The Handicap Principle
Yours truly GordonWebbo today wants you to read the following article, courtesy of this site:
If natural selection functions the way Darwin postulated: with each animal’s feature evolving strictly for utilitarian reasons, how can one explain the waste one sees in nature all the time? The peacock’s tail hinders movement; babblers spend precious time foraging food for other babblers; and, when it sees a wolf, a gazelle often does not run but spends precious time rising and thumping the ground with its hooves. If the utilitarian selection Darwin posited was the only process at work, then it is hard to account for such wasteful behavior.
Amotz and Avishag Zahavi explain this waste by postulating that this is how animals, including humans, show off their quality to potential mates, other members of their species, and predators alike. Their basic hypothesis (which they prove by example after example in this beautifully written book) is that, in order to recreate, individuals must reliably signal their fitness. A signal can only be reliable if the individual undertakes a handicap (accepts waste) such as not running away when seeing a predator approach. And so they conclude that while efficiency is the rule of normal (or Darwin’s utilitarian selection), Darwin’s selection is complemented by the seemingly wasteful “signal selection”. The two selections alternate with and complement each other.
They illustrate their hypothesis (called the handicap principle) through a series of examples from the natural world. As a result, the world they paint is one in which everyone—from the single cell organism to humans is constantly communicating with everyone else. Prey communicates with predators and predators with prey; potential mates display their quality (the peacock’s large tail mentioned earlier is a good example—and one that appears on the cover of the book); and rivals communicate by approaching one another—a human male for example, approaches his (potential) adversary with “a straight back, chest thrown out, shoulders back, chin up” (Zahavi, 17). The Zahavis point out that by approaching a rival in this manner, the human male leaves himself open to attack as his most vulnerable body parts are clearly displayed to his adversary. Nonetheless, they postulate that this posture evolved precisely because it is wasteful. By showing off in this manner, the male is saying (in essence) I can beat you even if you do get a good punch in first.
And here I must come to my fair warning. To the Zahavis, human beings are an integral part of the natural world and they observe them just as they observe babblers or monkeys. The results will cause some to profoundly disagree for ideological reasons (as when the Zahavis postulate that “humans, like other animals, resolve most conflicts by communicating—which often includes the exchange of threats”) or for religious reasons as when the Zahavis use the people around them (which quite often are people in the Holy Land) to prove their point. Indeed, at one point they cite the Bible as illustration. So, if you are offended by the idea that humans are no better (but also no worse) than other animals or if you can’t accept the idea that humans not only evolved like other animals but that they are continuing to do so in the Holy Land, this book is probably not for you.
On the other hand, if you are interested in evolutionary biology, human and animal behavior and have been looking for a beautifully written and wonderfully illustrated book on the subject this is a great book. The writing flows, the authors make their point by using compelling and convincing examples (rather than graphs and equations) and the illustrations are fantastic. Best of all, after reading this book, you may see your own actions (or signals) in a brand new light.
I simply cannot recommend this book enough.
Related article: The Selfish Altruist
Entrepreneur Grants - How To Proceed For Complete Safety
Yours truly GordonWebbo today wants you to read the following article, courtesy of Top-Web-Entrepeneurs-Plan-It.com:
Looking for entrepreneur grants? Question is, do you need one? In many cases, there is a much better solution. Here is one worth investigating.
Six Online Visibility Tips from Successful Internet Marketers
Yours truly GordonWebbo today wants you to read the following article, courtesy of this site:
Online visibility is created by doing many different things. During my recent trip to Atlanta to speak at the Niche Affiliate Marketing Systems event (you can get all the audio presentations here for $97 until February 8), I took the opportunity to ask a few of the smart, successful people I know who use the Web to market their business, to share their favorite way to generate online visibility.
True to my nature, I forgot to ask a lot of people for their tips. I was able to snag a few minutes from six savvy women. Here’s what they had to say about what they do for online visibility [click here if you cannot see the video]:
Many thanks to Nicole Dean, Kathleen Gage, Melissa Galt, Ellen Britt, Traci Knoppe and Leesa Barnes. Each of these women are super successful, ethical and have high integrity when it comes to online marketing. You can learn a thing or two by following all of them.
You can learn more about how to boost your online visibility and generate more traffic, leads, clients, and opportunities with Online Visibility Secrets, a 26 week step by step, simple to implement action plan.
