was on campus recycle awareness with receptacles. The smallest things can make the greatest difference to strive towards improvement of mankind’s future and it is amazing the impact that one person makes.

Works Cited

“An Inconvenient Truth.” Retrieved from http://www.documentarywire.com/an-inconvenient-truth Retrieved April 29, 2014.

Weart, Spencer (2007). "The Public and Climate Change."The Discovery of Global Warming. American Institute of Physics. Retrieved May 1, 2014.

Fundamentals of Dance Reviewing My Goals

       Before this class I had no prior dance experience and I knew little about technical training or technique. I danced for fun at home and did Zumba, but I did not dance well. I found the conflict between my work and class schedule at Alfred State sometime caused a lot of stress for me, but as soon as I arrived at class my day was better. I began to enjoy dance even more than before and looked forward to each class. In the middle of the semester I joined the Japanese Dance Club (JDC) at Alfred State College. I acquired this semester a lot of dance experience by taking this class, Zumba, yoga, and JDC and I have greatly improved my dance skills. My first goal of the semester was to improve my dancing skills and I feel that I have accomplished this goal.

       My second goal was to develop my own unique dance technique so that when I danced I could be smooth and graceful. Through this class and dance clubs I have received training on how to incorporate moves into dance music. When I hear music I have developed more skill to choreograph a movement study. I have developed abilities to dance to many types of music, so I have accomplished my second goal as well.

       My third goal was to try new things, meet new friends and become more confident. I needed to improve in these areas because I had always struggled with lacking confidence and not being outgoing. I feel that dance has allowed me to not be so hesitate showing others what I can do and I have become more confident. I used to be so afraid to step out of my comfort zone. I cannot say that I still do not feel uncomfortable and struggle, but I have come a long way. My positive experiences during this class opened the door to other dance experiences such as JDC and Zumba. Now I can dance in front of people, speak more readily, and talk to people connecting with them easily. I want my voice to be heard, I do not want to sit on the sidelines anymore, and I have become much more assertive in not allowing people to take over portions of my life. I have accomplished these goals.     

     I have learned through this class that there does not always have to be perfection in dance. When I first joined this class I thought it would be an experience of “how to point my toes with expectations that I do every movement perfectly” type of class, but I understood very quickly that it was the complete opposite. I learned that not every dance has to be accomplished quickly and I can take my time doing a movement as slowly as I need. I actually enjoyed looking ridiculous sometimes. I like the freedom of improvisation choreography, but I still would like to do a choreographed piece with a partner.

      A goal that I did not plan to accomplish was joining a unique dance club. Because of this class I no longer am intimidated when I appear awkward. I know what to do, how to dance and my awkwardness has diminished. I was so pleased with the growth of expressing myself, that I joined the JDC. I feel connected to them, treated equally and appreciated by them for just being me and I continue to actively work towards my growth as a performer and understanding their culture. 

      In conclusion because of this course I have found my passion, learned how to dance, become more confident, met new friends, tried new dances and grown as a person. This semester’s dance experience has helped me discover what my true passions are by helping me find the real “me” and dance has helped me discover what my true potentials are. Dance has become my true happy place.

Dotsworth Press

Dick’s Challenges:  he must overcome the facts that he

• given superior appraisal performance reviews not based on job description      

• Increased her pay  without consulting personnel and maybe out of job role pay scale                                                                     
• Increased her duties doing 2 jobs simultaneously
• Outside office socialization with Mary  
• granted special time off privileges
• allowed Mary to work non-paid overtime to catch up production
• Wrote supportive recommendations not based on hired position, but on the job Mary actually performed   
• Would not consider upgrading position and did not consult with personnel                              
• Did not correct Mary’s behavior exceeding her job authority  by inappropriately approving publication
• Emotional response that he could not work with her d/t her anger

   

• Mary’s Challenges: she must overcome the facts that she
• Excellent education for job description, but then continued to masters with no possibility of promotion
• bored with clerical
• encouraged doing 2 jobs simultaneously
• Outside office socialization with Dick
• asked for special time off privileges
• worked non-paid overtime to catch up production            
• exceeding authority and job description  by inappropriately approving publication
• created a negative work environment
• sent letter to personnel & did not cc to Dick

