PRIVATE VICTORY
HABIT ONE
BE PROACTIVE
Self-awareness is the reason why man has dominion over all the things in the world and why he can make significant advances from generation to generation. Self-awareness enables us to stand apart and examine the way we “see” ourselves - our self paradigm, the most fundamental paradigm of effectiveness.
THE SOCIAL MIRROR
While we have acknowledged the tremendous power of conditioning in our lives, to say that we are determined by it, that we have no control over that influence, creates quite a different map. There are three theories of determinism:-
GENETIC DETERMINISM basically says our grandparents did it to us.
PSYCHIC DETERMINISM says your parent’s sis it to you. Your upbringing, your childhood experience made you the person you are today.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINISM says something in the environment is doing it to you and is responsible for your situation.
Each of these maps is based on the stimulus/response theory. The basic idea is that we are conditioned to respond in a particular way to a particular stimulus. Between stimulus and response man has to choose his freedom. We have conscience and independent will- the ability to act based on our self-awareness, free of all other influences.
PROACTIVITY DEFINED
Proactivity means more than taking initiative. It means that as humans we are responsible for our own lives. Highly proactive people recognize that responsibility. They do not blame circumstances, condition, or conditioning for their behavior. Reactive people are often affected by their physical environment. Proactive people are driven by values – carefully thought about, selected and internalized values. As Eleanor Roosevelt observed, “No one can hurt you without your consent.”
TAKING THE INITIATIVE
Taking initiative does not mean being pushy, or aggressive. It does mean recognizing our responsibility to make things happen. For instance, people who end up with good jobs are always those who take initiative, they are part of the solution not part of the problem.
Proactive people focus their efforts in the CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE. The work on things they can do something about. The nature of their energy is positive which causes their circle of influence to increase. Reactive people on the other hand focus their energies on the circle of concern, things about which they cannot do anything. This causes their circle of influence to shrink.
The circle of concern is filled with the have’s. For instance “if I had my degree” etc. The circle of influence is filled with the be’s “I can be more loving.” The proactive approach is to change from inside-out, be different by being different.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
DELEGATION
Delegation is the passing down of authority from higher to lower levels in the chain of command. Delegation is not the same as participation. Participation involves sharing of authority but in delegation the worker is in authority of making decisions on his own. There are 5 behaviors that effect delegation:-
1. CLARIFY THE ASSIGNMENT – this involves deciding what needs to be delegated and to whom, and the assigning of responsibility. Agreement is made on what needs to be done and a clear end goal is in mind
2. SPECIFY EMPLOYEE’S RANGE OF DISCRETION – this involves setting parameters as to how much authority is being passed down to the employee. The employee is clarified of the limit to his authority and the range of his discretion.
3. ALLOW THE EMPLOYEE TO PARTICIPATE – the employee who is to perform the job is made to participate in the decision of how much authority is to be delegated.
4. INFORM OTHERS THAT DELGATION HAS OCCURRED – people inside and outside the organization should know delegation has taken place within the organization. The task and amount of authority should also be made clear.
5. ESTABLISH FEEDBACK CHANNELS – controls should be set to monitor employees performance and task completion. Controls can be supplemented to ensure authority is not abused.
1. CLARIFY THE ASSIGNMENT – this involves deciding what needs to be delegated and to whom, and the assigning of responsibility. Agreement is made on what needs to be done and a clear end goal is in mind
2. SPECIFY EMPLOYEE’S RANGE OF DISCRETION – this involves setting parameters as to how much authority is being passed down to the employee. The employee is clarified of the limit to his authority and the range of his discretion.
3. ALLOW THE EMPLOYEE TO PARTICIPATE – the employee who is to perform the job is made to participate in the decision of how much authority is to be delegated.
4. INFORM OTHERS THAT DELGATION HAS OCCURRED – people inside and outside the organization should know delegation has taken place within the organization. The task and amount of authority should also be made clear.
5. ESTABLISH FEEDBACK CHANNELS – controls should be set to monitor employees performance and task completion. Controls can be supplemented to ensure authority is not abused.
Summary of chapter 1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT
WHAT IS MANAGEMENT?
Simply speaking management is what managers do. A better explanation is that management involves coordinating and over seeing the work activities of others so that their activities are completed efficiently and effectively.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF MANAGERS
FIRST LINE MANAGERS: these are managers a lowest levels of the organization that mange the work of non managerial employees.
MIDDLE MANAGERS: managers between the first and the top level of the organization who manage the work of first line managers.
TOP MANAGERS: managers at or near the upper levels if the organization structure who are responsible for making organization wide decisions and establishing the goals and plans that affect the entire organization.
MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS
Managers engage in planning, they define goals, establish strategies for achieving these goals, and develop plans to integrate and coordinate these activities.
