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Archive for July, 2011

Introduction

            Have you ever been working and had a manager appear to be lurking around you? If so, you know panicky feeling you get immediately thinking there is an issue with job performance or you may be in trouble. However, when the manager comes to you, they just want to talk to you about how things are going, how you like your job, if there is anything that can make work better for you, maybe a question about your home life. Then they spend a little time working with you and offering advice on improving your techniques. You begin to realize you are not in trouble, the manager genuinely wanted to speak to you because they are interested in you. This method of managers communicating with their employees in such an informal way is referred to as managing by walking around. If you are unfamiliar with the method you may at first feel as though you are being stalked, but you soon learn it is simply a way your managers build a relationship with you.

The Idea in a Nutshell

            The concept of managing by walking around simply aims to build relationships between managers and employees. This method is known to produce many positive results when it is implemented in an organization. It originated in the 1940s with Hewlett Packard, and many other organizations have implemented it over the years.

The Top Ten Things You Need to Know About [Insert Name of Theory or Concept]

1.            Created by David Packard of Hewlett Packard in 1940. It was done because Packard believed that many employee input was vital to company’s future.

2.            Though this method has been around since 1940, it did not reach public knowledge until 1982. This concept became known in this year when the book In Search of Excellence was published.

3.            In recent years managing by walking around has become a very popular method. Many believe it is so popular because of its high success rate.

4.            Managing by walking around recognizes employees as the experts of their work. This gives the employees a sense of pride in what they do and the ability to improve working conditions.

5.            This method requires managers to be more laid back and flexible about how they approach employee relationships. If employees fear managers this method will not work and employees will not trust management.

6.            Managers must be sincere when they go about practicing this method, and not be critical of employees. This process may take a long time to implement which makes patience very important in practicing this method also.

7.            Managing by walking around can cause employees and managers to have a more trusting relationship with each other. This trust often leads to employees being very loyal to the company.

8.            There is a twelve step process that managers are told to go about to implement this method. These steps have proven to be the most successful way to apply this method.

9.            Managers often times are able to sympathize with their employees when the practice this concept. This can help managers to work to improve the working conditions of the employees.

10.            This informal relationship in the professional atmosphere gives the opportunity to maximize employee satisfaction. If the employees are satisfied with their working conditions and benefits, this may lead to a reduction in employee turnover.

The Video Lounge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyOz_XblZIM

My Take

            I find managing by walking around to be a wonderful concept in the management world. It is beneficial to both managers and employees who participate in this management concept. I find that it is extremely relevant in any organization in operation today. It helps improve the manager’s ability to understand their employee’s needs as workers. It also helps employees to see certain challenges managers face when a problem occurs in the work place.

            I found that many of the articles that quoted someone who had implemented this process found it to be highly successful. I also think that this concept has been consistent in creating a laid back work atmosphere for all involved. It takes away the stress of being fearful of managers and allows people to look forward to building a working relationship with their managers. Also it allows managers the opportunity to monitor their employees while getting to know them at the same time.

Days are over when iPhone applications were ruling the highest market share for mobile applications and smartphone users. With the release of Android OS by Google, millions of people across the world have started opting for Android based mobile phones. The reason behind the popularity of Android OS is its open source in nature and hence to integrate it and develop third party application is comparatively easy and cheaper as of developing for iPhone OS. With growing trend of more and more people switching to Android based smart phones; there is a tremendous demand of Android app development in the market.

Reaching customers directly on their handset is the most effective way for marketing ones products and services. Android app development is widely adopted as a tool which is used to do direct application selling or promotions to the millions of worldwide Android users who download Android apps from Android market (an online market for Android apps owned by Google). Android developers can help in customized Android app development that can meet specific business requirement.

Nowadays there are various innovative Android apps are launched referring the needs of different business types like Business oriented applications, document readers, Android game apps, multimedia applications, Social networking applications, entertainment applications, Android OS competent websites, security applications, GPS tracking, travel applications, Utility apps, etc. Some well experienced Android app development companies have experienced Android developers who are proficient enough to migrate the application of other mobile OS to Android OS compatible application. Experienced Android developers have capability to create applications that can give high performance and meet your taste and preferences.