Mary’s goal:

• Recognition that “male collusion” has occurred
• improve job position

Dick’s goal:

• Maintain clerical editorial assistant position

Rationale why job description was not followed

Dick’s audience:

• Betty Friedman Affirmative Action Office
• Bob Collins Director of Personnel
• Mary Wilson Assistant Editor

Mary’s audience:

• Betty Friedman Affirmative Action Office
• Bob Collins Director of Personnel

Dick Garanti Editor

Mary’s viewpoint:

• Desires upgrade in job
• Already accomplishing the job

Dick’s viewpoint:

• Desires Mary’s current position to remain

·         Continue doing 2 positions for the pay scale of one

Mary’s argument:

·         Is highly qualified educationally

·         Has already been doing the job

·         Not being recognized through pay employment grade

·         Feels discriminated against

Dick’s argument:

·         Mary was hired as an assistant editor

·         He needs an assistant editor (clerical) not editorial assistant

·         Magazine budget cannot afford to budget an editorial assistant position

·         He has given Mary work experience opportunity & positive references for future employment opportunities

·         Overall: Moving on from this point in time will require a blending of multiple communication techniques to resolve this situation. First a face-to-face meeting with Dick, Mary, Bob and Betty must occur. There is urgency for this meeting which needs formality to guide the information flow. This approach will make the meeting the most efficient way to communicate with all parties involved. This will make the meeting more effective by letting everyone personally share their feedback. There needs to be a mediator, which will be Betty who holds power to influence the outcome by sticking to the facts and keeping emotions in control. She needs to consider that her audience may be hostile and unengaged.  Using the persuasive techniques and considering each party involved may be unengaged, she needs to allow an opportunity for each person to address their concerns by noting all the pros and cons surrounding this situation. Betty’s approach to her audience needs to encourage sharing of facts using a consulting approach. By being an expert dealing with affirmative action Betty sets the tone of the meeting. All parties concerned may use arguments as their approach but she will outline: if they all agree on the basic problem, how to address the situation to benefit everyone, and then agree upon a course of action to be taken.

Dick Garanti is the editor of Dotsworth Magazine and Mary Wilson is his editorial assistant, a clerical position and Bob Collins is the Director of Personnel and Betty Friedman Affirmative Action Officer. Dick needs to recognize that he has not functioned or communicated as an effective manager.  It is evident that he has not followed the personnel’s job description for an assistant editor. As editor of the Dotworth Magazine it is his responsibility to ensure that the job is accomplished in the most efficient, effective and cost containing manner.  He increased Mary’s job duties and pay, granted special time off privileges, and allowed her to work non-paid overtime without making personnel aware of his actions. Consequently he violated the grade 3 clerical position and gave Mary the false impression that he had the authority to do these actions. Simultaneously he was writing superior job appraisals and job recommendations, probably based on the job she was accomplishing, not necessarily based on her job description. 

     Because of his past actions of designing a new job position for Mary without authority he was unable to properly reprimand Mary’s actions when she inappropriately approved a publication. He had blurred her job duties and could not properly fault her for her actions and no negative assessment by him could occur against her. He further complicated the editor and editor assistant positions and boundaries by socializing with her on a personal level outside of the workplace environment.  When Mary requested a change in her job description to editor’s assistant, Dick was not willing to entertain the thought and did not contact the personnel office to review the options. Bob Collins unknowingly complicated the situation when he wrote a memo to Dick stating that a personnel investigation had occurred and Mary was functioning as an editorial assistant, the position based on her job description. When the tension continued to rise in the office area, Dick reacted emotionally feeling that he could not work with Mary anymore. The lack of formal communication between Dick and Bob presented the opportunity for the appearance that “male collusion” could have occurred.  Consequently Mary filed a grievance.

