Active AimA Journey and Destination

In the past, we developed teams by putting people together and letting them spend time learning about each other before we charged them with completing assignments. In spite of all our best effort, some teams were more successful than others.

In order to be honest and forthcoming with others, a level of trust must exist. The less we trust, the more guarded and self-protective we become. That’s one of many reasons it’s a challenge to work effectively in teams. The challenge increases tremendously when the people involved haven’t been given the opportunity to get to know each other personally.

Today’s workplace consists of people who have never met each other working on projects. Indeed many of them live in other countries. Those that might live close to their corporate headquarters often telecommute and are rarely available for face-to-face meetings.

In addition, the team is frequently led by a project manager – who has a dotted line relationship to the others and thus very little authoritative leverage. The project manager can only manage through persuasion and negotiation – two methods requiring a high level of trust.

Trust is not easy to develop in the best of circumstances – when working with distant teams the problems increase tremendously.

Professor Larry Leifer at Stanford University discovered that when he had students working in teams from different locations members, complained that they were doing more work than other teammates. When camcorders were placed in their cubicles so that they could see each other at work, the complaints diminished considerably. Apparently, the very act of seeing someone situated at their keyboard increased the belief that they were working hard.

Visual clues are critically important. The more contact we have with another human being (assuming that they are basically trustworthy), the easier it is to trust them. One could even hypothesize that at some unconscious level, our sense of smell plays a part in what has to be seen as primarily an emotionally (psychologically) based decision.

Sound or voice quality is less effective than visual clues. When we know someone only due to our telephone interaction with them, we develop less personal or positive feelings than when we actually sit across the table from them.

We also have the variable of “low-context” and “high-context” cultures. Low context cultures are those in which business is conducted without developing personal relationships. This is akin to our decision to buy something from a discount or big box store. High context cultures are those in which relationships are developed long before the business discussions commence. You might relate this to your decision to work with a consultant, or a decorator, or even shopping regularly in a small private boutique store. This adds another dimension to the problems of building trust between people here in the states and their counterparts in Asia or other parts of the world.

Given these problems, here are my top seven tips to developing trust in distant teams:

1. Allow members of the team to take the time to get to know each other on a somewhat personal level.

2. Have in-house discussions, at all locations, about what is proper to ask and discuss and what crosses the line into intrusive or inappropriate.

3. Share pictures – not only of the staff, but also of their families. Most people are family-oriented and grow to like (and trust) each other when they start to see pictures of their children and to hear stories about them.

4. Send your managers to the locations of their team members whenever possible. Although this is an expense, the potential value in developing trust, respect, and therefore greater levels of understanding and productivity is immeasurable.

5. Teach cultural diversity. Let the people in the various locations around the world learn as much as possible about the behaviors, customs, and expectations of those in other areas with whom they work.

6. If you have telecommuters who can be brought into the office once or twice a month, be sure to have as many face-to-face meetings as possible with them.

7. Use videoconferences and video-cams where feasible.

In other words, break some of the old rules that demand full focus on work related conversations only. Take the time and create the structure that enables people to develop relationships that lead to trust. This leads to cooperation, understanding, and higher productivity and creativity.

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Meditation is the primary means of cultivating the inner peace and happiness that we all long for. Inner peace and happiness are found to be resident parts of our inner nature when we are able to take away the barriers in our nervous system from the purifying influences of yoga practices. Inner stillness is the essence of enlightenment, and how do we nurture this in ourselves? - Through deep meditation.

Scientific studied even found explanations to confirm some benefits of meditation. These studies point out that meditation shift the brains activity from the stress-prone part to the calmer part of the brain. This mind exercise lessens the effects of stress, anxiety, and depression. They further found out that the brain processes lesser fear due to the changes in the brains activities.

The benefits of meditation that most people find very helpful. One is, it actually releases a person from the bondage of past traumas which causes a feeling of having unfinished business, and hindering present growth. Through this, one can also enjoy the little joys that each moment brings.

