How to Achieve Better Work-Life Balance Essay Example for Free

How to Achieve Better Work-Life Balance Essay For most of us these days, having to work is not an option, but a necessity. Struggling to maintain a job and a family can be demanding and stressful. While dealing with everyday chores at home, dinner, homework and other responsibilities, some people think that being at work is like having a break. On the other hand, for a single person, work may be the only social life they have. While using the workplace as an outlet to get away from it all or as a place to socialize, it is important to be aware of actions at work that might annoy your co-workers. Manners do matter, not only in your social life but your workplace. Manners can come into various forms, but professional etiquette in a workplace is vital, if you want to be respected or even make your job easier. For example, if your job involves you sending emails to other clients, associates or managers. You always want the email to content a greeting, and goodbye. I said respectable because there are different forms of greetings and goodbyes depending on the receiver. Manners mean behavior that is considered to be polite in a particular society and culture Manners are what you do in a specific way to be polite, courteous, etc. showing proper manners means making the person around you not feel bad. Example: You say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to show good manners. You are not ‘showing etiquette’ while doing this. As everybody already knows that it’s a professional etiquette to use these words at work! Professional manner etiquette consists of professional dress code the right dress with the right contrast of color combination of shoe and socks, exposing physical structure must be avoided. professional appearance, punctuality, use of professional language, positive attitude, non-verbal communication skills, maintaining hygiene. Manners impact of how others perceive you and your company. Your appearance and dress code, your way of welcoming people at first sight or later, your body language, your way of choosing words for your business conversation, your way of managing time effectively, your professional way of interacting with people and finally your mindset are the core components of your professional manner and etiquette. Each company must have a manual for professional manner and etiquette. New recruits should go through an induction program to understand these sensitive issues to deal with people at work. Even every year there should be a review of a company’s professional manner and etiquette to update its manual to keep pace with the changing trends of global fashion and life style. Conducting a job interview is the most widely used selection tool. It has proved most reliable and the employers rely on it in preference to any other tool. It is a process designed to predict future job performance by candidate\s oral responses to oral inquiries. For having a better comprehension of Job interviewing it is proper will to go through the definitions of the interview and job interview. An interview as defined is a conversation between two people where the interviewer put questions to the interviewees to get information from him. Job Interview on the other hand is generally defined as a conversation between an employer and a job candidate, where the employer evaluates a candidate for prospective employment in the organization. The two definitions show that an interview is a general term used for all kinds of interview, it gives out the broad outlines of the term interview. Job interview on the other hand is specific to a particular area namely employment. But, this is a common misconception that job interview is a unilateral process which, is not the case. The above definition of Job interview is very similar to definition of Job Interviewing, but not that of job interview as it does not give the full picture and is incomplete.

Importance of Ground Investigations in Site Investigations

Importance of Ground Investigations in Site Investigations Geotechnical report Ali Aleffar Contents Introduction: Site investigation procedure Stage 1 — desk study and reconnaissance survey Stage 2 – Ground investigation, analysis and laboratory test Phase 1 or intrusive (sampling) Photographs Phase 2 non-intrusive or Geophysical site exploration. Laboratory Testing Stage 3 — the site investigation report REPORT OUTLINE Subsurface Situations Design Recommendations Geotechnical failure example: Critical Analysis: Recommendations: Conclusion: References: Introduction: In order to specify the geotechnical and geoenvironmental issues in the context of the suggested end-use of the site, site investigation can be done for this purpose. A geotechnical site investigation is the process of collecting information and evaluating the conditions of the site for the purpose of designing and constructing the foundation for a structure, such as a building, plant or bridge, In addition to that this report contains the site investigation procedure and how the mistakes in site investigation process may lead to a disaster such as what the example below illustrates, collapsing of an important building after executing a subway tunnel under its area, the reasons behind that and how the poorly-done site investigation or following the standard without taming the procedure to proper the environment and circumstances of the project. Good planning for and management of a geotechnical site investigation is the key to obtaining sufficient and correct site information for des igning a structure in a timely manner and with minimum cost for the effort needed. Site investigation procedure To carry out the site investigation procedure there are 4 stages to do: Stage 1 — desk study and reconnaissance survey Stage 2 —ground investigation, analysis and laboratory test Stage 3 — report Stage 4 — design and materials recommendation. [[ONLINE] Available at: http://www.rsa-geotechnics.co.uk/pages.asp?fld_pages_ID=51. [Accessed 18 February 2015]] Stage 1 — Desk study and reconnaissance survey â€Å"Time spent in reconnaissance is never wasted†. The purpose of the desk study is to identify change in land use, via Ordinance Survey maps, Kellys Trade Directories and other historical publicly available records In addition to walkover survey. The history of the site and what it is used for and if whether if it has contaminated the soil and how deep it has effected it. Using satellite imaging, Geological maps, Topographic maps, Soil survey maps, Aerial photographs and existing site investigation reports. [GEOTECHNICAL SITE INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES FOR BUILDING FOUNDATIONS IN PERMAFROST. 