Mangers are also responsible for arranging and structuring work to accomplish the organizations goals. We call this function organization. When managers organize, they determine what tasks are to be done.
Every organization includes people and a manager’s job is to work with and through people to accomplish the organizational goals. This is the leading function. When managers motivate subordinates, help resolve work group conflicts etc.
The final management function is controlling. After the goals and plans are set (planning), the tasks and structural arrangements determines (organizing), and the people hired, trained, and motivated (leading), there has to be some evaluation if whether things are going as planned.
MANAGEMENT ROLES
INTERPERSONAL roles involve people and other duties that are ceremonial and symbolic in nature. These include figure heads leaders and liaisons. E.g. greeting visitors or doing external board work
INFORMATIONAL roles involve collecting, receiving and disseminating information. These include monitor, disseminator and spokes person. E.g. reading periodicals, making phone calls etc.
DECISIONAL role revolve around making choices. E.g. organizing strategy.
ORGANIZATION
It is the deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish some specific purpose. Organizations are changing because the world around them is changing. There are two types of organization traditional and dynamic.
WHY STUDY MANAGEMENT?
Universality of management – there is universal need for it
Reality of the job – people can either manage or be managed
There are certain rewards and challenges of a manager’s job.
INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT
WHAT IS MANAGEMENT?
Simply speaking management is what managers do. A better explanation is that management involves coordinating and over seeing the work activities of others so that their activities are completed efficiently and effectively.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF MANAGERS
FIRST LINE MANAGERS: these are managers a lowest levels of the organization that mange the work of non managerial employees.
MIDDLE MANAGERS: managers between the first and the top level of the organization who manage the work of first line managers.
TOP MANAGERS: managers at or near the upper levels if the organization structure who are responsible for making organization wide decisions and establishing the goals and plans that affect the entire organization.
MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS
Managers engage in planning, they define goals, establish strategies for achieving these goals, and develop plans to integrate and coordinate these activities.
Mangers are also responsible for arranging and structuring work to accomplish the organizations goals. We call this function organization. When managers organize, they determine what tasks are to be done.
Every organization includes people and a manager’s job is to work with and through people to accomplish the organizational goals. This is the leading function. When managers motivate subordinates, help resolve work group conflicts etc.
The final management function is controlling. After the goals and plans are set (planning), the tasks and structural arrangements determines (organizing), and the people hired, trained, and motivated (leading), there has to be some evaluation if whether things are going as planned.
MANAGEMENT ROLES
INTERPERSONAL roles involve people and other duties that are ceremonial and symbolic in nature. These include figure heads leaders and liaisons. E.g. greeting visitors or doing external board work
INFORMATIONAL roles involve collecting, receiving and disseminating information. These include monitor, disseminator and spokes person. E.g. reading periodicals, making phone calls etc.
DECISIONAL role revolve around making choices. E.g. organizing strategy.
ORGANIZATION
It is the deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish some specific purpose. Organizations are changing because the world around them is changing. There are two types of organization traditional and dynamic.
WHY STUDY MANAGEMENT?
Universality of management – there is universal need for it
Reality of the job – people can either manage or be managed
There are certain rewards and challenges of a manager’s job.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
summary of chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
DECISION MAKING
HOW DO MANAGERS MAKE DECISIONS?
Decision making is a set of eight steps that include identifying a problem, selecting an alternative, and evaluating the decisions effectiveness.
The eight steps of the decision making process are:-
1. Identification of a problem
2. Identification of decision criteria
3. Allocation of weights to criteria
4. Development of alternatives
5. Analysis of alternatives
6. Selection of an alternative
7. Implementation of the alternative
8. Evaluation of decision effectiveness
HOW ARE DECISIONS MADE?
Rationality: managers make consistent, value maximizing choices within specified constraints.
Bounded Rationality: managers make decisions rationally but are limited (bounded) by their ability to process information, so they end up satisficing.
Intuition: decisions are made on the bases of experience, feeling and accumulated judgment.
WHAT TYPES OF PROBLEMS DO MANAGERS FACE?
STUCTURED PROBLEMS: are straight forward, familiar and easily defined. For instance a server spills a drink on a customer’s coat. The manager has an upset customer and he needs to do something about it. Programmed decision is a repetitive decision that can be handled by a routine approach. A procedure is a series of interrelated steps that manger can use to respond to a structured problem.
UNSTRUCTURED PROBLEMS: are new or unusual and for which information is ambiguous or incomplete. Nonprogrammed decisions are unique and require a custom made solution.
