Our Blog Review

How influenced are we by the world around us? How much are our personality, our observations, our actions, and even our thoughts are deeply influenced by what we believe will be effective or by the norms of the social world around us. Phin Upham reviews some of the seminal pieces on the topic.

A deep claim in sociology argues that what we think is personal is actually social, what we think is free is actually heavily guided, what we think is “me” is actually “us.” In an attempt to free itself of what it perceived of the shackles of religion American sociologists, psychologists, and philosophers like Dewey, James, Goffman and Austin embraced a more rationalistic, science based, methodologically rigorous form of pragmatism. This, along with some heavy German influences, led to theories that we are not guided by some higher power, nor are we Godly individualists, but rather we are part of a whole, living in a sea of others and responding to this reality.

Erving Goffman in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Society gives us a picture of man in a world where the surface and the purpose are not obviously one. We ask “how are you” we intent to express our interest in another’s inner being. Goffman goes on to show that the form of society shapes our actions such that we are constantly aware and “presenting” ourselves to others. We have a kind of “presented self” which we try to act and make others believe. Constantly and always, we try to manipulate others into this belief and they do the same to us. I would also hypothesize that a Red Queen sort of expansion of this pattern, perhaps, causes an escalation of this buildup and can explain some of our oddest and most intricate social phenomena. These simple building blocks make up our complex reality, chaos theory in the social realm. Goffman theorizes that these feelings can be conscious or unconscious, “sometimes the individual will act in a thoroughly calculating manner, expressing himself in a given way wholly in order to give the kind of impression to others that is likely to evoke from them a specific response he is concerned to obtain. Sometimes the individual will be calculating in his activity but be relatively unaware that this is the case” and sometimes he will act according to a tradition or pattern whether or not he intends to be seen in this light (6). Goffman’s model of human behavior depends on what motive an individual has in a situation. If one wants to come off as bored, happy, “cool,” powerful, attractive, etc. an individual will pass on these clues in the form of semiotic behavior.

For the full article and more, visit Associated Content

Samuel Phineas Upham has a PhD in Applied Economics from the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania).  Phin is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.  He can be reached at phin@phinupham.com.

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When you think of a grammar checker you may think that it is as straightforward as a spelling checker but this is just not true. There are many differences between the two and you want to find a grammar tool that actually has a good quality so that it can do a better job of editing your work. Here we will look at some of the differences between these tools so you can see how important it is to find one that is really right for you.

Spelling in any language is much more straightforward and almost mathematical than grammar is because words are not spelled differently depending on their context. In some rare situations a word is spelled differently depending on how it is used but this is most often the case for slang terms. The thing that you need to remember is that grammar is very complicated and is different on a sentence by sentence basis rather than always the same.

For this reason it can be hard to find a grammar checker online that knows how to do a perfect job. This is not the fault of the program; rather, it is a situation inherent to the language itself. Humans are not machines. We have emotions, feelings, intuition and creativity. We can pick up on nuances of our own language and not even know how to put the rules into words. This is part of the problem and can cause a lot of grammar checkers to be a little faulty.

When you find a grammar tool that you like, you always need to take its advice with a grain of salt. A spell checker can be perfect and flawless and for the most part, as long as the dictionary it is using is up to date with your current terms, it will do a fabulous job. The disadvantage is that it does not always know what you mean; so if you say dessert when you mean desert it may not pick up on the fact that you spelled the word wrong because really, you were just spelling another word right.

That is where the free grammar checker comes in. These tools can help spot the overall mistakes that the spell check has no way to tell you about because that is made on a word by word basis. The thing to remember is that no grammar check system is going to be completely flawless so you also need to combine your own knowledge of your language to make sure that everything is perfect. This all depends also on your level of perfection needs. If you can have a few commas out of place, then you do not need to worry as much. If you are writing for a big time magazine, then you want to be more careful. The bottom line is that tools to check grammatical errors are more complicated than those to catch spelling errors but both are useful when taken with a grain of salt. 