Android App Development is a smarter way to access worldwide audience. Android OS platform itself has versatile features and benefits that can be used for improving the business profitability. Below listed are some of the advantages of Android that can be best leveraged by experienced Android developers to develop an exception android app:

1) Android is an open source mobile operating system which is the most unique characteristics that makes Android app development highly cost effective.

2) Android developers can best utilize the Android SDK for building innovative and comprehensive application programming.

3) A vast library of 2D/3D graphics for traditional layout creation is available and can be used for creating compelling graphics.

4) Java programming language is used for Android app development. Hence a well experienced Java programmer can easily learn and work on Android apps.

5) The data storage is done in a structured way using the SQLite. An Android app is easy to install and run.

6) Android developers can do rapid application development is possible using same codes and hence the development time can be reduced.

7) Supports connectivity technologies including GSM/EDGE, CDMA, IDEN, EV-DO, UMTS,  Wi-Fi, LTE, Bluetooth, and WiMAX.

Android OS has additional hardware support for GSM based mobile, Wi-Fi, EDGE, Bluetooth, GPS, 3G, accelerometer, Camera and compass.

9) The Android OS has multitasking capabilities.

There is a team of self enthusiasts who keep developing and adding new firmware for Android OS and share it as an open source with Android developers. Such new amendments are very useful and advantages in quick Android app development.

Computer viruses are mysterious and grab our attention. Every time a new virus hits, it makes the news as it spreads quickly.

Viruses can do anything from annoying the user to deleting your entire computer. With more computers are being connected to the Internet, viruses are very easy to be spread.

While computers will never be 100% secure, there are many steps that you can take to prevent your computer from being infected with viruses.

What is a Computer Virus?

A computer virus is basically a malicious computer code that either harms computer data by writing over reserved areas of the operating system or attaches itself to other programs.

Viruses can infect computer files, programs, and write over parts of files. Viruses are also able to delete files from removable disk media (e.g. floppy diskettes, zip disks) or the hard drive.

More recent viruses take advantage of vulnerabilities in e-mail programs. These new viruses are written to not only damage your computer, but (with certain software configurations) also send a copy of the virus-contaminated document to all entries in the e-mail program’s address book. Viruses can be transmitted through any platform – Macintosh, Windows, Linux, etc…

Viruses spread from computer system to computer system, usually by removable disk media, via e-mail and downloads.

Computers connected to a network are even more susceptible because newer viruses are written to spread through the network, infecting files on all connected computers.

While some viruses can be removed with antivirus programs, it is recommended that you keep two backup copies of your important files, thus increasing your chances to have a clean copy available in the event a virus infects a file.

Types of viruses

There are three basic types of ‘virus’ each with a different intended purpose.

True ‘viruses’ bear the closest resemblance to their biological namesakes. Their purpose in life is twofold. Firstly, they want to multiply around the internet. Most commonly this is achieved by the virus sending itself to all contacts in your e-mail address book. Secondly a virus wants you to know it is there, so it starts to change files on your computer. This can result in a whole range of outcomes – from minor repairable damage to complete system failure.

Worms are viruses, which seek only to proliferate around the internet with the intention of causing a system overload. This type of virus is typically used by groups of ‘hacktivists’ who seek to make a social or political point by targeting a particular organization.

Trojans are named after the Trojan Horse and are designed to reside on a host computer unseen, creating a security breach which another virus can exploit.

What is a Cookie?

You might have heard mention of ‘cookies’ as a possible security threat. Cookies are used by many websites to keep information significant to a user. They are not a type of virus. It is not possible to pick up a virus from a cookie.

Cookies are commonly used for holding username and password information so that a website can remember you when you return to it. This would be the case when you perform online banking. Cookies are normally programmed to expire after a period of time.

