Mgt 303 GR 2
According to Pfeffer and Sutton, what leadership activity often produces the greatest impact?
Leaders often have the most impact when they help build management systems. These systems should focus on architecting organizational systems, teams, and cultures—establishing the conditions necessary for others to succeed. Somewhat paradoxically, these systems reduce the need for and impact of "star performers."
*What is a strange loop?
Moving through a hierarchy and ending up where you started. When things seem to be organized, but really aren't. Paradoxical. IE) An O-1 having as much power as an O-6.
According to Ackoff, what is the first step in the process of analysis (reductionism)? What is the first step when taking a systems approach? Explain the difference using an example, such as a cadet squadron.
The first step in the process of analysis is to take apart the whole. The first step when taking a systems approach is to examine the whole. For example, to understand a squad through the process of analysis, you would take apart the squad to flights, elements, then to each individual and understand each part, then put the understanding of each part together to understand the squad. With systems, you would first look at the wing, then each group, then the squad.
Explain the availability bias, or availability heuristic. Provide an example.
There are situations in which people assess the frequency of a class or the probability of an event by the ease with which instances or occurrences can be brought to mind. For example, one may assess the risk of heart attack among middle-aged people by recalling such occurrences among one's acquaintances
*What was the objective of Principia Mathematica?
To drive out paradoxes from mathematical systems/ Get rid of strange loops. To create a mathematical system with completeness and consistency.
True or False. Vitalism is not a scientific concept since it only provides an untestable assertion.
True.
*As discussed after the beverage game, what does it mean to react to a system at the "pattern level"? Can this lead to system changes?
When you react to a system at the "pattern level", you are ordering the same amount from your supplier that the people who you supply ordered from you. This cannot lead to system changes.
Briefly explain the link between decision involvement and decision implementation.
Workers are more likely to support, and therefore implement, decisions when they believe they had a voice during the decision process. Managers always need to consider the tradeoff: participation takes time but results in more robust implementation versus less time up front but less commitment to implementation
If the probability of flipping "heads" on a coin is exactly 50%, what will happen if "heads" comes up 10 times in a row: a) if the flipping continues another 990 times, the expected result (estimated right after the 10th flip) for all 1,000 flips will be 500 heads and 500 tails b) the likelihood of flipping another head on the 11th try is less than 50/50 c) if the flipping continues another 990 times, the expected result (estimated right after the 10th flip) for all 1,000 flips will be 505 heads and 495 tails.
c.
In reference to slippability, Hofstadter writes about "fault lines of the mind" or "axes of slippability." Explain what is meant by these phrases.
fault lines of the mind"; they show which things appear to us to be solid and which things can slip. Changing bees to birds is Okay? But Bees to bricks crosses the fault line. If you're like most people, you'll come up with some pretty obvious slippages, made by moving along what seem to be the most obvious "axes of slippability". The axis of slippability is the range of intuitive variations.
Explain what is meant by the term "implicosphere." What is the implication of very small implicospheres? What is the implication of very large implicospheres? What effect do L1 college courses sometimes have on implicospheres?
the implicit "sphere of hypothetical variations"--surrounding any static, frozen perception. Small implicosphere means that you lack the creative ability to find solutions. You do not know what knobs to twiddle to create a variation on a theme. A large implicosphere means that you do have the ability to create varations on themese to come up with creative solutions. L1 college course increase our implicosphere by giving us new toolkits through different models and frameworks. From here the varations and isomorphs can be made.
How are "recipients" and "items" defined in your equity reading?
"Recipients" are the people who receive the item being distributed; the people who make up the society being studied are collectively the "recipients" of the products of that society. Items are things of value produced or owned by that society.
From a 303 perspective, how would one define "success?" (Specifically, what are the two required steps?)
A) To rigorously and consciously find your own criteria; B) To maximize your performance against these criteria.
According to Pfeffer and Sutton, what is the first question a leader should ask before trying to help subordinates?
According to Pfeffer and Sutton the first step that effective leaders need to take is not to ask "What can I do?" Rather they should ask "Am I needed at all? Will my actions, or even my presence, do more harm than good?" The best leaders know when and how to get out of the way.
Using the availability bias, explain how youth or inexperience can lead people to undervalue education.
As described by T&K, imaginability plays an important role in the evaluation of probabilities in real-life situations. For example, where the participants cannot imagine all the dangers inherent in a particular activity or adventure, they typically underestimate the actual dangers. In exactly the same way, work inexperience, which often accompanies youth, reduces one's ability to anticipate the many potential routes to failure, or sub-optimal life outcomes. Hence, the risks that accrue from ignoring education can be severely underestimated.
*What did Godel's Theorem show? What does it mean to say that a system is inconsistent? What does it mean to say that a system is incomplete?
Disproved Principia Mathmatica
According to Pfeffer and Sutton, leaders should act like they are in control, even when they aren't; what two reasons do they give to support this advice?
First, people who do performance evaluations will likely succumb to the belief that leaders are in control and ought to be. So they hire, praise, hold on to, and promote leaders who seem to be in control of events. This means that you will never get or keep a leadership position if you can't convince others that you are in control—even when you don't have much control. Second, pretending you are in control of organizational performance can help leaders gain actual control over at least some aspects of that performance. Pretending you are in control is a type of deception. In this sense you pump yourself up and put a better face on things than you initially feel. But after a while, if you act confident, you become more confident. So the deception becomes less of a deception."
Since traits change very gradually, most divorces should occur after many years of marriage. However, we know that 40% of marriages fail prior to the fifth year, and separation usually precedes divorce by a year or more. How does Becker explain why so many marriages fail quickly, even though the participants change very little during that time?
Many people get married based on imperfect information. During the first few years of marriage, people learn so much about each other so quickly. This influx of information can sometimes lead to divorce within the first 5 years.
Who is Rand referring to when she writes about "looters" and "mouchers"?
