Introduction to the Agricola by Tacitus

Introduction to the Agricola by Tacitus Introduction | The Agricola | Translation Footnotes The Agricola of Tacitus. The Oxford Translation Revised, With Notes. With An Introduction by Edward Brooks, Jr. Very little is known concerning the life of Tacitus, the historian, except that which he tells us in his own writings and those incidents which are related to him by his contemporary, Pliny. The Date of the Birth of Tacitus His full name was Caius Cornelius Tacitus. The date of his birth can only be arrived at by conjecture, and then only approximately. The younger Pliny speaks of him as prope  modum aequales, about the same age. Pliny was born in 61. Tacitus, however, occupied the office of quaestor under Vespasian in 78 A.D., at which time he must, therefore, have been at least twenty-five years of age. This would fix the date of his birth not later than 53 A.D. It is probable, therefore, that Tacitus was Plinys senior by several years. Parentage His parentage is also a matter of pure conjecture. The name Cornelius was a common one among the Romans so from the name we can draw no inference. The fact that at an early age he occupied a prominent public office indicates that he was born of good family, and it is not impossible that his father was a certain Cornelius Tacitus, a Roman knight, who was procurator in Belgic Gaul, and whom the elder Pliny speaks of in his Natural History. Tacitus Upbringing Of the early life of Tacitus and the training which he underwent preparatory to those literary efforts which afterward rendered him a conspicuous figure among Roman literateurs we know absolutely nothing. Career Of the events of his life which transpired after he attained mans estate we know but little beyond that which he himself has recorded in his writings. He occupied a position of some eminence as a pleader at the Roman bar, and in 77 A.D. married the daughter of Julius Agricola, a humane and honorable citizen, who was at that time consul and was subsequently appointed the  governor of Britain. It is quite possible that this very advantageous alliance hastened his promotion to the office of quaestor under Vespasian. Under Domitian, in 88, Tacitus was appointed one of fifteen commissioners to preside at the celebration of the secular games. In the same year, he held the office of praetor  and was a member of one of the most select of the old priestly colleges, in which a prerequisite to membership was that a man should be born of a good family. Travels The following year he appears to have left Rome, and it is possible that he visited Germany and there obtained his knowledge and information respecting the manners and customs of its people which he makes the subject of his work known as the Germany.He did not return to Rome until 93, after an absence of four years, during which time his father-in-law died. Tacitus the Senator Sometime between the years 93 and 97 he was elected to the senate, and during this time witnessed the judicial murders of many of Romes best citizens which were perpetrated under the reign of Nero. Being himself a senator, he felt that he was not entirely guiltless of the crimes which were committed, and in his Agricola we find him giving expression to this feeling in the following words: Our own hands dragged Helvidius to prison; ourselves were tortured with the spectacle of Mauricus and Rusticus, and sprinkled with the innocent blood of Senecio. In 97 he was elected to the consulship as successor to Virginius Rufus, who died during his term of office and at whose funeral Tacitus delivered an oration in such a manner to cause Pliny to say, The good fortune of Virginius was crowned by having the most eloquent of panegyrists. Tacitus and Pliny as Prosecutors In 99 Tacitus was appointed by the senate, together with Pliny, to conduct the prosecution against a great political offender, Marius Priscus, who, as proconsul of Africa, had corruptly mismanaged the affairs of his province. We have his associates testimony that Tacitus made a most eloquent and dignified reply to the arguments which were urged on the part of the defense. The prosecution was successful, and both Pliny and Tacitus were awarded a vote of thanks by the senate for their eminent and effectual efforts in the management of the case. Date of Death The exact date of Tacituss death is not known, but in his Annals he seems to hint at the successful extension of the Emperor Trajans eastern campaigns during the years 115 to 117  so that it is probable that he lived until the year 117. Renown Tacitus had a widespread reputation during his lifetime. On one occasion it is related of him that as he sat in the circus at the celebration of some games, a Roman knight asked him whether he was from Italy or the provinces. Tacitus answered, You know me from your reading, to which the knight quickly replied, Are you then Tacitus or Pliny?It is also worthy of notice that the Emperor Marcus Claudius Tacitus, who reigned during the third century, claimed to be descended from the historian, and directed that ten copies of his works should be published every year and placed in the public libraries. The Works of Tacitus The list of the extant works of Tacitus is as follows: the Germany; the Life of Agricola; the Dialogue on Orators; the Histories, and the Annals. On the Translations Germany The following pages contain translations of the first two of these works. The Germany, the full title of which is Concerning the situation, manners, and inhabitants of Germany, contains little of value from a historical standpoint. It describes with vividness the fierce and independent spirit of the German nations, with many suggestions as to the dangers in which the empire stood of these people. The Agricola is a biographical sketch of the writers father-in-law, who, as has been said, was a distinguished man and governor of Britain. It is one of the authors earliest works and was probably written shortly after the death of Domitian, in 