Some health experts have found out that people who have been diagnosed to be suffering from too much stress and extreme anxiety need not be treated with drugs. The benefits of meditation were once again proven in the study of these people. They found out that engaging in meditation is a good panic attack prevention.

So how do you go about meditation? It is simpler than people thought it to be. You only find a quiet spot, sit comfortably, relax your emotions and concentrate on an object to meditate on. It is important to just think of a single object and concentrate on it. Some distractions like other objects will come into focus. Drive your mind away from those. They will only break your concentration. You can still hear the sound around you, but when youre deep in thought about your object of meditation, even those will not disturb you.

Daily meditation is advisable. If you have a strong commitment and conviction for it, you will achieve a very unique feeling of being able to leave the moment. People who have been through this will tell you that it is a feeling of utter bliss where the mind is clear and clean.

Deep meditation practices give us insight into both the fundamental nature of our being. It allows us to experience emotions and thoughts with great clarity and balance. The mind is freed from conditioned patterns of self-centeredness, negativity and confusion, and the heart is opened to deeper wisdom and compassion. We begin to recognize and know each moment as practice for growth toward wholeness and harmony. We discover a place in ourselves which is already whole and always in harmony, and we learn to live from a clearer center and reach into the inner part of us that results to completeness and happiness.

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A few years ago all the gurus were screaming “You’ve got to have a web site” and they were right. Now we are being told “you have got to have a blog”. But is this true and are they really worth the effort?

At least blogs are easier and cheaper to set up than web sites thanks to the likes of Blogger.com and Wordpress. But is it worth the time and effort writing the posts and keeping them updated ? My answer to this question produces a typical fence sitters reply. They can be.

Sure if you just want to let the world know what an exciting life you lead or let the world know your views on the burning issues that is fine. You should not really expect to make much profit from your blog. It is a hobby, something you are just doing for fun but if you want to make it a marketing tool of your business then you must adopt a professional attitude regarding your blogs.

Before you post anything you must decide exactly what you hope to achieve with each blog you post. So what are the options?

You might want to sell something either your own or an affiliate product.
In which case you might consider a review or an explanation of how to use the product and or the benefits a buyer would receive. Your one purpose with this type of blog is to pre sell the product and get the prospect to click the link to the full sales page and hopefully make a purchase.

A blog can also be a great way to establish you within your specialised niche.
It can help you get your name known and increase your credibility. But this will only work if you write fresh thought provoking copy. A rehash of others work or hackneyed ideas will do little for your standing especially if your niche is small and close knit.

Another option is to write a series of “how to” blogs giving your readers information on specific aspects of your niche. This can often be a good introduction to offering them a complete “How to” e-book or program. I look on these as very similar to the e-courses that many Internet marketers offer.
Instead of setting them up on your auto responder you post them to your blog at regular intervals.

The bottom line is that if you are to make posting blogs a worthwhile option then you need to have clear in your mind exactly what you want to achieve with your blog before you even write one word.

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I have professed to be the ultimate left-brained nerd. For years I saw myself as the analytical automaton, sorely lacking in creativity. And creativity is something that I really valued. Think about it - being creative is defined as “having or showing imagination and artistic or intellectual inventiveness.” Who wouldn’t want that quality?

As I am also a professed personal growth addict, I have worked hard on boosting my own creativity. And I am happy to report that I do consider myself much improved in that area. If you can identify with me, don’t despair. It really was not as hard as I thought. How did I do it? Here are some of my secrets to help you get started.

1. Exercise your creative muscle regularly

There have been lots of studies on the human brain and evidence shows that our brains works very much like a muscle, which means that the more we use it, the stronger it becomes. In order to boost your creative muscle, start using it every opportunity you get, especially when it is just for fun.