Moochers and looters are those who have not worked for their money. They claim products and money through force. They are the ones who see money as the root of all evil
According to Alfie Kohn, praised students often tend to become more tentative. Why does he say this occurs?
Praised students become "praise junkies" who seek continued praise and affirmation from others. Since the nature of this praise is in effect continuous evaluation, students become focused on the evaluators' judgments, over time losing their own judgments. Such students quickly move to speaking less, watching the evaluators for "right answers"; when an evaluator disagrees with a position they take, they quickly back off.
Relate "requisite variety" to the concept of "information as choice". (Be sure to demonstrate your understanding of what is meant by "requisite variety" and "information as choice".)
"Information is a measure of one's freedom of choice when one selects a message." Notice, this construct of information applies not to individual messages but to the sender's situation as a whole. Requisite variety, then, is about "regulation." That is, when we want to control or regulate a system, the concept of requisite variety is quite important.
*Tversky and Kahneman believe lack of understanding of the regression to the mean bias is due to: a) Representativeness b) Availability c) Anchoring d) Prospect Theory
(a. or) c.
Define L0 learning. Provide an example.
-Hard wired; stimulus and response; no learning, ever. -At L0 there is only stimulus-response. For any stimulus, then, the actor will always respond in the same way. L0, then, allows for only one possible response to any stimulus. Ex. Classical conditioning and Pavlov.
What is the definition of Nash equilibrium?
A position is a Nash equilibrium if from that position no player has incentive to unilaterally change her action.
What is "slippability"? Provide an example.
A subjunctive movement to alternative universes, slippability implies an axis on which a concept can be varied. I'm sure you can think of many examples.
Define L1 learning. Provide an example.
-A context, something more than a simple stimulus, is sensed; the context typically matches with a "toolkit." The toolkit is employed on a "trial and error" basis to find best response. -For an actor at L1 there is a sense of context. For stimulus experienced within a particular context there can be a variety of responses. This "toolkit" of responses can be expanded through education and experience. Most of the courses taken at USAFA try to accomplish one of two things. They either try to give you new toolkits to use in new contexts, or they try to expand the toolkits you are already using in familiar contexts. Ex. Use herzberg's model for motivating
Explain the concept of "representativeness." Provide an example.
-In answering such questions, people typically rely on the representativeness heuristic, in which probabilities are evaluated by the degree to which A is representative of B, that is, by the degree to which A resembles B. -"Steve is very shy and withdrawn, invariably helpful, but with little interest in people, or in the world of reality. A meek and tidy soul, he has a need for order and structure, and a passion for detail." How do people assess the probability that Steve is engaged in a particular occupation from a list of possibilities (for example, farmer, salesman, airline pilot, librarian, or physician)? How do people order these occupations fromn most to least likely? In the representativeness heuristic, the probability that Steve is a librarian, for example, is assessed by the degree to which he is representative of, or similar to, the stereotype of a librarian. Indeed, research with problems of this type has shown that people order the occupations by probability and by similarity in exactly the same way (1). This approach to the judgment of probability leads to serious errors, because similarity, or representativeness, is not influenced by several factors that should affect judgments of probability. Insensitivity to prior probability of outcomes.
In terms of the representativeness bias, what is meant by "insensitivity to sample size"? Provide an example.
-To evaluate the probability of obtaining a particular result in a sample drawn from a specified population, people typicallyapply the representativeness heuristic. That is, they assess the likelihood of a sample result, for example, that the average height in a random sample of ten men will be 6 feet (180 centimeters), by the similarity of this result to the corresponding parameter (that is, to the average height in the population of men -A certain town is served by two hos-pitals. In the larger hospital about 45 babies are born each day, and in the smaller hospital about 15 babies are born each day. As you know, about 50 percent of all babies are boys. However, the exact percentagev aries from day to day. Some-times it may be higher than 50 percent, sometimes lower. For a period of 1 year, each hospital recorded the days on which more than 60 percent of the babies born were boys. Which hospital do you think recorded more such days. Most people will say bigger hospital but the answer is smaller.
Provide two reasons why leaders may have a limited impact on their organizations.
1) Constraints. Things are controlled by external factors, things that managers have no control over (like the economy). 2) Most managers come from the same place, educated the same, they are all the same
What are the three types of human limitations discussed by Simon (systems concerns reading)? Explain what is meant by each type.
1) Limits of mental processes or reflexes—Human mental capacity is limited—for example we cannot simultaneous consider 25 variables. This forces humans to create simplified models of the world and make decisions based on those models. While our decisions may make sense within our created models, these decisions may result in less than optimal outcomes when used in the real world. 2) Limits of values and conceptions of purpose—this limitation refers to constraints we put on ourselves, courtesy of of mental maps (what we believe). For example, someone with a conservative worldview sees a very different world than someone with a liberal worldview. 3) Limits of Knowledge—this limit is caused by our education in any particular area. If we have little "requisite variety", our ability to see potential solutions to problems, or control our environment, is limited.
*What is a canon? Why, and to what extent, must a manager "play a canon"?
A canon is a theme; one vision, one theme that you consistently play. IE) Managers should have a canon, one theme. Managers shouldn't jump around. 1) Makes you look like you're not in control. 2) It confuses subordinates about what the vision is.
What is a fractal? What are some examples of fractals?
A fractal is a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be subdivided in parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole. Therefore, fractal objects exhibit self-similarity no matter what level is used to view them. Said differently, as you zoom in on a fractal you continue to see the same general contours. There are many mathematical structures that are fractals; e.g. Sierpinski triangle, Koch snowflake (which we showed in class as the shape with an infinite perimeter existing in a finite space), Peano curve, Mandelbrot set, and Lorenz attractor. Fractals also describe many real-world objects, such as clouds, mountains, turbulence, and coastlines. Organizations????
Where does chaos theory fit in the "reductionist" versus "systems" debate? Address these questions in your discussion: A) In which meta-model does chaos fit? How comfortable is the fit? B) How does "sensitivity to initial conditions" affect this fit? C) How do non-linearity and iteration impact this fit?