   Collusion is defined as an agreement between  more than two people, in this case Dick and Bob, to limit open competition of a better job position for Mary,  by deceiving misleading, or defrauding Mary of her legal rights (Vejda, 2007). Dick and Bob did not adequately communicate. Dick may have had ulterior motives of wanting Mary to achieve the workload without having to reimburse her and possibly fear for his own job position because Mary was perceived by him as competition.  Bob may have had an ulterior motive because he when he met with Mary and Dick he became aware that Mary had not been following her job description.  His job as Director of Personnel is to ensure that job descriptions have not been violated.  However, when he took action it was to support Dick’s point of view, violating Mary’s right for representation as an equal employee. Mary consistently overstepped her job description based on the desire for a job promotion that did not exist. When the job promotion did not occur she reacted emotionally and eventually filed a grievance.

Work Cited

Affirmative Action Pros and Cons (2013). Retrieved from http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/affirmative-action-pros-and-cons

Hattersley & McJannet (2008). Management Communication Principles and Practice. McGraw- Hill Company: New York.

Vejda, Peter (2007). Tap Dancing Around The Elephants - How Collusion Impacts Your Life at Work. Retrieved from http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/affirmative-action-pros-and-cons

Should the Drinking Age be Lowered to 18?

 Negative

1. Alcohol consumption is the third leading cause of death in the United States
2. ¾ of college students 18-20 have consumed alcohol within the last year
3. On average, 1 in 3 people will be involved in a drunk driving crash in their lives.

Positive

1   1. People are allowed to join the United States military at the age of 18, then they should be more then welcome to legally have a beer.

2   2.Lowering the drinking age would diminish the thrill of breaking the law to get a drink. 

        3. is largely ineffective because the majority of teens continue to consume alcohol. 

I think don’t think it should be lowered to 18. Teens will drink anyway. When a person becomes 18 they become a recognized adult.  But when they reach 21 is when they are allowed to drink and become fully responsible for themselves. 18 is too young to try to figure out their life and drink too. 

Punishment

1)      This final week of discussion we are exploring the most important skill sets that leaders will need as change is occurring. Where do you see your greatest strengths and areas for further development?

     My greatest strengths would be having the ability to identify the issues and how to plan to change them. I feel I have the ability to create a vision for change, know how to pick the right messenger, I enjoy communicating with others, and I support giving employees a voice.

     My greatest weaknesses would be how to clearly identify: who, what, why, when, and how of the change, unfreeze the current thinking of the system by highlighting the gaps, and when the change has occurred who to keep the issues from slipping back into the old ways of doing things.

2)      Address the research we explored on using punishment, the myths that exist, and when it can be effective and when it is ineffective.

Punishment is the administering the withdrawal of a positive event to decrease the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated.

   A). The first myth was that B.F Skinner, a psychologist, shed light on how punishment can be ineffective. He drew his conclusions by comparing rats to humans.

   B). The second myth is that punishment can be unethical and inhumane if there is a psychological repercussion, like abuse. People have said that there is an ethical distinction between future-oriented and past-oriented punishment, but the effects of failing to administer punishment are costly. Future-oriented trade helps improve behavior is effective, but past-oriented punishment is retribution or payback which is ineffective.

   C). The third myth is that punishment does not resolve into permanent behavior, but only lasted temporarily. This is indicated by high levels of recidivism. This is due to the acts that a person repeats that is undesirable behaviors and they are in prisons at an approximate 85% rate.

Leadership chapter 13 dq

1)       Do you think that leaders can be flexible in how they interact with others?

A good quality leader must be flexible.  Many leaders are not strong in the ability to be flexible, but must learn to be flexible to be successful as a leader.  Leaders need to welcome and encourage change and learn to adapt.  Facing large quantities of adversities, multiple demands, and frequent interruptions is a necessity in a busy and successful work environment.  Welcoming change and therefore being flexible indicates to co-workers that the leader is open to accepting what it takes to get the job done.

Do you believe that leaders can change their behaviors? All people are different, but a good quality leader must be able to be flexible when they interact with others and they need to acquire the ability to change their behavior.  Some people are introverts and some are extraverts, but adjustment to their personal styles can help them change their behavior so that they function well within the work structure. Keeping an open door policy can enhance interacting with co-workers and help address many of the demands, but knowing how to delegate, prioritize and work outside their own comfort zone is a must.  Many leaders find changing their innate behavior can be difficult, but it is a skill that can be developed.