Here are some things you can do: • Pick up some brain teaser puzzles and work on those • Instead of reading from a book, choose a toy from your children’s collection and make up a story about it at bedtime • Play games that engage the mind such as mah jong or chess • Approach things differently - instead of writing down a list of words, try using pictures or symbols

2. Identify your Creative Environments and Schedule Time There

Do you know where you do your best thinking? For most of us, it is not sitting at our desks. My best ideas come to me in three places: the shower, on my long walks, and in the car. There is something about the isolation and the relaxed state I’m in while engaging in these activities that allow my mind to come up with solutions to problems. So your assignment is to figure out where your best creative environments are and schedule yourself to spend time there.

A word of caution though - once you have identified what these environments are, don’t spoil it for yourself by expecting that you will be doing creative thinking every time you are there. Look for it as a special bonus, like a prize you get when you open up the right bottle of Coke. If I went for a walk specifically because I need some creativity, it doesn’t come as easily. But if I just let my mind wander to whatever it wants to think about, the ideas start to come. Learn to relax into your creativity.

3. Adopt a “the more the merrier” attitude

One of the books that has helped me develop my creative muscle is “A Whack on the Side of the Head” by Roger von Oech. It is a fun little book and I highly recommend it. In it, he talks about the “right answer” and the “second right answer”, and the next right answer. His point is that while we are in school, we are trained that there is only ONE right answer to test questions. And we adopt that same approach to everything else in life.

In order to boost our creativity, we have to remember that there is often more than ONE right answer. So, don’t just stop after you have one answer, keep going and see how many other ones you can come up with. Make it a challenge. It doesn’t matter how outrageous it is. The most significant inventions seemed completely preposterous at the time they were first considered. Don’t start judging when you are in the brainstorming phase. That can come later.

When you start using these suggestions, I think you will notice an improvement in your creative ability, as I have. I must admit that now I really enjoy my creative activities, like writing these articles, brainstorming with clients, and just letting my imagination run wild. And if you stay tuned, I will have a follow up article on this subject as there is much more great information I want to share with you.

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One of the expanded dogmas of mankind is that the Quran is quoted or borrowed from the Bible. This creed is established upon studies of many prejudiced intellectual scholars

In this series of articles (1-17), it is obvious that the Quran is quite different from the Bible. It is also very clear that the Noble Quran preceded the sciences in many aspects while the Bible contradicts with the sciences.

In the present topic of Raven, one may ask this: Is the Quran quoted from the Bible? The Bible which says that the Raven should be detested, the Ravens feed man, and the Raven will peck out the eye that mocks a father.

Or the Quran which says that the Raven is the genuine professor of the man in the field of HOW TO BURRY THE DEAD!

Before dealing with the topic of the Raven in Quran versus Bible versus sciences, it is essential to remember that the total words of the Bible are 788,280 while total words of the Quran are 77,473. In addition, Raven is mentioned 12 times in the Bible and once in the Quran. It follows that, the Bible has the potential of more than 10 times the Quran to talk about the Raven word-wise and/or has the prospective of 12 times the Quran to talk about the Raven topic-wise.

The Raven in the Bible:

Noah sent out a Raven

Genesis 8:7

and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.

We have to detest the Raven and those:

Leviticus 11:13-19

13 ” ‘These are the birds you are to detest and not eat because they are detestable: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture,

14 the red kite, any kind of black kite,

15 any kind of raven,

16 the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,

17 the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl,

18 the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey,

19 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.

Deuteronomy 14:14

any kind of raven,

The same as in Leviticus 11 (We have to detest the Raven and those).

Sometimes, the Raven could feed the man:

1 Kings 17:1

[ Elijah Fed by Ravens ] Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

1 Kings 17:4

You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there.”

1 Kings 17:6

The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

Also, God provides food for the Raven:

Job 38:41

Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?

Psalm 147:9

He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.

The Raven will peck out the eyes of those:

Proverbs 30:17

“The eye that mocks a father, that scorns obedience to a mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures.

However, we have never heard about that!

The Beloved and the Raven:

Song of Solomon 5:11

His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven.

A beautiful meaning from the God Love:

Luke 12:24

Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!

Finally, I wonder why the God Love has said the following:

Isaiah 34:9-11 (New International Version)

9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch, her dust into burning sulfur; her land will become blazing pitch!