A) Chaotic systems are deterministic—hence, they fit within the reductionist model. However, we can easily argue that Chaos is reductionism taken to, and perhaps beyond, human limits—which makes the fit very uncomfortable. B) Since very small changes in initial conditions (sensitivity to initial conditions) result in large changes in systems outcomes, reductionistic prediction demands that virtually every variable be tracked in detail. If we knew the initial conditions for all the variables, and could track changes in their values, chaotic systems would be totally predictable. Unfortunately, Chaos is disheartening for reductionists in that it demands a level of measurement beyond human capability. C) While the effects of non-linearity are sometimes predictable, for some systems it is the non-linearity which magnifies the effect of very small changes in the variables. In addition, the fact that many systems iterate on themselves calls into question the decomposability and independence of the parts of such systems. This calls for understanding the underlying iteration (remember our film clips of Julia sets for simple equations plotted on the complex plane?) as opposed to the parts produced by such iteration. This is not the direction reductionists usually take.
According to Pfeffer and Sutton, why are top managers insulated from the hearing of bad news?
According to Pfeffer and Sutton even if you aren't to blame in any manner, simply delivering bad news to someone will cause them to blame you for it and to experience negative feelings toward you. Therefore, as news travels up hierarchical levels, each messenger changes it a bit to tell the boss a happier and happier story. Thus, the boss does not hear how bad the news actually is.
According to the Anteater, why is an anthill more complex than containerized gas?
An anthill has more levels than containerized gas and this increased the complexity. Simple as that. One can explain the behavior of the gas simply by calculating the statistical properties of the motions of its molecules. There is no need to discuss any higher elements of structure than molecules, except the full gas itself. On the other hand, in an ant colony, you can't even begin to understand the activities of the colony unless you go through several layers of structure.
*Failure to understand "regression to the mean" can result in the creation of management systems that overemphasize punishment. Briefly explain the setup, or statistical causes, of "regression to the mean" problems, and then provide an example that demonstrates these problems. Next, for each of the following, note whether the regression effect is increased or decreased: A) decreasing the extremity of samples from a population; B) an increase in the correlation (decrease in noise or randomness) between the variables being compared.
An example of poor management style caused by failure to understand regression of the mean would be in pilot training. Those who were praised for their performance performed worse the second time, and those who were punished and verbally abused performed better on their next performance. That is becaue those who were punished performed poorly to start. They performed below average. Their next performance was most likely going to be better regardless of the punishment. Those who were praised performed above average. Their next performance was most likely going to be worse regardless of the praise. A) The closer some sample is from the mean (more extreme), the lower the regression will be. B) An increase in correlation between the two variables being compared would mean that there is a smaller random error. That would cause an increase in regression.
Explain what is meant by the term "implicosphere." In terms of implicospheres, what is meant by "axes of slippability"?
An implicospere is an implicit counterfactual sphere, the sphere of implications surrounding an given idea. When a new idea or concept is planted in the mind, an implicosphere grows around it. The sphere takes shape as the result of the variation on that idea that comes from the "twiddling of many knobs" a "reasonable" amount. Different people accept different degrees of variation and slippability. Hence, the radii of implicosphere's varies by person. The radius matters greatly because larger spheres will overlap a greater number of additional implicospheres. Those who have little overlap you will produce few surprising or creative things; those with too much overlap spend too much time amusing themselves, a condition which may result in institutionalization.
What is an isomorph? Provide an example.
An isomorph is an information preserving transaction where one system is typically mapped to another system. It is important to note that mapping means that mapped parts perform equivalent functions.
What is the definition of a Pareto Optimal point?
An outcome (or square on a payoff matrix) of a game is Pareto efficient if there is no other outcome that makes every player at least as well off and at least one player strictly better off. That is, a Pareto Optimal outcome cannot be improved upon without hurting at least one player. Note that multiple squares can be Pareto Optimal
In what sense could an organization be described as having a fractal nature? What does it mean to say a system possesses "self-similarity?"
And I believe that fractals also have direct application for the leadership of organizations. The very best organizations have a fractal quality to them. An observer of such an organization can tell what the organization's values and ways of doing business are by watching anyone, whether it be a production floor employee or a senior manager. There is a consistency and predictability to the quality of behavior. No matter where we look in these organizations, self-similarity is found in its people, in spite of the complex range of roles and levels.
Wheatley says that organizations sometimes have a fractal nature. What does this mean?
And I believe that fractals also have direct application for the leadership of organizations. The very best organizations have a fractal quality to them. An observer of such an organization can tell what the organization's values and ways of doing business are by watching anyone, whether it be a production floor employee or a senior manager. There is a consistency and predictability to the quality of behavior. No matter where we look in these organizations, self-similarity is found in its people, in spite of the complex range of roles and levels.
According to Pfeffer and Sutton, why is it dangerous for a leader to deny fault or deflect blame?
By avoiding blame they are also claiming a lack of control. If it is not your fault, than you have no control or impact on the result. Taking blame asserts that the leader had control and could have made a difference. Therefore, leadership is still viewed as important in future events that happen down the road. If you do not take blame when things go wrong, you cannot take credit when good things occur. Moreover, when a leader does not take responsibility for setbacks they are also denying an ability to make things better in the future.
What is the root cause of chaos? For chaotic systems, what role does non-linearity play?
Chaos of this nature (known as deterministic chaos) is created by iterations in a non-linear system, information feeding back on itself and changing in the process. Non-linearity has been described by Coveney and Highfield as "getting more than you bargained for" (1990, 184). Very slight variances in the conditions of the equation, variances so small as to be indiscernible, amplify into unpredictable results when they are fed back on themselves. If the system is non-linear, iterations can take the system in any direction, away from anything we might expect. The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back is one familiar example of non-linearity: A very small change had an impact far beyond what could have been predicted.