2010.] Stage 2 – Ground investigation, analysis and laboratory test Ground investigation or site exploration can be classified into two phases: Phase 1 or intrusive (sampling) It is important that a geotechnical specialist or an engineer with knowledge and skills to document soil stratigraphy, their variations, and the existence of a specific circumstance to observe the progress of test holes advance. 1.5 m is the depth intervals that samples should be taken and sealed in plastic bags for transport to a laboratory for testing. Disturbed samples are derived from backhoe and air-track and auger drills. In addition, representative broken/disturbed samples should be collected to provide samples at 1.5 m depth intervals for laboratory testing in addition to get a well representative sample the following sampling-Disturbed samples undisturbed samples- some methods are used: Trial pits Hand excavated boreholes Cable percussion boring Rotary drilling Sonic drilling Photographs Photographs can document the site and the drill equipment in work progress. In addition, it must be taken of representative disturbed samples and all soil and rock cores. [Smiths elements of soil mechanics, 2014.] Phase 2 non-intrusive or Geophysical site exploration. Boring and test pits afford definitive subsurface exploration. They can, however, be both time consuming and costly. In addition, they give subsurface conditions only at boring or test pit locations, leaving massive areas in between for which conditions must be interpolated or appraised. Geophysical techniques, which are commonly used in highway work and in other applications, can be executed faster, less expensively and greater area can be covered more thoroughly, however, obtaining soil samples are still required from which precise determinations of soil properties can be made in order to verify and complement result obtained by geophysical methods. Two particular geophysical methods that are seismic refraction (Fig1) and electrical resistivity. Resistance of soil to movement of an electrical current is determined. Using values obtained therefrom, the depth and thickness of different soil strata can be interpreted by specialists and estimated, with the aid of additional borings, some of the engineering properties of the subsurface material. [SOILS AND FOUNDATIONS, 2001.] Fig.1 (seismic refraction) Laboratory Testing Laboratory tests to obtain key properties of the ground will be adequate in the majority of geotechnical site investigations. The index properties will be obtained by means of: Water content, particle size distribution, liquid, and plastic limit tests. Laboratory testing for engineering properties may be required for large buildings on complex circumstances of the ground stratigraphy. The types of engineering tests that may be conducted are consolidation, and less likely, creep strength and thermal properties tests. Stage 3 — the site investigation report The key issues that should be noted shall be: a) Project description restated; b) Characterize the site so that surrounding conditions that may influence the design and performance of the building footing are understood and designed for; c) The projected end of the building service life State the present and, climate and ground temperatures; d) Classify the soil strata according to recognized Euro code and BS, based on quantitative laboratory results; e) State the significance of the stratigraphy established by the test hole program, measured ground temperature and the impact of climate warming rate on the recommended building foundation design(s); f) Identify foundation options proper for the proposed service life of the building; and g) Provide guidance for the construction and construction scheduling of the foundation for the building. [GEOTECHNICAL SITE INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES FOR BUILDING FOUNDATIONS IN PERMAFROST. 2010.] REPORT OUTLINE The requested terms of the investigation are the main specifications that the content of the report depends on, the magnitude and difficulty of the structure, and the site condition. Hence, contents and detail of the reports may contrast. The outline provides general contents based on literature and the writer’s experience. Structure information/necessities and building engineering design that the architect/design engineer provide. Testing and classification of the soils should be based on internationally recognized criterions. Engineering properties and foundation design requirements to take into consideration the service life of the proposed structure and the potential impact of climate warming. In addition, should contains the following: Introduction It is suggested that the report is prepared to provide information to the property owner, architect/design engineer and the contractor. As such, the introduction should make sufficient reference to: The requested terms of reference of the investigation, and Scope of work provided in satisfying the requested terms of reference. Background The background provides the physical