Three Signs of a Miserable Job Essay Example for Free

Three Signs of a Miserable Job Essay In his book entitled, â€Å"Three Signs of a Miserable Job,† Patrick Lencioni discusses job satisfaction by defining or rather, identifying the signs of a miserable job. According to the author there are stark differences between a job that is simply just â€Å"bad† from one that is â€Å"miserable.† The author uses many different examples throughout the book to stress his point and at the end is able to show that having a â€Å"miserable† job is not something that always has to be a problem. Patrick Lencioni addresses this issue by showing that there are many different methods of dealing with work related stress. In previous centuries the jobs available to a particular person were often predetermined by the occupation of that persons parent, in the recent years, however, more and more studies have come out showing the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance. The reason behind this is that it has been shown in the Hawthorne Studies that individuals are willing to work for other benefits or factors besides pay or compensation. This led to more research as to what other factors may prompt an individual to perform work and thus led to the study of the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance. This, according to the author, is the main source of job dissatisfaction. The relevance of this lies in the effect that a miserable job has upon a person. According to Lencioni, a miserable job can not only demoralize a person but it can also lead to frustrations that are brought in out of work forums. This leads to disastrous results not only in the industry but to society as well. The main cause of the problem lies with most of the members of management. As shown in a survey that the author cites, the main cause for job dissatisfaction that worker turnover is the boss. The key in dealing with the problem is in identifying what the signs of job misery are and if they are present. According to Lencioni, anonymity, irrelevance and immeasurement are the typical signs that a person is miserable with his job. The presence of these factors shows that the employee is not only miserable but they also signify that an employee is more likely to leave his current job or exhibit more work disruptive attitudes. The first sign, anonymity, is essential because it has to do with the value of the employee. Every employee, according to Lencioni, who does not feel like he or she is making a valuable contribution to work often, feels miserable. As previously mentioned, the rewards at work are not only financial but otherwise. Job satisfaction depends not only on the payment but also the intangible rewards such as being recognized. When the employee feels that the manages does not have any interest in them, their productivity decreases and they feel miserable in work. Another sign is irrelevance. This means that the employee acts as if anything that he or she contributes is useless. This feeling of futility greatly demoralizes the employee and also leads to dissatisfaction at work. The negative effect is that it can spill over to the rest of the group and negatively impact workplace productivity. The last sign is immeasurement which is the lack of ability of workers to gauge their success at work. Most employees have the need to assess just how much they have accomplished. Without this, the employee feels as if they are stuck in the â€Å"twilight zone† with no hope in sight. It is important therefore for the employee to see the progress that he or she has accomplished. The remedy, according to the author, lies in establishing good communication between the employee and the manager. Oftentimes, this problem is caused by lack of or total absence of communication. Therefore, in order to prevent this problem, the employee must strive to communicate to the manager his or her concerns before it becomes a huge problem that can no longer be remedied.

Capital Punishment :: Death Penalty Essays

The death penalty has been around for centuries. It dates back to when Hammurabi had his laws codified; it was â€Å"an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth†. Capital punishment in America started when spies were caught, put on trial and hung. In the past and still today people argue that, the death penalty is cruel, unusual punishment and should be illegal. Yet many people argue that it is in fact justifiable and it is not cruel and unusual. Capital punishment is not cruel and unusual; the death penalty is fair and there is evidence that the death penalty deters crime. A big part of abolitionist’s argument is that the death penalty is not humane. They pull in Amendment 8, â€Å"†¦nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.† What the victim went though was indeed â€Å"cruel and unusual punishments’.† The murderers’ death is not cruel. The people will demand justice for what he or she has done (Bidinotto 19). Hanging and the electric chair are topics more reasonable to argue, but now because of lethal injection capital punishment has become more humane. The death penalty is not barbaric, the pain and agony that the victim went through is barbaric. Abolitionists were very upset in 1996 when rapist and murderer John Albert Taylor was executed by firing squad; they said his death was barbaric (Feder 32). Charla King, the poor 11-year-old girl he raped and strangled with a telephone cord, her death was barbaric! It makes no sense to think that John Taylor’s’ death was barbaric or inhumane. He would not even hear the bullets shoot out; his victim went through more pain than what any court system could have inflicted on him (Feder 32). In the past people have challenged the death penalty, it has always been denied, lethal injection is fair enough (Johnson 43). There have been inhumane ways in the past; people should be thankful that we use lethal injection instead of using electrocution as first choice (Johnson 43). Honestly, the death penalty is roughly enough pain that can be legally inflicted, they get what they deserve (Bidinotto 19). We will not use the death penalty to get revenge; the legal systems would not tolerate victims’ family using it for revenge. It is to seek justice, not to get even (Bidinotto 20). Second, the death penalty does in fact deter crime. New York, 1990, the murder rate was up to about 2,650 people, every year it has dropped, in 2009 there were only 778 murders.