Define L3 learning. Provide an example.
Conscious selection of criteria (philosophy on the triad); recognition of the enactment of reality: consciousness of event punctuation; Zen; Systems taken to the limit.
Explain the essence of prospect theory. (Compare human reactions to losses and gains of equal amounts.) Provide examples that demonstrate the aversion characteristics on either side of the reference point
Consider the following which demonstrates that people view risks concerning gains quite differently from risks concerning losses: When given a choice between getting $1000 with certainty or having a 50% chance of getting $2500 (and a 50% chance of getting $0) many people choose the certain $1000. Note that the mathematical expectation of the uncertain option is greater, at $1250. This choice toward certainty is perfectly reasonable and reflects risk-aversion. However, when the same people are confronted with the choice of taking a certain loss of $1000, or flipping a coin which will determine whether then lose nothing or $2500, they often choose the risky alternative. This is called risk-seeking behavior. This change in behavior is not necessarily irrational but it is important for analysts to recognize the asymmetry of human choices. In summary the essence of prospect theory is:—a) losses or gains of equal amounts do not translate into losses or gains of utility of equal amounts. Therefore, people are more likely to be risk-seeking when facing a loss, and more risk averse when facing a gain. It is important to note that the presentation of the problem can be what causes the perception of loss versus gain; hence, the difference in decision suggests that framing (priming) a situation can dramatically how participants react.
Define L2 learning. Provide an example.
Contexts and Toolkits; toolkits may be used out of the contexts where they were learned—a bit of an isomorphic process. Events are punctuated at level 2 as we choose our reality—however, this is typically unconscious at level 2. Ex. Herzberg's model was taught to us in the context of organization behavior. Can be isomorphed to fit parenting
According to Cornerstones, is information warfare and end or a means? Evaluate this position using the Mgt 303 definition of information. (Be sure to explain the primary 303 definition of information. For example, using the 303 definition, how do we know when information has been created?)
Cornerstones states that information warfare is a means to the end. This is inconsistent with the Mgt 303 definition, which states that the adversary can perceive, interpret, and act upon information given. We know when information has been created if the receiver has changed their behavior based on the data stream. Mgt 303 believes that winning the information war is the ultimate objective.
According to Ericsson (in Weisberg), how does "work" differ from "deliberate practice"?
Deliberate practice consists of a set of activities specifically designed to improve performance in some skill (Ericsson et al., 1993). Among these are: application of structured methods, rather than haphazard working; involvement of a tutor or coach, although not usually in every practice session; feedback to the student; andrepeated chance for the student to attend to the critical aspects of the situation and his or her performance. Work= haphazaradous practicing without direction
Explain why direct supervision can negatively impact employee creativity.
Direct supervision can have a negative impact on employee creativity because people do not want to be observed failing. Nobody wants to fail in front of their boss and look incompetent. However, creativity often requires testing many trials of new and innovative ideas which may, or may not, succeed. In turn people will do less creative things which they are sure will work.
Explain the "ten year rule" as it pertains to creativity. What are future creators doing during this "ten year" period? Explain the concept of "deliberate practice."
During the ten year period, also known as the silent or uncreative (really "unoriginal" using 303 semantics) period, individuals are laying the foundation for future creativity by spending a tremendous amount of time in "deliberate practice" in their chosen skill. Deliberate practice (4 parts, A through D) is time spent working using (A)"best practice" techniques of the field; (B) practice is accomplished under the watchful eye of a master teacher or coach; (C) feedback is provided; (D) students emphasize those skills that require improvement, which requires drill, drill, drill.
Using the definition of creativity used in class, which takes a systems view, explain the interplay among domain, field, and the individual. Be sure to note where "originality" "memes," and the "voting elite" fit.
Each of these (individual, field, domain) occurs at a different level. At the individual level, people are relentlessly "original." Their originality does not have free access to the highest level, culture. Instead originality must be accepted by the field in which it belongs. For example, an artist's originality must be accepted by the "voting elite" within the art field (As we noted in class, this is probably a group of, at most, several thousand, a large percentage of whom are represented by art collectors and museum people in NYC.) Only after the voting elite have blessed an individual's originality can it move to the domain or culture level where it becomes part of the "memes" of the culture. Every culture is made up of a wide collection of memes, which are roughly analogous to human genes.
Stone discusses two methods for judging societal equity. What are these two methods? Explain how each method would address unfairness.
Either they generally favor redistribution—moving from the current arrangements toward something they see as more equitable—or they favor the status quo, believing that the current distribution is more equitable than anything that might be achieved by conscious government policy.
Make a case that all learning is actually L0.
Every single time you are in a situation or make a decision you are going to be different than before just because of your experiences in the past which have formed you so there fore you are starting over. In higher levels (L1, L2, L3), you become a new being. You don't really learn. L0 is the level of learning where stimulus is responded. It doesn't matter the situation, the response will be the same. The reason why this can be made a case for is because most people are habitually entailed to doing a certain thing one way all the time. Whether it is tying shoes or solving a problem, the steps they take (in general) are usually the same. Even when they learn something new they abandon their old ways and use the new way learned instead.
What does it mean to say that an object has a fractal nature? According to Wheatley, what does it mean to say an organization has a fractal nature?
Everywhere in this minutely detailed fractal landscape, there is self-similarity. The shape we see at one magnification we will see at all others. No matter how deeply we look, peering down through very great magnifications, the same forms are evident. There is pattern within pattern within pattern" and "The very best organizations have a fractal quality to them. An observer of such an organization can tell what the organization's values and ways of doing business are by watching anyone, whether it be a production floor employee or a senior manager. There is a consistency and predictability to the quality of behavior. No matter where we look in these organizations, self-similarity is found in its people, in spite of the complex range of roles and levels."
Anteater says that meaning and purpose require a certain perspective. In the instance of the ant hill, what perspective is necessary to find "meaning" in the activity of the ants? How can this meaning be "drained away"?