10 It will not be quenched night and day; its smoke will rise forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever pass through it again.

11 The desert owl and screech owl will possess it; the great owl and the raven will nest there. God will stretch out over Edom the measuring line of chaos and the plumb line of desolation.

- Pitch, burning sulfur, blazing pitch, desolate

- Will not be quenched night and day

- Its smoke will rise forever from generation to generation

- No one will ever pass through it again.

- However, You the smart reader can easily realize that this prophecy about Edom never happened.

- Could you see or hear about the smoke that will rise forever From generation to generation?

- Also, many thousands of people pass through it everyday!

The Raven in the Quran:

Surah 5:27-31

[27] Recite to them the truth of the story of the two sons of Adam. Behold! they each presented a sacrifice (to Allah): it was accepted from one, but not from the other. Said the latter: “Be sure I will slay thee.” “Surely,” said the former, “Allah doth accept of the sacrifice of those who are righteous.

[28] “If thou dost stretch thy hand against me, to slay me, it is not for me to stretch my hand against thee to slay thee: for I do fear Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds.

[29] “For me, I intend to let thee draw on thyself my sin as well as thine, for thou wilt be among the Companions of the Fire, and that is the reward of those who do wrong.”

[30] The (selfish) soul of the other led him to the murder of his brother: he murdered him, and became (himself) one of the lost ones.

[31] Then Allah sent a raven, who scratched the ground, to show him how to hide the shame of his brother. “Woe is me!” said he; “Was I not even able to be as this raven, and to hide the shame of my brother?” Then he became full of regrets.

Theses verses give the story of the First Burial on the Earth.

The reason for the first murder on Earth was related to the inter-marriage of the male of one pregnancy with the female of another that had been in practice among Adam’s children. Abel wished to marry Cain’s sister, but Cain wanted her for himself because she was very beautiful. Adam commanded him to give her in marriage to his brother but he refused. So Adam prearranged both of them to offer a sacrifice, Abel offered a big lamb, while Cain offered a bundle of worst grain. Fire descended and devoured Abel’s sacrifice, leaving that of Cain so he became mad and said: “I will surely kill you so that you will not marry my sister.” Abel replied, “Allah accepts from those who fear Him.”

Adam was watching their offering and was sure that Abel’s sacrifice would be accepted. Cain complained to Adam that the acceptance was due to his prayer for Abel and that he had not done the same for him, so he assured his father to settle the matter between himself and his brother. One night, Abel was late returning from tending his flock. Adam sent Cain to see what happened to him. When he found him, he looked angrily at him saying: “yours was accepted, and mine was not.” Abel replied, “Allah only accepts from the Allah -fearing.” Cain became annoyed on hearing this and hit him with a rock and killed Abel.

Meanwhile Cain did not know what to do with his brother’s corpse. He carried it on his back wandering from place to place trying to hide it. His anger had now subsided and his conscience was saddled with guilt. He was tiring under the burden of the corpse which had started to have a stench. As a mercy, and to show that dignity could be retained even in death, Allah sent two ravens that began fighting, causing the death of one. The victorious bird used its beak and claws to dig a hole in the ground, rolled its victim into it and covered it with sand.

When Cain saw that, he was overcome with shame and repentance. “Woe unto me!” he exclaimed. “I was unable to do what this raven has done, that is to hide my brother’s corpse.” Cain then buried his brother.

This was the history of the first burial of man.

This historical implication for the first murder and the first burial of man is not found in the Bible.

According to this story, man knew how to burry the dead from the Raven which is the genuine professor of the man in the field of HOW TO BURRY!

On the other hand, the first two burial mentioned in the Bible were for Sarah and Abraham

Genesis 23:19

Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

Genesis 25:9

His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.

Before Sarah and Abraham, many thousands had been died but the Bible does not tell us how they had been buried and who taught man how to bury his dead.

Then the prejudiced intellectual scholars claim that the Quran is quoted, misquoted or borrowed from the Bible. I will let the smart reader to answer back such a claim.

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