96. This work, short as it is, has always been considered an admirable specimen of a  biography on account of its grace and dignity of expression. Whatever else it may be, it is a graceful and affectionate tribute to an upright and excellent man. Dialogue on Orators The Dialogue on Orators treats of the decay of eloquence under the empire. It is in the form of a dialogue  and represents two eminent members of the Roman bar discussing the change for the worse that had taken place in the early education of the Roman youth. Histories The Histories relate the events which transpired in Rome, beginning with the accession of Galba, in 68, and ending with the reign of Domitian, in 97. Only four books and a fragment of a fifth have been preserved to us. These books contain an account of the brief reigns of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. The portion of the fifth book which has been preserved contains an interesting, though rather biased account of the character, customs, and religion of the Jewish nation viewed from the standpoint of a cultivated citizen of Rome. Annals The Annals contain the history of the empire from the death of Augustus, in 14, to the death of Nero, in 68, and originally consisted of sixteen books. Of these, only nine have come down to us in a state of entire preservation, and of the other seven we have but fragments of three. Out of a period of fifty-four years, we have the history of about forty. The Style The style of Tacitus is, perhaps, noted principally for its conciseness. Tacitean brevity is proverbial, and many of his sentences are so brief, and leave so much for the student to read between the lines, that in order to be understood and appreciated the author must be read over and over again, lest the reader miss the point of some of his most excellent thoughts. Such an author presents grave, if not insuperable, difficulties to the translator, but notwithstanding this fact, the following pages cannot but impress the reader with the genius of Tacitus. The Life of Cnaeus Julius Agricola [This work is supposed by the commentators to have been written before the treatise on the manners of the Germans, in the third consulship of the emperor Nerva, and the second of Verginius Rufus, in the year of Rome 850, and of the Christian era 97. Brotier accedes to this opinion, but the reason which he assigns does not seem to be satisfactory. He observes that Tacitus, in the third section, mentions the emperor Nerva; but as he does not call him Divus Nerva, the deified Nerva, the learned commentator infers that Nerva was still living. This reasoning might have some weight, if we did not read, in section 44, that it was the ardent wish of Agricola that he might live to behold Trajan in the imperial seat. If Nerva was then alive, the wish to see another in his room would have been an awkward compliment to the reigning prince. It is, perhaps, for this reason, that Lipsius thinks this very elegant tract was written at the same time with the Manners of the Germans, in the beginning of the emperor Trajan. The question is not very material  since conjecture alone must decide it. The piece itself is admitted to be a masterpiece in the kind. Tacitus was son-in-law to Agricola; and while filial piety breathes through his work, he never departs from the integrity of his own character. He has left a historical monument highly interesting to every Briton, who wishes to know the manners of his ancestors, and the spirit of liberty that from the earliest time distinguished the natives of Britain. Agricola, as Hume observes, was the general who finally established the dominion of the Romans on this island. He governed  it in the reigns of Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. He carried his victorious arms northward: defeated the Britons in every encounter, pierced into the forests and the mountains of Caledonia, reduced every state to subjection in the southern parts of the island, and chased before him all the men of fiercer and more intractable spirits, who deemed war and death itself less int olerable than servitude under the victors. He defeated them in a decisive action, which they fought under Galgacus; and having fixed a chain of garrisons between the friths of Clyde and Forth, he cut off the ruder and more barren parts of the island, and secured the Roman province from the incursions of the barbarous inhabitants. During these military enterprises, he neglected not the arts of peace. He introduced laws and civility among the Britons; taught them to desire and raise all the conveniences of life; reconciled them to the Roman language and manners; instructed them in letters and science; and employed every expedient to render those chains, which he had forged, both easy and agreeable to them. (Humes Hist. vol. i. p. 9.) In this passage, Mr. Hume has given a summary of the Life of Agricola. It is extended by Tacitus in a style more open than the didactic form of the essay on the German Manners required, but still with the precision, both in sentiment and diction, peculiar to the author. In rich but subdued colors he gives a striking picture of Agricola, leaving to posterity a portion of history which it would be in vain to seek in the dry gazette-style of Suetonius, or on the page of any writer of that period.] Introduction | The Agricola | Translation Footnotes