From an ant's-eye point of view, a signal has NO purpose. The typical ant in a signal is just meandering around the colony, in search of nothing in particular, until it finds that it feels like stopping. Its teammates usually agree, and at that moment the team unloads itself by crumbling apart, leaving just its members but none of its coherency. No planning is required, no looking ahead; nor is any search required, to determine the proper direction. But from the COLONY'S point of view, the team has just responded to a message which was written in the language of the caste distribution. Now from this perspective, it looks very much like purposeful activity Ant colonies have been subjected to the rigors of evolution for billions of years. A few mechanisms were selected for, and most were selected against. The end result was a set of mechanisms which make ant colonies work as we have been describing. If you could watch the whole process in a movie--running a billion or so times faster than life, of course--the emergence of various mechanisms would be seen as natural responses to external pressures, just as bubbles in boiling water are natural responses to an external heat source. I don't suppose you see "meaning" and "purpose" in the bubbles in boiling water--or do you? By looking at things from the vast perspective of evolution, you can drain the whole colony of meaning and purpose. They become superfluous notions.
According to Stone, for those who take a process view of fairness, what must be done to prove that a current distribution is fair? What is the underlying weakness of the "process" approach to fairness?
He argues that a distribution is just if it came about by a voluntary and fair process. It is just if all the holdings in it—what people have—were .acquired fairly. You must look at historical information as to how the distribution came about. The tricky problem for Nozick's process concept of justice is defining what constitutes fair original acquisitions and transfers.
Using the "Ant Fugue" reading, link the described behavior of ants to Chaos Theory?
I cannot predict the behavior of an ant. But, there is a strange attractor. I know the ant won't go in the woods for no reason. It will stay in a boundary to find food and bring food back. This relates to the chaos theory because though it may be inconsistent and unknown as to what is going to happen, there is that boundary which it will always fall into.
Explain why "leadership" seems to be less important at Toyota. (Stated differently, why is it that leadership changes at Toyota don't seem to have much impact.)
If leaders are successful in building a robust set of interrelated management practices and philosophies (a management system), their organization will enjoy advantage above and beyond the ideas or inspiration of single individuals. Their organization will adapt and succeed, yet no one will seem to have been individually important.
Explain in terms of implicospheres how the two string problem was solved in class.
Implicosphere is implicit counterfactual sphere, referring to things that never were but that we cannot help seeing anyway. Gradually, as the space of possibilities of the new concept--the implicosphere--is traced out, the most common and useful of those slippages become more closely and directly associated with the new concept itself, rather than having to be derived over and over from its constituents. Once the rope was cut so that the excess did not drag on the floor it looked like more of a pendulum and we were able to make that slip. Seeing the rope as a pendulum and knowing that tying a heavy object on the end we were able to devise a plan were we had one rope swing while we grab the other rope and then we were able to tie them together.
Use the implicosphere idea to make a case for including Chem 100 in the core.
In chem 100 we discussed ionic bonds. This is the sharing of electrons. You need to have the right amount of valence electrons for two elements to come together to form a compound. Using our implicosphere we could isomorph this idea to show how a unit needs specific parts to fit together properly to become an effective fighting force
According to Stone, for those who take an end-result view of fairness, what must be done to prove that a current distribution is fair? What is the underlying weakness of the "end-result" approach to fairness?
In the endresult concept, one looks at characteristics of recipients or owners and characteristics of items, and asks whether there is an appropriate match. Nozick calls this end-result justice because in order to judge whether a distribution is fair, we look only at the end result and do not need any historical information as to how the distribution came about. They must define what characteristics of recipients and items are relevant for justice.
Two of the "ways of knowing" are intuition and tenacity. Explain and provide an example for each. What concerns does Kerlinger express about intuition as a way of knowing?
Intuition is where something is true because it is said to be reasonable. For example, it is reasonable to assume that someone who cheated will get an honor hit. The concern about intuition is that two rational people will have different reasoning and therefore come to two different, yet still reasonable, conclusions. Tenacity is where something is true because it is true and has always been true. For example, people used to firmly believe that the Earth was flat.
According to Pfeffer and Sutton, how is a lack of prioritization on the part of a leader viewed by followers?
It is difficult to convince others that you are in control when you race from one trivial emergency to another. And it is difficult to gain objective (actual, real) control when you switch from one topic to another, since your people can't use your actions as a guide to purpose or vision—they don't know where to focus their efforts and attention. Leaders must decide focus on a few crucial things and relentlessly communicate about those things.
How does Kaldor-Hicks efficiency differ from Pareto efficiency?
Kaldor-Hicks efficiency allows compensation between players—hence, players can move from a Pareto Optimal outcome to another (possibly Pareto Optimal) outcome that is better for the overall system. Kaldor-Hicks recognizes that in the real world even changes that are obvious overall improvements for an organization will still create losers. Recognizing and compensating those who stand to lose helps managers change their organizations.
Do Air Force leaders seem to see only the positive? Said differently, for AF leaders why is every day another "Great Air Force Day"? According to Pfeffer and Sutton, why is this an effective leadership technique?
Leaders who want to express confidence and the impression that they are in control of events talk optimistically about the future, often emphasizing that today's sacrifices will pay dividends down the road.
Explain how the fear of "lack of control" creates leadership attribution errors.
Leadership lesson: Subordinates have fear. They want to feel like someone is in control. They make themselves believe the leader is in full control. So, if something goes wrong, they will attribute the problem to the leader. However, the leader may not actually have had any control over that situation. Although a leader may not have control over a situation due to external factors, subordinates will attribute failures of the organization to the leader because they view the leader as in control. This is known as the fundamental attribution error.
What is the meaning of the term MU?