Nonetheless, the power of cookies as a way of being able to collect personal information has not been lost on some of the more dishonest marketing companies that practice their various trades across the internet. ‘Spy cookies’ as they have come to be known can reside on your system and collect data about you and your on-line buying habits.

Cookies are therefore a double edged sword. They are handy to save you having to remember passwords but can allow a lot more information to be gathered than you might want.

Your internet browser will have an option allowing you to decide whether to allow or disallow cookies. Some will even allow you to specify which sites you wish to allow and which to block. Always note never give away/out your personal particulars to a site or a person that you do not trust or are unsure of.

Antivirus Software

Most of the time, you will not know you have a virus until you scan for viruses. There are many options for scanning and curing viruses – free software, free online scans, downloadable trial versions of software, and software which you may purchase. (e.g. Norton Antivirus, AVG, McAfee etc…)

Virus software scans for viruses in real-time, which means that as your computer receives files, the software checks the files for viruses. The software will also constantly monitor the computer files to search for viruses.

It is vital when using a real-time virus scanner to updates frequently. By doing so, the software can detect all of the newly found viruses.

Below what to look out for in an Antivirus Software:

Platform (operation system) Relevance: Most software packages are platform specific, meaning that software for a Windows 95 / 98 machine will not run on a computer using MacOS or Linux as its operating system
ICSA Certification: The International Computer Sercurity Association has established accurate means for comparing antivirus detection rates. Only purchase software bearing the ICSA certification seal.
Real-Time Background Protection: The software should not rely on your attention to do its job; rather, the software should detect viruses as soon as they appear in your system and alert you to this fact.
Automatic or Scheduled Updates of Virus Definitions: This ensures that the software will detect and eliminate newly released viruses.
Tech Support: Nearly all software companies offer online or telephone-based tech support. The number should be toll free, and offer useful tech support at no extra charge.
Disaster Recovery: Many antivirus software packages will include a disaster recovery utility which allows you to recover lost or corrupted data and get your system “back to health” after a catastrophic virus attack.

Protect Against Computer Viruses

The most effective way of protecting your computer from viruses is to purchase reliable virus protection software (such as Norton Antivirus or McAfee etc…).

Other than virus protection, there are many less-obvious ways to protect your computer from viruses. Below is a list of Do’s and Don’ts:

Do’s

Disable preview screens when using Eudora or Microsoft Outlook.

Scan disks and zip disks before using them.

Use a real-time scanner or frequently check your system with an online virus scanner.

Update your virus scanner regularly.

Backup important files regularly.

Use personal firewall software to prevent unauthorized Internet access to and from your computer.

Read the manual of your antivirus software.

Most antivirus software are very complex, with dozens of settings. Reading the manual helps you get the most out of the antivirus software.

If your computer suddenly begins performing strangely, you should run a virus scan on your entire computer.

Be careful about disks from other computers. Not everyone uses virus protection, so if you are worried about a disk that you put into your computer, run a virus scan on it before you begin working on it.

Don’ts

Never use disks from an untrustworthy source. Never download files from a site or a person that you do not trust.

Never give away/out your personal particulars to a site or a person that you do not trust or are unsure of. Never open an email attachment that looks unusual or suspicious.

Never open an email attachment from a person you do not know.

Avoid pirated software.

Is your computer accessible someone other than you? If that is so, then be sure that they know about the tips noted in this article. Otherwise, you alone taking the precautions would not help protect your computer.

Many E-mail viruses are spread by sending itself to everyone in someone’s address book. If the E-mail text does not sound like the sender, or you were not expecting the attachment, delete the message immediately.

If you have a Cable or DSL Internet connection, then your computer is a possible target of hackers. Be sure to purchase a firewall for your computer.

What If You Suspect Your Computer Is Infected

If you have reason to suspect your computer is infected with a virus (you have opened a suspicious email attachment, your computer is suddenly crashing or running slowly, you receive error messages whenever you start up your computer or try to launch an application), immediately disconnect your computer from the internet.

Next, check to see if your virus protection is up to date (the latest) and scan your hard drive for viruses.

