Is Organizational Culture Real? Cultural Realism and Experimental Science

Organizational culture and theoretical entities like electrons have some important things in common. First, the actual entities themselves are in principle invisible to the naked eye so while their "reality" has often been debated and doubted, the affects they have on things that can be seen and measured are very, very real - only a Cartesian skeptic would doubt their existence. Second, perhaps the most convincing argument for the realism of electrons and organizational culture is that both can be used as powerful tools, instruments that can be purposely deployed to make a physical difference in the world. In the case of electrons, they can be sprayed from emitters onto phosphorous material on the back-side of television screens to create images of Super Bowl commercials, and carried through miles and miles of wires to power lights and other devices for entire cities. In the case of organizational culture, it can be used to teach people how to see the world - a powerful tool for transmitting the message about "how it's done around here." Strong cultural norms about what is (and is not) acceptable behavior in the workplace can powerfully shape how people "see" themselves, others, and the world around them. So while organizational culture may be invisible, it's no toy and establishing a firm epistemological and philosophical foundation for cultural realism and how culture works in organizations is a key element to more precisely describing what culture is, how it works, and how it can be used to create positive change.

Ian Hacking's book, Representing and Intervening, is a refreshing, provocative, and formidable defense of scientific realism. While the book is a classic introduction to the philosophy of natural science, it also provides penetrating insights into developing a view of cultural realism that is based on firm experimental and scientific foundations. The themes of representing and intervening coincide with the notions of theory (representing) and experiment (intervening) and follow the often debated question, "Which comes first, theory or experiment." Hacking also discusses the difference between theoretical constructs (theories and mathematical formalisms that we build to describe the behavior of physical phenomena) and theoretical entities (invisible things we measure in the physical world like electrons). Making a crystal clear distinction between theoretical constructs and theoretical entities is crucial to understanding the subtleties in the debate between scientific realism and post-modern deconstructionist views, especially when it comes to establishing a naturalistic view of cultural realism and organizational culture.

Invisible Set

The first half of Hacking's book focuses on the notion of "representing" and begins with a serious review of various accounts of scientific rationality and objectivity. The views of Thomas Kuhn, Paul Feyerabend, Imre Lakatos, Hillary Putnam, Bas van Fraassen, Nancy Cartwright and other major scholars in the philosophy of natural science are expertly evaluated and the theoretical trade-offs of buying into each view are clearly defined. Hacking also describes where he agrees (and disagrees) with these various perspectives relative to his view of scientific realism. The second half of the book focuses on the notion of "intervening" and is one of the most detailed and compelling philosophical analysis of experimental science in print. Hacking presents detailed accounts from the history of science to show that experimental science has a life of its own, independent from the theoretical constructs that more theoretically-oriented scientists build.

For Hacking (and Putnam), something is "real" when it makes a physical difference. If it makes no physical difference, it's not real. In other words, when theoretical entities such as electrons that are in principle not visible can be used to systematically affect something that is visible in a cause-and-effect way (television sets), then those entities are real in every sense of the word. As Hacking puts it,

"So far as I'm concerned, if you can spray them then they are real... Experimental work provides the strongest evidence for scientific realism. This is not because we test hypotheses about entities. It is because entities that in principles cannot be 'observed' are regularly manipulated to produce a new phenomena and to investigate other aspects of nature. They are tools, instruments not for thinking but for doing."

So reality has more to do with causation (what we do to the world) than it does with representation (the theoretical constructs and mathematical formalisms scientists build to describe how the world behaves). The most powerful and compelling notions of reality emerge from our ability to change the world, and to measure the characteristics and nature of those changes. Hacking's view is that while the philosophical issues surrounding scientific realism cannot be convincingly solved by looking at theoretical constructs alone (representing), that an interdependent approach that links theoretical constructs and theoretical entities (intervening) provides a compelling argument for scientific realism. More specifically, it creates a model of scientific practice that does not deny the importance of theory in experimental science, but does not reduce experimental science to the kind of subjective, theory-ladden activity suggested in Thomas Kuhn's book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

So how scientists "see" the world through their disciplinary paradigm, powerfully shapes the kinds of experiments they "do" and how they interpret the results they "get" reinforces their initial ways of seeing - what the Breckenridge Institute® calls a See-Do-Get Process® that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But the world can veto their expectations with anomalies that refuse to behave according to scientists' expectations. The pages of the history of science are littered with such examples, e.g. retrograde motion of the planets in a geocentric model of the solar system. On this view, scientific "truth" is really an unending series of successive approximations where the mapping between the theoretical constructs that scientists build, and the theoretical entities that they measure and describe becomes more and more reliable. For example, the theoretical constructs of quantum electrodynamics (QED) map to the measurements of the theoretical entities to a reliability of one part in 10-12. If one were to measure the distance between New York and Los Angeles to that level of reliability, you would know that distance to the accuracy of the thickness of a human hair.

Hacking's defense of scientific realism in the natural sciences is a foundation upon which to build a more scientifically-based epistemology and philosophy for the study of organizational culture. It provides a framework within which to talk about the ways in which organizational culture is real, and ways in which it is not real. Using the same argument as Hacking and Putnam use, cultural norms are "real" when they make a physical difference by people acting them out in day-to-day life. If organizational culture makes no physical difference, then it's not real. In other words, when theoretical entities like cultural norms that are not visible can be used to systematically affect something that is visible in a cause-and-effect way (organizational performance), then those cultural entities are real in every sense of the word. This approach to cultural realism allows us to move beyond Emile Durkheim's view that social processes act on us in ways that are as real as the laws of gravity, and begin to view organizational culture as a pragmatic tool that can be used to change the everyday realities of organizational life. For example, viewing culture as a tool to create change can have a very real affect on the level of destructive conflict in organizations, the climate of trust or mistrust between managers and direct reports, and the ability of organizations to more effectively achieve their mission and meet (or exceed) their goals.

So the bottom-line is that culture is not just a passive set of tacit beliefs and unquestioned assumptions for how things are done in a specific cultural setting. It is that - but it's much more. Culture can be a powerful tool for making changes in the day-to-day activities of organizational life. As described elsewhere as the Culture Equation(TM), organizational culture is an interdependent reality composed of context, believing, doing, and getting results, not just an unquestioned tacit belief structure as suggested by so many cultural theorists and practitioners (see, Mark Bodnarczuk, The Culture Equation: Taking the Mystery Out of Organizational Culture for further discussion on this issue). When viewed as a tool for change, organizational culture becomes a tangible tool-process for teaching people how to see themselves, others, and the world with the goal of creating deep sustainable change in organizations, and in the individuals that populate them (see Mark Bodnarczuk, When It Comes to Organizational Culture, What You See Is What You Get for further discussion on this issue).

To reiterate, while organizational culture may be invisible it's no toy, and using Hacking's model of scientific realism to establish a firm foundation of cultural realism is a key element to more precisely describing what culture is, how it works, and how it can be used to create positive change in an organization. In a world where postmodern deconstructionist views have tried to unravel the fabric of realism in our world, Hacking's Representing and Intervening is a breath of fresh air and a must read for those who want to carefully explore the question of whether organizational culture is in fact real.

Is Organizational Culture Real? Cultural Realism and Experimental Science

Mark Bodnarczuk is the Executive Director of the Breckenridge Institute®, a research center for the study of organizational culture based in Boulder, Colorado. He is an author, researcher, consultant, teacher, and facilitator with more than twenty years of experience working with companies in the area of high-tech, basic and applied research, pharmaceuticals, health care, retail as well as government and non-profit organizations. Mark has published widely in the areas of corporate culture and leadership development and is the author of two books, Diving In: Discovering Who You Are In the Second Half of Life and Island of Excellence: 3 Powerful Strategies for Building Creative Organizations. He has a BA from Mid-America University, an MA from Wheaton College, and an MA from the University of Chicago.

Mark can be contacted at:

Breckenridge Institute®
PO Box 7950
Boulder, Colorado 80306-7950
http://www.breckenridgeinstitute.com/

Yikes! You're Invisible!

Remember when you were a kid and you imagined being invisible? I sure did. I wondered what it would be like walking down the street where nobody could see me and hiding from people who were trying to find me. It seemed like such a cool idea.

But in speaking with a client recently, he said the most valuable thing he got from our conversation was the realization that he was invisible, and that nobody was going to do business with him if that was the case.

Invisible Set

I want to suggest that for many of us, the fantasy of invisibility is already here. You are invisible!

Virtually nobody sees you, pays attention to you, thinks about you or responds to you (at least in a business context). And if people don't see you, they aren't thinking about you or doing business with you.

But why are we invisible?

All I can deduce is that we must want to be invisible. We want to hide and not be noticed. We don't want to be singled out for attention. After all, being invisible is much more comfortable than visibility.

When you're highly visible you can be ridiculed, rejected, challenged. Heck, that's no fun. But of course, if you're invisible you'll never go anywhere in your business. And that's not any fun either.

The very essence of marketing is high-visibility. And this goes for your brand of chiropractic marketing as well. You need to stand out as an expert, become slightly famous, put out your ideas for all to see. And the more visible you are, while putting out a message that conveys value, the more Patients you'll attract.

But what if you realize you need to be highly visible to be successful in your business, but you are highly uncomfortable doing so? This is an important realization to have. If you keep trying to be successful while remaining virtually invisible, you're deluding yourself.

Time to ask yourself some important questions:

1. Do I want to be highly successful? Is this important to me? Do I have a mission, a passion to make a contribution?

2. Is my desire to get my message out there stronger than my fear of being visible, my fear of being rejected?

3. What is the very worst that could happen if I committed to being highly visible in my marketplace? Would people hate me? Would I die?

4. What's one step I could take to be more visible than I am right now? Do I have the courage to take that step?

That's all it really takes. A reality check and a willingness to take one step at a time, even if it's a little uncomfortable. If you're not willing to take that step, and if you are more committed to your story of how hard marketing is, it's time to pack it in and find a job where you can be comfortably invisible.