MU: Rejection of a question because a question isn't clean. It's not a viable question. It can't be answered without dismissing viable assumptions. IE) Someone asking me "Why are you a management major?" (others think I'm lazy). The questions forces the assumption that I'm just trying to take an easy way out. IE) "Have you stopped beating your wife?" If you answer that, you're accepting the assumption that you have beaten your wife in the past. FOR THE GR, SAY: "I'm not answering the question because I'm rejecting the assumptions. "
According to Hofstadter, what is the "crux of creativity"? If he is right, what is the relationship between genius and creativity?
Making variations on a theme is really the crux of creativity. If you look at the history of science, for instance, you will see that every idea is built upon a thousand related ideas. Careful analysis leads one to see that what we choose to call a new theme is itself always some sort of variation, on a deep level, of previous themes. The trick is to be able to see the deeply hidden knobs! Genious is positively correlated with creativity.
In terms of creativity, what role is played by the "voting elite"? What are memes, and what is the relationship between memes and culture?
Managers constitute the "voting elite" on the "field" level. They ultimately decide which projects deserve funding. To play this role well, managers must have depth (requisite variety) in their toolkits; they must be able to rigorously model the level above the field level, the domain level, to determine whether new ideas have profitable possibilities.
As discussed in the Checkland reading, in terms of systems dynamics what is "negative feedback"? Which is more likely to produce homeostasis, negative feedback or positive feedback? Explain why.
Negative feedback is corrective and therefore stabilizes performance. Negative feedback is more likely to produce homeostasis, or stability. This is because positive feedback reinforces behaviors which are already being practices. Since negative feedback corrects behaviors, it will shift the behavior back toward equilibrium.
According to Hofstede, how does culture at the national level differ from culture at the organizational level? (i.e., according to Hofstede, in what three ways do the two types of culture differ?)
One of the conclusions of my own multilevel research has been that culture at the national level and culture at the organizational level-corporate culture-are two very different phenomena and that the use of a common term for both is confusing. If we do use the common term, we should also pay attention to the occupational and the gender level of culture. National cultures differ primarily in the fundamental, invisible values held by a majority of their members, acquired in early childhood, whereas organizational cultures are a much more superficial phenomenon residing mainly in the visible practices of the organization, acquired by socialization of the new members who join as young adults. National cultures change only very slowly if at all; organizational cultures may be consciously changed, although this isn't necessarily easy. This difference between the two types of culture is the secret of the existence of multinational corporations that employ, as I showed in the IBM case, employees with extremely different national cultural values. What keeps them together is a corporate culture based on common practices.
In terms of the representativeness bias, what is meant by "insensitivity to prior probability of outcomes"? Provide an example.
One of the factors that have no effect on representativeness but should have a major effect on probability is the prior probability, or base-rate frequency, of the outcomes. In the case of Steve, for example, the fact that there are many more farmers than librarians in the population should enter into any reasonable estimate of the probability that Steve is a librarian rather than a farmer. Considerations of base-rate frequency, however, do not affect the similarity of Steve to the stereotypes of librarians and farmers. If people evaluate probability by representativeness, therefore, prior probabilities will be neglected.
Through what process can praise "steal a child's pleasure" or create dependence or cause a child to "lose interest"?
Praise is often evaluation and judgment; the most notable feature of a positive judgment isn't that isn't that it's positive, but that it's a judgment. Children quickly move from "I did it!" to "Was it good?" (Loss of pleasure), or from interest in the activity to an interest in praise (loss of interest), or neglect their own judgment in favor of the evaluator's.
According to the Tax Policy Center, almost half of all American families pay no federal income tax. In addition, the top 1% of wage earners pay almost 40% of all federal individual taxes. In contrast, federal government spending is sharply tilted toward lower-income households, due to the large amount of federal transfer payments to lower-income households through Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. According to Stone, why might the equity of this system be attacked from a process view? In contrast, how might an end-result view justify this type of system?
Process view—The process view of equity general disagrees with any system that redistributes goods (items). Any equity problems should be dealt with via process changes. End-Result view—Under this view, redistribution is the preferred method for ensuring fairness
*Explain Russell's paradox (To jog your memory, the setup started with self-including and non-self-including sets; you needn't include anything on walruses or Joan of Arc.) OR Explain why Godel's theorem is a devastating attack for mathematicians. As part of your answer explain what is meant by "consistent" and "complete."
Russell's paradox: If the barber shaves everyones head in town, besides himself, should he include himself? If he shaves himself, then yes. If he doesn't shave himself, then no.
What are three responses that can replace praise and when should each be used?
Say nothing—when what you were going to say would really be a manipulation, especially when that manipulation is based on a lack of confidence Say what you saw—description of the activity shows the child you noticed but invites them to explore their activity and judgments Ask questions—shows you noticed and invites them to explore their thought processes; validates their right to create a world
What does it mean to say a system is extremely sensitive to initial conditions? What impact does such sensitivity have on prediction?
Scientists now emphasize the very small differences at the beginning of a system's evolution that make prediction impossible; this is termed "sensitive dependence on initial conditions." Edward Lorenz, a meteorologist, first drew modern-day attention to this with his "butterfly effect." The world is far more sensitive than we had ever thought. We may harbor the hope that we will regain predictability as soon as we can learn how to account for all variables, but in fact no level of detail can ever satisfy this desire.
Explain what is meant by "sensitivity to initial conditions." Explain the concept of strange attractors. Provide an example of a strange attractor in an organization.
Scientists now emphasize the very small differences at the beginning of a system's evolution that make prediction impossible; this is termed "sensitive dependence on initial conditions." Edward Lorenz, a meteorologist, first drew modern-day attention to this with his "butterfly effect." Does the flap of a butterfly wing in Tokyo, Lorenz queried, affect a tornado in Texas (or a thunderstorm in New York)? Though unfortunate for the future of accurate weather prediction, his answer was "yes." In a chaotic system, scientists now can observe movements that, though random and unpredictable, never exceed finite boundaries. "Chaos," says planning expert T J. Cartwright, "is order without predictability" (1991, 44). The system has infinite possibilities, wandering wherever it pleases, sampling new configurations of itself. But its wandering and experimentation respect a boundary. But chaos, when it erupts, will never exceed the bounds of its strange attractor. This mirror world of order and disorder challenges us to look, once again, at the whole of the system. Only when we step back to observe the shape of things can we see the patterns of movement from chaos to order and from order to chaos. When I think about meaning as a strange attractor, I see links to these sciences. Meaning or purpose serves as a point of reference. As long as we, keep purpose in focus in both our organizational and private lives, we are able to wander through the realms of chaos, make decisions about what actions will be consistent with our purpose, and emerge with a discernible pattern or shape to our lives.