Related posts:
<a href=”http://www.biztipsblog.com/2010/01/you-can-create-online-visibility-with-video.html” target=”_blank”>A Quick Lesson in How You Can Create Visibility with Video
<a href=”http://www.biztipsblog.com/2009/12/online-visibility-tip-how-to-find-where-your-ideal-clients-hang-out.html” target=”_blank”>Online Visibility Tip: How to Find Where Your Ideal Clients Hang Out
Entrepreneur Resources - The One-Stop Source
Yours truly GordonWebbo today wants you to read the following article, courtesy of Top-Web-Entrepeneurs-Plan-It.com:
Entrepreneur resources are scattered and uncoordinated. Here is a one-stop source of fully coordinated services and tools worth considering.
Paypal Payments to India Being Reversed
Yours truly GordonWebbo today wants you to read the following article, courtesy of this site:
Things change rapidly across the internet and apparently Paypal which handles payment across the web and across the world has just put a new policy into place. It no longer sends personal payments to India.
Lots of writers who use sites like oDesk, associated Content, Triond and Factoidz may well be affected by this if those sites do not find a way round it.
I discovered this when I heard than a friend had his monthly earnings which add up to over a hundred dollars paid into his Paypal account and then found the transaction reversed. He immediately got onto the site and asked what was going on. A little investigation revealed that Paypal no longer accepts personal payments to India.
Customers who asked for clarification were sent the following reply:
“Your payment of 123456 has been sent back to the sender of the payment. We reversed this payment because we have stopped allowing personal payments to be sent to or from India.” (Quoted from Paypal email).
There is a way round this if you do send payments to India.
Apparently earnings from writing, affiliate earnings, etc are counted as ‘personal’ payments. If you click the option in the payment box for sending payment for ‘goods,’ the payment will be allowed. It might be worth telling any site that has trouble paying you via Paypal about this. The key is not to identify it as a ‘gift’ on the Paypal forms. This really is quite bizarre. I have not tried this so I cannot guarantee that it works.
However, the advice in the paragraph above does not apply every time. I also read that an Indian company paid via Paypal had withdrawn their money to their bank account a week previously and then found that the transaction had been reversed and the money was taken from their bank account.
Apparently this was done to stop large amounts of money being sent as personal payments to avoid Paypal fees. It seems that if the payments are made as business payments and the fees paid, they will go through.
Three Virtual Events to Help You Boost Your Online Marketing Results
Yours truly GordonWebbo today wants you to read the following article, courtesy of this site:
Mark your calendar and register now…here’s where you can catch virtual trainings with Denise in the next couple of weeks:
Wednesday, February 10 - 2:00 pm ET
International Social Media Association
Webinar: “How to Get the Best Out of Your blog“
Register: http://budurl.com/ISMAWebinar
(free for members of ISMA; small fee for non-members)
Friday, February 12 - 1:00 pm ET
The Ultimate Traffic Generation TeleSummit (starts on February 
“How to Drive Quality Traffic to Your blog“
No charge to attend.
Register here: http://budurl.com/UltimateTraffic
>>> Wednesday, February 17 - 5:00 pm ET
Invitation Only - Free for Members of Online Visibility Secrets
Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green - Interview with Shel Horowitz on how to incorporate green and ethical marketing into your business.
You must be an Online Visibility Secrets student to attend. This is a bonus session and is not open to the public.
If you’ve been contemplating joining OVS, now’s the time. For a minimal investment of less than $20 per month for 6 months, you get 26 weekly action-oriented lessons on how to boost your online visibility PLUS this valuable bonus call.
Join now at http://OnlineVisibilitySecrets.com
You have the opportunity to learn from some of the best online marketers who are successfully doing business on the Web. Hope you’ll join me at one or more of these events.
blog on!
Entrepreneur Articles - Stark Viewpoints On Entrepreneurship
Yours truly GordonWebbo today wants you to read the following article, courtesy of Top-Web-Entrepeneurs-Plan-It.com:
Entrepreneur articles are not usually written this way. Most are not normally written to reveal the stark reality. These are. It helps to know.
Summary and Review of a Sense of Urgency by John Kotter
Yours truly GordonWebbo today wants you to read the following article, courtesy of this site:
Cover of A Sense of Urgency
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
John P. Kotter is the author of Leading Change, The Heart of Change, and Our Iceberg Is Melting. After the completion of these three books there was still a question that he would often get asked, “What is the single biggest error people make when they try to change?” In this book, A Sense of Urgency, Kotter explores the differences between true urgency and false urgency.
It all starts with a sense of urgency
A real sense of urgency should be exceptionally encouraging and observant. Urgency should be a motivator, something that gives you the focus to tackle and complete projects that would normally consume your work schedule.