You cannot totally dominate your marketplace being invisible. You must use multiple streams of visibility to build your business and to make your brand of chiropractic the brand of choice.

Billboards, screenings, seminars, outdoor media, radio, television/cable, health fairs, event sponsorships, police car sponsorship, clean highway sponsorships, hot air balloons, weekly newspaper column, weekly newspaper advertisement, branded apparel and this is just a few of the weapons you have to fight invisibility!

You cannot multiple ZEROs...in other words, you must invest in marketing if you want to sail to new heights. Which would be better:

1. Invest in mutual funds and get a 10% return, or

2. Invest in marketing and get 100%, 200% or more!?

For years the IRS has considered reclassifying marketing as a "capital" investment instead of an expense. In other words, they recognize, just as marketing gurus understand, that marketing creates an "asset" and should be depreciated over a period of time, instead of deducting the cost off the top!

Why? Well, the ad you run this week, will continue to impact the marketplace weeks and often months from now.

The good news is that marketing is still considered a direct expense and can be deducted 100% as incurred. Think about it: the IRS, your government, is helping you build your business. Example: You have ,000 in profit. You must pay the government your base rate of 38% or about ,000. Leaving you with ,000. But, if you invest the ,000 in marketing, you owe the IRS NOTHING! So, that added an additional ,000 to your marketing budget. Sure, you don't have the ,000 to spend on YOU, but, what would that ,000 marketing investment return to your bottom line? And, how much more will your business be worth, if you go one million dollar and beyond?

Five important steps to higher visibility:

* When talking about your brand of chiropractic, don't fall back on the tired old label or description of what you do. You'll get real attention if you talk about real problems that your Prospex are experiencing. Sounds simple, but it's easy to slip back into comfortable but ineffective descriptions.

* Write that "Core Issue Article" and get it into the hands of as many people as possible. I don't mean hundreds, but thousands. Put it on your Web site, mail it to anyone who's interested. Get it published.

* Be courageous enough to be unique, not a look-alike. That means finding a special marketing niche, offering something novel, or making a big promise that others aren't making. [Hint: The No-Wait 3 Minute Policy!]

* Tell the in-depth story of who you are, what you stand for, what you know, and what you can do. Don't hide your great accomplishments; let the world in on what is probably a well-kept secret. Even you have others in your marketplace that can make the same claim, the first one who does owns it!

* Get close to people. You can't be aloof and attract Patients. Get out there and network. Meet with people one-on-one. Set up joint marketing alliances. Create a referral program. Get involved with your community.

Get visibility, if you want to really build a business and not just grow a practice.

Yikes! You're Invisible!

The author may be contacted toll free at 877-935.6371 extension 201 or email at ceo@wellnessone.net Mr. Howell is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of WellnessOne Corporation, a national alliance of chiropractic and wellness centers.

The Invisible Worlds of Kumano

In this world of seemingly incessant 'TV War News,' bank failures, virus scares, vaccine panics, and political intrigues there are, thankfully, a few places in this world where one can still find quiet spaces and spiritually inspiring atmospheres where one is drawn to naturally reflect deeply on the meaning of life and death. Once such place is a region in Japan called Kumano and is the place where I presently call home.

Nestled in the mountains on the southern tip of the Kii Hanto peninsula, Kumano spreads from Tanabe in Wakayama Prefecture to Nagashima in Mie Prefecture to the east, and north to Totsukawa in Nara Prefecture.

Invisible Set

Though Kumano was designated a World Heritage Site in 2004, still too few people inside or outside Japan are aware of the natural refuge available to them in the region. Even fewer are aware of the deep mystical past, spiritual energy, and historical significance of the area.

Even the people who live in Kumano are only superficially aware of their rich past and cultural history. This has started to change slowly since the World Heritage designation and now the local residents of Kumano are beginning to take pride in their history and culture once again.

However, there is still a long way to go to awaken both Japanese and non-Japanese to the visible and invisible richness of the area. Perhaps this article will serve as one more beacon of light shining on Kumano that beckons seekers and nature lovers to venture here for re-invigoration and healing.

Personally, Kumano has long held a special attraction that is hard for me to explain in words. Like anything esoteric or mystical, words rarely suffice. In the end, you have to experience it for yourself and see it through your own eyes, understand it with the heart, and feel it with your own skin.

I have traveled extensively in Japan and have visited a lot of wonderful places all with their own unique atmosphere and value and I have many more places I want to visit like Izumo Taisha and northern Japan.

Yet, no matter what beautiful scenery, shrines, temples, and cities I have seen, and no matter how significant the cultural magnificence, I am always anxious to get back to the protective and healing atmosphere of Kumano where I have lived most of the last 22 years after first being drawn here in 1987 to practice Aikido with Hikitsuchi Michio, 10th degree black belt (recently deceased).

Each time, on my way back to Kumano, as I leave the urban world that is gathered along the 'Shinkansen Strip', and start to penetrate the mountains of the Kii Peninsula, I always have this feeling that I am entering a different world than the rest of Japan. It is like I am passing through an invisible gate into a world where the invisible powers take hold and don't let go.

Each time I return to Kumano it feels as if I am coming home and I immediately enter into a completely different state of mind leaving the worries of the material world behind. It is like a returning to the mother's womb, a place of warmth, protection, and safety where eternity and emptiness co-exist.

Although many parts of Japan are famous for their beauty and cultural treasures, Kumano is really more about the internal, the invisible, and mystical than the visible, worldly, and obviously splendid.

There is no glittering Kinkakuji here and no grand and exquisite carvings of the Buddha like the Daibutsu in Nara. Nor are the temples here perhaps as splendid as those in Kyoto, nor are there any Imperial Palaces.

The shrines and temples here in Kumano are beautiful and peaceful places. However, I see these human artifacts more as 'add-ons' decorating a far more stunning natural backdrop that no human hand could imitate.

One of these amazing power spots is Nachi Falls, the tallest waterfall in Japan at 133 meters.

Since Nachi Falls can been seen far out at sea, it is said that Ragyo Shonin, a Brahman from India, was likely attracted to the falls while passing by on the Black Current and was drawn in to explore the falls where he would eventually establish one of the Three Grand Shines of Kumano, Nachi Taisha, about 1700 years ago.

Certainly, everywhere you go in Kumano you will find pristine waterfalls, soothing hot springs, masculine mountains, lush forests, beautiful waterways, and white sandy beaches along the Pacific Ocean.

However, again, it is not just the breath-taking natural scenery that sets Kumano apart. You can find beautiful natural environments all over Japan once you are off the Shinkansen Line where modern urbanized Japanese have gathered for their convenience.

In Kumano there is something much more intangible that goes beyond the obvious tourist attractions and natural beauties of the region. Unlike, most tourist spots in Japan you will have to look deeper into yourself to find the value here.

They say when the student is ready the teacher will appear. However, your 'teacher' in Kumano may not always be a person in visible form. In Kumano, your teacher may be invisible and intangible. Lessons on the meaning of life are everywhere and can be found in a conversation, an experience, an event, a sunrise, or on the Kumano Kodo looking out over a sea of mist covered mountains.

Of course there are many human teachers here too.

I am reminded of one man on a personal mission who, for no fee, takes men and women who are suicidal or depressed all over Kumano with no plan, agenda, or destination. In free style three day sessions he takes them on walks in the mountains and by the sea. He shows them the natural wonders of the area while asking 'setsumon' or 'explanatory questions'.

Far into the wee hours of the morning the dividing, dissecting, and judgmental mind begins to tire as he guides his 'guests' through the dark places in their mind until they awaken to see the pure light of their inner child. Around 400 people each year partake in this inner child journey for only the cost of their own food. Most will never think of taking their own life again.

This is just one example of the kind of life changing experience that can happen naturally and spontaneously in Kumano when the student is ready.

Historically, many people were drawn to Kumano in their darkest hour of spiritual or physical sickness. Not surprisingly it is often in these darkest times and hopelessness that the 'teacher' in Kumano appears and where the old self dies and a new self born.

To quote from a web site I translated about Kumano:

It is when we are in despair, scared, or deep in sorrow that our thoughts wander to an existence beyond our little selves. In these moments we might try to reach into that unseen world in our silent calling or we might pray to be shown the path which reveals the essence of ourselves in the face of infinite existence. In the midst of the silence lie stone steps and stone walkways covered with moss and lined with statues of Buddhist deities carved in stone. Along these pathways we walk, thinking about the thousands of people who died along the way, having never arrived at their destination. On this ancient path, the path of birth and death, you can feel your past, present, and future as one.

Not all people are ready for the lessons Kumano has to offer. We all have our own timing and when we are ready our 'teacher' will appear. In Kumano that teacher may be invisible and intangible but you will know it when it touches you.

The Invisible Worlds of Kumano

Wayne Nash is a semi-retired investment professional, FOREX trader, and online entrepreneur with over 15 Years of online marketing, coaching, and investing experience and serves a large international investors network from almost every country in the world. Wayne speaks fluent Japanese and has lived in Japan since 1985 and spends part of the year in his native BC in Canada.

http://www.kumanoworld.tv
http://www.waynenash.com

Invisible Force Field - Wireless Home Alarm Systems

Wireless home alarm systems have been a good choice in home alarm systems for many reasons. Wireless alarm systems are extremely easy to install, can usually be done by the home owner, and are less intricate than hard wired alarm systems. Wireless alarm systems were previously considered inferior to hard wire systems, but in the past few years have developed tremendously.

In a wireless system, sensors are placed around the home next to windows, doors, and any other form of entry. When the alarm is set, doors, windows and entrances must be closed properly. When the entrance is either open or closed, the circuit is broken, and the trigger is set off, causing the alarm sound. Some wireless alarms give you a 10 second warning before officially sounding the alarm, allowing you time to key in the code or deactivate through your cellular phone or remote entry. This feature is important because it allows the home owner to activate the alarm upon leaving the home, and gives them time to deactivate it upon reentry.