According to John Rawls, what are "social primary goods"? Provide two examples
Social primary goods are things that are very important to people (hence "primary") but are created, shaped, and affected by social structure and political institutions (hence "social"). Power, opportunity, wealth, income, civil rights, and liberties are things Rawls includes.
How does Stone challenge the classic view of efficiency ((i.e., input to output ratio or "getting the most out of a given input" or 'achieving an objective at the lowest cost.")? Discuss, and provide examples for, two attacks she uses to show that efficiency is a "relative" concept.
She starts by generally noting that defining the values of the inputs/outputs needed to compute efficiency is a relative venture—the values depend on who you ask, since different people tend to value the same inputs and outputs quite differently. In other words, people can value the same input or output differently depending on their triad and their construct of reality. Attacks on the classic view of efficiency: a) Efficiency depends on objectives—different people would set different objectives, hence arrive at different measures of efficiency given the same inputs and outputs. Example: if the objective of a library is to have the best book collection possible, efficiency demands that salaries be minimized in order to buy as many books as possible. If the library's objectives are enlarged to include providing employment for the local community, cutting salaried workers would be inefficient. b) Efficiency depends on identifying inputs and outputs—but inputs for one person could be outputs for another, and vice-versa. Example: As noted in a) above, depending on the objectives of the library, salaries could be either an input or an output. c) Efficiency depends on whose perspective is used. Example: from the perspective of a library, efficiency might depend on getting maximum utilization from each librarian—in other words, they are always kept busy. In contrast, from the library users' perspective, efficiency might be measured in terms of how little times is spent at the library, from searching for books to checking out—from this perspective having librarians who are less time constrained would add to efficiency. d) Efficiency depends on available alternatives. From a larger economic perspective, to truly gauge efficiency we must consider what other, perhaps completely different enterprises, could have been funded with the resources. Example: It might be more "efficient" to cut the library budget in half and spend the savings on a local child immunization program
Weisberg addresses the tension and foundation views of creativity. How are they different? What role does education play in each?
Since creative thinking by definition goes beyond knowledge, there is implicitly or explicitly assumed to be a tension between knowledge and creativity. Too much edu could hurt creativity. Inverted U. A number of researchers have argued the opposite of the tension view, that is, that knowledge is positively related tocreativity. Rather than breaking out of the old to produce the new, creative thinking builds on knowledge
Explain the reductionist concepts of validity and reliability. Provide an example for each.
Something is valid if it measures what it claims to measure. For example, if we want to see how well Mgt 303 students understand 303 objectives, we will give a test on 303 objectives. Something is reliable if it produces the same results every time it is tested. For example, a student got a 1500 on the SAT. If they were to take it again with the same level of preparation and assuming that it was the first time they had seen the material, they would get a 1500 again. Therefore, the SAT would be a reliable test.
According to Hofstadter why is awareness of creativity like being aware of breathing or gravity?
Strange though it may sound, nondeliberate yet nonaccidental slippage permeates our mental processes, and is the very crux of fluid thought. That is my firmly held conviction. This subconscious manufacture of "subjunctive variations on a theme" is something that goes on day and night in each of us, usually without our slightest awareness of it. It is one of those things that, like air or gravity or three-dimensionality, tend to elude our perception because they define the very fabric of our lives.
According to Pfeffer and Sutton, why does assigning credit to "we", even when such credit is unwarranted, end up making a leader appear more powerful?
Strategic use of the word we amplifies impressions that the leader is in command of followers—so long as the focus is on how the leader's own skill, effort, and smarts made good things happen rather than luck or events that were outside of his or her control. It implies a group effort that is inclusive of everyone, including the leader themselves.
Using the "Ant Fugue" reading, compare an anthill's creation of information with the Mgt 303 definition of information creation. How are they similar or dissimilar?
The Anteater's arrival completely changes the internal distribution of the ants. One can describe the change from the old state to the new as having added a piece of knowledge to the colony. This knowledge the anteater speaks about matchest he 303 definition of information. 303 definition states that info is created when there is a change in the behavioral probabilities. This matches what happened to the anthill when the anteater arrived. They changed how they were behaving and their entire internal distribution
In what ways is L2 learning different than L3 learning?
The Levels of learning are broken down into 4 different levels according to the reading. L2 is where we use the idea of toolkits (variety of responses) and take it to the next level and use them for more then they were originally perceived. These overlapping concepts help us extend our ideas and responses. L3, according to the reading is the highest level of thinking, but instead of being boundend or limited to toolkits there are infinite possibilities to gain.
1. Using tipping theory, and the graphic below, explain why bars have "happy hour" and baseball teams have "bat night." In the graphic below, what is the end result if initial attendance is 65? What is the end result if initial attendance is 40?
