After viewing Dan Pink’s “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”, I have a new knowledge on the brilliant idea of the purpose motive. In his short film he explains how incentives given to employees as a profit motive has led to the finding of the astonishing idea of the “purpose motive”. This purpose motive is the new and better work ethic characteristic to have in the work field. The examples of giving a first, second, third place monetary reward to the top three performers seemed like a brilliant task however as Dan has learned this type of incentive theory did not work for conceptual thinking. In my opinion and from what I have learned in class I feel that this type of profit motive that involves monetary rewards is a linear type of thinking. One must be told the task, achieve the task, and receive the reward resulting in a linear system. This experiment was then taken to another part of the world where the participants actually needed the money and would result in better performance. The experiment was taken to Madurai, a rural part of India where money was a drastic necessity and found that again higher incentives led to worse behavior and really did not challenge a person’s thinking or talent. So at the end of the day Dan Pink found that in order to have better results corporations should pay their workers a salary where people do not have to worry about money and they will spend their time and effort to produce the highest innovations throughout the work field. He found that autonomy and mastery among individuals in a work place are two great qualities to have when top innovations are needed. Autonomy is the desire to be self directed, and is better for producing engagement within a work place. Along with autonomy, people also need mastery the urge to get better at something for their specific talent within their career field. There is a software company named Atlassian, overseas that once a month it allows their staff to get together, without any specific task given by the company and they have seen that with this their staff emerges with better innovations and ideas for the company. This is a perfect example of the purpose motive, we can see that these skilled professionals when given the time and ability will freely produce the best results due to a purpose motive rather than a profit motive. Within the profit motive when it becomes unhitched from a purpose things usually go bad and poor results. If society starts treating people as people and look at the science that makes people better off which we see here as the “purpose motive” then we will start to have a better world.
Introduction: Here Comes Everybody! by Steven Johnson
In this chapter I was introduced with the Toshiyuki Nakagaki a Japanese scientist who in August 2000, “solved” the maze puzzle. He had placed an amoebalike organism which was slime mold in a maze to find the shortest route possible to find its food. Evelyn Fox Keller, a Harvard Ph.D in physics had written her dissertation on molecular biology, she too was wondering what happens to slime and mold, does it vanish into the air or evaporate? She learned that slime spends most of its life as thousands of distinct single-celled units, moving separately from its comrades. “It” now becomes “they”. This slime mold aggregation was used as a model for thinking about development named “morphogenesis”. The cells in the mold follow trails of other cells, creating a positive feedback loop; that encouraged more cells to join the cluster thus representing a study for “self organization studies”. These clusters of cells joining from a bottom up system, is the same type of idea used in the bottom up software which helped organize the Web’s most lively virtual communities. Keller’s challenges did more than trigger a series of intellectual trends, it led to decentralized thinking. Along with this thinking we have complex adaptive systems within the mold that displays emergent behavior. Just as the mold has learned to adapt and grow through complexity in all its diverse forms, we too ecologically and socially have built emergent systems. We have stopped analyzing our systems and are now turning to emergent systems.
In the Next Industrial Revolution, Atoms are the New Bits
After reading this article I was intrigued to learn how large manufactures are now designing and producing technological items and resources for society that is interested in building their own inventions and creations. With the advancements in the computer and mailing system, individuals can now go online browse catalogs and visit different sites to design their own prototypes and purchase the tools necessary for these inventions. The home garage renaissance is emerging and society is starting to become thinkers and fix things instead of throwing them out. This is a perfect example of sustainment with the resources one has. Another advantage for this movement is the cost of these resources, ” today those tools of production are getting so cheap that they are once again within the reach of many individuals. State-of-the-art milling machines that once cost $150,000 are now close to $4,000, thanks to Chinese copies. Everybody’s garage is a potential high-tech factory”.This concept of individuals being able to create inventions in small batches, gives the accomplishment to one that quality is better than quantity. In the end these ‘“small batch,” a term most often applied to bourbon, in the spirits world, this implies handcrafted care. But it can broadly refer to businesses focused more on the quality of their products than the size of the market. They’d rather do something they were passionate about than go mass. And these days, when anyone can get access to manufacturing and distribution, that is actually a viable choice’. Through the process of creating your own technological replica, one is using elements within a system to eventually have a finished product. These systems are similar to an ecological worldview, for the mere fact that within ecology there are many elements and participants that work in a system to maintain or build a finished product and most importantly its environment.
