BOOK.4. GROUNDSWELL,Winning in a world transformed by social technologies

BOOK.4. GROUNDSWELL,Winning in a world transformed by social technologies

Every single minute that we live we use technology or technology uses us in a way or another.
We use technology to talk on skype,on the messenger,to write different e-mails,to make bookings or purchases online, to read interesting information,or to finish the ideas in the blogs posted for studies,etc.
When we use these resources we become either the customers or the members , as explained during the class hours, of the sites we browse.

Technology used for information or entertainment is very developed and is related to many fields of activities,so I am trying to explain the meaning of Groundswell using the example of websites used for booking purposes(hotels,flights,etc.)

i.e. When we navigate through booking.com, to find the appropriate hotels to be accommodated during visits to different countries, we use to check not only prices,location or the pictures and services offered,but also the reviews written by the customers that have visit the hotels we are interested in.
Perhaps not in a conscious way the visitors of these places play 2 different key roles as following:

1. These customers with their comments behave like they are the employees of the hotel (when the comments are positive) and make a very good advertising of the places (hotels,apartments,etc) where they have stayed.
2. Even if in the first classification the customers played the role of the employee, at the end they remain customers and if they give negative opinions and comments they influence the image of those activities for which they are the strongest concerns.

What a mess! The customer is the employee or the customer is the customer when they use websites???
My opinion is that a customer through technology especially for internet usage are BOTH EMPLOYEES AND CUSTOMERS OF THE WEBSITES THEY SEARCH.

The most important thing is TO REMEMBER TO BE HONEST AND USE THE INFORMATION IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE.

Ortenca Tuci (OTU)

BOOK.3. Click, The Magic Instant Connection

BOOK.3. Click, The Magic Instant Connection

The dream of every person is to be successful in his/her life.Someone wants success in the job experience, someone else in love. As people are very special creatures they can't choose what kind of success is better than what. We are a little bit envious and we want them both.
AT WORK:
When we go to work early in different companies we want to be noticed by our supervisors and convince them that we are the best. What we do???? Hmmmm...interesting question :)).
According to me in  general employees are divided into four groups:
1) those who always complains ,having the others attention only due to their sad stories or stories that shows the past difficulties.;
2) those who have energy and know how to behave and what to say in every situation and/or place; they can adapt everywhere;they know very well how their colleagues or supervisors  understand things and how they want the job to be made  and use this issue in their favor;
3)those who just work as machinery and do not know anything else .Those people are like ghost,nobody notice them in the companies.
4)those well located,which means those who have their offices very close to the higher management and have possibility to be noticed even just for a greeting by them.
The most successful categories are the second one and the forth one that click on the supervisors having much opportunities to develop the career. The first group is the second in ranking of success,but the third group are those that may be called "the losers".

 IN LOVE:
Nevertheless work is important ,love is very crucial in humans lives. As the song says:"...All u need is love..." sometimes this become a motto for each of us. Some use their friendships to create relationships some others go in pubs and bars trying to find somebody to notice them in the smoky air and loud music.The are some others  that meet accidentally in restaurasnts,shops,offices,cinemas,etc that just get the click on each other without any intervention or help. They are the help of themselves. It is needed only  a sight,a touched hand or the smell of the parfume to make two people attract the atention of each other.

What do you want?
A Successful work life?
A succesfull love?
Both???

I am choosing the third choice to complete my happiness! ;-)
Ortenca Tuci (OTU)

Creative class

     Richard Florida is a professor, author and researcher who is trying to find the ways for his country not to lose its three Ts(technology, talent, tolerance). He pays immense attention to globalization of creative class in the world and shows the threats which face American economy. He argues that the loss of even a few geniuses can have tremendous impact. America built a very strong university system and still has a leading position, but as Florida mentions in his book “others are biting at our heels more and more aggressively”. According to graphics and “spiky” maps we can see that leading creative areas have one or more world-recognized universities. It means these regions are ready to incorporate top talent from around the world. Seems like America tends to lose this opportunity by closing or making it difficult to enter their country. Florida claims that not only scientists or other white collar workers can make the difference. You never know from what family a new mind of the USA will rise as it happened in Florida’s family when his grandfather came there.

     Frankly speaking it was not my book to read but I am glad that I enlarged my general knowledge about the world and ready to share it with you.

P.S. By the way it is my first experience writing and sharing my ideas in the blog. And I really learn a lot from my classmates. Thank you.

     

switch

       Being a deep-rooted teacher by profession and by mind I thought it would be impossible for me to understand the world of business, its logic, its rules but everything has changed when I found "a bright spot" on my map. And everything thanks to the book I got acquainted recently. You know what book I mean. Actually in any situation of life I have tried to look at bright side and make conclusions, but I didn't know how to CHANGE what was wrong by experiencing "the bright spot". Thus, Switch by Heath Brothers helped me realize that everything in this world is in interconnection and if you understand "knowledge does not change behavior...You have to practice it", it becomes clear that you can successfully use your teaching experience ( from the terms of psychology, dealing with people) in business understanding.