The graphic is read as follows: Entry is on the X-axis; a group of potential customers collectively decides how many people are "expected" to show up—using this number on the X-axis we move straight up until we hit the curve, then we move left to find out how many customers are satisfied with this expectation; this is the number of customers who will ACTUALLY show up the first night. Next we take this actual figure and update the expectation, moving through the diagram again. This process is repeated until a stable number is achieved. In the diagram above, if, for example, 30 are expected on the first day, the overall effort is doomed, since the number will drop every day thereafter. This phenomenon is directly applicable to happy hour and bat night. Happy hour, allows a bar to "hold onto" early customers, putting off the start time for working through the diagram above until enough people have arrived to create a sustaining process. Bat night is slightly different in that it takes customers off of the normal diagram for one night, hopefully resulting in higher later expectations or a lower threshold requirement for customers to attend games. (So we either enter higher on the X-axis for later ballgames, or the collective curve shifts.) To help your understanding, note the following truism: if you were to draw a 45 degree line bisecting the X and Y axes, any points on the sketched curve falling below this line are "non-sustaining." Critical points in answering this question: -Explain the diagram -Note that businesses must achieve high enough expectations (critical mass) to be self-sustaining.
According to Ackoff, large organizations often oscillate between centralization and decentralization. Why does this occur? (Be sure to note where the concepts of "harmony", decision commitment, and autonomy fit.)
The human need to control one's destiny and make decisions provides a push toward decentralization. And we know that when humans are allowed to participate in decisions they are more committed to the effort required in the execution of those decisions. However, over time decisions made at lower levels create a situation where organizational sub-systems start to get out of sync—hence, to enhance system "harmony" and overall effectiveness, centralization becomes necessary, at least for a short period.
According to Rand, what is the root of industrial production?
The root of industrial production is man's decision to make money for themselves. The realization that wealth is created and not conquered or inherited is the key factor
*Explain the concept of "emergence". Which meta-model, systems or reductionism, emphasizes this property?
The universe is arranged in a hierarchy of increasing complexity. At each level, properties emerge that cannot be explained at lower levels. Therefore, systems emphasizes this property because it focuses on something more complex.
What role did computers play in revealing the patterns in chaos?
They can process very fast and do it for a very long time. They can plot millions of points on a graph quickly and accurately. The patterns are shown up with much more accuracy and time efficiency. Humans are limited by how fast we can accomplish tasks in a system, where in computers they can process much much quicker to reach a better outcome. -With the speed typical of computers, we can soon observe millions of moments in the system's history.
Explain "anchoring" as a decision bias. Provide an example.
This goes back to the Turkey population example of how a question is formed influences how a person thinks about the question. We won't deviate from the number too dramatically from the number given to us. It is a simple priming for the people being asked. Changing someone's expected value for something. IE) High MSRPs on cars make us feel like we're getting a deal. Anchors are bad!
Explain what is meant by non-accidental yet non-deliberate slippage (also referred to as subjunctive variations on a theme). Provide an example.
This subconscious manufacture of "subjunctive variations on a theme" is something that goes on day and night in each of us You are not consciously aware this activity that happens everyday To make this concrete, let me contrast an example of "deliberate" slippage with an example of "nondeliberate but nonaccidental" slippage. Imagine that one summer evening you and Eve Rybody have just walked into a surprisingly crowded coffeehouse. Now go ahead and manufacture a few variants on that scene, in whatever ways you want. What kinds of things do you come up with when you deliberately "slip" this scene into hypothetical variants of itself? If you're like most people, you'll come up with some pretty obvious slippages, made by moving along what seem to be the most obvious "axes of slippability". Typical examples are: -- I could have come with Ann Yone instead of Eve Rybody. -- We could have gone to a pancake house instead of a coffeehouse.
How can creativity be explained as "twiddling knobs"?
Twiddling the knob is just creating a varation on a theme that already exist. That's what creativity is. Making variations to a them. Twiddling the know just changes particular characteristics. Tweedling the knob on a bus, someone could come up with a van.
Why is segregation the result for the rich and poor, even where each side (the rich or the poor) would be willing to live in a neighborhood that was predominately (up to 2/3) populated by the opposite group?
Two points: the interdependence of the population leads to a chain reaction when someone moves; this interdependence only works on the margin in a "one-sided" fashion—people will move to insure that at least 1/3 of the people around them are like them—they will make not move toward the 2/3 ratio. Said differently, all movement is in one direction: toward more than 1/3 being like them.
What is "chaos" (as studied in Mgt 303)? Why is prediction "impossible"?
Unpredictability within a deterministic system. In chaotic systems prediction requires the tracking of countless variables. An inability to track even a few of the variables will, due to "sensitivity to initial conditions" make prediction impossible.
According to Stone, liberals and conservatives can usually be identified by how they believe equity should be achieved. Using Stone's identification, label each of the following phrases as conservative (C) or liberal (L): a) Liberty=freedom to dispose of one's property with minimum government intervention b) Liberty=freedom from necessity c) Equity arises from fair process d) Equity arises from fair outcomes e) Work is motivated by financial need f) Work is motivated by security g) Property is a social creation h) Property is an individual creation
a) C b) L c) C d) L e) C f) L g) L h) C
Where does Zen fit in the 303 levels of learning model? Why? Where does the concept of isomorphing fit? Why? Where does the CONSCIOUS re-punctuation of reality fit? Why? Where does most of USAFA's core fit?
a. reality can be anything we want it to be. Zen enlightenment can be thought of as achieving a continuous state of level 3. b. At L2 actors become aware of the possibility of using "toolkits" in contexts beyond the one in which they were originally conceived. Actors become able to compare contexts. Isomorphing epitomizes this sense of moving toolkits or frameworks from one context to another c. at L2 punctuation of events is not a "conscious" act. In other words, L2 actors simply fall into the reality that best matches their biases or expectations; they are not aware that they made a choice. The L3 actor is aware of the context of contexts; reality can be anything we want it to be. d. For an actor at L1 there is a sense of context. For stimulus experienced within a particular context there can be a variety of responses. This "toolkit" of responses can be expanded through education and experience. Most of the courses taken at USAFA try to accomplish one of two things. They either try to give you new toolkits to use in new contexts, or they try to expand the toolkits you are already using in familiar contexts.
According to John Rawls, what are "natural primary goods"? Provide two examples.
natural primary goods—things very important to people but which, while affected by society, are less directly under its control. Here, Rawls includes intelligence, strength, imagination, talent, and good health.