Answer following questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Answer following questions - Essay Example In 2 (a), defamation refers to an act of damaging one’s good reputation. Victoria can use the article that was published by Miamisburg Mudslinger as evidence to prove defamation. The evidence would be used to ascertain that libel occurred because a permanent publication that damaged her reputation was made by the Company in form of a newspaper article. In 2 (b), I would bring pure comparative legal defense and assumption of risk defense on behalf of Mudslinger to defeat Victoria’s claim. First, the pure comparative defense would be used to argue that Victoria’s act of engaging in an illegal sexual relationship with a fifteen-year old boy led to the defamation. The photo of her kissing in a rather vigorous manner with the boy ascertains that they were engaging in a sexual affair. Secondly, the assumption of risk defense would be provided on the basis that Victoria knew the consequences of engaging in an illegal sexual relationship with an underage boy and yet she did not avoid the act (Browne et al., 226). Therefore, the plaintiff was responsible for the defamation because she committed an act knowingly that it would damage her reputation if publicly discovered. Negligence has four elements that include; duty, breach of duty, causation and damages. In 3 (a), businesses owe their patrons duty of care. In 3 (b), the store breached its duty of care to its patrons because it failed to either repair or warn passers-by against the possible danger that would resulted due to the divot. Although the divot’s view was not hidden by any obstacle, circumstances made it not to be an open and obvious danger. The management of the Company was aware that there are vehicles often entering the parking lot that might attract the attention of pedestrians hence preventing them from seeing the divot. Therefore, it should have taken precautions to avoid exposing their customers to the danger. In 3 (c), direct cause refers to a

Oryx and Crake literacy argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Oryx and Crake literacy argument - Essay Example In the novel, genetic mutations and the creation of a new beings (hybrids of the human race), love and humanity slowly is growing extinct. The novel bases off of a realistic society in the future, despite the genetic transitions, flashing back to Snowman’s life, when he was still Jimmy, when he had morals and love in his life then flashing back to the present to a completely different dynamic in the world. Slowly, love is depleting; people giving themselves away to the opposite sex, families getting broken apart by divorce, young adults not fitting in and ending their lives. With the growing technology and advancement of science, soon the world might be a loveless, compassionless, and lifeless place. Snowman, previously known as Jimmy in his former life, has flashbacks to the compounds, the reader can see the way Jimmy lived and learned. There are several factors showing the reader that morality is not an interest. They have television shows showing aided suicides and live executions; the schools also cater prostitutes to the students regularly (Atwood 11). Snowman can see the new world and remember fragments of the past; he remembers love and the aspect of being in love. The new world consists of women giving themselves away to multiple men with no feelings or strings attached. Although Snowman still has these memories, he still has several habits that are very vulgar such as using woman for sexual intercourse by saying he â€Å"loves† them. The memories compound one of the major attributes that is to degrade the feminine gender completely and use them as objects to use at the will of the men. From the flashbacks it is evident that although Snowman has had some experienc e of love that does not seem to deter him from practicing the uncouth and immoral behaviors practiced by other men making the relationships that she has had with the other women baseless (Atwood

Advanced Managerial Accounting Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Advanced Managerial Accounting Report - Essay Example Both articles illustrate the advantages associated with using target costing. The project phases of the M-Class project were concept phase, risk and opportunities, project realization, goal oriented, and production phase. At Mercedes Benz the usage of target costing was first brought to the company by the engineering staff, not the accountants. A company that was mentioned in article 8.1 was Olympus. This company made the change from cost targets to target costing. At Mercedes Benz target costing was a logical choice because the company was designing the product from scratch and at the same time it was introducing a new production facility. To be successful with target costing companies have to consider a variety of factors including price led costing, customer orientation, focus on product and process design, cross functional teams, life cycle cost reductions, and value chain

Human Resource Management in the Global Financial Crisis

Human Resource Management in the Global Financial Crisis What is Consumer Behavior? Consumer behavior is basic study of decision making process; when, where, what, how to buy and not to buy. It involves psychology, sociology and economics. It also duties individuals demographics and variable peoples wants. Consumer behavior is very much dependent on internal and external factors. Internal factors are self-needs and wants of individuals whereas external factors are financial resources and many others like psychological, demographic and social factors (Schiffman, 2009). Global Financial Crisis has changed consumer behavior. It was triggered by liquidity shortfall in banking system of United States of America due to overvaluation of assets in year 2007- to date. Global Financial Crisis has great impact on consumer behavior. The impact of Global Financial Crisis can be observed on the spending pattern of individual and as well as of a business. Global Financial Crisis is a major force that has impact on emotional and mental behavior of consumer. Businesses have identified and understand that how consumers testament react to difficult system conditions within different cultures and political economy. The current crisis is having severe impact on consumer behavior. In this juncture the user s fearfulness of the future strongly impacts their behavior and is hard to overcome (Perriman, 2009). Global Financial Crisis Impact on Human Resources Global Financial Crisis is a three words phrase. It has fictitious