Do you believe that leaders can change their personalities? Psychologists generally agree that a person’s personality cannot be changed, however they do support that a leader can improve their success by learning new skills and new behaviors.  Generally it is believed that a tiger cannot change it stripes so it is necessary to do a good selection of the candidate for the job in the very beginning. However some people do possess the ability to develop better quality leadership skills. The person needs to have a firm control over their own personality in order to develop self-awareness of how they can develop skills and behaviors that are conducive for improved leadership ability. A leader can learn how to be a more effective leader by learning new skills and new behaviors, but personality is personality, and it cannot be changed and the leader needs to learn to adapt to become an effective leader.

Brusman, M. (2001). Leadership Personality: Do You Have the Big Five Traits? Working Resources Newsletter: Volume IV, No. 8. Retrieved from http://www.workingresources.com/nss-folder/pdffolder/LeadershipPersonality.pdf

2)      Of the 5 contingency approaches to leadership, which approach seems like the best fit for you and why?

The theory that most applies to me best is the Leader-Member Exchange Theory. This theory has three components: role taking, role making, and routinization. Role taking is the opportunity to evaluate follower performance and potential. I have found that I accomplish role taking well under a strong leader-member exchange style. If I have close, consistent and structured direction in learning a new skill then I am able to absorb the information and develop quickly and easily. Role making is a trust building process and if the environment is conducive to making me feel welcomed and accepted, I develop trust and I can grow and feel comfortable during the learning process. In the leader-member exchange theory routinization establishes relationships where similarities and differences become equal. When I feel that within the situation I am different from the others but not treated like I am different I feel connected for just being me. Connecting with people is a very important aspect of my life, but I feel that I have been in many situations in the past where leader-member exchange has not been practiced.  I struggled and did not feel that I belonged even in situations where I was not that different from everyone else in the situation.  Now I am aware that when this theory is practiced I can know that I am different, but still feel accepted.  When I entered a situation where I felt like I was taking on an unfamiliar role, development of trust and routinization occurred, and I knew that leader-member exchange theory was occurring and that because of it, I would positively grow and enjoy the process.

Leadership Exam 3

    Question 1

   Adam Grant is many things to many people. He has college degrees in organizational psychology and studies and contributes to workplace dynamics. He is the epitome of a leader.  He is not only very successful, but very intuitive and giving. He has done many research studies examining mankind and man’s work life.  He has made multiple observations during his reflective moments. For instance, he states that an effective leader should not move for location because what people do is more important than where they do it. People who take jobs with a; too good to be true expectations, burn out, get dissatisfied and quit. The situation is that moving for location is ineffective and too good to be true jobs end in disaster. He feels that a good leader needs to motivate employees to stay at the job and the followers need to give their job a chance. These two actions should end up with a successful leader and a satisfied follower.

       Organizational psychology has shown that people will enjoy their work and want to keep doing it. Financial incentives and work that is interesting and offers the possibility for career advancement really motivate employees, but Grant’s opinion is that the greatest untapped source of motivation is service to others; defined as the potential to make people more productive and therefore giving them something else to think, about instead of being selfish. The end product of this kind of thinking is that motivation can come from service to others and consequent enjoyment of work. The leader needs to keep work interesting, productive, and make service more available to employees. The followers need to seek out more service opportunities, find enjoyment in their work, and become productive. Workers that feel good about their work, get more done, and appreciate the people they have helped.

     In a study, Grant placed 2 signs at a hand-washing station in a hospital. One stated “hand hygiene prevents you from catching diseases” and the other stated “hand hygiene prevents patients from catching diseases”. Grant then measured the amount of soap used at each station. The doctors and nurses at the station where the sign referred to their patients used 45 percent more soap or hand sanitizer. The situation was providing a good quality job within a hospital setting, Grant was a leader that successfully motivated his followers, and the followers responded doing a more efficient job.