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After attending a free training seminar which was in all honesty a pretty much in your face with a smile, up selling marketing event for me to attend a $200 3 day workshop, I still was able to walk away with one good thought being:sales training online

How many frogs will you dissect within your sales training coaching program that will help you increase sales?

Of course the answer is None. Yet the question is still incredibly insightful if we understand the QBQ (question behind the question as illustrated by John Miller).

How much of learning be it for selling new solutions be them products or services to what we learned in the K-12 or K-16 educational experience is:sales training

Applicable to our current roles?
Application driven

Years ago a colleague who later became one of my coaches, David Herdlinger, constructed the KASH Box. He drew a square and divided into four quadrants. On the left side, he labeled the top box with a K and below that with a S. Over on the right side, he placed the letter A in the top box and underneath that the letter K. Reading from left to right, top to bottom, the words KASH appear.

What David did was to quickly illustrate how much effort and dollars are placed in the left side to improve performance, but how little effort was invested in the right side. As I later have come to say, it (the performance) is not a question of “Do I or you know it?” but rather “Do I or you want to do it?”

Learning simply defined is the acquisition of knowledge. Performance is the application of knowledge. Both are needed to move people from where they are to where they want or need to be.

Returning to this free training seminar, the statement of knowledge without application referenced dissecting a frog and not learning how to read a financial statement. Which knowledge do you need today? And more importantly what past knowledge can you apply today.

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When you find a review of Rosetta Stone Spanish you may wonder if it makes sense to read it or not before making a purchase. The truth is that it does make a lot of sense to read every review of Rosetta Stone Spanish as you possibly can because they can save you money and valuable time. Here we will talk about why that is.

Reading every review of Rosetta Stone Spanish that you can is important because you can avoid making the same mistakes as some other people who write about it in their reviews. The truth is that no product is going to be right for every single person even if they work well for many. When you buy this Rosetta Stone Spanish, you do not want to be making a mistake.

When you read a review of Rosetta Stone Spanish, you can see what sorts of people did not like it. This knowledge can help you figure out if your money is going to be well spent on the product. If someone in a similar situation to yourself had a negative experience with it then you may not want to spend money on it. You may be one of the few who does not benefit from this Spanish language software, but it is good to know that as soon as possible.

Each review of Rosetta Stone Spanish is going to teach you something different about the product. Some people who have great success with it are going to share their experiences and they can be valuable for you to read about. If you are having doubts about Rosetta Stone Spanish, you can let them go when you see that people in your situation had a great level of success with it!

There are many reasons that you want to read every review of Rosetta Stone Spanish that you can find. You can see that this works out for you in many ways. For one thing, you are able to avoid the potential mistake of buying the software because it may not be the best idea for you. A review of Rosetta Stone Spanish can help you figure this out ahead of time. Furthermore, by seeing many positive reviews from people in similar situations to you, you may be able to feel even more confident about your decision to purchase this software.

You can easily see how looking at a review of Rosetta Stone Spanish may not be enough on its own; you want to look at as many as possible. You want to be sure that this software is a decent choice for yourself so you can feel confident about your purchase. This confidence will make you feel great and you will know that you are not making a mistake all from looking at more than one review of Rosetta Stone Spanish!

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A new dimension in Medical Call Center customer service

With over a decade of experience in providing highly efficient solutions for customer contact centers NextiraOne has unrivaled expertise in developing successful customer care systems.

Thanks to our close relationships with key providers of multimedia contact center and computer / Telecoms Integration technology (CTI), we can bring innovative contact management solutions to market very quickly. They affect not only a positive effect on ROI, but also provide a competitive advantage in industries with high competitive pressure.

According to a recent University of Kassel study 60% of  callers to reach on their first attempt is not the right person at the bank. This result clearly shows what are the main challenges of customer service – especially in times of rising demand for financial services through online or telephone banking.