a salient profile throughout the existence s economies over a very shortstop period of time. For human Recourses fractionators and people managers, the global financial crisis had and impact in a number of areas as consumer spending decreased, and businesses began to look as way to cut costs in response to reduced income. Recruitment and Selection was in many ways an early causality, job advertisements shrunk across the board and remuneration, especially executive remuneration, was put under the microscope. Because everything in business affects everything else, each of these changes has repercussions for human resources departments, especially in continuing to attract and retain talented staff without which many enterprises lose their competitive advantage (Wilson, 2009). Global Financial Crisis has made organizations to respond to these human resources issues as matters of strategy, how to retain talented and key employees. Human Resources will need to maintain the balance of retaining key talent and reducing labor cost as well as managing the flow-on impacts on remuneration. Remuneration arrangements will be impacted for executives and through the negotiation of employment agreements. This will serve up to having need of human resources to take a more generally based role, harmonizing the money-making needs of the organization with the kind of traditions and people needed to make sure the sustainability and good corporate citizenship of the business. Human resources has not credit or sole rights on the principle of the business and the sort of traditions that are required within an organization, but it is an ideal opportunity for the human resources function to take a position on influencing a balance in what is right for all stakeholders to the org anization. Global Financial Crisis has made performance management focal point for the organization. Organizations are focusing on talent management in order to retain key employees. Such practices adopted by the organizations will improve the performance measurement and the performance review of all the individuals (Wilson, 2009). Human Resources Management Human Resources Management is considered to be the essence of every management function. Human resources management is a strategic and logical approach to the management of a system within an organization and that is the most valuable assets human resources. Human Resources Planning posits the right number of people at the right place and at the right time. A common knowledge of human resources is staffing which is the most critical function for the success of an organization. To proactively respond to the replacements of recent turnovers as well as upsizing the caliber of talent and therefore increasing the capability of the company by means of adding new competencies set, strategic recruitment and selection is the key (Nelson 1997). Implications in Term of Recruitment and Selection Recruitment and selection of employees is considered to be the most sensitive function of human resources management. Recruitment and selection are boundary less functions of the organizations. An effective recruitment process follows these steps; job definition, job specification, job description, designing recruitment and selection process. Selection is the other side of recruitment and selection process. Selection process answers a basic question that what is required by the job. It is the responsibility of the recruiter to take out the best. Recruitment and selection brings stability to an organization by attracting and hiring talented workers. Human Resources demonstrate the value-added nature of its role. HR professionals are finding way to maximize the value-added cost of recruitments and selection while at the same time minimizing overall expenditure. This change of view has led to greater awareness of the costs of inadequacies and errors, productivity losses, high turnover, worker errors and accidents, severed relationships with clients and suppliers, and lost business. Another trend that has a big impact on the recruitment and selection activity is the increasing competition for talented workers. During recruitment and selection, aiming at diversity must be considered because a diverse workforce serves as a resource rather than a threat. This is a capacity-building strategy evident in range of talents, experience and knowledge insight (Richardson, 2006). Role of Human Resources Management in Crisis Human resources management plays a vital and strategic role in the survival of an organization. In this time of global financial crisis, human resources management must not only innovate but must also act as change agents, strategists, mentors, counselors and motivators. Human Resources management must adopt a people-centered model of management instead of the go-get-them approach. The latter approach will not only push down the morale of your employees but it will also shove your talented workers from leaving your organization. Retaining Key Employees Retaining the right and key employees is a crucial challenge for any human resources manager. Employees are considered to be the most important asset within an organization. In troubled, economic condition, human resources managers must develop a strategy that will keep the most talented employees in your organization and at the same time, discouraged the not-so employees from hurting the companys operations. The global crisis is pushing companies to stretch their financial resources to buffer the effects of limited income as a result of the sharp decline in the demand of their products and services. Efficiency is the key to the survival of any company in this kind of economic condition. Running the company at the least possible cost should be the priority of management. In order to achieve that, companies must keep a pool of competent employees that will help the organization in pushing their sales, expanding their market, innovating new products and in keeping the operations efficient