If you use Microsoft Windows, Outlook, Outlook Express or Internet Explorer, it is very important to install the latest version upgrades and security patches from Microsoft.

Signs of a Possible Virus Infection

Your computer may be infected with a virus if:

You have opened an email attachment from a person you do not know.

You receive error messages whenever you start up our computer or try to launch an application.

You have opened a file attachment to an email message which contains no personal information or does not mention the attachment.

Your computer is crashing or running slowly.

You have opened an e-mail attachment or another file whose name contains multiple extensions (e.g., resume.doc.lnk) or a .vbs or .pif extension (e.g., LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs).

Unknown program windows appear and disappear after you start up your computer.

Glossary

boot sector virus

A boot sector virus infects the master startup files on a hard disk, or the startup files on a floppy disk. Boot sector viruses load into memory, tend to become more of a problem the more times the computer is started, and may prevent the computer from starting up at all.

macro virus

A macro virus exploits vulnerabilities in programs like Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook causing certain actions to perform automatically, usually triggered by selecting some other action in the program or when the program starts.

trojan horse

A Trojan horse is an attractive and seemingly harmless program, e.g., greatgame.exe that isn’t a game at all, but contains a program that deletes all data on your hard drive.

virus

A computer virus is programmed to copy itself to reserved areas of the hard drive and from one file to another. A virus may spread rapidly or slowly, infecting programs and/or documents on a computer and attached drives. A virus usually spreads to other computers via a network, e-mail, and removable media, e.g., zip disks and floppy diskettes.

worm

While harmful as a virus, a worm is more insidious, in that it installs itself on computer hard drives it finds on a network. A worm can also spread via e-mail.

Executive Summary

Stewardship is defined as giving order to the dispersion of power.  In this book, Peter Block explains what it means to chose stewardship over self interest.  He gives an explanation of how partnerships can lead to a much more improved workplace and workforce.

Mr. Block begins by discussing replacing leadership with stewardship.  This is basically when the employees in an organization partner and work together for the betterment of the organization to please the consumer in a positive way.  This not only allows the consumer to be happy but it allows for the employees to earn a sense of satisfaction when it comes to their jobs.  He then discusses further the importance of partnerships and the benefits it creates.  When patriarchy exists in a business there is a lot of so called “parenting” going on.  In partnership, instead of the core employees looking to upper management to give direction on the daily duties, the employees partner to make their own decisions to get their task done.

Next comes another difference in patriarchy and partnerships.  With patriarchy, of course, comes the direction.  With the directions in place and the core workers following directions, as long as everything goes as instructed then a sense of security is there because the directions have been followed.  In a partnership the direction is no longer there due to the fact that the orders are being created by the partners in the core group instead of upper management.  This takes away from the security and adds to the adventure.   Choosing stewardship is definitely doing well for the betterment of the company and consumer as a whole even though it does not make a particular person look a certain way.  To put the company or others in the spotlight before oneself is a prime example of stewardship.

A stewardship contract is when management gives boundaries for the employees to stay in giving them full reign to complete task at their discretion as long as they due not go out of the set boundaries.  When a partnership approach is taken, the parenting approach fades away.  This process allows for new or restructured management styles.  In other words, redesigning management based on the lack of patriarchy.

In addition to the lack of safety, partnership adds accountability.  When partnership exists, the need for accountability is crucial.  Anytime anyone is dealing with financial transactions and decisions, someone has to be held accountable.  In stewardship, Human Resources would promote teamwork rather than upper management policy and procedure.  They would work together to create teams that would council other core groups on working together for the greater good.

Mr. Block speaks of overturning the class system.  This is based on the theory that with patriarchy, there is a basic chain and one is paid based on their status.  By implementing partnerships, one is paid based on performance thus doing away with the class system.  Finally, by choosing stewardship the redesigning of democracy can occur.  Because there is no more patriarchy and the decision making is based on each individual partnership or employee the restructuring of democracy can occur.

Mr. Block has done an excellent job at looking at stewardship from every different angle.  It would be amazing if everyone could adopt and implement this strategy as I believe it would lead to a position workplace and workforce.