Increasing true urgency
A business case is a tool used to express that an issue is significant and that it needs to be addressed without delay. It helps to diminish complacency by saying, “What we are doing is no longer what we will need in the future.
Tactic one
When an organization becomes too focused on their internal elements they lose focus on the external components of the business and this can produce a huge down ward spiral for the company.
Tactic two
In some cases a sense of urgency is undermined by complete exhaustion. Clutter and fatigue work in much the same way, they fill up our appointment books but in the end leave us with nothing to show for our day.
Tactic three
When a crisis occurs within an origination people hold one of two perspectives. The first group observes crises as an unpleasant event. They think of the people that will be hurt, if they will be affected, the plans that it will interrupt and the organizations outlook. The second group is the group sees crises as an opportunity to reinvent the company and make greatly needed changes at a time when its employees are eager to do anything they can to change the companies direction.
Tactic four
In every company, there is always a cynic waiting to tell you that what has always been done is working fine and there is no reason to change it.
Keeping urgency up
To maintain urgency up over an extensive period of time, urgency has to be re-created over and over again.
The Top Ten Things to be Learned
The ten concrete things practicing managers should take from this book are:
1. What traits to look for in a productive employee.
2. How to know when change is needed in your business.
3. The strategy needed in increasing a true sense of urgency.
4. How a business’s success can create an inner focus and damage a business’s chance for success in the future.
5. Listen to your front-line employees. They are the face of your business.
6. Questions to ask when trying to find complacency and a false sense of urgency.
7. Everything begins with urgency.
8. People who are complacent are satisfied with the status quo and do not like the unfamiliar.
9. Those with a false sense of urgency have a tendency to be extremely nervous, irate, irritated, and drained.
10. People with a false sense of urgency can be you, me, our superior, or anybody.
Full Summary of A Sense of Urgency
John P. Kotter is the author of “Leading Change”, “The Heart of Change”, and “Our Iceberg Is Melting”. After the completion of these three books, there was still a question that he would often get asked, “What is the single biggest error people make when they try to change?” Through his research and asking different managers what there experience is, he landed on the conclusion. That conclusion was that at the beginning of any effort to change you have to start with a sense of urgency. This can sometimes be mistaken for a false sense of urgency. Everyone looks like they are actively per sewing the company’s goal but really they are annoyed and irritated. This can make it hard to keep your focus on the company’s main objective. In this book, “A Sense of Urgency” exploring the difference between true urgency and false urgency will be discussed.
It all starts with a sense of urgency
A real sense of urgency should be exceptionally encouraging and observant. Urgency should be a motivator, something that gives you the focus to tackle and complete projects that would normally consume your work schedule. Destructive complacency is not only found in the employees of a business but also in the businesses owners. This especially happens to businesses that are veterans to success. They become complacent with the activities of the business and loss sight of new prospects. The destructive part about complacency is that it is hard to spot from the inside of a company and can cause catastrophic disaster to the business in the end. In today’s world of business change is accelerating and will continue to expand. One form of change is external change and must be spotted and acknowledged to be acted upon. In most cases, external change is not acknowledged because people do not look hard enough, can’t find time to look hard enough, look but do not believe or do not want to believe what is right in front of their eyes. In all of the businesses that were studied in the writing of this book, seventy percent of situations in which considerable changes were needed they were either not full launched, the change in efforts were unsuccessful, changes were over budget or changes were behind schedule.
Complacency and false urgency
Complacency and false urgency are both a contradiction to true urgency. To correctly understand true urgency first you must understand its parallel’s. The definition of complacency is “a feeling of contentment or self satisfaction, especially when coupled with an unawareness of danger or trouble.” Most people would consider complacency a thought but the definition lets us know that it is a true feeling. The definition also lets us know that complacency is within one’s self, which makes us responsible for our own complacency. People that are complacent rarely admit this trait and will in most cases argue this point. If confronted with the notion that they are complacent they will most often get offended and blame others for their own complacency. Complacency embraces the status quo; it often has a sluggish attribute and is built on a sentiment that the status quo is essentially well. False urgency is on the opposite side of the spectrum from complacency. False urgency is filled with activities, liveliness and is built on a podium of angst and irritation. Just like people that are complacent, there is a large effort to conceal emotion of fear and anger. People try to hide these feelings from themselves and others around them.
Increasing true urgency
A business case is a tool used to express that an issue is significant and that it needs to be addressed without delay. It helps to diminish complacency by saying, “What we are doing is no longer what we will need in the future. If you look at the data, you’ll find there is a much better way to operate. Here is the proof.” The business case also helps to direct the company in a particular course of action. In some instances a business case can fail if there is too many crunched numbers and not enough logical thinking involved just like feelings are more powerful than thought. Feeling is the emotion that has the strength to create the ageless behavior of complacency.