as possible. Employees that are causing too much wastage should be encouraged to be more productive and their financial contribution to the company must be at par with the salaries they are receiving. We are not saying that we should put a price tag on every employee, but we should also remember that business organizations are not synonymous to charitable institutions. Income is always their lifeblood, per iod. With this, HR managers should always find a way to motivate this type of employees, either through training or coaching, before making any drastic actions like transfers, demotions or terminations (Raman, 2006) Effective Employee Retention Strategies Sharp and smart managers for all time understand the significance of retaining the best employees on board. It is a fact that, retention of key employees is significant for the success of any organization in the long run. The basic reason behind retaining a key employee is the performance of those employees which is frequently has a great link with the quality work, customer satisfaction, and even to the image of a company. Finding a Cause Possibly, there are many causes which make an employee to leave the organization and global financial crisis could be the main reason. What can be done? It is impossible though, to scrap all the problems totally but there are certain way outs by which organizations can handle such situations. Human resources department can address such issues along with the help of top management to evolve strategies to retain key employees at all the level. At the time of Recruitment Select the right people through competency screening. Offer an attractive, competitive, benefits package. Make clear of performance enhanced incentives and other benefits. Keep these promises, later. At the Office Work of an employee must be communicated clearly for example job details, time limit, any change made to these let the employees know about it as soon as possible. Employees must be provided necessary tools and equipment to complete a task. Training must be provided. Training and development of employees at work place is essential. Provide the employees a stress free work environment. People want to enjoy their work. Make work and work place cheerful and pleasant as possible. Make sure that employees know that their work is important for the organization. Feeling valued by their employer is the key to high employee motivation and morale. Recognize their strengths and help them to improve those they lack. Offer excellent career growth prospects. Encourage groom employees to take up higher positions/openings. If they dont get opportunity for growth within the organization, they will look elsewhere for it. Implement competency models, which are well integrated, with HR processes like selection recruitments, training, performance appraisal and potential appraisal (Raman, 2006). Training and Development and Career Planning It has become turmoil and uncertain during the recent global financial crisis that human resources managers think in many ways before investing in workplace, training and development of the employees, soft skills programs. The prospect of investing in a workforce and which has the potential to drop off or even decreased their purchasing choices in terms of training and development. The fact of the matter is that this Global Problem calls for even stronger measures to be put into place to ensure that Workplaces all over the world, can withstand these tough times. It is exactly this sort of climate which will determine what businesses will prosper and even flourish due to past and ongoing investment in the Training and Development of staff as well as the all important Risk Management measures that have been out into place. The investment in Human Capital and Comprehensive Retention Career Planning and Risk Management Strategies will determine which businesses are more vulnerable to market economic volatility (James L., and Debra J. Mesch 1995). Strategic Human Resources Management Global Financial Crisis has made organizations to think strategically. Strategic management of organizations (SHRM) has greater concentration on various functions of human resources management. Strategic management is an art of formulation and implementation of various functions in order to achieve its goals and objective. Strategic human resources management is the prototype of planned human resources deployment and activities intends to enable an organization to achieve its goals and objective. Especially when it comes to bad financial position strategic management process is in practice whenever there is financial crisis and or bad economic situation through out the business world. Strategic human resources management will need to show that careful planning of the people issues will make it substantially easier for the organization to achieve its wider strategic and operational goals during the global financial crisis (Asyali, 2007) Conclusion As they say, happiness can be contagious. So make sure the work place is a happy one, which every employee would love to spend time. Human resources department along with senior management must take steps to make sure of this. Effective human resource management must be practiced at both strategic and day-to-day levels. HR management practices must reflect company policy as to how it will manage and relate to its employees. The HR strategy should evolve from a transactional support role to partnering in the organizations business strategy. HR must take steps to be aware of employee problems and try to solve them, creatively. According to the recent studies, organizations are responding to the global financial crisis according to the changes in economic environment which are directly and indirectly effecting their operations and organizations are aligning their HR strategies to their business strategies. The downturn has increased peoples desire for simplicity and has forced consumers to question their beliefs and attitudes as well.