“Chemistry” written by Graham Swift Essay

In the opening of the story, Graham Swift uses descritptive writing to give us a striking image of the pond, where he went with his grandfather and mother, â€Å"The pond in our park was circular, exposed, perhaps fifty yards across. When the wind blew, the little waves travelled across it and slapped the paved edges like a minature sea.† This helps the reader gain a more precise image in their head of the park where the narrator is, and it also helps make the story more interesting to read. The opening of the story is also parallel to the end. The narrator in the story, goes back to the pond at the end of the story, and again gives us good imagery description of it, â€Å"Dead willow leaves floated on it†. I found this interesting, because it makes the story cyclical, and may be a reminder of the journey of growing up and of the acceptance ‘ â€Å"You must accept it – you can’t get it back† ‘. It also convinces us to believe that the na rrator went back to the park, for wishful thinking – hoping that his grandfather would return and not wanting to left go of the past. When I first began reading the story, I believed that it was a female narrator. One of the reasonings for this is because it said, â€Å"My grandmother died suddenly†¦ all I know is that I must have had her looks.† However, we are later informed that the narrator is a ten year old boy. We aware of this because his mother calls him her â€Å"little man† and she also says, ‘ â€Å"He’s only ten, what can he know?† ‘. I find this extremely interesting in the story, because he appears to be extremely mature, intelligent and formal. Although he is only ten years old, he uses complex words and sentences such as â€Å"fundamentals of chemistry†, â€Å"haunches† and â€Å"reconciled them in mutual grief†. However, he is cold blooded as he rarely describes how he is feeling and has never mentioned about being upset when his father and grandmother died. This is an unusual perspective to use as he is so young, yet faced with traumatizing experiences, but I believe that the author has done this to highlight his innocent and because he will have few prejudices. This means he will tell the story how it is, without changing it to suit what he believes or his own opinions. An example of this, is when his father comes to see him. Although I believe that it is a dream, the narrator is convinced that his father came to see him – â€Å"That night father came to the bedroom. I knew it was him†. At the beginning of the story, I find it interesting, that the author describes the boat journey, over the pond towards grandfather as â€Å"trouble free†. Then, all of a sudden the boat sinks. I believe that the author purposely makes the boat sink when Ralph is immediately introduced to the story, â€Å"Then one day – it must have been soon after mother met Ralph – we watched the boat†¦ become deeper and deeper in the water.† This contrasts greatly with the boat journey on the pond before the boy’s mother met Ralph, and poses questions in the readers mind that Ralph is going to stop the boy’s and grandfathers â€Å"trouble free† life. I believe that this is interesting because he is indirectly warning the readers that Ralph is going to make things worse, which is symbolic of the sinking boat. An example of Ralph making things worse later in the story, is during meal times. This is because since Ralph’s appearance, the narrator’s mother would cook the things that only Ralph liked and forget to produce meals that grandfather was of. Thus resulting in arguments at meal times, when grandfather was sent out to his shed. Although the story is quite dull and morbid, the author uses humour, when the boy says, â€Å"I wondered how Grandmother could be at the bottom of the Irish Sea and at the same time what Father was doing there†. Again, this highlights his innocence and although it is humerous we are not laughing with him, but at his ignorance. In the story, there are many time shifts. Numerous times the narrator goes back in time, to update and tell the reader of a previous event, such as the relationships between his mother and grandfather before Ralph came along, and explaining why his mother and him came to live with his grandfather . This may be significant in the story because he preferred things in the past, compared to now. I find the relationship between the narrators mother and grandfather interesting. â€Å"He refused to leave the house in which my grandmother had lived, and my parents refused to leave theirs†, tells us that they are both arrogant and selfish and will not give in to their stubborness for one another. The narrator tells us that his mother is also hypocritical towards her father, â€Å"no matter how neglectful and even hurtful she might be to Grandfather herself, she wouldn’t have forgiven someone else’s hurting him†. Also, she tries to punish her father by isolating him from them (as he was â€Å"runing their meals†) by saying â€Å"do you want to take yours out to your shed?!† When he dies, her mother shows no remorse and â€Å"did not cry†. The narrator tells us that, it was as though she had â€Å"this look of relief, as if she had recovered from an illness†. The narrator does not say this, but we assume that the illness was her father. The boy believes that his mother is in love with Ralph, and would choose him over her father, â€Å"If Ralph hurts Grandfather it means I’m right – he doesn’t really care about mother at all; but if mother is cruel to Grandfather it means she really loves Ralph†. However, he also says â€Å"She looked trapped and helpless†, when Ralph and his mother were cuddling, which puts questions in our mind about their relationship and if she is truly happy. Within the story there are many hidden messages and meanings. There are many questions that remained unanswered too. An example of this is when the boy’s father came to visit him during the night. He says to him, ‘ â€Å"It was her. She made a hole in the bottom of the boat, not big enough to notice, so it would sink – so you and Grandfather would watch it sink. The boat sank – like my plane† ‘. The questions that this poses in my mind are: Did the boy’s mother kill her father? Did she kill the boys Grandfather? Is he looking for someone to blame? Did she purposely sink his boat? I think it is ironic that his father â€Å"visited† him, on the night that his Grandfather had died. I believe the author did this purposely to add more mystery and confusion to the story. Another example which raises hints and questions to the reader is the cherry laurel bushes that were growing in their garden. He says, â€Å"Only the cherry-laurel bushes were partly denuded – for some reason Grandfather had been picking their leaves.† Further on in the story, when the boy goes out to the shed, he begins questioning his Grandfather about the chemicals he had. ‘ â€Å"Laurel water. Prussic acid.† He smiled. â€Å"Not for drinking.† ‘ The smile may indicate to the reader that he is smiling to the boy through innocence; telling him to politely and informaly not to drink it, or he his smiling to himself, asthough he has something planned. Again, this poses more questions in my mind but it contradicts my believing that the boys mother killed the boys Grandfather, and because of this it adds more unanswered questions. Also in the story, I find interesting that the official verdict was â€Å"suicide by swallowing prussic acid†, which is an argument for his Grandafther commiting suicide (as he had some prussic acid in his shed), yet the boy is extremely cynical and believes his mother murdered her father. † But all of the other things that should have been explained – or confessed – she never did explain†, and â€Å"I wanted to tell them – about how suicide can be murder† indicate this to us. His mother says to the boy, ‘ â€Å"†¦he wouldn’t have lived much longer anyway† ‘ which may inform the reader that she is trying to justify her actions (murder). Throughout the story is the theme of chemistry and how things are â€Å"changed – not made†. His Grandfather’s job, before retirement, was gold-plating and now, in the shed in the garden, he carries out many experiments, â€Å"I don’t think Grandfather practised chemistry for any particular reason†.The chemistry Grandfather experiments with and changes is a metaphor of what is happening in the home, ‘ â€Å"People change too, don’t they?† ‘ His Grandfather replies with â€Å"They change. But the element’s don’t change.† This is telling the reader, that although people/elements can change and become something else, underneath it all they are still made of the same as they were before.