The Ten Things Managers Need to Know fromStewardship.

1.            Replace Leadership with Stewardship:  Stewardship is defined as giving order to the dispersion of power.  When one chooses stewardship, they are choosing to perform better business practices for the consumer rather than upper management which is the opposite of leadership.

2.            Choose Partnership over Patriarchy:  In a nutshell, patriarchy is similar to controlling something or someone.  It prohibits the ability to create partnerships which allows people to work together for the betterment of the business.   The commitment to partnership gives the meaning of stewardship.  It allows the balance of responsibility.

3.            Choosing Adventure over Safety:  By choosing partnership over patriarchy there is a sense of safety that is lost.  In patriarchy, one is prone to taking orders and following instructions therefore being considered “safe.”  When partnership is created, the patriarchy is not present enabling ones own decision making (adventure) to occur.

4.            Choosing Service over Self Interest:  Service is central to the idea of stewardship.  Choosing to do things for the betterment of the group as a whole is always more positive than doing things for the betterment of oneself.

5.            Define a Stewardship Contract:  The intent is to redesign our organizations so that service is the centerpiece, and ownership and responsibility are strongly felt among those close to doing the work and contacting customers.  Basically, the managers give the core workers boundaries; the contract is how the core workers choose how to complete the task while staying in the boundaries of management.

6.            Redesigning Management Practices & Structures:  In business, many times we take a parenting approach rather than a partnership approach.  By taking a partnership approach you have to have full disclosure and the correct business literacy and proper management practiced to achieve stewardship.

7.            Creating Accountability with Self Control:  Partnership comes with liability.  When given the responsibility of conducting certain business, one is always held accountable for self control over all financial decisions.

8.            Ending the Practice of Paternalism:  Human Resources have always been known for implementing policy and procedures of upper management.   Human Resources can live out of its own stewardship more clearly by defining core work teams rather than top management.   In other words, Human Resources are a tool for promoting teamwork rather than implementing upper management policies and procedures.

9.            Overturning the Class System:  It has been a standard practice that one gets paid according to their position.  By choosing partnership, stewardship allows you to work together for one outcome thus causing one’s pay to be based on productivity rather than class.

10.              When Stewardship is Chosen, Democracy is Rediscovered:  When you chose stewardship, you are choosing to give up the safety of patriarchy in return for the freedom that one receives from a democracy.

Full Summary of Stewardship

In today’s workforce, it is tradition for the core group of employees to look to upper management for direction on anything from how to do the simplest of jobs to when is a proper time to take a fifteen minute break.  Wouldn’t it be ideal if the guidelines were set out, the goal was defined and the core employees were given open reign to be as creative and energetic with a job as possible?  In the book Stewardship:  Choosing Service Over Self Interest, Peter Block does just that.  He opens ones mind to the possibilities of allowing a core group of employees to make the decisions that upper management is accustomed to making.  From defining stewardship in general to implementing its strategy, every baseline is covered.  In this book, stewardship makes for an interesting way to create a positive workforce.

Stewardship is defined as giving order to the dispersion of power.  When one chooses stewardship, they are choosing to perform better business practices for the consumer rather than upper management which is the opposite of leadership.  In business, upper management can get so caught up in policy, procedure and what’s going on at the top that they seem to forget about the core group of employees and what they are trying to accomplish day in and day out.  Stewardship is the action of taking the initiative for the betterment of the consumer, the business, and everyone else involved without doing things for the betterment of oneself.

It is custom, of course, to be given a task and want to control that task from beginning to end.  To complete that task as one would seem fit or believe to be right and to also make coworkers believe and understand why the way it was completed is the only correct way to do it.  In stewardship, one would lose the control of completing the task as they would want and instead take a step back, if you will, and look at the task from outside the box.  One would look at every angle and the outcome of completing each.  In an effort to finish the job as productive and positive as possible, one would take their own personal gain out of the equation and put the overall outcome into the equation.