Invisible Set

Wireless security set up is a lot easier than hard wired alarm systems, because they are less extensive in wiring. This reason also makes wireless alarm installation a lot less expensive than hard wired systems. Wireless security systems are also easier to uninstall making wireless alarm an easy choice for new home owners or renters to keep their living quarters safe. Most landlords will not have a problem with allowing a wireless alarm to be set up for a tenant in their home, and more and more apartment complexes are setting up units to include wireless security systems in each apartment home.

The one drawback to wireless security systems is the possibility of radio frequency interference. Wireless security systems are run by radio signal, and if there is other unstable radio transmission equipment in the area, the wireless alarm has the possibility of going haywire, causing false alarms, costly city fines for responding to false alarms, and headaches for the homeowner. Companies who offer wireless alarms are becoming more diligent in the past few years of blocking radio frequency interferences, so wireless home alarms are definitely becoming a better and better choice.

Wireless home systems are a good option for renters who are looking for protection in their home or apartment without the permanence of hard wired systems, and businesses or homeowners who may not be in the same place for a long period of time. Wireless burglar systems are a good route to choose for a Do It Yourself (DIY) plan, while still offering the major benefits of protection.

Invisible Force Field - Wireless Home Alarm Systems

http://www.homealarmsystemsearch.com

Highly Sensitive People - Invisible Difference is Problematic

Invisible Difference

Psychologist Elaine Aron makes the point repeatedly that High Sensitivity is not a matter of having sharper vision, keener hearing or more tender skin than other people. There is nothing that can be weighed or measured on the outside of a person which will indicate to the observer that an individual is highly sensitive in Aron's terms. High sensitivity happens inside the brain. It is specifically a tendency to process sensory information in a more detailed way.

• While more detailed processing leads to slightly slower decision making, it also creates
• a heightened ability to identify small differences
• a better memory... since we all have better memories for well processed information.
• More careful and detailed processing of experience may also lead to more understanding of the implications of an event for the future, and more understanding of its effect on other aspects of the present.

HSP's Struggle to Adapt

Invisible Set

One might well ask, in the light of these advantages why it so often seems that the 15 to 20% of the population who are highly sensitive, struggle to adapt to a world that overwhelms them. Highly sensitive individuals are born as a minority into a cognitive and social world which is not set up to accommodate their natural way of being. To a highly sensitive person, the world will always move a little too fast for comfort. Other people's judgments are comparatively quick, rough and therefore "ready." Compared to the process of a HSP, the world which the rest of us live in might appear to be a world of generalities and approximations. Exceptions to rules and details which are evident when a situation is examined minutely are glossed over or ignored.

A Thought Experiment for Non-HSP's

If you are not an HSP, try this thought experiment in what it would be like to have more to process all the time...

Imagine the world with the volume turned up thirty percent. Thirty percent more cars on the road, moving thirty percent faster. The radio playing thirty percent louder all the time, feeling thirty percent more hungry at any given moment and having thirty percent more paperwork to process for any given task and thirty percent more housework or child-care to accomplish.

My figure of thirty percent is imaginary but if you ramp up the detail in your personal world you can easily see how it might quickly become exhausting and over-stimulating. Scale this experience down to a microscopic level but make it life-long and pervasive and you begin to have an idea what it is like to be an HSP living in our society.

High Sensitivity Compared to Left-Handedness

In a way, HSP's share a common problem with the approximately 10% of persons who are left-handed. The world is not set up to accommodate left-handers. Door handles are poorly placed, stairwells turn the wrong way, and tools have grips which are uncomfortable and unwieldy. Left-handers, as a result have a higher rate of minor injuries... not because they are awkward, imperfect or in any way inferior in their abilities, but simply because the world is set up the wrong way for them.

It is only in the last thirty years or so that it has been acceptable and considered normal, to be left-handed. Our grandparents were rapped on the knuckles and forced to train themselves against their nature to write in a right-handed copybook style. Left-handers were expected to agree that their choice of hand was incorrect and inferior. The fact that as "fake" right-handers they could never function as well, only lent psychological credence to their feeling of oddness and inadequacy. Educators today know that handedness is innate and left-handed children are no longer penalized or treated as inadequate or inferior and as a consequence they can grow up "proudly left-handed".

Highly sensitive people find themselves in a very similar situation. Since their difference is even less evident than choice of handedness, those closest to them are often unaware that there is an innate difference in the way that they approach the world. There is not usually, even in the most loving or supportive families, a conceptual vocabulary to imagine that such a difference might exist or that it might be a quality that is shared by a significant percentage of the human population. An HS child, is therefore, too often born into a childhood world that is not accommodating of their particular difference. They grow up feeling, like left-handers a hundred years ago, that they are slow, wrong and somehow always out of step with their non-HS peers.

Compared to an HSP, a left-hander stands out like a sore thumb. HSP is all but invisible, and as a human experience it is only beginning to be researched and understood. Where left-handers may be exposed to more accidental physical injuries, misunderstood HSP's are certainly exposed to social mis-attunement which can cause psychological and emotional injuries.

High Sensitivity and Psychotherapy

In the 1930's, psychologist Carl Jung was one of the first to consider the implications of high sensitivity. He noted that about 25% of his patients experienced emotional problems which were related to this quality.

It is easy to imagine that when a child is innately prone to process information deeply, to be sharply aware of details and differences and to create strong memories for well processed material, that they will experience many, many occasions when they are out of step with even the most loving family. Families which are under strain or chaotic for economic, health or interpersonal reasons will be naturally enough, even less receptive and supportive of "invisible" HSP difference and needs. HS children can then grow up feeling problematic, difficult, unappreciated and defective and often seek therapy for issues concerning low self-esteem.

Making the Invisible Visible

Work for HSP's in psychotherapy revolves around sorting out what aspects of their historical relationships were impacted by their sensitivity. Current negative self-assessments and self-judgments must be examined and debated in the light of the advantages and strengths of sensitivity. Realistic strategies can be elaborated to create a life that takes into account the tendency to become over-stimulated.

There are many satisfying ways to lead a human life and highly sensitive individuals are uniquely able to appreciate the subtle changes which can make a noticeable difference in their existence. The first step, however, is to make the invisible forces and assumptions visible through reflection and conversation.

Psychotherapy is often a very good place to do this. The slow pace and supportive environment creates a situation where their detailed attention to concrete and emotional experiences is an integral part of the therapeutic process and many HSP's deeply enjoy and benefit from the opportunity to apply their finest abilities constructively to their self-understanding and personal growth.

Reference:

E.N. Aron (2004). Revisiting Jung's Concept of Innate Sensitiveness. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 49, pp.337-367.

E.N. Aron (1996). The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You, New York, Broadway Books.

Highly Sensitive People - Invisible Difference is Problematic

Susan Meindl, MA, is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Montreal Canada. She has a special interest in Jungian ideas and practices a Jungian approach to psychodynamic psychotherapy.

http://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/59983

Invisalign Invisible Braces - The New Hip Cosmetic Enhancement

Invisalign: Aesthetic augmentation of the smile. Cosmetic augmentations are as much a part of Atlanta as the Braves. So, what is the latest cosmetic augmentation to take Atlanta by storm? It's the new Invisalign braces. There's no doubt that a set of exquisitely straight white teeth gives one more confidence and the need to flash a big smile.

Invisalign is the invisible way to get teeth straight. Invisalign uses a nearly invisible, custom fit set of "aligners" to continuously and sequentially move teeth to the correct position instead of the old style metal brackets and bands. It is very hard to determine whether or not a person is wearing Invisalign braces because the aligners are practically undetectable.Feelings of self-consciousness are discarded with Invisalign aligners because teeth are getting straight without anyone knowing.

Invisible Set

Kids move over...the adults are coming. Adults are becoming one of the biggest demographic for orthodontic smile enhancement and with the availability of the comfortable Invisalign process, the difficulty associated with braces is a thing of the past. These clear almost unnoticeable braces sequentially align teeth to make them straight within six months to a year.

With almost all cosmetic augmentation procedures, you can see how your new beautiful smile will look before, during, and after Invisalign has straightened your teeth. Invisalign uses virtual 3-D modeling to show you a virtual enactment of your teeth and a time-lapse type demonstration of the movement of the teeth to the desired final result. The Invisalign software will mimic the teeth straightening process in stages, with each stage representing one set of aligners. The Invisalign software will also supply virtual images called ClinCheck via a web browser to show you the proposed final results before the aligners are made. It is nice to be able to visualize what your teeth will look like before treatment is ever started.

The virtually invisible Invisalign braces are made after you and your doctor's approval and look similar to teeth bleaching trays, but are custom-made for a better fit to move teeth.

With Invisalign, Alpharetta patients and those throughout the country can achieve a smile enhancement or makeover without the need for traditional braces.

Invisalign Invisible Braces - The New Hip Cosmetic Enhancement

Earl Mann is an author for Dr. Matt Walton, a Board Certified Alpharetta orthodontist from Georgia. Patients seek the services of this orthodontist for many specialized treatments including braces.

Chemical Water Pollution: Invisible, Tasteless And Deadly - How To Remove These Toxic Pollutants

It really is disappointing even with the clean water act in force, the levels of chemical pollution are increasing daily. It is something that we cannot ignore and we have to take very seriously. Although the causes of the increase are obvious, we as individuals can do little to prevent it happening at the source.

As the population increased so did our demand for more and more food. This forced the farmers into using large amounts of pesticide and fertilizer on their fields. Once it started raining the chemicals were absorbed into the ground along with the water, eventually reaching the aquifer and your water supply.

Invisible Set

On the other hand probably the largest contributors to chemical pollution are the industries. Foremost among those are the pulp mills, just think for a moment about how many paper and paper products that are available. Discarded paper is a major component of many landfills, it also accounts for around 37% of municipal waste.

It does not matter which part of the country that you reside as there will always be one chemical or another in your water supply. A study conducted not so long ago found traces of weed killer in the drinking water of many cities across the U.S., on many occasions there were traces of two or more different weed killers.

Another direction from which chemical pollution can contaminate your water supply is from drugs. By this I mean both prescription and non-prescription drugs, it would be difficult to estimate the quantity of drugs that are emptied into the toilets of the nation each year.