       And without any doubt the simile “riders and elephants” founded by Jonathan Haidt is worth mentioning. I think it’s very bright and relevant simile. If you “direct the rider, motivate the elephant and so shape the path” you can reach the destination with fewer losses. I remembered my own story about it. I couldn’t analyze at that time why things had changed I just thought I was doing what I had to do. I was16 and studied at the 1^st course of Pedagogical College. One day I was suggested I should give English lessons to a very “special” 10-year-old child. He behaved as a young criminal to his teachers( put small bombs in the classrooms etc), because he hated school. He had to change his school to the school for the children with deviant behavior. At that time we started our private lessons. I never started lessons at once: I listened to his problems, to what he had done during the day. Sometimes it was really horrifying, but I never blamed him. One day he asked me to play simple computer games with him. I had no idea about computer games. But I understood that computer was smth he was confident in. I asked him to teach me. He was incredibly happy. It seemed that for the sake of this moment he would do whatever I asked. After that our relationship became stronger and our lessons more successful. After each lesson we were playing his games where he was “the boss”. Later on even when I didn’t stay to play he showed better results.

If you look through the prism of analysis you can say that:

1. I “directed the rider” by forming the objectives I had to realize
2. I “motivated the elephant” that seemed really unmovable by choosing the appropriate/pleasant way for HIM to reach MY aims
3. I “shaped the path” to approach the destination.

Here I want to agree again with Heath Brothers that “too much analysis,…too many reasons” can lead you to “paralysis”.

       And the dominant idea of this book to my mind is “Imagine a world where every single time you flipped a light switch and the room lit up, you experienced a rush of gratitude.” I totally agree with this statement  because gratitude is what the world lacks today in any sphere of life.

BOOK 4. GROUNDSWELL

Social technologies are available in all the fields of our life. Technology had progress obvious. Ten years ago, we never thought that we should make shopping online and make shopping from far away other countries. Seven years ago I was studying at Ankara University and I was using internet for research, homework only in the last year before being graduated. I was researching by books before last year. .

There was no facebook before three years and I never thought that I should find my old friends and communicate throught this network. Last nine= ten years a lot of things has changed about social technologies.

I can`t think a life without internet, mobile phone… I`m sure of that one day internet will take place all our lifes. Even it has progress in this way a lot. As well as business men, students… even now house wifes use internet for decide cooking for dinner. I know lots of women who don`t work and they spend most times with facebook. I curious very much that these people what were done before??

nihal içöz gjana

BOOK. 3. CLICK

I want to talk about one of my click stories. Three years ago I have been working in a hospital. At that time my daughter was two mounts old and I was missing and worrying about my little baby. One of my college had a baby too. Normally we are very different characters and our life styles, families, educations are so different. Our common point was only our babies. At first she came to know me and then we clicked. From that moment we began having lunch together and we always used to talk about out little babies and physiological positions of new mothers etc…

After two years I left the work and came to Albania but we still stay in touch and share together every problem with her.

The people who live similar feelings CLICK each other easily.

nihal içöz gjana

BOOK.2. THE FLIGHT OF CREATIVE CLASS

BOOK.2. THE FLIGHT OF CREATIVE CLASS

Even if Albania is a small country that didn’t appear in the graphics, figures or maps showed in the lesson of yesterday evening, is important to emphasize the fact that if we evaluate it internally (which means comparing different cities of Albania with each other) we may notice some clear examples of creative classes.

1-     Population is mainly located in flat landscape regions due to facilities in providing the necessary goods and services needed.

2-     Business concentration (“Light emissions”): Main cities where the development of business activity is higher are: (1^st group) Tirana, Durres, Fier, Vlora, Elbasan; (2^nd group) Shkodra, Lezha, Korca, Gjirokastra, Saranda; in these cities the companies have more chances to improve innovations offered for the masses.

3-     Educational possibilities (“Scientific citations”): have a concentration in the cities such as Tirana, Durres, Elbasan, Shkodra, Gjirokastra, Vlora, Kukes. Students from different regions and areas go to these cities to develop their educational background not only studying but now even researching (however the researches level is very low as it is a new thing strated to be used recently) helping in this way the possibilities to find better job positions.

4-     “Patents”: there is a number of manufacturing/service activities that are creating kind of patents for their products; i.e. we may mention the shoes factories producing products with the logo Made in Albania.

Albania is open to accept foreign creative innovative people (very good example are telecommunication companies, banks, or other foreign companies opperating in Albania leaded or managed by foreign staff together with albanian staff.