In business, partnerships or patriarchy always exist.  How successful a business is will often depend on which strategy is in place.  In patriarchy, it is very similar to a parenting roll.  The parent would be upper management and the child would be the core group of employees.  Thus the child would look to the parent for guidance and protection.  In a business, the core employees look to upper management for guidance and protection which come in the form of policies and procedures.  When upper management takes that leadership role, they will delegate actions and tasks as they would see fit and the core employees will perform those tasks exactly as stated, almost like little robots.

When a partnership strategy is used, the “parent/child relationship” is not present.  It is one of the best ways to describe stewardship.  In a partnership, it is up to the core employees to decide how best to complete the task for the betterment of all.  By doing so, the end result is a much more positive workforce.  It opens the doors for exploration and adventure in the workplace.  To see and try new ideas without the burden of upper management delegating each step that is made.  Partnerships also allows for the balance of responsibility which also provides for a positive workforce.  Block states in the book that partnership is not a leadership style, it is a belief system shared by everyone.

The downfall of partnership is the lack of safety.  By choosing partnerships over patriarchy there is a sense of safety that is lost.  As with patriarchy, or the “parent/child relationship,” when all of the policies and procedures, the instruction, are followed there is little room for mistakes thus allowing a large invisible safety net to be present.  Naturally when a parent tells a child to go brush their teeth and the child does so, all is well.  The same goes for patriarchy.  By choosing partnership, the sense of adventure takes over the large invisible safety net.

            In partnership, one has to have full disclosure and the correct business literacy and proper management practice to achieve stewardship.  Thus the redesigning of practices and structures is required.   When upper management doesn’t allow for stewardship it leaves little room for mistakes and learning thus leaving little room for humanity.  For stewardship to be successful, it would require upper management to let go of perfection, so to speak, and allow a margin of error.  That is the only way the core group of employees will be allowed to open the window of opportunity.

By choosing a partnership strategy, one is choosing service over self interest.  Service is the central idea of stewardship.  Choosing to do things for the betterment of the group as a whole is always more positive than doing things for the betterment of oneself.  In upper management, choosing service over self interest could be the rise or fall of a business.  To step outside the box and discover what the true goal of the organization is rather than what upper management wants it to be will lead to much success.  To work as a team and reinforce positive behavior, encourage critical thinking and promote good efforts rather than implementing policies to put the people at the top even higher than before at the price of the company is the ideal strategy.

In a stewardship contract, the organization as a whole becomes redesigned.  The intent is to redesign our organizations so that service is the centerpiece, and ownership and responsibility are strongly felt among those close to doing the work and contacting customers.  The managers give the core workers boundaries that they must stay in.  They then focus on the core values and the goals and mission.  The employees are then able to perform the job duties as they see fit.  The only requirement is that the job be completed satisfactorily staying in the boundaries created.  This strategy allows for a great sense of job satisfaction and learning.  The doors seem to open up completely in this case causing the opportunities for the business to flourish to be endless.

With the ability to adventure and try things never done before come the responsibility of being held accountable with self control.  When given the responsibility of conducting certain business, one is always held accountable for self control over all financial decisions.  Many times managers are eager to give teams the ability to self manage but are hesitant on releasing the same control over money.  Financial control is a major device for carrying out successful business practices.  Financial control tells a lot about a company, it will determine the rise and fall of an industry.  When it comes to finances, in order for a company or business to be successful, stewardship has to play a large role.  When handling money, one has to put service first, always.  This is crucial to any business.

Ending the practice of paternalism begins with Human Resources.  It is customary that Human Resources are known for implementing policy and procedures of upper management.  Everything is by the book.  There is all black and white with no gray area.  Block states that “Human Resources can live out its own stewardship more clearly by defining core work teams as its primary client rather than top management.”  In this practice, Human Resources becomes a tool for promoting teamwork rather than upper management policy and procedures.  It is customer oriented and customer structured.

It is standard practice that one gets paid according to their position.  When climbing the corporate ladder, so to speak, the core employees are holding all of the weight down at the bottom and upper management, being carefree with the wind in their sails, at the top.  Naturally, the core employees at the bottom carry the heaviest load and get paid the least and upper management gets paid the heftier salaries.