situation of the project and should include: Projected Structure Detail of the structure guides the extent and detail of investigation. Thus, the architect/engineer should provide the information. Technical detail of the proposed structure, for instance, single or multi-story, plan area, above ground, slab-on grade, or with basement. Service life of the planned structure; e.g., 20, 50 years or more. Geological Situation Overview of the site as provided by geomorphology and bedrock geology obtained from previous investigations and published information. Land Description of surface features of the immediate site that should include topography, vegetation and neighbouring structures. Hydrology and Immediate Surface Drainage Water existence and surface flow may affect the design of surface grading and effect the ground temperatures. Subsurface Situations Investigation Program Summary Includes a description of the method/s used to evaluate the ground situations, equipment that have to be used, test holes number, dates achieved, and laboratory tests conducted. Detailed description of these should be presented in the Appendix, prior to the field logs and laboratory testing. Design Recommendations The report should recommend the best foundation design suite the established ground conditions and the structure criteria [GEOTECHNICAL SITE INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES FOR BUILDING FOUNDATIONS IN PERMAFROST. 2010.] [Smiths elements of soil mechanics, 2014.] Geotechnical failure example: Collapsed archive and a neighbouring building, March 2009 On 3rd of March 2009 at 13:58, the archive building collapsed (The archive was Germanys largest municipal archive, and the only one to survive World War II intact). Two adjacent apartment buildings also collapsed, killing two residents. The Cologne Historical Archive, suddenly disappeared into a cloud of dust and a pile of rubble. After the sounds of buckling began, archive staff and visitors had enough time to escape the building, but its vast historical holdings did not prove as fortunate. Flooding into the building pit was noticed that water. The building workers rapidly warned the staff and visitors of the archive, who evacuated the building. Shortly subsequently, the archive building collapsed as a result of an underground landslide hooked on the subway tunnel.as shown in the picture below: Google map for the collapsed building location Two people were stuck under the debris and on person was thought to be missed. The disaster has left residents in the city, shaken and angry. A nearby school remains evacuated and apartments next to the archive were also sucked into the 28-meter sinkhole. Many locals were afraid of the next accident. The collapse also heavily damaged several surrounding apartment houses as well. The heaviest part of the tunnel construction was supposedly completed 1-year earlier, but the tunnel floor had not been finished. The tunnel and station has been a controversial project in Cologne, with problems occurring as early as 2004 when a church steeple began experiencing tilt of 77-cm, greater than 15 times what was predicted. [[Online]http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/cologne-archive-catastrophe-were-subway-builders-cautious-enough-a-612129.html][Accessed 15 February]] Critical Analysis: After the starting of new underground tunnel work many problems has been observed by residents and building workers such as an expansion joint in the concrete ceiling, in which a crack the size of a hand had formed, cracks in the flooring in the basement boiler room and that the tower of St. Johann Baptist Church leaned by 77 centimeters15 times greater than what had been previously calculated. From the aforementioned examples successive events in Cologne city, the main reason of collapsing of the city archive building can be obviously concluded, which is insufficient bearing capacity of the soil to carry the loading of archive city building and some surrounding apartments after constructing the new tunnel in addition to some side factors which caused loosening of the ground and cavity formations that was inevitable in some areas. Witnesses who were close to the investigation commented that the tragedy was likely caused by ground water seepage The whole thing points to an issue with the ground water, at the construction site may be related to rising levels of the Rhine River, which is situated very close to the collapsed building.The stability and deformations of tunnels can be affected by water by decreasing the effective stress hence reducing the resistance to shearing stresses, by producing seepage forces towards the excavations borders. Drawdown of the water level and to time-dependent subsidence can be caused by the seepage-flow may due to consolidation. Moreover, the seepage forces may act towards the opening may weaken its stability. The effects of groundwater in tunneling are ramified. Throughout tunnel excavation in a water-bearing ground, seepage stream in the direction of the opening occurs, because the pressure at the excavation boundary is, in general, equal to the atmospheric pressure and the tun nel acts consequently as a groundwater drain. Drawdown of the water level can be caused by seepage flow, to decrease in the discharge of walls, or to settlement and consolidation. Beyond these- in the broader sense- environmental influences such as rising levels of a River, which is situated close to the tunnel, large water inflows may have a severe impact on the serviceability throughout its operation phase or obstruct excavation works. And that’s what happened to the soil underneath the city of Cologne archive building where, the seepage which caused by rising levels of the Rhine river especially in that period of the year lead to weaken soil which is unable to carry the loads and that made the soil to fail and