The toxic effects of all these chemicals are detrimental to adults but even more so to young children whose systems are much more sensitive and less developed. In addition to this children consume more liquids for each pound of body weight than adults do. However the EPA when they set the maximum contamination levels for a particular substance they do it with adults in mind and not your children.

Of course one possible alternative is resorting to bottles water, however this is not really feasible. Firstly there is no guarantee that bottled water is any healthier than tap water. Secondly, the plastic used in these bottles can contain a chemical called Bisphenol which has been linked to heart disease and reproductive problems.

All these problems can be solved by the simple addition of a home filtration system. Preferably a unit based around advanced filtration techniques such as active carbon, sub-micron and ion exchange.

Don't forget to pay particular attention to the certification that comes with the filter. Unfortunately the claims of many manufactures are wishful thinking, one of the strictest states for certification is California, so it is worth doing your homework to avoid buying something that does not perform as you would expect it.

These filtration systems are reasonably price and the yearly costs are minimal. They will remove your chemical water pollution and give you clean pure water for around 9 cents a gallon. So what are you waiting for?

Chemical Water Pollution: Invisible, Tasteless And Deadly - How To Remove These Toxic Pollutants

Go and visit my website which provides details of the best water purifiers. If you're serious about obtaining clean and pure water go to water purification systems for home to find the most effective, efficient and affordable products available.

Diabetes - The Invisible Killer

The paunch: an inevitable and yet ultimately innocuous fact of life eventually facing most men in the UK, you might think. But as you notice that slight thickening of the waist and dimpling around the kidneys, a chemical process is underway with the potential to change your life, if you ignore it that is.

Although you don't know it yet that spreading midriff is poisoning your metabolism and may, by the time you hit your mid-forties have set you on the road to a premature death from the irreversible complications of the world's current invisible epidemic: Type 2 diabetes.

Invisible Set

This is just a warning. It is not meant to alarm, merely cause you to take note - and action. If what you are about to read causes concern, and it should be, then console yourself with the knowledge that you can do something about it before it happens.

The thing to remember with diabetes is that, perhaps more than any other disease, it's down to you, mainly what you eat and if you exercise.

Have you noticed you're buying jeans with a bit more room? The first signs are relatively mild. A 37-inch waist or more and you could be joining the ever-swelling ranks of diabetics, now an unnerving 1.8 million, with a more worrying 1 million still undiagnosed just in the United Kingdom.

About 70% will die from heart attacks or strokes, hundreds a year will go blind, while 1000 will suffer kidney failure. Crucially though the incidence of diabetes in the UK has risen by 450 per cent since 1960 and the acceleration continues. Worldwide statistics are equally alarming and help explain the UK's figure. Diabetes affects 150 million people in every corner of the world, not just in Western societies where obesity is rife. By 2025, the World Health Organisation predicts the number of diabetics worldwide will reach 300 million. Each year, the disease claims more lives than breast cancer or AIDS, and is the fourth most common cause of death in developed countries. One study estimates treatment of diabetes accounts for 9 per cent of the health care budget in the UK, that's a staggering £9893 every minute. The Government puts the cost at a mind blowing £4 billion and likely to rise to 10 per cent within six years. It is without doubt the world's most alarming - and yet ultimately preventable health crisis.

So what is happening?

As your nascent gut gradually expands, toxic fatty acids (that's beer and burgers) radiate from within, lowering "good" HDL cholesterol levels and materially changing the structure of arteries, which can contribute to high blood pressure. What's more, your burgeoning midriff is among the causes of insulin resistance, where the hormone fails to properly convert blood glucose into energy, leaving levels dangerously high. The pancreas goes into overdrive to produce more insulin. Alarmingly 10 years before your Type 2 diabetes is even diagnosed you are displaying four of the defining characteristics (obesity, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, insulin resistance) of metabolic syndrome - the condition that puts you at risk of developing the world's fastest-growing illness. Then, as you age, the continual assault of toxic compounds on your pancreas reduces its ability to produce enough insulin - known as insulin deficiency. As you near 45, it stops and pancreas cells begin to die.

Although diabetes can often be prevented with diet and exercise [http://nike-trainers.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=2] it remains incurable despite vast medical resources. Most money goes on managing the illness with tablets or self-injected insulin, regular monitoring for deterioration, hospital aftercare for those who have hypos (dangerously low blood sugars) and surgery when things go wrong. A pioneering treatment, islet cell transplantation is now available, in which insulin-producing beta cells from a donor are injected into a (Type 1 only) diabetic's liver. However, this is only suitable in certain cases and the potential side effects (including deterioration of kidney function) mean it is recommended only for seriously ill patients.

The problem is the tell-tale symptoms of this silent epidemic often go unnoticed until it's too late. Tiredness, thirst, frequent urination and infections as the glucose in your blood rockets are all indicators. People with the initial symptoms of Type 2 diabetes don't go to the doctor as they feel they are only minor irritations that will pass, and nobody like wasting the doctor's valuable time, but by the time you do, your body has been ravaged by an invisible disease for a decade and the damage has been done.
Frightening, isn't it?

Well, yes; but it needn't be, not if you follow the simple steps to protecting yourself. They involve a more sensible diet and exercise regime - it's that easy. And if you're unlucky enough to develop diabetes despite taking these steps, it needn't ruin your life. The boxer Sugar Ray Robinson was diabetic, as are Joe Frazier, the golfer Jack Nicklaus. Britain's greatest ever Olympian, Sir Steve Redgrave, still managed to pick up a few gold medals despite being a sufferer.

Type 2 diabetes is caused by many malfunctions, imbalances and deficiencies, a lot of which can be attributed to modern living. The only treatment is a change in lifestyle. Some doctors believe you can treat type 2 diabetes with a lot of exercise and no medication at all. Exercise makes you more insulin-sensitive, so if you're fit you can make much better use of the small amount of insulin you actually have. If that insulin is not really working and your blood sugars are high, and then you add exercise, they will come back to normal. Exercise can be the treatment and the prevention. Exercise also helps keep diabetes at bay or under control by regulating glucose levels and preventing blood pressure from rising.

Diabetics should get advice from a doctor about precisely the kind of exercise that is best for them. Light running, swimming and walking are all heartily endorsed. You will probably be advised to spread your exercise schedule over a week, half an hour a day is far more beneficial than three hours once a week.
In the same way, the simple step of eating more healthily and regularly can limit the damage the disease inflicts. Although weight loss is advisable, a low-carbohydrate diet to achieve it is no good here. Regular meals based on starchy foods such as bread, pasta, potatoes, rice and cereals will help control blood glucose levels. Go for carbohydrates with a low glycaemic index (GI) - sweet potatoes, wholemeal bread, long-grain rice, all which give slow-release energy and help keep blood sugars low.

Those with a family history of diabetes should also go for annual check-ups. If both your parents have Type 2, the chances of you developing it are 75 per cent, if either your mother or your father has it; the chances are 20 per cent. It's here that perhaps the most pernicious aspect of the current diabetes problem reveals itself. Although anyone can get diabetes, those of Afro-Caribbean or South-east Asian origin are three to five times more likely to do so than Caucasians. More than 20 per cent of Indian men over the age of 50 have diabetes, and some ethnic groups are even more prone. Clearly, then, there is more to the illness than being fat, lazy, greedy and indifferent.

It's likely that the world's steady conversion to a Western diet of processed foods high in fat, sugar and salt is responsible. Combined with an increasingly sedentary lifestyle (an office job, driving instead of walking), again copied from the West, poor diet seems to affect some populations worse than others.
Although some scientists believe that genetics may have a big part to play in type 2 diabetes it can't be denied that up to half of all cases might be eliminated if weight gain in adults could be prevented, in other words if we ate healthily and took more exercise.

The invisible epidemic need not claim you. Take note and take action.

Diabetes - The Invisible Killer

I try to pass on my musings on life and experiences in a way that people may find interesting to read.

www.nike-trainers.com [http://www.nike-trainers.com]

You may not always agree with my writings but I hope to inform.

Harwood E Woodpecker

Diamond Engagement Rings - Is Emerald Cut Right for You?

When choosing diamond engagement rings, there are a lot of things to think about. There are plenty of rings, styles of settings, and diamond cuts to consider. Emerald cut rings are one of the most popular options because of their natural elegance and exquisite appearance. The emerald cut is characterized by a rectangular stone that is shaped to show off the beauty of the diamond, along with the corners cropped to allow for a beautiful setting no matter what type of ring you choose. Everyone has different styles, but this ring is a classic that has proven to stand the test of time for many years.

Diamond rings are available in dozens of different cuts and styles. Choosing the perfect ring isn't always as simple as some people make it out to be. For example, some people will have a certain preference, while others will be shopping within a specific budget. Plenty of people like round-cut diamonds for engagement rings, while others prefer the more traditional marquee-cut stones for their engagement ring needs. There are emerald cut stones that are quite beautiful, of course, making this a desirable option as well.

Invisible Set

Choosing the right cut for an engagement ring is all about figuring out what you like. If you are a man shopping for your future wife, you have to think about what would look good on her finger or what she would like. If you can, get an idea of what she is more attracted to before you go shopping. If you can't ask about diamond cuts without letting the cat out of the bag, try to figure out for yourself what type of woman she is and which style she would most prefer. You can easily talk to a jeweler to learn more about your options and how to choose the right ring.

The emerald cut is luxurious, classy, and very traditional. While fashion trends are really important to people, the style of their engagement ring might be something that they enjoy in a more traditional sense because of the memories and history of the traditional style of ring. It all depends on the woman and everyone can find something that they love. Whether you choose the emerald cut or any other style of engagement ring, you can count on being able to find plenty of unique engagement rings that you or your bride-to-be will love as long as you take the time to look.

Diamond Engagement Rings - Is Emerald Cut Right for You?