In this age of multi-channel communication, it is especially important that your customers can be reached via their preferred medium. Each channel must offer the same instant and secure access to the same comprehensive and timely information. Only in such an environment it is possible to keep the customer happy and to really bind. The migration of customers to competitors, advertising is increasingly acute in the financial sector to a problem, therefore, customer loyalty, more and more regarded as a particularly important strategic objective.

Of course,  our commitment to Answering Service goes far beyond the implementation of multi-channel solutions. In order to achieve maximum ROI, your customer contact centers are fully integrated into your business. Agents need to be productive and effective in the realization of new business. Competence-oriented (skill-based) routing is associated with each caller to the appropriate contact person. With the help of customer profiles, agents can now offer customers the right to up-sell and cross-sell products.

NextiraOne is the latest technology, always on the trail. Through the use of innovative solutions such as intelligent voice recognition (IVR), can also help you NextiraOne in the development of virtual self-service and customer care facilities. Through our solutions, you save costs without compromising in terms of customer satisfaction. Satisfied towing answering service customers are up-sell services accessible and ensure higher sales.

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Nowadays every parent is rushing for the option of registering their school going children for private tuition. The reason is obvious; they need their children to obtain high marks in examinations. Unlike few years ago when private tuition was left for the weak student and those in ordinary schools, nowadays everyone including those in tertiary education levels like the universities and colleges are seeking for the services of private tutors. Indeed tutoring greatly help students higher marks in examination and this is what most parents and teachers are looking for.

Indeed it’s no doubt that private tutoring helps also help students pursue a good career of their choice. Most parents and teachers generally agree to this point. To have a brighter career path, students must perform greatly in their academic by scoring high in examinations. Private tuition greatly helps students secure excellence in examination. This is so because tutoring help the students get proper guidance and coaching from specialists who have outstanding and comprehensive knowledge of the subject and the diverse field they are offering tuition for.

Rather do everything in class with the usual teachers, some of which might not have the appropriate experience and skills about the subject they are teaching, parents go for private tutoring services. They do this because private tutors tend to offer customized and personal services to their children. While looking for private tuition services, parents choose private tutors with skills to make things simple to understand. This is the forefront criteria used to decide on a quality private tutor. A private tutor with such skills will greatly help student improve on their examination scores.

As a parent, you should have some criteria for selecting private tutor if you need one for your school gong children. Always insist on contracting only a private home tutor, or home tutoring services that have been verified by the police and are adhering to the legislations that regulate the industry. The private tutor must be fully licensed to offer such tutoring services. You can use the services of home tutoring services agencies to help you find the best private tutor for your child. Nonetheless, he or she should charge affordably for his or her services.

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Today’s society is so convenient. Sort of. We have access to all kinds of information at all times. Which is great, sometimes. For instance, my little sister is applying to college this year. She is obsessed with “stats” about the various colleges she’s applying to. Last weekend, we were walking around the Stonehill College campus and she wanted to know the percentage of international students that attend the school. She pulled out her iPhone, looked up Stonehill.edu, and she had the statistic in under a minute. In that instance, technology is great. Just five minutes later I received an email from work about a big deadline that had been shifted a week earlier. It was Saturday afternoon. I was overcome with stress. In that moment, access to information via advanced technology – not so great. While technological advances such as email, cell phones, and mobile web have made many mundane tasks easier, more efficient, and more productive, they have also managed to make many of us busier. Because we are accessible at all times, we never get to “turn off.” We are working even when we’re not at work. We are paying bills at the dinner table, conducting business on an airplane, and buying plane tickets at our kids’ soccer games. We have become more productive and less present. What is the point of increased productivity if we only fill the extra seconds with extra work? Don’t get me wrong, having access to information on the go is great for so many reasons – but it can also be really rude, and cause us more stress and headache than it saves. Take email, for instance. My coworkers are constantly emailing back and forth, and little details inevitably get lost in the shuffle. We sit just a few feet from each other – wouldn’t it be more efficient to actually talk to each other? Technology can be great – but let’s not get carried away. Use your technology responsibly!

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