collapse the building to come down in a big whole,throughout collecting and analyzing the collected results, combined with the particular circumstances of the project, it can be summarized that the joint at the interface are of layered rock damage resulted from the g roundwater where it is the main internal cause of the tunnel failure. All of that can be resulted from poor-site investigation or it has not been done in the right way or misunderstanding for the data that collected from site investigation. Face instability Severe seepage in the underground tunnles Recommendations: The local tests of the soil around the city archive had only been conducted before the city made the tender offer and prior to the beginning of construction on the underground line. There were no subsequent soil tests once construction work had started. The city followed the standard procedure, so the first recommendation is the standard procedure should not be always followed but following the standard until specific limits depending on the project and other circumstances. In addition to sufficient reinforcing the potential weak soil spots during the tunnelling work For instance, during the construction of a tunnel, flash-hardening bentonite rings must be always directly put in its place. Moreover, never left a hollow that could pull in the adjacent ground. Most of accidents can be avoided if more care is taken and fully understanding for the data collected from a very good site investigation and what to do according to it. In addition to that, for the tunnel situation, the groundwater level should be monitored and using different methods to control the seepage and consolidation of water in the tunnels, which lead to distract the construction. [Tunnel stability and deformations in water-bearing ground. p1-6] Conclusion: To sum up, the ground investigation is a long process and takes a long time and it costs about (Buildings 0.05 – 0.2, Highways 0.2% – 1.5%, Dams1% – 3%) of the project cost and it saves up to 100% of the project and save human life and invaluable things such as the invaluable historical documents. Most of tunnels collapse accidents are resulted from the problems related with the ground water. 90% of collapsing accidents can be prevented by a good site investigation by an experienced team in this field. References: [RSA Geotechnics Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Site Investigation: What is Site Investigation?. 2015. RSA Geotechnics Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Site Investigation: What is Site Investigation?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.rsa-geotechnics.co.uk/pages.asp?fld_pages_ID=51. [Accessed 18 February 2015 17:00]] [Smiths elements of soil mechanics, Ian smith, 9th edition, 2014, WILEY BLACKWELL.] [SOILS AND FOUNDATIONS, Cheng Liu Jack B. Evett, 5th edition, 2001, prentice-Hall] [Department of Public Works and Services and Government of the Northwest Territories (2010). GEOTECHNICAL SITE INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES FOR BUILDING FOUNDATIONS IN PERMAFROST. Northwest Territories. I. Holubec Consulting Incp3-8.] [[Online]http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/cologne-archive-catastrophe-were-subway-builders-cautious-enough-a-612129.html][accessed 15 February 12:00]] G Anagnostou (2006). Tunnel stability and deformations in water-bearing ground. Zurich, Switzerland: ETH, Swiss federal institute of technology. p1-6. Geotechnical and structural engineering centre (2014). Cause Analysis of soft and hard rock tunnel collapse and information management. Shandong, P.R China: Ministry of Land and resources, China. p1227-1232. California Department of conservation (2013). Guidelines for Preparing Geological Reports for Regional-Scale Environmental and Resource Management Planning. California, USA: Department of surveying. p1-7. R. F. Craig (2004). CRAIGS SOIL MECHANICS. 7th ed. London: Spon Press. p30-70, p373-394. 1

Great Britain :: essays research papers

Britian and the colonies had tensions between each other from the time that the adventurous 1colonists wanted to branch out away from the powerful grip of Britian. Although Britian did not want to let the colonists start there own country they still believed that an extension to their country would be very beneficial to their economy and power. Britian had laws and taxes on the colonists that seemed unfair to the colonists; and they were, but they benefited Britian a great deal by extending their power further into the world. Now that the British had set up their colony and set down their rules and regulations the colonists felt that they were being treated unfairly and believed that they deserved more freedom than the British gave them. After such things as the Sugar Act, Stamp Act and the brutality of the Boston Massacre the colonists began to get restless and striving toward freedom from the higher power that ruled their every day. Protest groups began to rise from the disgruntled people, groups like the Committees of Correspondence. This group gave the people something to believe in. This group clearly told them that they had more rights than the British told them. Inevitably the colonists waged war on the mighty British government. This may have seemed to be a good choice; the British were unfair, so it seemed that the colonists had a right to declare their independence from Britain. And of course it seems to be a good dicision because the United States is now the most powerful country in the world. However was it a smart Christian dicision, what does the bible say about war and going against your own government. In the book of Romans it directly tells the reader that going against your government it is going against Gods will because the government was put there by God. So if this is the case the colonists were all heathens and the whole economy, society and culture of the United States was based on an unjust sinful idea. Yes, that would be true if the Bible did not have another portion specifically handling this sort of situation. In another section of the Bible it reads that a person must only follow a government if it is not leading the person away from God. So if a government directly disobeys Gods word then it is not right to follow its rule and teachings. Did the British do this? Yes, the British passed many different laws that would go against the biblical things like the Quebec Act and the many other unfair taxes and rules. When the British killed