Hospitality Industry
Working in the Hospitality Industry and also studying within this field, I have learned and witnessed first hand many issues when it comes to maximized consumption and wastes. As a server in the restaurant industry I have seen and I am also at fault of wasting products and most importantly using unnecessary energy at times. Every shift that I work I seen countless napkins being given away, many receipts being printed and trashed, containers thrown away, and kids crayons and paper menus right into the trash. This is a huge paper waste that happens all the time. It is unfortunate that these wastes are happening but the truth of the matter is that, this is a part of the industry. In the hospitality world guests come first and no matter what their requests are or how silly they maybe they are the number one factor in discipline. However I do see a shift occurring in the restaurant business to minimize products being used or wasted. For example within my restaurant we now are shifting to technological computers and Ipads to ring in guests’ orders and reservations. This is a perfect regenerative aspect of saving paper and energy being used to make it and now turning to technology to lessen this wasteful cost.
Finding a Way to Meet Our Needs
After viewing the video of Janine Benyus and her presentation on “12 Sustainable Design Ideas From Nature” her last words stuck in my mind greatly and that is “find a way to meet our needs while saving this place”. I was very intrigued by the organisms she presented in her speech that were great ideas from nature to reinforce and sustain our environment. Her message throughout this presentation is to learn ideas from organisms and apply it into our lives. This is genius! There are many scientists that have spent years trying to solve sustainability issues within our planet, and here are a handful of organisms that have solved some of these issues in the blink of an eye. We must change the lenses in the way we are viewing our world, for in fact we are “swimming in solutions”. She presented an example how oysters’ purify the water that they inhabit, if in fact we could use their bacteria to help clean our water. This would be a perfect example of bio-assistance. We can clean out the water without having to use harsh chemicals or detergents which incase become a system of degenerative uses. Another organism that helps with hard rock mining is the microbes. These organisms keyleg metals out of water, and there is already a company in San Francisco MR3, that has embedded mimics of microbe molecules on filters to mine water streams. Mimicry alone of these organisms is the key to bio-assistance that Benyus presents. Organisms have figured out and learned a way to sustain, while involved in four play which basically means living without destroying their homes. It is now time that we as society learn this new form of four play.
Assignment 3
After viewing “Surviving Progress” it has given me a new and clear approach to the developmental progress of our country along with others. As society is continuing developing and growing into a very technological based and advanced environment there are many new innovations that are impacting the survival of our planet along with many sustainability efforts that are being ignored. The film discusses how these highly developed countries have made too much progress that they are now taking away from the natural resources that we have left to live on this sustainable planet. This ties in with the term progress traps which clearly shows the downfall of over production and growth throughout our society. Although I personally feel that it is time for a change, the truth of the matter is we will not see one anytime soon with the type of economics government we have. This can in turn lead to a terrifying awakening for our next generations to come, a potential loss could be predicted.
In the video “Techno-Fix: Why Technology Won’t Save Us or the Environment”, Michael Huesemann investigates our obsession with technology. This video was shocking to me in the sense that it gave me an awakening on the degree of how much technology has changed our times along with what we see as important in life. I can be at fault too with the rest of America as always trying to use or purchase the next technological gadget or device. As Huesemann explains everything in this world has a cost, and I feel that this cost he speaks of also comes with a consequence. We are so thrilled with the latest invention that we do not pay attention to the consequences we may encounter. A takeaway I received from this video was that as we continue to look for answers through technology we are just living in a continuous cycle, it is time to change our lifestyles.
“The Story of Stuff”
After viewing the movie “The Story of Stuff” by Annie Leonard, this short film gave me a greater understanding of the technological objects, clothes, food products, wastes, ect. that I never took into consideration as to where all of the wastes of these objects become. It was very intriguing to see how the objects and devices we as society take for granted are in fact important to the sustainability of our earth and how we get rid of the waste and its effects on the environment. I did not realize the huge impact that these devices have on us the buyers which in turn we have become a consumer cycle of purchasing plenty of clothes and devices that will eventually just become “stuff” to this planet. We are all part of a viscious cycle where we no longer worry about the final effects of our waste and trash, we are infatuated with the mental thought that more is better and for that reason we are all part of a system where we as consumers have gone to the extremes when it pertains to purchasing items. This system is run by a devastating reinforcing feedback loop. We watch television at home with an abundance of commercials that remind us to buy the next great gadget or the latest clothing and shows, when in reality all of this “stuff” is unnecessary. A big change has to be made in order for this runaway collapse to stop. I think we as consumers need to take a step back and really ask ourselves to we really need to make that purchase and be at peace with the fact that if it is not a virtue to survive on the precious planet earth ; than most likely it is not a necessity.