To change this standard practice is called overturning the class system.  When overturning the class system, the pay scale goes from the corporate ladder, up and down, to being paid based on performance.  Thus, even if one is all the way at the bottom, they have the opportunity to get paid as much as someone in the middle or near the top of the ladder.  This opens the door for employee motivation and the willingness and eagerness to perform at a much more successful rate.  On page 156, Block states the “Stewardship honors people’s career aspirations…”  I feel as though this is a great example of that.  By choosing partnership, stewardship allows you to work together for one outcome thus causing one’s pay to be based on productivity rather than class thus overturning the class system.

When choosing stewardship, one is choosing to give up the safety of patriarchy in return for the freedom that one receives from a democracy.  In other words, when we are not at work, we demand freedom of speech and certain rights that we are afforded us just from being Americans.  We then go back to work and become strategic.  We are cautious to make sure we do everything just as we are told.  By choosing stewardship, we regain that democracy that was once lost with patriarchy.  A good example of this is when America broke away from England.  It was then that we lost our safety but gained our democracy.

After reading this book, I have a much clearer understanding of what stewardship really entails.  It’s putting myself behind my own self interest, behind what I believe is best for me and putting others and what is best for the organization in front.  Block does a really good job of describing stewardship.  His ideas on how to manage a business are very revolutionary.  He has a great theory but it would require a radical change.

If we could implement Block’s strategy on stewardship, I personally feel as though we would be a much more productive nation.  I feel that we somehow would get back our morals and ethics that once existed long ago.  It would not only be good for business, but would also be good for individual morale and work productivity.  It would be nice to actually want to work each day and receive a certain level of respect from upper management.  To know that they depend on you and know that you are capable of doing the job would almost be considered a fringe benefit.

 With business conditions the way they are today, I do not feel as though stewardship would ever be implemented.  Not because it would not work but for the simple reason the people are set in their ways.  Even if a person is not at the top already, they are working very hard to gain that power and as soon as they get it, they are not likely to want to relinquish it.  In my opinion, people are not eager to let go of any type of power.  If that were possible and we could implement it, it would be great all the way around.  In order for it to work, it would have to go into effect from the core employees all the way up to upper management and across all industry, maybe even the nation.  It doesn’t seem to be practical due to the lack of willingness of people to change from patriarchy to a true democratic partnership.

Personal Insights

Why I think:

The author is one of the most brilliant people around…or is full of $ %, because:

I personally feel like Mr. Block’s ideas on how to manage a business are very revolutionary.  He has a great theory but it would require a radical change.  This change would have to take place from the core workers all the way up to the top management.  If the theory that Mr. Block suggest could work then the workforce today would be a lot more productive and positive.

With business conditions today, what the author wrote is – or is no longer true – because:

It is not true for the simple reason that it is not practical due to the lack of willingness of people to change from patriarchy to a true democratic partnership.  This holds true for upper management and the core workforce.  Basically, it is lack of upper management wanted to give up control or “parenting” and the core workers willingness to chose partnership over security.

If I were the author of the book, I would have done these three things differently:

1.            I would have given a few more examples on how to setup and define a stewardship contract.

2.            I would have spent a little less time on rethinking the role of staff functions.  It seemed to be too much as well as monotonous.

3.            The author highlighted a few quotes every now and then.  I would have been nice to see a few more of them.  I found them extremely interesting.

Reading this book made me think differently about the topic in these ways:

1.            I haven’t ever felt like stewardship was a viable option due to the fact that leadership and power do not seem to be things that people are eager to relinquish.

2.            Relinquishing power could actually set you free in several ways.  One example would be the ability to be able to think for oneself.  One would also be free from the stereotype that comes along with patriarchy.

3.            Another way I feel differently is that I never thought it could be possible for someone coming into a new job having the option to call the shots, even at an entry level position.