Tactic one
When an organization becomes too focused on their internal elements, they lose focus on the external components of the business and this can produce a huge down ward spiral for the company. This inwardly focused institute unavoidably ignores additional prospects and exposures from contenders, clientele, or modifications in the narrow environment. When these prospects go unnoticed the company’s sense of urgency plummets. This is how complacency is born and in less caught on time it will multiply like the flu within of an organization. This scenario is not limited to small businesses; this is more likely to happen to a large and established corporation. The reasoning behind this is that complacency mutates itself into arrogance. Arrogance in the beginning phases is not enough to devastate a company but over time as arrogance cultivates it can trigger a company to lose its footing in the market and make it vulnerable to it competitors who at one time would have stayed away. There are several methods that owners and even manager use to connect the internal and external elements of a business. One is to talk to employees that interact directly with your customers, asking questions about not only the customer’s feedback on the products but also on their own personal opinions as well. Another great tactic is to use video. This allows management and personnel to see problems first hand and with raw emotion, not something acted out as a demonstration for training purposes. In implementing these tactics and making them customary a business can start to close the breach between their internal and external elements. This is still a progression and transformations will not be apparent instantaneously but with time the conclusion will change for the better.
Tactic Two
In some cases, a sense of urgency is undermined by complete exhaustion. Clutter and fatigue work in much the same way, they fill up our appointment books but in the end leave us with nothing to show for our day. This is why good managers eliminate clutter and leave themselves with enough time to accomplish the real problems of the company. Most managers find it difficult to eliminate work appointments from there calendars. They think that as a manager it is there job to be in attendance at every conference. The real job of a manager is to learn to allocate the low-priority items and concentrate completely on the high priority problems. When delegating to others make sure that what is expected of them is clearly expressed. Also, they should have a deadline by which a summary of the activity they attended is due. This permits you to concentrate your attention on the priorities and still keep up with the additional meetings that are being held. When conversing with employees about work talk with urgency, let them see your emotions and feelings about the need to stay at the forefront of the competition. If people sense the urgency in you it will inspire them to get creative.
Tactic Three
When a crisis occurs within an origination people hold one of two perspectives. The first group observes crises as an unpleasant event. They think of the people that will be hurt, if they will be affected, the plans that it will interrupt and the organizations outlook. The second group is the group sees crises as an opportunity to reinvent the company and make greatly needed changes at a time when its employees are eager to do anything they can to change the companies direction. The book uses an example of a group of people with the floor below them catching fire; everyone is going to start moving. If a crisis is what is required to turn a company around, then make one. With crisis comes urgency, even if it is derived from a fabricated crisis, still follows the same method. When creating a crisis always make sure it develops from a valid company dilemma. There are four big mistakes that can be made at a time of crisis. The first is thinking that a crisis will produce a sense of urgency desired to help the company’s functioning. The second is taking the crisis too far as to set off damaging ramification inside the companies employees. The third, sitting by and waiting for a crisis to happen when it could never happen. The fourth is miscalculating the evading of a crisis and the destruction it can produce.
Tactic four
In every company, there is always a cynic waiting to tell you that what has always been done is working fine and there is no reason to change it. These people are known as “No-No’s” and in many cases they can be tremendously tough to deal with. There are three methods to use when dealing with a No-No. The first is to keep them working so that they are preoccupied and cannot instigate any disturbance. The second is to send them packing, this sound severe but in reality they will never change and their outlook can multiply. The third group has three divisions; there are lightweight No-No’s, hard core No-No’s, and powerful NoNo’s. Lightweight No-No’s have to be managed publicly in the hopes that they are guilt stricken enough to manage their problem. Hard Core No-No’s is a person that should never be underestimated and is someone that cannot be changed or molded. The last No-No is the powerful No-No, this No-No can only be handled by following the steps of keeping them occupied and if that does not work firing them.
Keeping urgency up
To maintain urgency up over an extensive period of time, urgency has to be re-created over and over again. Urgency practically always leads to triumph, which then leads to contentment. This contentment is for the most part noticeable after a company encounters a large gain and the winning frame of mind is obvious. A win allows people to feel that the urgency is over and they become complacent with their work. But when a win has been made celebrate, it is hard to be motivated daily without ever feeling like you accomplished anything.
Personal Insights
The book made me think differently because I did not even know that urgency was that big of a problem in business. I always thought of urgency in the sense of an emergency, not anything to do with business. This book really opened my eyes up to the notion of urgency in many ways.