Desire of the Fourteenth Century Women Essay -- Feminist Feminism Angl

Desire of the Fourteenth Century Women Is not what we desire, the most hard to get? It has always been this way. Unfortunately, women’s rights and abilities have been underestimated over the centuries. In the fourteenth century, the status and condition of a European woman depended on her husband’s position. Women had to endure arranged marriages, abuse and male dominance. During that time, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales and taught us about one extraordinary woman whose name is Dame Alisoun. Alisoun is called The Wife of Bath, and she defines what women desired most in fourteenth-century England. She believes that women wish for power over their husbands, and I personally agree with her opinion. The Wife of Bath, a cloth maker, gets rich after her husbands die and leave her their fortunes. Even though medieval women were still far from being powerful, and had to obey their husbands, Alisoun states that she has power over her men’s bodies and property all her life: â€Å" I have the power during al my life, Upon his proper body, and nat he†(line 164). Alisoun is an exception to the rule because she marries five times and is widowed five times. It is important to mention that there was no divorce for women in the fourteenth century: â€Å"She was a worthy woman al hr live. Husbondes at chirche dore she hadde five, Withouten other compaignye in youthe† (line 461). The three first husbands are old, rich and loyal to her. The fourth husband has a mistress: â€Å"My ferthe housbonde was a revelour. This is to sayn, he hadde a paramour† (line 459). The Wife of Bath learns that it is very important for a woman to satisfy her man, and she knows how to act to make him obedient and less powerful... ...nder difference will still have an impact on women’s lives six hundred years from now. What do you think? Credits: Abrams M. H, et al. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th ed. New York: W. Norton & Company, 2000. Fell, Christine. Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1984. Catholic Encyclopedia. Online. October 24, 2000. http://www.newadvent.org Harvard University. Online. October 24, 2000. http://www.icg.fas.Harvard Luminarium Organization. Online. October 22, 2000. http://www.britannia.com/history/biographies/guinever.html http://www.icg.fas.harvard.edu http://www.legends.dm.net/kingarthur http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/subjects/women/women.html http://www.r3.org/life/articles/women.html http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/chaucer.htm http://www.infoplease.com

Comment The Five Minds of a Manager Essay

The Five Minds of a Manager the five aspects of the managerial mind—has proved not only powerful in the classroom but insightful in practice, as we hope to demonstrate in this article. We’ll first explain how we came up with the five managerial mind-sets, then we’ll discuss each in some depth before concluding with the case for interweaving the five. The Five Managerial Mind-Sets Jonathan Gosling is the director of the Centre for Leadership Studies at the University of Exeter in Exeter, England. Henry Mintzberg is the Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at McGill University in Montreal and the author of the forthcoming book Managers Not MBAs from Berrett-Koehler. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, headquartered in Geneva, has a management development concern. It worries that it may be drifting too far toward a fast-action culture. It knows that it must act quickly in responding to disasters everywhere—earthquakes and wars, floods and famines—but it also sees the need to engage in the slower, more delicate task of building a capacity for action that is careful, thoughtful, and tailored to local conditions and needs. Many business organizations face a similar problem—they know how to execute, but they are not so adept at stepping back to reflect on their situations. Others face the opposite predicament: They get so mired in thinking about their problems that they can’t get things done fast enough. We all know bureaucracies that are great at planning and organizing but slow to respond to market forces, just as we’re all acquainted with the nimble companies that react to every stimulus, but sloppily, and have to be constantly fixing things. And then, of course, there are those that suffer from both afflictions—for example, firms whose marketing departments are absorbed with grand positioning statements while their sales forces chase every possible deal. Those two aspects establish the bounds of management: Everything that every effective manager does is sandwiched between action on the ground and reflection in the abstract. Action without reflection is thoughtless; reflection without action is passive. Every manager has to find a way to combine these two mindsets—to function at the point where reflective