Reading the introduction and the first chapter on systems thinking I now have a better understanding on the two different views of a system. I learned that systems are a relationship between structure and behavior and what makes them produce poor results and how we must shift them into better behavior patterns. I have also seen that some of the “solutions” we have for certain systems have created further problems, and this is fine as long as we can pinpoint the problem and turn it into a positive pattern. Society needs to see the system as the source of its own problem and find the courage and wisdom to restructure it. For some of us this is disturbing because we must take action, gain a new perspective, and make changes to better this planet. information plays a great role in the understanding on how to better an issue. Purpose is the most crucial determinant of the systems’ behavior. In my view a change in purpose changes a system profoundly. For example, when it comes to preserving energy society has now turned to a go green and ecofriendly environment to help sustain our planet. The old system of using and wasting more energy that was needed is now a thing of the past and this is a perfect view of systems thinkers. System thinkers view the world as “feedback process”. An importance in the systems is the “balancing feedback loop” which is the equilibrating or goal seeking structures within a system. I enjoyed this reading because my view of system thinking although a bit challenging at first to comprehend; now opens my eyes to the idea that a system can cause its own behavior and solution.
Sustainability within the food industry.
After reading many opinions and doing some research on the views of sustainability throughout this weekend, I now have a closer in depth look at this important topic and the actions that we as society have made towards being wasteful individuals. To my knowledge sustainability is a view which represents the capability of maintaining our enviroment and society throughtout time. The big picture is to maintain a steady level in our enviroment both ecological and socially without exhausting natural resources or causing sever ecological damage to our world. Sustainability can also be viewed as the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to satisfy their own needs. Working as a server in the food and beverage industry for the past six years, I have seen and I am also at fault of wasting products that could in fact be recycled or used to a minimal. On a weekly basis I see people always asking for the extra mile when it pertains to needing extra napkins, plastic silverware, extra take out bags, togo cups, extra kids’ menus and crayons. I feel that most of the time these necessities that guests feel they need are not necessarily needed, eighty percent of the time I see many of the bussers throwing these objects away. It is sad to see all of that paper being wasted, however we live in a society where we have come to the realization where more is better, and in fact less is more in my opinion. There is no need to ask for extra wasteful objects if they are not being used. This is a major wasteful issue in the restaurant buisness an due to this we are wasting trees and plastic due to all of the objects we are giving away. If we as diners learned to eat out and use the bare minimum when it comes to the whole dine out experience we would be doing our part in sustaining these little but also important aspects of the enviroment. This is a very important aspect in my opinion on how sustainability could be practiced within the food industry.
The online video presentation by John Seely Brown pin pointed a very important aspect of learning and maintaining vital information for successful students. His example of great learning experiences was in my view the whole image of “learning by doing”, this is a perfect example of Cal Poly Pomona. Here at a polytechnical university, as students in our degree of study we all learn the importance of school by applying the ideas we learn through handson teaching. This has always been a perfect example of learning and obtaining new information in my opinion. I feel that when we as students learn something in the classroom it is always best to practice and appy the theories in our everyday lives. This is a major reason why I decided to attend the Collins College of Hospitality Managment here at Cal Poly Pomona because I really felt it was important to learn and understand the concept of restaurant managment through actually practicing my skills in the restaurant series that is needed to graduate. Mr. Brown also mentions that students must “learn to be” and sequentially we must “learn about” this is another process of the handson teaching. I also found that when Mr. Brown spoke about students success develops from their own responsibilities to form study groups and study as teams I felt that this theory was now justifying the importance of learning how to form study groups and actually take advantage of them. I also learned from Mr. Brown that online material has many advantages towards students’ success. I agree with Mr. Brown I feel that over the years of my education, many of my studies has transformed onto online discussions, quiz taking, power point presentations, and now online blogging. Our future education will depend heavily on online access and material, and it is importance that we take hold of it now.
rs450flores 