I will strive to be a manager that not only listens to their employees when they have suggestion, but actually takes them into consideration for further development. All while paying close attention to the real anxieties and frustrations they have when rules and regulations just do not work for every location. Also, I will try to be that person that evokes a true sense of urgency everyday so that everyone around me feels that they have to spend their day getting as much productive work done as they possibly can.
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To contact the author of this summary/review, please e-mail Madelyn Wainwright at W0208720@selu.edu.
David C. Wyld (dwyld@selu.edu) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About business, can be viewed at <a href=”http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/” target=”_blank”>http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/. He also has a book summary/review blog that is a collection of his students works at <a href=”http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/” target=”_blank”>http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/.
How to Start Your At-home Daycare Business
Yours truly GordonWebbo today wants you to read the following article, courtesy of this site:
If you enjoy being around children and have experience working with them, opening your own licensed in-home daycare may be the ideal business for you. Excellent childcare is severely lacking in the United States and the need for responsible and caring daycare providers is enormous.
Application Process
Each state has its own qualifications for becoming a daycare provider. In most states, daycare licenses are usually granted through the Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of Families and Children. Typical questions on the application include the daycare applicant’s name, address and telephone number, how many children will be cared for, the ages of all of the children and the name and age of each person living in the home.
After completing the application, your home will be inspected for general and fire safety. Additionally, most states require daycare providers to attend first aid and CPR classes, as well as classes in food safety. You may also be required to get a TB test and be fingerprinted. This sounds like a complicated process, but its purpose is to make sure each family daycare is a good place for children to spend their days.
How Many Children Can I Care For?
The number of children one person can care for in a daycare depends upon the state in which you live. Typically, one adult can care for no more than four infants if those four infants are the only children being cared for. One adult can also care for two infants and up to six other children so long as at least two of them are over six years old.
Setting Your Rate
Knowing the number of children you can legally care for will help you determine your rates. To find out the going rate for daycare in your area, contact several other in-home and center daycare providers. Set your rate according to the going rate for your area. You will charge more for babies, less for preschool-age children.
Important Legal Issues & Policies
In addition to deciding on your fees, you will need to make sure you have all of your policies in writing. Be sure to include things such as attendance policies (What if the child does not come to school? Do you credit the parent’s account or do they still pay?), vacations, baby supply policy (Do parents bring their own diapers or do you supply them? What if the baby runs out of diapers? Do you charge for each diaper used? If so, how much?) and payment information (When is payment due? Is there a grace period? What happens if a check bounces? Are there refunds? What are the consequences of late payment? Do you refuse service?). Have your attorney write up your policies or do it yourself with daycare business legal forms available online.
Supplies to Get Started
Many people who apply for a daycare license have children themselves and so do not need to purchase as many supplies to start with. You will need age-appropriate toys, arts and crafts materials, different types of paper (construction, newsprint), children’s books, movies and other items that will keep the children occupied and safe. You will also need a limited number of office supplies, including business cards. A record-keeping system is essential. Several different companies offer software specifically designed for daycare providers. Some of these companies offer a free trial period or demo. Make sure your homeowner’s insurance covers your daycare. You may need to purchase additional insurance.
Food Subsidy Program
Your daycare may qualify for federal food program subsidies. If you choose to apply for this program, you will be required to create meals and snacks according to federal guidelines. Menus must be made up in advance. For more information about the USDA Child & Adult Care Food Program go to http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/care/CACFP/aboutcacfp.htm.
Advertising Your Daycare
Advertising your daycare business does not need to be expensive. A small classified ad in the newspaper, fliers distributed at markets, churches, children’s clothing stores, and word-of-mouth advertising will quickly fill your available daycare slots.
Establishing your licensed daycare business can be cumbersome in terms of the things you must do to satisfy your state’s requirements for licensing, but if you enjoy working with children and have children of your own at home, daycare may an excellent work-at-home job for you.
Resources
USDA Child & Adult Care Food Program
National Association for the Education of Young Children
National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center
National Association of Family Child Care
<a href=”http://www.resourcesforchildcaring.org/index.cfm?page=business&CFID=61942565&CFTOKEN=24001560″ target=”_blank”>Resources for Child Caring (daycare business information)
Entrepreneur Franchise Opportunity - The UnAdvertized Part
Yours truly GordonWebbo today wants you to read the following article, courtesy of Top-Web-Entrepeneurs-Plan-It.com:
There is always more to a business entrepreneur franchise opportunity than what you see on the surface. Here is what the frachisor does not advertise.