Foreshadowing, Mood, Mythical Parallels, and Narrative Elements in Drac

Foreshadowing, Mood, Mythical Parallels, and Narrative Elements in Dracula      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker, there is much evidence of foreshadowing and parallels to other myths.   Dracula was not the first story featuring a vampire myth, nor was it the last.   Some would even argue that it was not the best.   However, it was the most original, using foreshadowing and mood to create horrific imagery, mythical parallels to draw upon a source of superstition, and original narrative elements that make this story unique.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Anyone who has ever seen one of the several adaptations of Dracula as a movie will know that it was intended to be a horror story.   Stoker goes to great lengths in order to create an atmosphere of terror and villainy, while hinting at exciting things to come.   Straight from the beginning of the book, foreshadowing is utilized to hint at horrifying future events.   As Jonathan Harker was about to depart for Castle Dracula, an old lady accosted him and said, "It is the eve of St. George's Day.   Do you not know that to-night when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full sway?"   (Stoker, 4).   However Harker leaves anyway, despite the warning.   Thus the reader is fully aware that something awful is going to happen to him.   This quote makes one's mind think of possible future events, thus creating imagery.   Every writer aspires to create good imagery, and Bram Stoker is particularly go od at doing so.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another example of foreshadowing unfolds when Harker is being transported to Castle Dracula by the mysterious and tenebrous driver.   "Then, as we flew along, the driver leaned forward, and on each side the passengers, craning over the edg... ...are depicted in many instances in order to draw upon a source of superstition for added affirmation.   Finally, original narrative elements are conceived in order to bring together a central theme of unity, which stresses the teamwork by which the protagonists defeated the vampires.   Bram Stoker applies these elements to create an enriching, compelling plot in the novel Dracula.       Works Cited Birge, Barbara.   "Bram Stoker's DRACULA:   The Quest for Female Potency in Transgressive Relationships."   Psychological Perspectives.   1994.   22-36. Gutjahr, Paul.   "Stoker's Dracula-Criticism and Interpretation."   Explicator.   Fall 1993.   36-40. Holland, Tom.   "A Sure Fang."   New Statesman.   Feb. 19, 2001.   40-42. Keats, P.   "Stoker's Dracula."   Explicator.   Fall 1991.   26-29. Stoker, Bram.   Dracula.   Tom Doherty Associates:   New York, 1988.   

Midaq Alley :: Naguib Mahfouz, Midaq Alley

Naguib Mahfouz is the author of the book Midaq Alley that was translated from Arabic by Trevor Le Gassick. First published in 1966, Midaq Alley displays a historical period of Egypt in the most intimate sense as it is presented through the lives of the characters that inhabit the alley. Although the book is set in the early forties it possesses a taste of eternity as the reader watches the characters struggle through questions of morality, ethics, and traditions. (The answer of which shape their behavior.) This is all perceived through the eyes of the ageless alley, which is witnessed with total indifference. Thus, inhancing the feeling of eternity within which the circle of life is forever revolving. Midaq Alley persents a diversity of chracters that creates the atmosphere that it is a whole life and a complete portray of a functioning Egyptian socity of the forties. Mahfouz successfully relates the events in Midaq Alley with the outside world by refering to politics. This is illustrated when he states that -at this period of the Egyptian history, working girls were usually jewish-they were the starting flare that began modernization. The materialistic insentive that characterized most of the inhabitants of the alley; best seen in Hamida, who in pursuite of her dreams of wealth and dresses became Titi that belongs to Ibrahim Faraj-the pimp. Another close reference to political events is through Abbas who leaves the alley to go work for the British Army in persue of material gains-regardless of the question of paterialism! furthermore, Mahfouz states the bad conditons of trade through Salim Alwan-the factory owner, as "wartime cut in imports from India". Thus, stimulating me rchantes that are personified in Salim Alwan to trade in different commodities, which perviously never interested them; for instance, tea. This resulted in the creation of black markets and subtaintial profits for merchantes. Intimate description of the inhabitants in Midaq alley gives the alley a life of it's own. Mahfouz indulges the reader in the inhabitants inner thoughts and desires; Kirsha's drug addiction and homosexuality; Zaita's sadistic nature; Hamida's untamed ambitions; Alwan's desires for Hamida; Hussain's dissatisfaction. On the other hand, there is Radwan Hussainy-the religiiou figure; Abbas the niave lover. Thus, Mahfouz created a complete sphere for a socity with the good along the bad; with the intangled destinies of the characters in Midaq Alley.