thinking meets practical doing. But action and reflection about what? One obvious answer is: about collaboration, about getting things done cooperatively with other people—in negotiations, for example, where a manager cannot act alone. Another answer is that action, reflection, and collaboration have to be rooted in a deep appreciation of reality harvard business review †¢ november 2003 in all its facets. We call this mind-set worldly, which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as â€Å"experienced in life, sophisticated, practical. † Finally, action, reflection, and collaboration, as well as worldliness, must subscribe to a certain rationality or logic; they rely on an analytic mind-set, too. So we have five sets of the managerial mind, five ways in which managers interpret and deal with the world around them. Each has a dominant subject, or target, of its own. For reflection, the subject is the self; there can be no insight without self-knowledge. Collaboration takes the subject beyond the self, into the manager’s network of relationships. Analysis goes a step beyond that, to the organization; organizations depend on the systematic decomposition of activities, and that’s what analysis is all about. Beyond the organization lies what we consider the subject of the worldly mind-set, namely context—the worlds around the organization. Finally, the action mind-set pulls everything together through the process of change—in self, relationships, organization, and context. The practice of managing, then, involves five perspectives, which correspond to the five modules of our program: †¢ Managing self: the reflective mind-set †¢ Managing organizations: the analytic mind-set †¢ Managing context: the worldly mind-set †¢ Managing relationships: the collaborative mind-set †¢ Managing change: the action mind-set If you are a manager, this is your world! Let us make clear several characteristics of this set of sets. First, we make no claim that our framework is either scientific or comprehensive. It simply has proved useful in our work with managers, including in our master’s program. (For more on the program, see the sidebar â€Å"Mind-Sets for Management Development. †) Second, we ask you to consider each of these managerial mind-sets as an attitude, a frame of mind that opens new vistas. Unless you get into a reflective frame of mind, for example, you cannot open yourself to new ideas. You might not even notice such ideas in the first place without a worldly frame of mind. And, of course, you cannot appreciate the buzz, the vistas, and the opportunities of actions unless you engage in them. Third, a word on our word â€Å"mind-sets. † We page 2 The Five Minds of a Manager do not use it to set any manager’s mind. All of us have had more than enough of that. Rather, we use the word in the spirit of a fortune one of us happened to pull out of a Chinese cookie recently: â€Å"Get your mind set. Confidence will lead you on. † We ask you to get your mind set around five key ideas. Then, not just confidence but coherence can lead you on. Think, too, of these mind-sets as mind-sights—perspectives. But be aware that, improperly used, they can also be mine sites. Too much of any of them—obsessive analyzing or compulsive collaborating, for instance—and the mind-set can blow up in your face. Managing Self: The Reflective Mind-Set Managers who are sent off to development courses these days often find themselves being welcomed to â€Å"boot camp. † This is no country club, they are warned; you’ll have to work hard. But this is wrongheaded. While managers certainly don’t need a country club atmosphere for development, neither do they need boot camp. Most managers we know already live boot camp every day. Besides, in real boot camps, soldiers learn to march and obey, not to stop and think. These days, what managers desperately need is to stop and think, to step back and reflect thoughtfully on their experiences. Indeed, in his book Rules for Radicals, Saul Alinsky makes the interesting point that events, or â€Å"happenings,† become experience only after they have been reflected upon thoughtfully: â€Å"Most people do not accumulate a body of experience. Most people go through life undergoing a series of happenings, which pass through their systems undigested. Happenings become experiences when they are digested, when they are reflected on, related to general patterns, and synthesized. † Unless the meaning is understood, managing is mindless. Hence we take reflection to be that space suspended between experience and explanation, where the mind makes the connections. Imagine yourself in a meeting when someone suddenly erupts with a personal rant. You’re tempted to ignore or dismiss the outburst—you’ve heard, after all, that the person is having problems at home. But why not use it to reflect on your own reaction—whether em- Mind-Sets for Management Development In 1996, when we founded the International Masters Program