What Can You Do With an MBA

A Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree is not a golden ticket to career success, but the skills you acquire in an MBA program can give you an edge inside and outside of the business field. Most MBA programs are designed to help students acquire the hard and soft skills that employers look for in well-rounded job candidates. Hard MBA Skills Hard skills are the types of skills that can be easily defined, taught and measured. Examples of hard skills include speaking a foreign language or being able to calculate financial ratios. Quantitative Skills: Being able to utilize data is an important skill in todays business world. Nearly every MBA program has one or more courses that are specifically designed to help students learn how to collect data and manipulate numbers using basic business math. Students are also taught how to analyze the quantitative data that they collect to solve complex problems and make effective business decisions.  Strategic Planning Skills: Strategic planning is vital to the success of any company. MBA students learn how to assess objectives, set goals, formulate strategies to achieve the company mission, and execute strategic plans. They study several strategic planning frameworks and acquire the skills needed to communicate, evaluate and adjust strategic plans at the organizational and departmental levels.  Risk Management Skills: There is some amount of risk associated with every business venture, so its no surprise that risk assessment and analysis has become a key component of business strategy. In an MBA program, students learn how to identify, evaluate and mitigate financial and operational risks. They study different types of threats, legal liabilities, regulatory compliance and alleviation strategiesProject Management Skills: Project management, which is a specialized form of management, is increasingly used in business to achieve organizational goals. MBA programs use a combination of coursework, cases studies and extracurricular activities to teach students how to initiate, plan, execute and control work teams. Students graduate with the ability to prioritize tasks, optimize corporate processes and manage all types of projects from start to finish.   Soft MBA Skills Soft skills are skills learned through practice or even trial and error. They are not always easily measured. Patience, work ethic and communication skills are all examples of soft skills. Communication Skills: Being able to communicate with diverse audiences is an important skill in the business field. While in an MBA program, students learn how to communicate orally and in writing. They also learn the finer points of communication, such as adjusting tone and non-verbal cues to be more convincing and persuasive.Global Competence: Todays business world is interconnected. Many MBA programs recognize this fact by offering students the opportunity to increase global competencies through diverse student bodies and global experiences. Students learn how to consider multiple perspectives, appreciate cultural differences and act on issues of global significance.Leadership Skills: Being a good leader is key for anyone in a supervisory position. MBA programs help students acquire the skills needed to coach, train and motivate a wide variety of people. Students learn how to innovate and handle real-life business dilemmas.  Collaboration Skills: Nobody works alone in business. The ability to collaborate with management and team members is an important skill to acquire. Many MBA programs emphasize group work to give students practice in a collaborative environment. Students learn how to develop relationships and achieve goals as a team. Transferable MBA Skills Many of the skills that students obtain in an MBA program are useful in business careers, but they are also transferable, which means that MBA grads can take what they have learned and apply it to situations and careers outside of the business field. For example, all employers value soft skills like collaboration, communication and leadership skills. Global competency is also important, particularly in inclusive companies or companies with an international presence. Hard skills are similarly transferable. For example, MBA grads can take the analysis and decision making skills needed to assess risk and data and apply them to non-business functions. Employers also value job candidates who are able to identify objectives, set goals and prioritize tasks, three skills that are obtained through the study of strategic planning and project management.