Heidi Roizen Case Essay

1. Describe Roizen’s network (including her reasons for developing her network) and how she developed it. Roizen’s young adult life shaped the reasons as to why she was going to become independent and self-sufficient. After suffering the tragic loss of her fiancà © she set out to build a career and learned very early on that building connections with high-level people was something she had a talent for and something she ought not to miss out on when given the opportunity. Roizen knew she wanted to be in the technology industry, but with a creative writing degree she had limited options of jobs to choose from. At Tandem computers she wrote the internal newspaper serving as a link between the executives (including the CEO) and the rest of the employees. Roizen immediately realized how to leverage this aspect of her job description and thus began a decade long career of networking. After Tandem Roizen went to get her MBA and then partnered with her brother to launch a company that sold spreadsheet software he developed. T-Maker did not have excessive amounts of capital like some of its competitors, but Roizen knew that with her outgoing personality and her desire to meet (interesting and smart) people she could make the company successful. While marketing T/Maker she made important relationships with people that would end up shaping her career as well as dominating the Silicon Valley technology scene. Roizen was taking a gamble spending so much of her time and energy in developing rapport with these people, but thus far it had proven to be an integral factor in her career development. 2. What are Roizen’s principles of networking and relationships? How would you analyze the strengths and weaknesses of her network as we see it at the end of the case? Because of the amount of time and energy Roizen devotes to networking over time she developed guiding principles to maintain stability. Firstly Heidi claims you must have access to people, which is accomplished over a period  of time. Also held at high regard is maintaining â€Å"performance and consistency during and after each interaction.† Performance involves responsiveness and follow-through in doing what you offered or agreed upon doing. By focusing on performance and consistency Roizen believes that efficiency in maintaining relationships is achieved because interactions of high levels of substance can occur with less frequency. During Roizen’s time at Apple she adopted her next principle, which stressed neutrality and confidentiality in her relationships with competitors. While she did not explicitly state that trust was necessary most people cited in the case seemed to truly trust Roizen and her intentions, which brings us to her last and perhaps most importa nt principle of reciprocity. Roizen values reciprocity in the sense that before calling in a favor she must evaluate if it is a win-win situation for both parties. Heidi has been referred to as a catalyst, market maker, and door opener so before she can do something for someone else she wants to make sure there are mutual benefits to be realized. Heidi is a high-profile industry captain who frankly does not have the time to perform acts of goodwill all day. Her networking is the bulk of her business and her resume. The strengths of her network are that throughout her career and specifically at Softbank her networking landed her the position of partner. Before evaluating the strengths of Roizen’s network one must take the time to recognize that it takes a certain ebullient, patient, conscientious, amicable human being to be able to achieve a network with the wide spectrum of powerful individuals that Roizen began amalgamating at a very young age. The strengths of her network include penetrating the Technology sector and becoming a celebrity of Silicon Valley. Through her network she was able to leverage these relationships to benefit her herself and others along the way. By establishing her guidelines she was able to healthily separate work and her personal life even though an outsiders’ perspective may think theses boundaries are blurred in the case of Roizen’s dinner parties. It is quite apparent that much of Roizen’s success can be attributed to her expertise in the area of networking. She has positively leveraged this unique skill throughout her career to make win-win situations for both herself and the other party involved. Unfortunately networking does come  with some downside. It is overwhelmingly time consuming. As the case mentioned Roizen receives upwards of 100 e-mails a day that she feels obliged to personally answer in order to maintain successful work-related (and sometimes personal) relationships. An acquaintance mentioned the lengthiness of her e-mails decreased over time until the responses were incomplete sentences. This reflects poorly on Roizen because the 2000+ people she networks with all consider her a â€Å"friend† and expect perhaps more than she can provide them with in terms of time and energy devoted to the relationship. Besides the work-related strains this networking seeps into her personal life where she is constantly hosting events at her home, leaving little separation between home and work. Overall the networking doesn’t allow for a balanced work life, which many people claim to be essential in achieving overall happiness and even success. 3. How does she use her network, and what does she achieve through her network? Heidi realized at her first job at Tandem that she had to use her talent of being a people-person to move up in this world. She had a good eye for how to manipulate situations into the interests of her network. Starting with T/Maker she started maximizing all social situations to the benefit of marketing T/Maker. The time she spent developing these relationships during the 1980’s laid out the foundation of her network and consequently her career. Then during Apple’s decline of the 1990’s Roizen was called to the rescue where first the first time she was to formally use her network in the developer community to rebuild a brand. Her success was primarily attributed to her relationships and how she was able to effectively use them to her benefit and in this case in Apple’s benefit. Her work awarded her a promotion to build strategy and eventually to leave and create her own job description as a mentor capitalist. This is Heidi using her network at its finest. Heidi realized what she had built was unique and consequently her network gave her the ability to tailor her job description around her likes and strengths. As an independent and external director she was responsible for recruiting key positions and with her probable one-degree of separation between her and the rest of Silicon Valley she was able to make some impressive matches. It is one thing to have developed the network Heidi has,  but is another to know how to perfectly utilize its full potential and Heidi has done so throughout the course of her career. Moving to the venture capital world allowed Heidi to fulfill an interest in the equity ownership or the â€Å"financial weight† of these start- up companies. With this career change came additional responsibilities that would take away from the time Heidi had previously spent networking. Now it is up to Heidi to re-prioritize and arrange her duties to create a healthy balan ce of completing her venture capitalist duties, while retaining the network she so dutifully built. 