in Practicing Management with colleagues from around the world, we developed the managerial mind-sets as a new way to structure management education and development. Managers are sent to the IMPM by their companies, preferably in groups of four or five. They stay on the job, coming into our classrooms for five modules of two weeks each, one for each of the mindsets, over a period of 16 months. We open with a module on the reflective mind-set. The module is located at Lancaster University in the reflective atmosphere of northern England—the nearby hills and lakes inspire reflection on the purpose of life and work. Then it is on to McGill University in Montreal, where the grid-like regularity of the city reflects the energy and order of the analytic mind-set. The worldly mind-set on context comes alive at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, where new technologies jostle ancient traditions on the crowded streets. Then comes the collabora- harvard business review †¢ november 2003 tive mind-set, hosted by faculty in Japan, where collaboration has been the key to managerial innovations, and Korea, where alliances and partnerships have become the basis for business growth. Last is the action mind-set module, located at Insead in France, where emerging trends from around the world convert into lessons for managerial action. So our locations not only teach the mindsets but also encourage the participating managers to live them. And so have we, in the very conception of the program. Our approach to management development is fundamentally reflective. We believe managers need to step back from the pressures of their jobs and reflect thoughtfully on their experiences. We as faculty members bring concepts; the participants bring experience. Learning occurs where these meet—in individual heads, small groups, and all together. Our 50-50 rule says that half the classroom time should be turned over to the participants, on their agendas. The program is fully collaborative all around. There is no lead school; much of the organizational responsibility is distributed. Likewise, the faculty’s relationship with the participants is collaborative. And faculty members work closely with the participating companies, which over the past eight years have included Alcan, BT, EDF Group and Gaz de France, Fujitsu, the International Red Cross Federation, LG, Lufthansa, Matsushita, Motorola, Royal Bank of Canada, and Zeneca. We think of our setting as being especially worldly, because the participating managers and faculty host their colleagues at home, in their own cultures, and are guests abroad. We also believe that the program’s reflective orientation allows us to probe into analysis more deeply than in regular education and work. Finally, our own purpose is action: We seek fundamental change in management education worldwide—to help change business schools into true schools of management. page 3 The Five Minds of a Manager These days, what managers desperately need is to stop and think—to step back and reflect thoughtfully on their experiences. barrassment, anger, or frustration—and so recognize some comparable feelings in yourself? Your own reaction now becomes a learning experience for you: You have opened a space for imagination, between your experience and your explanation. It can make all the difference. Organizations may not need â€Å"mirror people,† who see in everything only reflections of their own behavior. But neither do they need â€Å"window people,† who cannot see beyond the images in front of them. They need managers who see both ways—in a sense, ones who look out the window at dawn, to see through their own reflections to the awakening world outside. â€Å"Reflect† in Latin means to refold, which suggests that attention turns inward so that it can be turned outward. This means going beyond introspection. It means looking in so that you can better see out in order to perceive a familiar thing in a different way—a product as a service, maybe, or a customer as a partner. Does that not describe the thinking of the really successful managers, the Andy Groves of the world? Compare such people with the Messiers and Lays, who dazzle with great mergers and grand strategies before burning out their companies. Likewise, reflective managers are able to see behind in order to look ahead. Successful â€Å"visions† are not immaculately conceived; they are painted, stroke by stroke, out of the experiences of the past. Reflective managers, in other words, have a healthy respect for history—not just the grand history of deals and disasters but also the everyday history of all the little actions that make organizations work. Consider in this regard Kofi Annan’s deep personal understanding of the United Nations, a comprehension that has been the source of his ability to help move that complex body to a different and better place. You must appreciate the past if you wish to use the present to get to a better future.