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Dental Braces - Enhance Your Smile With Invisible Ones

All of us are aware that a visit to the dentist is quite an expensive affair and it is more so if you have any major dental problems. One such problem is that of fitting dental braces. They are costly and many a times, the patient may have to undergo some sort of minor dental surgery. Many insurance providers do not offer orthodontic coverage. Hence, if you are looking out for dental coverage, then you need to visit the right orthodontist. There are pediatric orthodontists for fitting dental braces for children. If you have a dental plan, then you may visit a dentist who is under the panel of that respective insurance company. You may want to do a thorough research before settling for any particular dentist.

There are different types of braces. One is the conventional type and the other invisible braces. The traditional or conventional type of braces is an ugly sight and hence many people are going in for sophisticated invisible dental aligners. Many of the people who wore these metal braces looked horrible and were totally unsatisfied with it. One could not smile wholeheartedly by wearing those metal dental braces.

Invisible Set

The invisalign braces are transparent and clear and people loved it because the braces were not to be seen absolutely even when they smiled. These braces neither had plastic aligner nor metal wires. The material used was totally transparent. Patients wearing these aligners will feel relaxed and confident about themselves. Those of you who are wearing metal braces will have to make frequent visits to the dentist. The amount of time and efforts along with the maintenance is comparatively more as compared to that of invisible aligners.

The procedure is not all that painful as compared to conventional metal braces. Moreover, these dental braces are also gentle on the skin and cause minimal soreness. When metal braces are fitted, patients do experience problems like bleeding of the gums and also sore gums. The patient also has the advantage of removing his invisible braces when eating food. This prevents food from getting stuck in between the teeth and gums. Not everyone is blessed with a set of straight teeth. But those of you who do not have straight teeth can still flaunt their pearly teeth if they get invisible dental braces fitted.

Fitting of dental braces do not qualify for dental insurance. Hence, it is very important to clarify these things prior to purchasing dental insurance policies. Prior to signing on the dotted line, you need to speak to a reputed dental insurance agent who will provide you details about the coverage.

Dental Braces - Enhance Your Smile With Invisible Ones

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Hi-Tech Meets Decor - Your High-Def TV and Your Home

You found the perfect television. It's a great high-def TV, with every bell and whistle you were looking for, and it's exactly the right size to fit into the open spot in your living room. You can even afford it, with cash left over for the surround sound system you need as well. Only one problem: your wife hates it. Too big, too intrusive, and too attractive to all your college friends.

Don't despair: there are plenty of solutions for installing the perfect high-def TV in your home, and some of them will eliminate any appearance of a television in your home - or make your television so attractive that your wife will insist on having one.

Invisible Set

The Invisible TV: DLP TVs

A DLP TV is a projection-style set, which are much nicer today than they were twenty years ago when they were the mainstay of any bar setting. The best news is that not all projection televisions are locked into a case; today, you can get sets that look basically like an old slide projector. The scalable image they project will look good on a blank white wall, or on a portable or wall-mounted screen (mountings can be hidden beneath things like decorative shelves if necessary). This is a great solution for a small space, where one room performs several different functions.

The Camouflaged TV

You don't have to go invisible, though. There are plenty of furnishing options for all but the largest television sets: armoirs, closets, and shelf sets can make your TV part of the living room, yet discreet. With the right shelf setup and a screensaver, you can even transform your plasma television into a fireplace; the flickering flame gives your room a romantic and homey atmosphere, and only close inspection reveals the truth!

Wall mounted televisions don't work well with this solution, but there is a unique solution: a mirror cover. A transparent guard covers the screen, transforming the appearance of your high-def TV into a nice wall-mounted mirror. Turning on the set, however, allows the picture to show right through the cover. Certain sets allow for other solutions, though: screen saver-type technology can transform your set into a fishtank, or show the gradual setting of the sun over a tropical island.

The Ultimate Solution: A TV Room

One of the most popular new home improvement choices is a media room dedicated strictly to the television. This allows you to mount your surround-sound system in a perfectly-engineered room, with seating and other amenities that will have your friends over for the Superbowl, her friends over to see the latest chick flick, and for both of you alone to watch the movie of your choice, ending the evening with that romantic flickering fireplace.

Any high-def TV can transform the décor of your room, whether it's your formal living room or the den, a dedicated TV room or your loft apartment space. Just a little creativity and shopping around for what's out there will net you great rewards.

Hi-Tech Meets Decor - Your High-Def TV and Your Home

SNS Designs, Inc. owns a number of websites. They carry wide selection of High Definition Televisions, Samgung LCD TV, Plasma Televisions. They offer the most popular in home theatre and a number of televisions that range from Sony, Pioneer to LG that everyone can afford

Struggling Against The Invisible Bureaucracy Of Organizational Culture

In a world of increasing stakeholder expectations and decreasing resources, aggressive cost cutting programs have run their course. Where do you turn next? Increasing a company's revenues and gross margins, and knowing where (and how) to reduce costs without negatively impacting customer satisfaction, employee productivity and morale, or business processes that are working effectively requires a precise and systematic understanding of exactly what organizational culture is and how it works in organizations.

Most managers struggle against the flow of overly complex structures and systems and are often frustrated by an invisible force that undermines their attempts to affect positive change. Their instincts tell them that the organization's culture and people are preventing them from getting the results they want, but culture remains one of the least understood aspects of organizational life. Organizational culture often acts like an Invisible Bureaucracy(TM) that frustrates and undermines effective business performance. In fact, what many managers find most frustrating is that although they have little or no control over changing the ineffective structures and systems of the larger organization within which their work-group is embedded, they are still held accountable for delivering on commitments and goals.

Invisible Set

Defining culture in a more precise and systematic way enables us to better understand what the Invisible Bureaucracy(TM) is and how it works. More specifically, organizational culture consists of four distinct (but interdependent) categories of business elements that interact with each other to produce an organization's financial and non-financial results (see below). The interaction of these four elements creates organizational culture and many managers experience this as the Invisible Bureaucracy(TM).

1. Patterns of Interaction (POI)

2. Context of Interaction (COI)

3. Repository of Interaction (ROI)

4. Current Results

Here is how the four elements work together to create organizational culture. Day-to-day operations occur as patterns of interactions (POI) within the context of interaction of an organization's structures and systems (COI). Over time, the interaction of POI and COI functions like a group learning process that creates a repository of interaction (ROI) that becomes an organization's knowledge-base and the tacit beliefs that managers and staff members have about the organization and the people in it. Over time, these first three elements settle down on an organization-wide pattern of interaction (POI) within the larger context of interaction of the business environment (COI) and the combination of these elements produces the financial and non-financial results that an organization actually gets. This is the underlying process that Dave Hanna is describing when he says that, "All organizations are perfectly designed to get the results they get." Each of the four terms is briefly described below.

Context of Interaction (COI): After decades of research on organizations, it has become common knowledge that 85% or more of the root causes of performance problems are in the organizational structures and systems within which people work (COI). In other words, if you put good people in bad systems you will get poor performance. So focusing on improving performance in a work-group without understanding the context within which it is embedded almost guarantees that change will not be sustainable, because the managers and staff within the work-group are less then 15% of the real problem.

Patterns of Interaction (POI): What is not common knowledge is that the patterns of interactions (POI) that make up most day-to-day operations in companies are performed on autopilot, e.g. they are done out of habit and routine, seamlessly, without consciously thinking about them. It is important to remember that automatic pilot operations are a doubled-edge sword. When done effectively, they can be your greatest ally because they increase your ability to compete and achieve your goals. But in most cases autopilot operations are self-defeating because they perpetuate problems with work performance, communication, interpersonal conflict, and decision-making and then derail attempts to create positive change.

Repository of Interaction (ROI): Culture is most frequently described as the underlying assumptions, tacit beliefs and attitudes that an organization holds in common (ROI), but this is only one of the four elements that organizational culture is made of. The ROI is a collective repository of group learning: a lens through which managers and staff members see (and interpret) day-to-day operations and the realities of organizational life. The ROI includes an organization's accumulated history, key events, stories, heroes, prohibitions, rituals, ceremonies, traditions, and folk wisdom about how things should (or should not) be done. It also includes an organization's accumulated business experience and knowledge base - its unique capabilities and intellectual property that allow them to create their products and services.

Current Results: An organization's current results consist of things like its actual level of financial and non-financial performance and its actual level of customer satisfaction, as opposed to the goals or key performance targets that a company sets for itself. Over time, the four elements tend to settle down on an organization-wide pattern of interaction (POI) that emerges within the larger context of interaction of the business environment (COI) and this creates the actual results that an organization gets, as opposed to its planned results, e.g. its key performance indicators and goals. Because all four terms function interdependently, the actual results reinforce the other three cultural elements.

Bottom Line: So what enables the Invisible Bureaucracy(TM) to continue operating undetected time and time again? What gives the Invisible Bureaucracy(TM) the force and power to continue to derail positive change, even against the best efforts of managers and staff members to the contrary? Two of the four elements described above are the main culprits:

1. POI: Day-to-day operations that are habitual, routine, and happen on autopilot (POI), combined with,

2. ROI: Tacit (unquestioned) beliefs and attitudes that create decision-making bias and predictable errors in judgment, e.g. managers choose ineffective solutions to problems because they are familiar and are within their comfort zone

So the key to making the power of the Invisible Bureaucracy(TM) work for you rather than against you is to take ineffective day-to-day operations off autopilot, reconfigure them, and then migrate them back to autopilot operations that produce the desired results. To reiterate, when done effectively, autopilot operations can be an organization's greatest ally because they increase its ability to compete and achieve its goals. It also allows managers to focus on improving performance by increasing service to clients, streamlining delivery channels, growing markets, and delivering higher value to all of an organization's stakeholders.

Struggling Against The Invisible Bureaucracy Of Organizational Culture

Mark Bodnarczuk is the Executive Director of the Breckenridge Institute®, a research center for the study of organizational culture based in Boulder, Colorado. He is an author, researcher, consultant, teacher, and facilitator with more than twenty years of experience working with companies in the area of high-tech, basic and applied research, pharmaceuticals, health care, retail as well as government and non-profit organizations. Mark has published widely in the areas of corporate culture and leadership development and is the author of two books, Diving In: Discovering Who You Are In the Second Half of Life and Island of Excellence: 3 Powerful Strategies for Building Creative Organizations. He has a BA from Mid-America University, an MA from Wheaton College, and an MA from the University of Chicago.