4. How would you characterize the â€Å"breadth† and â€Å"depth† (strong or weak ties) of her network? Part of Heidi’s networking phenomenon involves a metaphor of networking as constellations. Heidi can minimize relationship maintenance by staying in more frequent contact with other nuclei of network constellations. Heidi over the years has assumed position of nuclei in her particular networking group and this gives her the ability to â€Å"leverage the network constellation approach† which results in preserving the breadth of her entire network. Her network spans thousands of people who all consider themselves personally acquainted with Heidi. There is not enough time in the day to cater to each individual so Heidi cuts corners by remaining in close contact with the nuclei of all the different networks she is a part of. Heidi also has depth to her network in the sense that she keeps in touch with non-nuclei of other networks. Heidi is most definitely a people person and over the course of her career she has gotten to know people who she likes as individuals because they are interesting and smart (two of her pre-requisites in networking!) That being said the depth of her network may seem to contradict with maintaining the breadth through the constellation approach, but Heidi’s networking is deeply instilled in her so she sees value in her relationships with the nuclei and the random individuals. And thus far her hybrid approach has proven to be successful in all of her career-driven endeavors. 5. What are your suggestions for Roizen to continue to develop and maintain her network? Should she change anything in terms of people, effort, strategies, etc? In order to effectively exploit Heidi’s strengths I would suggest that since she seems to have flexibility in designing her job she could cut down the time she spends reading business plans for a few reasons; she does not enjoy that aspect of venture capital and because she could use that time to network which is a main reason why she was hired. Currently Heidi does not have enough time to evaluate business plans, help companies in early growth stages and to maintain her networking relationships. If Softbank wants to be able to take advantage of Heidi’s rolodex they will have to agree to her requests to be able to keep up her relationships. Fortunately most executives understand how time consuming networking can be and when it is done at Heidi’s level it should be deemed a full time job. I understand Heidi’s reasons for wanting to spend time with the business plans, but by delegating an initial screening process downward in the organization she may find herself with an extra few hours each day to complete time-sensitive networking issues, which would ultimately increase her performance and effectiveness.

Oedipus Rex and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave: The Illusion of Reality Essay

Sophocles was known for his emphasis on the individual’s uncompromising search for truth, particularly in â€Å"Oedipus Rex. † In Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave,† he, similarly to Sophocles, illustrates man’s pursuit of truth and what that means. Plato suggests that truth is subjective to each man. But what is truer? What is illusion and what is reality? Just because something is illusion for one man does not make it falsehood for the other. â€Å"To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images† (Plato). The story of Oedipus offers a lot of examples of the philosophy that Plato poses in his dialogue. In both works, the men first had to realize their ignorance before they could begin to acquire knowledge and true understanding of the complexities of the human condition; Oedipus in a literal sense and the man in the cave in a more theoretical sense. Oedipus discovers, after piercing out his eyes, that he has finally arrived at the truth of his life and that he now has a responsibility to share his story with his children, extended family, and citizens. And in Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave,† the prisoner’s difficulty discovering the truth lies in his unfortunate restricted life within the cave. And when he escapes, he feels compelled to enlighten others with the newly found truth he has stumbled upon. â€Å"And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the cave and his fellow prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on the charge and pity them? † (Plato) â€Å"Oedipus Rex† and Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† are works about truth and falsehood, about sight and blindness, about light and darkness; all of which represent the great divide between illusion and reality. Oedipus is blinded by the illusion that he has fled his fate, having overcome the prophecy. He thinks he has escaped his parents, and this illusion is his reality. Throughout the play, Oedipus utters curse upon curse onto himself without knowing because he refuses to see reality of the harsh truth before him. The contrast between what is truth and what is falsehood is a prominent theme throughout both classical works. Oedipus is on the search for truth, no matter what the cost. He finds truth to be a worthy cause, no matter what harsh realities it may show them. The emphasis on truth is seen with more clarity in the dialogue between Oedipus and Teiresias. Oedipus rages at Teiresias for speaking out against him by dictating Oedipus’ fate. Oedipus yells, â€Å"Can you possibly think you have some way of going free, after such insolence? † Then