MANAGERS MAKE DECISIONS when there is
1. Certainty
2. Risk
3. Uncertainty
DIFFERENT STYLES OD DECISION MAKING:
1. ANALYTICAL style is characterized by high tolerance for ambiguity and a rational way of thinking
2. DIRECTIVE style is marked by low tolerance for ambiguity and a rational way of thinking.
3. CONCEPTUAL style characterized by high tolerance for ambiguity and a rational way of thinking.
4. BEHAVIORAL style low tolerance for ambiguity and an intuitive way of thinking.
BIASES AND ERRORS THAT EFFECT DECISION MAKING
o Overconfidence
o Anchoring effect
o Confirmation
o Sunk costs
o Representation
o Self-serving
o Immediate gratification
o Selective perception
o Framing
o Availability
o Randomness
o Hindsight
DECISION MAKING
HOW DO MANAGERS MAKE DECISIONS?
Decision making is a set of eight steps that include identifying a problem, selecting an alternative, and evaluating the decisions effectiveness.
The eight steps of the decision making process are:-
1. Identification of a problem
2. Identification of decision criteria
3. Allocation of weights to criteria
4. Development of alternatives
5. Analysis of alternatives
6. Selection of an alternative
7. Implementation of the alternative
8. Evaluation of decision effectiveness
HOW ARE DECISIONS MADE?
Rationality: managers make consistent, value maximizing choices within specified constraints.
Bounded Rationality: managers make decisions rationally but are limited (bounded) by their ability to process information, so they end up satisficing.
Intuition: decisions are made on the bases of experience, feeling and accumulated judgment.
WHAT TYPES OF PROBLEMS DO MANAGERS FACE?
STUCTURED PROBLEMS: are straight forward, familiar and easily defined. For instance a server spills a drink on a customer’s coat. The manager has an upset customer and he needs to do something about it. Programmed decision is a repetitive decision that can be handled by a routine approach. A procedure is a series of interrelated steps that manger can use to respond to a structured problem.
UNSTRUCTURED PROBLEMS: are new or unusual and for which information is ambiguous or incomplete. Nonprogrammed decisions are unique and require a custom made solution.
MANAGERS MAKE DECISIONS when there is
1. Certainty
2. Risk
3. Uncertainty
DIFFERENT STYLES OD DECISION MAKING:
1. ANALYTICAL style is characterized by high tolerance for ambiguity and a rational way of thinking
2. DIRECTIVE style is marked by low tolerance for ambiguity and a rational way of thinking.
3. CONCEPTUAL style characterized by high tolerance for ambiguity and a rational way of thinking.
4. BEHAVIORAL style low tolerance for ambiguity and an intuitive way of thinking.
BIASES AND ERRORS THAT EFFECT DECISION MAKING
o Overconfidence
o Anchoring effect
o Confirmation
o Sunk costs
o Representation
o Self-serving
o Immediate gratification
o Selective perception
o Framing
o Availability
o Randomness
o Hindsight
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Summary of chapter 7 by nazish william
SUMMARY CHAPTER 7
FOUNDATIONS OF PLANNING
WHAT IS PLANNING AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Planning is a management function that involves, defining goals, establishing strategies for achieving those goals and developing plans to integrate and coordinate activities. There are two types of planning formal and informal. It is concerned with both a means and an end. Planning:-
1. Provides direction
2. Reduces uncertainty
3. Minimizes waste and redundancy
4. Establishes a clear picture of goals or standards used in controlling.
HOW DO MANAGERS PLAN?
There are two important elements in planning
A. GOALS which are desired outcomes for individuals, groups or entire organizations
B. PLANS which are documented form of goals and an outline on how goals are to be met.
A business can have various goals, not just one as it seems apparently. For instance an organization might want to increase market share and keep workers enthused about working for them.
WHAT TYPES OF GOALS DO COMPANIES PURSUE?
FINANCIAL GOALS are related to the financial performance of the business
STRATEGIC GOALS are related to other areas of a businesses performance.
STATED GOALS are an official statement of the businesses aims, what its stakeholders want, what its goals are etc. for instance Nike’s stated goals are “to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete.”
REAL GOALS are those that a business actually pursues.
WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF PLANS?
BREADTH: - STARTEGIC PLANS are plans that apply to the entire organization and seek to position the organization in terms of its environment.
OPERATIONAL PLANS are those that specify the details of how overall goals are to be achieved.
TIME FRAME: - LONG TERM plans are those with a time frame beyond three years
SHORT TERM plans are those covering one year or less.
SPECIFICITY: - SPECIFIC PANS are plans that are clearly defined and leave no room for explanation. For instance the marketing department aims to cut down costs so immediately the will start working towards this goal without further delay.