Mark can be contacted at:

Breckenridge Institute®
PO Box 7950
Boulder, Colorado 80306-7950
http://www.BreckenridgeInstitute.com/

Invisible But Brilliant Branding - Diamonds Are Forever But Monopolies Don't Last

Powerful, emotional and consistent branding helped to create the De Beers diamond monopoly. When it was threatened in the 1990s by conflict diamonds and producers such as Russia distributing diamonds outside the De Beers-controlled channel, De Beers again turned to branding to save the day. They repositioned themselves in a market they no longer control and are now more profitable with a 40% market share than when they had an 80% market share in the 1990s. Let me bring you into the picture.

De Beers engages in exploration for diamonds, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacture. Mining takes place in Botswana and Namibia (through its joint-venture partnerships with the respective governments), as well as South Africa and Canada, in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep-sea. The Diamond Trading Company, the rough-diamond sales and distribution arm of the De Beers Group, sorted, valued and sold about 80% of the world's rough diamonds by value until the early 1990s.

Invisible Set

These diamonds were then sold to the Diamond Trading Company Sightholders whose representatives travelled to London several times a year for the sale or Sight as it was called. Today Sightholders (now numbering only 79) are required to comply with the De Beers' best practice principles, which set out various objective standards of conduct in three main areas: business, social and environmental responsibilities. (I designed brandmarks for two of the Sightholders at the turn of the century and no mention was made of these noble standards; Mr $ and his rare appearances were the only standard I was reminded about.)

Get the picture? De Beers is big - very, very big! It is well known for its monopolistic practices throughout the previous century, when the company used its dominant position to manipulate the international diamond market by persuading independent producers to join its single-channel monopoly and then flooding the market with diamonds similar to those of producers who refused to join.

The company purchased and stockpiled the diamonds produced by other manufacturers in order to control prices through supply. Ernest Oppenheimer stated: "Commonsense tells us that the only way to increase the value of diamonds is to make them scarce, that is to reduce production." Now all that was left for the monopoly to become fully fledged was to increase consumer demand.

A diamond is a girl's best friend

Consider this: a diamond - the rarest and hardest natural mineral known - is worth no more that half its retail value. There is no hard-and-fast rule for the pricing of polished diamonds, but professionals in the polished-diamond industry use a worldwide market price list, the Rapaport, based on the four Cs, which are carat, cut, colour and clarity, as a general guideline for evaluating polished diamond prices. And a jeweller usually adds a 100% mark-up to the Rapaport quoted price. Apart from industrial applications, diamonds have no other value except when polished for their perceived beauty, which we all know is in the eye of the beholder. This brings us to another aspect: the power of emotion.

In 1999, I experienced this first-hand while prospecting for diamonds (just like the diamond diggers did at the turn of the century) along the Orange River, a stone's throw away from where the first diamond was found in South Africa. There are no words to describe the feeling when you find your first diamond: a flash of brilliant white light coming from among grey-black gravel on the sorting table after days of backbreaking labour, processing tons of gravel. Your heart starts racing and you are overcome by absolute joy and feelings of elation! God chose you to find this diamond and you feel so blessed and special. Although it was only 0,13 of one point of one carat and called "ice-white", it might as well have been a 100-carat flawless blue-white.

I was once told by a diamond diver in Port Nolloth on the remote Diamond Coast of the South African West Coast: "Men arrive in planes and luxury cars looking for diamonds and leave looking for a lift home, left only with a pair of jeans and the shirt on their backs." Wise words which sum up the power that prospecting for diamonds holds for men.

But what is in it for the men buying diamonds for the ladies? After all, it costs them a lot of money for an adornment they never wear themselves and mostly do not own; in the words of Marilyn Monroe's song, "diamonds are a girl's best friend". What has made diamonds one of the best-known and most sought-after gemstones since ancient times?

The diamond's - from the ancient Greek (adamas) meaning "invincible" - ability to prismatically break up white light into its component colours, giving the diamond its characteristic fire, is what makes diamonds so desirable as jewellery. Let's face it, a diamond ring on a woman's finger overtly advertises her (and the purchaser's) wealth. The honour of wearing a one-in-a-million, one-carat blue-white diamond confers a special status previously only reserved for royalty. Thanks to some brilliant branding by De Beers, the purchase of diamond jewellery has become a socially acceptable way of buying a woman's affection. Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, who was married nine times, famously remarked: "I never hated a man enough to give him back his diamonds."

The De Beers diamond advertising and marketing campaign (acknowledged as one of the most successful and innovative in history) launched in the mid-20th century leveraged emotion to its fullest by promoting diamonds as a symbol of love and commitment with the essence aptly expressed in the now famous slogan "A Diamond is Forever". The 1971 James Bond film Diamonds are Forever, no doubt, further promoted the De Beers monopoly. Noteworthy about this campaign, which lasted decades, is that it was the diamond itself rather than the De Beers brand that was advertised and promoted. In other words, the company promoted the category as the brand. This would start to change in 2004, but more about that later.

"Say you'd marry her all over again with a diamond anniversary ring", "A one carat diamond is one in a million" and "Is two months' salary too much to spend for something that lasts forever?" are great and famous headlines used in De Beers' marketing that created the one-carat diamond as the minimum size to own and part of the reason why there is a substantial price increase once a good diamond reaches one carat.

In 2000, "A Diamond is Forever" was named by AdAge magazine - the authoritative international magazine for marketing and media news - as the best advertising slogan of the twentieth century. This was followed by other successful campaigns, including the "trilogy" ring (representing the past, present and future of a relationship), the "eternity ring" (a symbol of continuing affection and appreciation) and the "right-hand ring" (bought and worn by women as a symbol of independence).

De Beers also opened new markets, even in countries where no diamond tradition had previously existed, with its "promoting diamonds as a symbol of love and commitment" strategy. Today, a diamond engagement ring is customary in the Far East, contrary to the fashion 50 years ago.

By successfully increasing consumer demand for diamonds with one of the most effective marketing strategies ever, and by controlling diamond prices through supply, De Beers created a monopoly and one of the richest families in the world. The current clan, with leader Nicky Oppenheimer, is worth US,7-billion, placing them in position 62 on the Forbes 400 list of richest people in early February 2009.

However, in the late 1990s, a number of factors contributed to the need for the De Beers monopoly to reinvent itself. Conflict diamonds, also known as "blood diamonds" (mined by using slave labour and believed to fund dictators, revolutionary entities and rebel groups, especially in Africa), entered the market. In addition, producers from Russia, Canada and Australia chose to start distributing diamonds outside the De Beers channel, thus effectively ending the monopoly. Consumer behaviour had changed, diamond jewellery markets had fallen in comparison to markets for other luxury goods, and the diamond industry controlled by the De Beers monopoly was slow to respond.

De Beers, as the leader in the industry, was widely believed to be a prominent dealer in conflict diamonds in the 1990s and was forced to stop buying any diamonds from other sources in order to guarantee specifically the conflict-free status of their diamonds. It was fast losing control of its monopolistic distribution channel and had to do something quickly and effectively to protect its market share.

In 2000, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution supporting the creation of an international certification scheme for rough diamonds. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) was adopted by all the parties concerned and came into effect in 2003. Every year since then the General Assembly has renewed its support for the KPCS - most recently in December 2006.

The KPCS originated from a meeting of Southern African diamond-producing states in Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa in May 2000 and culminated in a ministerial meeting held in September in South Africa's capital, Pretoria.

For a country to be a participant in the KPCS, it must ensure that:

1) any diamond originating from the country does not finance a rebel group or other entity seeking to overthrow a UN-recognised government;

2) every diamond exported is accompanied by a Kimberley Process certificate; and

3) no diamond is imported from, or exported to, a non-member of the scheme.

This simple plan is a brief description of the steps taken to ensure that a chain of countries is formed, which deal exclusively with non-conflict diamonds. No doubt, De Beers had a hand in all this. Note where that crucial meeting was held (De Beers has an office there and owns most of the diamond mines in Kimberley) and which company or shall I say shrinking monopoly had the most to lose?

Today, De Beers states that 100% of the diamonds it now sells are conflict-free and that all De Beers diamonds are purchased in compliance with its own Diamond Best Practice Principles and the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. This bit of international law is just another disguise for the distribution channel that De Beers managed to regain control over, and no doubt still manipulates. It is also a smart piece of spin-doctoring which eliminated various sources of excess supply.

Brilliant branding and repositioning in a market you no longer control

In 2001, De Beers entered the retail market with the independently managed De Beers diamond jewellery company. Called De Beers Diamond Jewellers Ltd, the company sells diamond jewellery. The first store on Old Bond Street in London was followed by a further 19 in choice locations worldwide.

In 2004, De Beers started a separately managed division called Forevermark with its main mission to build and develop the Forevermark diamond brand. According to De Beers, this division is also responsible for driving diamond demand in key markets and maintaining consumer confidence in diamonds. The Forevermark brand was first launched mainly in the Far East, presumably to test the market, and, in late 2008, De Beers confirmed their commitment to making the Forevermark brand available to the rest of the world.

De Beers claims that Forevermark diamonds are rarer than rare, with less than one percent of the world's diamonds eligible to become a Forevermark diamond. These diamonds are specially selected according to the four Cs and from sources committed to the highest standards in compliance with the Kimberley Process. They are carefully crafted by a select group of Forevermark Diamantaires. But how do we know that? After all, seeing is believing. Now here comes the clever bit. These diamonds, exclusively available from select jewellers, come with an invisible (to the naked eye) Forevermark brand symbol and a unique identification number inscribed on the table facet, 1/20th of a micron deep, using patented technology. The brandmark can only be seen using a special Forevermark viewer in authorised Forevermark jewellers.