I’ll apply what I’ve learned in this book in my career by:

1.            Maybe to ask employees to come up with a mission statement for the job.

2.            I would ask the employees their ideas or opinions on change before implementing them.

3.            I would give employees the opportunity to implement a new idea they may have on a certain project, timeframe, etc.

Here is a sampling of what others have said about the book and its author:

Peter Block has taken the principles and Edward Demming and put them into a usable methodology that will not only help any business owner focus on the essentials necessary for success but will also inspire members of the team at all levels.  Todays management for a successful business, July 27, 1996 A. Customer
Block’s ideas present specific challenges to the old “command and control” corporate mentality that any maverick will find interesting to say the least. In the information age where knowledge workers are becoming an increasingly interesting challenge for leaders/managers, this is a great book in helping someone navigate the changing times.  Unconventional ideas that not everyone will find useful, but great book . . ., December 4, 2006 VA Reader “berapp”
Block has a way of taking us outside the realm of day-to-day management without falling into unreality. The “bottom line” is: Regard for others, October 22, 1998 Perry Pascarella

Wireless networks work using radio waves instead of wires to transmit data between computers. That’s the simple version. If you’re curious to know what’s going on in more detail, then it’s all explained in this article.

Ones and Zeros.

I’m sure you know that computers transmit data digitally, using binary: ones and zeros. This is a way of communicating that translates very well to radio waves, since the computer can transmit ones and zeros as different kinds of beep. These beeps are so fast that they’re outside a human’s hearing range — radio waves that you can’t hear are, in fact, all around you all the time. That doesn’t stop a computer from using them, though.

Morse Code.

The way it works is a lot like Morse code. You probably already know that Morse code is a way of representing the alphabet so that it can be transmitted over radio using a dot (short beep) and a dash (long dash). It was used manually for years, and became a great way of getting information from one place to another with the invention of the telegraph. More importantly for this example, though, it is a binary system, just like a computer’s ones and zeros.

You might think of wireless networking, then, as being like Morse code for computers. You plug a combined radio receiver and transmitter in, and the computer is able to send out its equivalent of dots and dashes (bits, in computer-speak) to get your data from one place to another.

All About Frequencies.

You might wonder, though, how the computer could possibly transmit enough bits to send and receive data at the speed it does. After all, there must be a limit on how much can be sent in a second before it just becomes useless nonsense, right? Well, yes, but the key to wireless networking is that it gets around this problem.

First of all, wireless transmissions are sent at very high frequencies, meaning that more data can be sent per second. Most wireless connections use a frequency of 2.4 gigahertz (2.4 billion cycles per second) — a similar frequency to mobile phones and microwave ovens. As you might know, though, a frequency this high means that the wavelength must be very short, which is why wireless networking only works over a limited area.

In addition, wireless networks make use of a technique known as ‘frequency hopping’. They use dozens of frequencies in the range they are given, and constantly switch between them. This makes wireless networks more immune to interference from other radio signals than they would be if they only transmitted on one frequency.

Access Points.

The final step is when it comes to all the computers on a network sharing Internet access. This is done using a special piece of wireless equipment called an access point. Access points are more expensive than wireless cards for one computer, as they contain radios that are capable of talking to around 100 computers at the same time, and sharing out access to the Internet between them. Dedicated access points are only really essential for larger networks, though — if you only have a few computers, it is possible to use one of them as the access point, or you could just get a wireless router.

They Understand Each Other.

That’s all well and good, then, but how does wireless equipment made by entirely different companies manage to work together when this is all so complicated? Well, the answer is that there are standards that all wireless devices follow. These standards are technically called the 802.11 standards, and are set by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). It is thanks to people sticking to their standards that wireless networking is so easy and cheap to use today.

You Don’t Need to Worry.

If all this talk of frequencies has you a little worried, you don’t need to be — wireless networking hardware and software handles all of this automatically, without you needing to do a thing. Don’t think that you’re going to have to tell one wireless device what frequency another is using, because it’s just not going to happen, alright? Wireless networking, for all its complicated workings, is really far more simple to use than you’d ever expect.