DIRECTIONAL PLANS are flexible and set out general guidelines for example a business aims to increase market share. This can be done through various ways and is just a basic direction of what to do
FREQUENCY OF USE: - SINGLE USE PLAN is a one-time plan designed to meet the needs of a unique situation. A company planning to expand factory premises will only use the plan once.
STANDING PLANS are on going plans that provide guidance for activities performed repeatedly. For example increasing market share.
HOW DO MANAGERS SET GOALS?
In traditional goal setting goals are set at the highest levels and then broken down into sub goals for each level on the chain of command. For instance the goals for managers would be different from goals for an individual worker. When hierarchy of goals is clearly defined, a means-end chain is formed which serves as a mean for their accomplishment
Many organizations use Management by Objectives, which is a process of mutually agreed upon goals and using these goals to evaluate employee performance. MBO has four important elements:-
1. Goal specificity
2. Participative decision making
3. Explicit time period and
4. Performance feedback
CHARACTERISTICS OF WELL DEFINED GOALS
1. Measurable
2. Quantifiable
3. Well communicated
4. challenging but attainable
5. Written down
HOW DO MANAGERS DEVELOP PLANS?
The process of planning is influenced by three contingency factors which are level in the organization, degree of environmental uncertainty, and length of future commitment. The commitment concept states that plans should extend far enough to meet those commitments made today.
CRITICISMS OF PLANNING
1. Creates rigidity
2. Can’t be developed for dynamic environment
3. Can’t replace intuition
4. Focuses on today
5. Reinforces success which can lead to failure
6. Planning isn’t enough.
FOUNDATIONS OF PLANNING
WHAT IS PLANNING AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Planning is a management function that involves, defining goals, establishing strategies for achieving those goals and developing plans to integrate and coordinate activities. There are two types of planning formal and informal. It is concerned with both a means and an end. Planning:-
1. Provides direction
2. Reduces uncertainty
3. Minimizes waste and redundancy
4. Establishes a clear picture of goals or standards used in controlling.
HOW DO MANAGERS PLAN?
There are two important elements in planning
A. GOALS which are desired outcomes for individuals, groups or entire organizations
B. PLANS which are documented form of goals and an outline on how goals are to be met.
A business can have various goals, not just one as it seems apparently. For instance an organization might want to increase market share and keep workers enthused about working for them.
WHAT TYPES OF GOALS DO COMPANIES PURSUE?
FINANCIAL GOALS are related to the financial performance of the business
STRATEGIC GOALS are related to other areas of a businesses performance.
STATED GOALS are an official statement of the businesses aims, what its stakeholders want, what its goals are etc. for instance Nike’s stated goals are “to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete.”
REAL GOALS are those that a business actually pursues.
WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF PLANS?
BREADTH: - STARTEGIC PLANS are plans that apply to the entire organization and seek to position the organization in terms of its environment.
OPERATIONAL PLANS are those that specify the details of how overall goals are to be achieved.
TIME FRAME: - LONG TERM plans are those with a time frame beyond three years
SHORT TERM plans are those covering one year or less.
SPECIFICITY: - SPECIFIC PANS are plans that are clearly defined and leave no room for explanation. For instance the marketing department aims to cut down costs so immediately the will start working towards this goal without further delay.
DIRECTIONAL PLANS are flexible and set out general guidelines for example a business aims to increase market share. This can be done through various ways and is just a basic direction of what to do
FREQUENCY OF USE: - SINGLE USE PLAN is a one-time plan designed to meet the needs of a unique situation. A company planning to expand factory premises will only use the plan once.
STANDING PLANS are on going plans that provide guidance for activities performed repeatedly. For example increasing market share.
HOW DO MANAGERS SET GOALS?
In traditional goal setting goals are set at the highest levels and then broken down into sub goals for each level on the chain of command. For instance the goals for managers would be different from goals for an individual worker. When hierarchy of goals is clearly defined, a means-end chain is formed which serves as a mean for their accomplishment
Many organizations use Management by Objectives, which is a process of mutually agreed upon goals and using these goals to evaluate employee performance. MBO has four important elements:-
1. Goal specificity
2. Participative decision making
3. Explicit time period and
4. Performance feedback
CHARACTERISTICS OF WELL DEFINED GOALS
1. Measurable
2. Quantifiable
3. Well communicated
4. challenging but attainable
5. Written down
HOW DO MANAGERS DEVELOP PLANS?
The process of planning is influenced by three contingency factors which are level in the organization, degree of environmental uncertainty, and length of future commitment. The commitment concept states that plans should extend far enough to meet those commitments made today.
CRITICISMS OF PLANNING
1. Creates rigidity
2. Can’t be developed for dynamic environment
3. Can’t replace intuition
4. Focuses on today
5. Reinforces success which can lead to failure
6. Planning isn’t enough.
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