With De Beers now controlling only 40% of the market and effectively no longer a monopoly, note how this factor forced them to shift and narrow their focus from promoting the category (that of diamonds) as the brand to their brand of diamonds: Forevermark. Also note how they have cleverly managed to reposition themselves and create a niche in a market where they were gradually losing a share.

Not only will Arm (Brad) Pitt feel morally justified when buying Brangelina a big, fat Forevermark diamond for her next birthday, but will also be assured it is an investment and the most beautifully crafted rarest of the rare stone. Who wants to be so unpatriotic as to buy a diamond from those Russian thugs anyway? Brilliant, don't you think?

De Beers was forced to change its monopolistic business model from a supply-controlled industry to one driven by demand. With rough diamond sales of US,9-billion in 2007 alone, the company is now more profitable with a 40% market share than when it had an 80% market share in the 1990s. This is proof that monopolies are not forever, they don't last and are in the long run bad for business and, in the case of De Beers, for the environment too.

A flawed brand?

Now they just have to rehabilitate the 80 kilometres (about 240 square kilometres) of South Africa's western coastline - situated in the north-western corner of South Africa's rugged Northern Cape - that they raped with their highly damaging strip-mining practices over the past 80 years and I may consider buying a Forevermark diamond. Do a Google flypast and see for yourself. A massive dragline, which hoists up to 70 tons of sand with each scoop and costs several million dollars, is mainly responsible for the damage. Unfortunately, this dragline does not return the overburden after the diamond-rich gravel has been removed, because this would result in the disappearance of Mr $ and that is forbidden, according to the gospel of Oppenheimer. Yes, you got it, the De Beers brand is flawed after all!

This ecological disaster (little or no rehabilitation has been done since mining started 80 years ago) has been conveniently hidden from the public eye because this section of coast is a restricted area. Access control to it is strictly enforced by law. In South Africa, the possession of rough diamonds is illegal and could cost you years of jail time. When I visited the then newly branded Diamond Coast in 2001, their idea of rehabilitation was a few miserable indigenous trees on a dune and an embarrassed guide pointing at a nursery conveniently invisible somewhere behind some dunes.

Here are a few quotes from a website - http://diamondroute.co.za. - sponsored by De Beers and the Oppenheimer family:

"The route is a partnership project between the renowned mining house and the Oppenheimer family in a bid to maximise the potential of their properties for conservation purposes - and in so doing give back to the people of South Africa."

"De Beers and the Oppenheimer family have a long respected legacy of walking the talk when it comes to environmental and conservation concern."

"These natural areas have been diligently managed over many decades and are now very important reservoirs of biodiversity."

"The reality is that De Beers and Oppenheimers were committed to conservation and social upliftment and practised offset of diamond mining impact before the term of offset became current in the conservation world."

"Experience the positive environmental legacy of diamond mining."

What utter bull and a poor attempt at window dressing for the world-renowned gardens of Brenthurst and the Diamond Route, with no mention of rehabilitating the Diamond Coast. Brenthurst Estate is the traditional home of the Oppenheimer family, and boasts completely organically sustained gardens filled with indigenous and endemic plants, the envy of gardening enthusiasts worldwide. I wonder if Mrs Oppenheimer or her coterie of ladies from high society have ever visited the Diamond Coast and seen the devastation that her gardens (of Babylon) have caused to the environment.

The next time you feel like succumbing to the eternity of a Forevermark diamond, please contemplate the invisible flaws that De Beers does not tell you about: the resultant long-term environmental damage, not only along the South African coast but also in Namibia, Botswana and Canada. In my opinion, the respective governments should force the De Beers company to commit itself to a rehabilitation schedule equal in scope to its mining activities, with heavy penalties and possible nationalisation if time lines are not met. Even if this unrealistic dream does come true (and I buy a Forevermark diamond), it will take almost a century to complete.

Invisible But Brilliant Branding - Diamonds Are Forever But Monopolies Don't Last

Alexander Greyling is the Author of Face your brand! The visual language of branding explained and is one of South Africa's top branding experts. In his eBook he provides indispensable facts and logic for creating a successful visual brandmark through his seven essential elements of a successful brandmark.

With more than 30 years of rich experience, Greyling is a free-spirited maverick having never worked for a boss that runs his own strategic brand and design consultancy. He began his career in the 1970s designing brandmarks and corporate brand identities to pay for his college tuition. By dealing with upstarts, mom-and-pop businesses, illiterate markets in the apartheid era and, later, sophisticated national and international brands, he gained invaluable experience and insight covering a unique and broad range of branding challenges.

This easy-to-read book is aimed at a diverse spectrum of established and emerging entrepreneurs. For the budget-conscious small entrepreneur who cannot afford a designer, but wants to have the right foundation, this book offers amazing value for money. The price of this book is less than half-an-hour of a professional designer's time. For the time-pressed chief executive, president or managing director, it provides the knowledge to navigate the controversial field of visual branding.

This is essential reading for brand managers and marketers who are dissatisfied with the ineffective, but expensive, creation of brandmarks. These often are executed by under-qualified "experts" at advertising agencies and design studios, or as a freebie by the boss' daughter, an equally inept art student. For creative directors, art directors, DTP operators, students and business branding influencers such as accountants and lawyers this book is vital reading.

For a free sample eBook, more information or to order a copy of Face your brand! visit http://faceyourbrand.co.za/.

Nine Invisible Barriers to a Civilized Divorce

Making the decision to get a divorce or coming to grips with our spouse's decision to divorce is never easy. However, once we finally accept that our marriage is headed for a divorce, we find ourselves facing the next difficulty. Since most people don't like anguish or wasting our money, the next difficulty is to minimize the pain and cost of divorce.

We want to get the settlement that we deserve, without having to waste time, energy, and money to get it. The best way to achieve this is to accomplish a friendly out-of-court settlement as quickly and easily as possible. To do so we must be able to persuade our soon-to-be ex to work with us in obtaining a cooperative resolution - one that is to our liking.

Invisible Set

Before being able to reasonably expect to do this, we must be aware of the invisible obstacles that stand in our way. How we choose to handle these obstacles can often spell the difference between a peaceful divorce and a train wreck.

Some obstacles are everyday, common sense things that we already are somewhat familiar with. However, very few are understood how truly destructive they can be. Without some forewarning, we would normally ignore them and minimize their impact.

The following are the nine invisible barriers:

1. One of the parties does not want a divorce.
2. The parties have different decision-making styles.
3. We don't know how to get through to our spouse.
4. Feelings count more than the money.
5. Too much focus on finger-pointing.
6. Divorce papers make people upset.
7. A spouse is set on vengeance because of feelings of being wronged.
8. There is a misconception on what our rights are.
9. We underestimate the fury we may face.

For more information on each of these invisible barriers, please visit our blog at http://www.chicagodivorceattorney-blog.com/beware-the-unforseen-deal-killers/

Nine Invisible Barriers to a Civilized Divorce

Kari L. Cornelison is a family law attorney and mediator, who emphasizes the settlement approach to divorce. She and her partner serve the DuPage and Cook County areas. Their website is www.CivilizedDivorce.com. Visit their blog, ChicagoDivorceAttorney-Blog.com for more tips and information on what you can do before, during and after the divorce process.

Invisible - NOT CYBER - Bullying in the School: Part III - The School Bus and the Classroom

This is the third in a series of three articles related to Invisible Bullying. We refer to it as invisible because it is happening virtually within 25 feet or less from adult supervision and it is going completely unrecognized because the supervisors are often on a completely different "wavelength" from the students they are supervising. Like the adults in the Charlie Brown specials, they are invisible to the students and speak a different language.

We refer to this as Decontextualized Supervision, and although it can prevent seriously bodily harm and make sure people get outside in a natural disaster and maintain general law and order, it does nothing to assist the victims of bullying during the school day. We spoke in Part I of the bullying that occurs in plain sight in the school hallways. Teachers, before you punish a child who is continually late to class automatically, will you please look at that child and ask yourself if this person looks like a person intent on beating the system or one who someone intends to beat on. If you are not sure, err on the side of caution and begin with the assumption that the child is purposely taking the long way to avoid hallway bullies that he or she dreads having to pass each day- because they are really lurking out there- even if you don't see them.

Invisible Set

In the cafeteria, what do you surmise when a kid shows you his new Social Studies Book with a piece of pizza smooshed in the middle? If there are kids that always go to help the librarian instead of going to lunch, does anyone ask the child why?

More children than you would think dread walking in the hallways and going to the cafeteria because of the constant abuse. Yet, for us adults, most of the time we glance into the cafeterias or down the hallway, and everything looks fine to us, except for perhaps a little too much noise. Which group- the kids or the adults have a mistaken impression? Which group of people is out of touch with the realities of the situation? Which group is working with no contextual backdrop? As a supervisor of students, what skills have you developed beyond making comments like, "Keep it down you people, or else!" "If I have to come down there you aren't going to like it!"and, "I want the both of you to knock it off or you will be seeing me for detention for the next week!" When you said that last one, was it really an even battle, or might someone be the constant perpetrator?

So, we have spoken about the hallways and the cafeteria as being dreaded places for many young people. Next we will talk about the school bus, and this of course, includes getting on and off the school bus at the beginning of each day- another big reason for latenesses to school- an effort to avoid the gauntlet!

The law asserts that the school is responsible for each student who is transported to school from the time they leave their house in the morning till they return. That, of course, is ridiculous because we have enough to worry about in the building and since administrators are not really like the assistant principal in Ferris Bueller's Day Off- running all over town chasing people like idiots, to expect the school to police someone's street for the thugs that dwell there is very unrealistic. That being said, once again the bullies are at work at the bus stop in the morning terrorizing the weakest kids. Is anyone surprised that most new Elementary & Secondary schools are being built with pick-up lanes and older buildings have changed the traffic patterns in the parking lot for the cars of parents who drop off and pick up their children each day? 15 years ago, kids either walked to school or rode the bus, with very few parent pick-ups Overprotective? Tell it to the parents of children undergoing this terror every day. Additionally, even the students who are not bothered have learned early on to keep their mouths shut lest they be next on some bully's "Hit list".

