Questions and Topics We Can Help to Answer
Paper Instructions;

Answer Discussion questions for 1 , (150 word count) and Answer Discussion questions 2 (150) word count :

Below is the information you will follow to write (150 word count) answer for the 1st Discussion questions and (150) word count for the 2nd Discussion questions Arguments

Discussion questions 1.  Please share your thoughts about these questions on the discussions area.

•What are the three signs Pat Lencioni uses to identify a miserable job, and how do they reduce productivity?
•When the three signs of a miserable job are present, which of the needs identified by Maslow are not being met?
•How can mangers help motivate employees by addressing the three signs of a miserable job?


Grading

Be sure that you don’t forget to ask the class a question related to something observed/learned in the video and or share a related thought to the video’s contents. Kudos and +1’s will be provided to students that share external web links that can allow us to continue our learning outside the course, e.g., Fast Company (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., Inc. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., Entrepreneur (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., Chief Learning Officer (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., etc. (These are some of my favorites. Yes, these are not scholarly… but notice not wikipedia)

Reading below:

Miserable at Work? Learn to Love Your Job

Have you ever had a job you didn't like? If not, you are probably in the minority. While job seekers in recent years has been advised to "find your passion" and "land a job you love," most people experience at least some dissatisfaction at work. Pat Lencioni, a management expert who wrote The Three Signs of a Miserable Job, suggests that job misery often boils down to managers; poorly managed jobs lead to disgruntled employees.Lencioni, who has endured a few miserable jobs himself, realized at a young age that many adults dislike their jobs. Given all the time spent at work, he concluded he did not want to experience that dissatisfaction. Lencioni believes many workers come to the job full of enthusiasm and excitement, only to have it drained out of them. Then people try to figure out why they are miserable, often attributing their unhappiness to pay or not having the right job. While salary and job fit are important, they usually are not why workers are miserable; rather, the reason is the way they are treated. Lencioni identifies three areas that managers should address to prevent their subordinates from experiencing misery: anonymity, irrelevance, and immeasurement.Anonymity is the feeling of being invisible, or the perception that your boss is not interested in you beyond the work you do. Your manager doesn't take an interest in your life or in you as an individual. Lencioni argues that people need to be known to be fulfilled. The best way for a manager to remove anonymity is to become familiar with an employee's interests, family, and life outside work. By taking time to sit down with each employee and ask what is going on in his or her life, managers demonstrate an interest in workers as humans.Irrelevance is not knowing why your job matters to someone else. Workers need to see how their work benefits and satisfies others. Human beings need to be needed and to be reminded frequently that they are needed. Managers should point out to employees regularly how their efforts help others.Finally, immeasurement refers to the need workers have to gauge their level of contribution and progress for themselves. Employees will not be happy, Lencioni says, if their success depends on the whims of managers to tell them they are making a difference. Managers need to provide tangible means for assessing success or failure. The key for managers is to identify specific areas that workers directly influence and then develop measures to assess these areas.It is in everyone's best interest for employees to be fulfilled at work. Happier employees are more productive. As Lencioni notes, the great companies have employees who are happy to be there.

Sources:
•Dina Berta, "Poorly Managed Jobs Can Lead to Indifferent Employees," Nation's Restaurant News, June 2, 2008, p. 14;
•Patrick Lencioni, "Job Anonymity: It's a Leading Cause of Misery," Leadership Excellence, April 2008, p. 5;
•Patrick Lencioni, "Minimizing Misery", HRMagazine, January 2008, pp. 79-81.


Discussion questions 2:  Please share your thoughts about these questions on the discussions area.:

•Are Google co-founders Brin and Page servant leaders? How about Larry Brilliant?
•What would you say is the biggest source of Larry Brilliant's power as a leader?
•How does google.org (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. illustrate empowerment at Google?


Grading

Be sure that you don’t forget to ask the class a question related to something observed/learned in the video and or share a related thought to the video’s contents. Kudos and +1’s will be provided to students that share external web links that can allow us to continue our learning outside the course, e.g., Fast Company (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., Inc. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., Entrepreneur (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., Chief Learning Officer (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., etc. (These are some of my favorites. Yes, these are not scholarly… but notice not wikipedia)

Reading below:

Google Extends to Charitable Giving 

After helping to revolutionize the world of information technology, Google wants to spur a new revolution. The company aims to use its wealth, technical knowledge, creativity, and global reach to tackle some of the world's biggest problems. Since Google, ranked number one on lists of best companies to work for, sees itself as a different sort of company, its philanthropy will be different too.

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin started google.org (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., with three million shares of the company stock, worth about $2 billion, and a pledge to contribute one percent of profits each year. After a long search, they appointed Larry Brilliant to lead this charitable entity. A physician and epidemiologist in his sixties, Brilliant had led the World Health Organization's efforts to eradicate smallpox, worked to prevent blindness in developing countries, managed two Silicon Valley technology firms, and co-founded The Well, an online service.

Brilliant took two years to develop the strategy for google.org (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. He created a different structure than that of traditional charities. Google's "hybrid philanthropy" would invest in for-profit ventures as well as make charitable grants. To determine what google.org (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. would pursue, Brilliant and his team compiled a list of 1,000 ideas from Google employees and others around the world. They narrowed them down to 11, with a team member assigned to each to further study the idea and advocate for it with Dr. Brilliant and the rest of the team. The focus came down to initiatives in three areas: poverty, climate change, and global health.

To battle poverty, google.org plans to invest in small and medium-sized start-ups to create jobs and spur economic growth in developing countries. These would be for-profit ventures, but Brilliant emphasizes that google.org (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.'s underlying goal is not to make a profits but to improve lives. To foster climate change, the goals are to make electricity from renewable energy at a price lower than coal and to increase market acceptance of electric cars and plug-in hybrids. One company in which Google has invested is Brightsource Energy, a solar thermal technology developer. In the area of global health, google.org (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. is working on an initiative called "predict and prevent" to develop early warning systems to identify and report outbreaks of pandemic diseases, such as bird flu. Google has partnered with the Rockefeller Foundation to form a surveillance network in the Mekong River region of Southeast Asia.

While the challenges are daunting, Brilliant believes that companies can play a big part in solving the world's problems. With his leadership and Google's resources, google.org (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. may become what Page and Brin had in mind from the beginning. They hope their company's philanthropy will someday surpass Google itself in impact in the world.

Sources:
•Yuliya Chernova, "Brightsource Gets New Funding," Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2008, p. C5;
•Gideon Rachman, "America's Optimism Can Benefit All," Financial Times, February 5, 2008, p. 13;
•"Google's Guru of Giving," The Economist, January 19, 2008, p. 69.

(How the teacher will Grade the Discussion Argument)

1. Argument for position is strong and persuasive and (make SURE YOU Be sure that you don’t forget to ask the class a question related to something observed)

2. Argument is well-ordered (each idea clearly follows the next) and is articulated clearly

3. Considers most relevant objections and makes convincing and significant responses 

4. Very clear that readings were understood and incorporated well into responses 

5. (USE References and Citations are accurate)

6. Relates the issue to prior material covered in the course

7. Asks questions that extend the discussion and makes insightful, critical comments 

8. Post contains no or almost no grammatical errors

9. Make sure you cite your work