       Givers focus on the benefits to others if they succeed and worry less about disappointing them if they fail. Grant divided people into three categories: givers, matchers and takers. Givers give without expectation of anything in return, and are never seem too busy to help. Matchers always want something in return. Takers try to come out ahead in every exchange and get defensive quickly. The situation is the effect of givers, matchers, and takers, where the leader is what motivates the individual person and where the followers fall on the spectrum, and the situation is what course of action they decide to follow.

       Grant’s psychological prosocial examination of leaders, followers and the workplace has interesting concepts that are not the historical norm to management of a company. However, his viewpoints and explanation about what motivates followers has influencing results.  There are multiple people who work in service jobs that state they are not doing the job for the money or financial benefits because those are meager, but they enjoy their work and are satisfied and motivated to do as good as possible every day because they feel they are making a difference.  This is the concept that Grant operates under and includes his moral compass. His goals are to focus on productivity, company efficiency and follower’s satisfaction for a job so they are efficient and satisfied and then he adds the twist of prosocial behavior. His ambition and success has been extensive purely by observing a social phenomenon that has been in existence, in some realms of the workforce, for generations.

Works Cited

Dominus, S. (2013, March 30). Is Giving the Secret to Getting Ahead?. The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/magazine/is-giving-the-secret-to-getting-ahead.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0&pagewanted=print

 Question 2

     Jim Good worked with a team of researchers with the main goal to examine; what are the correct ingredients it takes for a company to come into greatness and success. They conducted research that selected multiple successful companies and then examined what steps were consistently taken by those companies so that their growth and success occurred.

    Good and his team of researchers identified that there are many qualities that a company thinks will make them great, but if a company buys into these ideas they are destined for lesser success. These qualities were summarized into many ideas and actions previously taken by companies that Good and his team classified as myths to success. These myths that companies have believed about change can make or break their outcome for success. There is the burning platform, stock options, fear-driven change, acquisitions, and technology-driven change. The burning platform is that change starts when there is a crisis that persuades unmotivated employees to accept the need for change. The situation is a crisis, then the leader tries to motivate employees, and the followers accept the change. The myth of stock options says that stock, high salaries and bonuses are the incentives that motivate employees to change. The situation is stocks, higher salaries, and bonuses, the leader motivates employees by these incentives, and the followers accept the bribe. The myth of fear-driven change is employee’s fear of being left behind, watching others win, and monumental failure.  The myth of acquisitions states that a company can buy their way to growth. The situation is money buys everything and the leader and followers consequently decrease production. The myth of technology-driven change states that a company can become great if technology jumps over the competition. The situation is that technology jumps over the completion and the leader and followers work harder, but do not necessarily achieve success.

     Jim Good wrote about his Flywheel Effect theory about how a company can gain success. The flywheel works effectively if there is a building of plans that deliver results and the right people, who are the workers, contribute to produce results and they feel excitement and satisfaction about their work. The situation is the Flywheel Effect, the leader gives the employees a voice, and the followers get more satisfaction and consequently production increases.

     The second criterion for a company to be great is to avoid the doom loop. Companies that fall into the doom loop start down one path, and then sharply change direction. They then realize that they have not created the momentum needed for the change to work. Disappointing results lead to reaction without complete understanding, which leads to a new direction, a new program with momentum, which leads to more disappointing results. This situation is the leaders do not delegate tasks and effective communication, and the followers get disappointing results and no constructive actions towards success in change has occurs.

     Another important criterion for a great company is setting a new direction and great corporate vision. The company may be headed in the right direction but without a great vision. If the company has mediocre people that are not motivated to produce great results they produce mediocre results, instead of great results. The leader needs to develop a great vision and communicate it well, the situation is a new direction, and the followers follow and need to be productive.

    Good stresses that there are multiple ingredients for a company to be successful. He maintains that the company needs to obtain the right people and place them in the right positions. Then the company develops the right direction for the company.  It is developed out a single organized idea that helps the leader and workers unify, organize and guide towards that successful pathway.  A good leader also needs to know when enough is enough and when to take action to stop.  Giving too much effort in the wrong direction or for too long a period of time can drag the company down and limit the company’s success. The overall idea of the correct pathway has to be a single direction with diligent efforts and focused on results.

Works Cited

Good to Great. (n.d.). Jim Collins. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://www.jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/good-to-great.html