An additional problem is that, in a school district where the population is sparse, there is only one bus run and all the schools in the district start and end at the same time. This means that your kindergarten child is on the bus every day with high school students, hearing all of the jokes, the verbal and physical abuse, and maybe even providing the bullies with additional easy targets for money, pencils, pens, markers, as well as abuse.

Another problem that nobody grasps is that almost all school districts, in an effort to contract out for everything including teachers, have done away with their busses and hired an independent contractor. The job of bus driver now is taken by someone happy to work part time and with no idea about discipline codes of the school and the disciplinary process. We recall one situation where a bus driver blared a radio the entire ride to and from school with religious music. Another driver curses and swears at the kids who are experts at getting an untrained adult to "take the bait" and lose their temper. In a school bus, people are hit, kicked, spat upon, verbally, assaulted, groped, propositioned, denied seats, their books and belongings are tampered with, they are tripped, the abuse folks, is endless. Occasionally you can see a story of a parent who, fed up with the school's process, takes matters into her own hands and enters the bus to confront the bullies. Attention you professionals- this is real stuff- we aren't making it up, and it is torture every day for children that nobody in the school ever hears about, and the driver cannot be expected to see since his or her eyes are on the road. Occasionally, an untrained bus driver will try to set up some kind of specific seating, and often they operate, like the supervisors in the school, with incomplete knowledge of who the culprits really are or they completely ignore the bullies in the hopes that nothing big will happen that day. The truth is, nothing actually noticeable ever happens when a adult watches, yet a girl could still be having lewd remarks about oral sex whispered in her ear, or a kid could be getting touched in some inappropriate way or having someone tamper with their violin, and no adult can see it and no one dares talk about it. The students law of Omerta- is even more iron clad than the Mafia.

I bet you think this is all exaggerated- I mean, really, it can't be that bad can it? After all, I work in an upper middle class place that fancies itself to be like a private school. Please, we implore you school people, make friends with the students who operate on the dark side. They will enlighten you as to the goings on in their world that you don't see even if you are looking in the right direction. Well-to-do students can be as cruel and heartless and, in our experience, often even more so than their less fortunate counterparts- and the parents of these children are much quicker to threaten bringing in the "dream team" of lawyers as opposed to working with the school to improve their child's behavior.

Now we switch to the classroom where one would think that law and order and the prevention of bullying would be the easiest to accomplish because there is a confined area with a teacher watching. Here are some examples of how children can be bullied in plain sight right in the classroom. I take you back to 1965. We are in the band room of a suburban high school where the morning rehearsal is taking place. A very overweight Japanese boy was the tuba player. At least twice a week, the bullies, of which the writer was at least an encouragement to the bullies would have him kicked out of band practice for passing gas out loud during the rehearsal. When the loud gas-passing sound occurred, everyone in the section would get up and walk away yelling, " Ugh, Benny (his nickname) that's disgusting", "I'm not sitting near him", "he's a pig", etc. This would happen during a pause in the playing and the band director's attention was diverted. The band director, ever the willing dupe, went for the frame up and would angrily toss Benny out of the rehearsal. The problem was, Benny was not passing gas- one of his tormentors was making the gas passing sound, and when it was made, everyone in the section joined in the collective disgust at "Benny" passing gas. In an assembly, when there was a lull in a speech being given by the principal about patriotism, this writer, seated halfway back in the middle of a row, got up to use the lavatory. A "friend" yelled out, "This is boring, I'm Leaving!!! Everyone in the auditorium immediately looked at me and I stood there trying to tell nobody in particular that it wasn't me who said that. I got detention for a week and worse, of course, since it was still the sixties, even more when I got home.

That is one kind of dilemma. Here's the next one. A student punches another student in class or pushes his books off the desk for example. The victim, tired of the constant abuse that has been going on every day decides to confront the bully. The teacher turns around from writing on the board, sees the victim standing up in front of the bully in a confrontational pose and immediately sends the victim to the office for his/her aggressive behavior. Do you know your students? After the first few days, any experienced teacher already knows, either by sight, or thru the grapevine, which student requires constant scrutiny. When the bully is sitting there looking innocent and a non bully is striking an aggressive pose, do you think that might be a good time- or perhaps after class, to delve into the story with greater intellectual curiosity? The bullies, friends, know the precise moment to strike. As a teacher, do you pay attention to who is going to the lavatory and the time the person always goes? You are right, it's an impossibility for the most part. Know that abuse is occurring in the lavatory constantly. Creating a process which disturbs the process of the bullies is a good thing, but a teacher must be aware of the context. False equivalency where both parties are told essentially to "sit down and shut up- both of you!" is hurtful to the one who was not doing anything in the first place, but it does bring order, if not justice, to the classroom. Call some Moms and invite them in to sit with their child throughout the class. When the grapevine learns of what you did, most people will stop their devious actions because the shame of one's Mother sitting in class next to him or her will be a sufficient deterrent.

How about the locker room? How about students paying another student money to snap a picture of someone in the locker room changing clothes and having it go viral? Tampering with one's clothing and belongings, stealing, physical abuse, verbal abuse is occurring all the time in the locker room and the teacher is generally sitting in his or her office or waiting for the students in the gym. Yes, we realize that the school district refuses to hire anyone past a half day because then they have to give the person benefits, but if there is any place that needs constant watching it is the locker room. Do you have any idea how many students never dress for gym in the high school, choosing instead to take an F and then take Physical Education in summer school where they are required to, for example, walk around the building each day or swim, or go bowling?

Finally, you have all heard the adage, usually said in jest that, "You just can't find good help anymore!" Well that adage is true in the world of substitute teachers. Most schools cannot find enough trained teachers to serve as substitute teachers. We have seen substitutes actually sleeping in class and others who smell as though they have never showered. Most commonly, however, the substitute teacher seldom, if ever is actually certified in the area of the person he or she is replacing. Now you have a situation like this... A student who strikes another student is seen by the substitute teacher who asks, "What is your name young man?" "Joe Smith!" answers the student.

Bullies love substitute teachers because to begin with, they don't know anybody's name. Add to this the fact that the new teachers we see today are different than the old timers who saved up every day so when it came time to retire, the retiring teacher could collect full pay for a year or more. Today's teacher misses school for the slightest reason without any regard for 30 years from now. The result- infinitely more days with substitute teachers coming in when they can be found.

The week after Thanksgiving is Christmas shopping week, for example- don't look for a full staff in that week! When substitutes can't be found the regular staff is asked to watch the class during their duty free period or whole classes are sent to the auditorium where adults who would rather be somewhere else are assigned the task of watching the students during a duty-free period. Check the floor of the auditorium after a couple of mass coverage classes... that will give you some idea about the passion that the supervisor is bringing to the task at hand.

In summary we make these assertions and offer these admonitions.

1. Most of the bullying that occurs in schools occurs in plain sight and goes unperceived by adults because the adults cannot conceive of such a thing happening in such a place. They approach their responsibility with no grasp of context. They are good at keeping the noise down. No justice can be expected here for the victims. The greatest plans by mental health professional and counselors are doomed to failure without a grasp by the adults of the world in which a student operates.
2. There is no actual safe place in the school from a bully. The busier the place the better. Bullies need to experience some discomfort and disruption of their process. Be creative. Get Mom in there to walk next to Junior all day for starters. Machiavelli would have referred to this as a "Signal Example"- the effect of which is to deter future bullies- it's the reason that the law considers punitive or exemplary damages- to send a message to future would-be wrongdoers.
3. Take a close look at students who frequently miss school, are late for school or class, never dress for gym, or never go to the cafeteria because they want to help a teacher. Do all of these people really look like trouble makers trying to beat the system thus deserving of letter- of- the- law school discipline or do they give off a different message?
4. Have a meeting in August with all bus drivers to explain to them how the disciplinary process works so there might be a shred of consistency between this disparate group of individuals, most of whom think school discipline would be no problem if the administrators would just "kick a little more butt." Nobody told them that this kind of punishment is generally against the law- and educators do not make the law- politicians do- educators just try to carry out the law.
5. Have incentives for teachers who do not miss any school days. At least they know the names of the students. The bullies hate that!
6. Take the time to develop a working relationship with students who are usually on the wrong side of the discipline code. Many of them are dying to talk to an adult about what is going on but no one has ever taken the time. The police ALWAYS have their informants who operate under cover. Have incentives for these individuals too. The effect will be to disrupt the plans of the Bully. You will know, for example, when someone has brought a weapon to school. In one district, we excelled at this. Kids were always coming in early to tell us things. They became very caring too and would alert you if a certain student looked "strange" that day and could be on drugs, or drunk, for example.

We guarantee that you will be amazed at what you, the adult, did NOT know about what was really going on- even if it was hiding in plain sight. Bullying is never going to go away. Schools are a microcosm of the society we live in. How civil is that society these days? A look at the embarrassing behavior of our elected officials should provide you with some clue as to how fast bullying will disappear. Creativity, perseverance, and awareness are crucial to making any changes in the status quo- get some parents and kids on your side as well.

Invisible - NOT CYBER - Bullying in the School: Part III - The School Bus and the Classroom

Dr. Dan Chandler is an Assistant Professor of Pedagogy at The College of New Jersey. His career has included successful teaching in the Elementary and Middle School Classrooms, High School Physical Education, Undergraduate and Graduate Preparation of Aspiring Teachers and Administrators, Coaching, and 18 years as a High School Principal. His information is never "Ivory Tower", tastefully irreverent, and usually applicable the next day. Dan's modus operandi is to "Comfort the Afflicted and Afflict the Comfortable." An advocate of Vygotskian Pedagogy and Nachmanovitch Improvisation in life and work-not just music and comedy- he asks his charges to always keep in mind the words of Alfred Korsbysky, namely, "The map is not the territory", and by extension, "The Lesson Plan is not the Lesson!" Dan can be reached at chandler@tcnj.edu