Teiresias replies, â€Å"I have gone free. It is the truth that sustains me. † Oedipus retaliates, â€Å"It seems you can go on mouthing like this forever. † Teiresias then concludes by saying, â€Å"I can if there is power in truth† (Sophocles 889-890) Teiresias, a blind man, takes consolation in the truth, despite the harshness of the reality. Oedipus, though initially enraged at this proposition, then starts to understand its importance and power. This situation is very similar to what is seen in Plato’s work. The prisoner is bound by the illusion of his false sense of comfort and security. When he is released and emerges from the cave, he is overcome by the power of the light of the sun. â€Å"The glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows†¦ Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him? † (Plato) Plato’s proposition of man’s reaction to new and better truths, despite the harshness, almost perfectly parallels Oedipus’ reaction. And even the irony of when the prisoners mock their fellow inmate for being â€Å"delusional† in his lack of belief in the realities of the shadows parallel the relationship between Oedipus and Teiresias. Oedipus, after being told the reality by Teiresias says, â€Å"You child of endless night! You cannot hurt me or any other man who sees the sun† (890 lines 156-157) Oedipus is blinded by his illusions and perception of what is reality. There is blatant irony in the contrast of sight and blindness in Sophocles’ play. Oedipus, while being able to physically see, is indeed blinded to reality. Teiresias, who is physically blind, sees the reality and accepts it and attempts to spread that reality to Oedipus who is obstinate to see. Teiresias rebukes Oedipus in his mockery saying, â€Å"You call me unfeeling, if only you could see the nature of your own feelings†¦ Listen to me. You mock my blindness, do you? But I say that you, with both your eyes, are blind. You cannot see the wretchedness of your life† (Sophocles 890-891). This sight of the reality, the truth, is represented in Plato’s piece by the emerging out of the cave into the world. Obtaining sight happens, as Plato puts it, with the â€Å"mind’s eye† and the â€Å"bodily eye. † But this conversion from being blind to being able to see does not happen to everyone and not very easily. Plato argues that the capacity of sight is in the soul already, the eyes of the mind just need to turn from darkness to light in order to see the world. â€Å"†¦ the instrument of knowledge can only by the movement of the whole soul be turned from the world of becoming into that of being, and of learn by degrees to endure the sight of being, and of the brightest and best of being, or in other words, of the good† (Plato). The transition from blindness to sight, darkness into light, is not a quick or easy process. It is harsh and requires determination and a strong, intellectual mind. After Oedipus is brought into the light of reality, he longs for the time he was not burdened with the harshness and misery reality brings: he wants to return to darkness, returning to the security of his illusion. â€Å"If I could have stifled my hearing at its source, I would have done it and made all this body a tight cell of misery, blank to light and sound: so I should have been safe in a dark agony beyond all recollection† (lines 159-163). The darkness of the cave and the power of the light outside of it is the most vivid picture painted by Plato in his allegory. He then continues, taking the allegory to the next level: â€Å"the prison-house [cave] is the world of sight, the light of the fire of the sun, and you will not misapprehend me if you interpret the journey upwards to be the ascent of the soul into the intellectual world according to my poor belief†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Plato) Plato is saying that the material world we live in is not the fullest reality. We live in a world that is but shadows of the fuller reality we cannot see. In the context of Plato’s world, Oedipus, then, at the end of the play is still stuck in the next level of illusion. That is why he is so depressed. He has lost all of his â€Å"sensual pleasures† that Plato warns humanity about, and Oedipus is thus left feeling hopeless and lost – in darkness. The complexity of these two works is enormous and poses questions which seem almost unanswerable. Yet they complement each other very well, as you would expect given their mutual classical background. They both address the same characteristics of life and human nature: truth and falsehood, sight and blindness, and light and darkness, all tied together by a theme of the seemingly relative divide of illusion and reality. Both works put an emphasis on the importance of truth and it’s always worth it, no matter what the cost. There are different types of sight: bodily and mental. It seems that in order to have stronger mental sight, it is better to be bodily blind as seen with Oedipus and Teiresias. Escaping from the darkness into the light is escaping the illusions that the world and you yourself have created. The individual, according to Plato, â€Å"must have his eye fixed,† so that he may, in the world of knowledge, see the idea of good, which is seen only with effort and with a wisdom which â€Å"more than anything else contains a divine element which always remains†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Sophocles and Plato both see there is something missing in the reality of our world. There has to be more to this reality, we, therefore, must be living illusory lives and we need to emerge from the cave. If we do not, we are confined to a life lacking of meaning, true knowledge, and purpose. Thus the picture we have of Oedipus at the end of the play: stuck in a life which is full of falsehood, blindness, darkness, and is†¦ an illusion? Alas for the seed of men. What measure shall I give these generations that breathe on the void and are void and exist and do not exist? Who bears more weight of joy than mass of sunlight shifting in images, or who shall make his thought stay on that down time drifts away? Your splendor is all fallen†¦ O Oedipus, most royal one! The great door that expelled you to the light gave at night – ah, gave night to your glory: as to the father, to the fathering son. All understood too late†¦ For I weep the world’s outcast. I was blind, and now I can tell why: asleep, for you had given ease of breath to Thebes, while the false years went by. (911-13 lines 1-9; 32-36; 49-53)