Phoenicians Left Deep Genetic Mark

A recent study shows that the Phoenicians, enigmatic people from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, stamped their mark on maritime history, and now research has revealed that they also left a lasting genetic imprint.

Scientists reported Thursday that as many as 1 in 17 men living today on the coasts of North Africa and southern Europe may have a Phoenician direct male-line ancestor.

These men were found to retain identifiable genetic signatures from the nearly 1,000 years the Phoenicians were a dominant seafaring commercial power in the Mediterranean basin, until their conquest by Rome in the 2nd century B.C.

The Phoenicians who founded Carthage, a great city that rivaled Rome. They introduced the alphabet to writing systems, exported cedars of Lebanon for shipbuilding and marketed the regal purple dye made from the murex shell. The name Phoenica, for their base in what is present-day Lebanon, means “land of purple.”

Then the Phoenicians, their fortunes in sharp decline after defeat in the Punic Wars, disappeared as a distinct culture. The monumental ruins of Carthage, at modern Tunis, are about the only visible reminders of their former greatness.

The scientists who conducted the new research said this was the first application of a new analytic method for detecting especially subtle genetic influences of historical population migrations. Such investigations, supplementing the traditional stones-and-bones work of archaeology, are contributing to a deeper understanding of human mobility over time.

The study was directed by the Genographic Project, a partnership of the National Geographic Society and IBM Corporation, with additional support from the Waitt Family Foundation. The international team described the findings in the current American Journal of Human Genetics.

“When we started, we knew nothing about the genetics of the Phoenicians,” Chris Tyler-Smith, a geneticist at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, England, said in an announcement. “All we had to guide us was history: we knew where they had and hadn’t settled.”

It proved to be enough, Dr. Tyler-Smith and Spencer Wells, a geneticist who directs the Genographic Project, said in telephone interviews.

Samples of the male Y-chromosome were collected from 1,330 men now living at six sites known to have been settled in antiquity as colonies and trading outposts of the Phoenicians.

The sites were in Cyprus, Malta, Morocco, the West Bank, Syria and Tunisia.

Each participant, whose inner cheek was swabbed for the samples, had at least three generations of indigenous ancestry at the site. To this was added data already available from Lebanon and previously published chromosome findings from nearly 6,000 men at 56 sites throughout the Mediterranean region. The data were then compared with similar research from neighboring communities having no link to Phoenician settlers.

From the research emerged a distinctive Phoenician genetic signature, in contrast to genetic traces spread by other migrations, like those of late Stone-Age farmers, Greek colonists and the Jewish Diaspora. The scientists thus concluded that, for example, one boy in each school class from Cyprus to Tunis may be a descendant of Phoenician traders.

“We were lucky in one respect,” Pierre A. Zalloua, a geneticist at Lebanese American University in Beirut who was a principal author of the journal report, said in an interview. “So many Phoenician settlement sites were geographically close to non-Phoenician sites, making it easier to distinguish differences in genetic patterns.”

In the journal article, the researchers wrote that the work “underscores the effectiveness of Y-chromosomal variability” in tracing human migrations. “Our methodology,” they concluded, “can be applied to any historically documented expansion in which contact and noncontact sites can be identified.”

Dr. Zalloua said that with further research it might be possible to refine genetic patterns to reveal phases of the Phoenician expansion over time — “first to Cyprus, then Malta and Africa, all the way to Spain.” Perhaps, he added, the genes may hold clues to which Phoenician cities — Byblos, Tyre or Sidon — settled certain colonies.

Dr. Wells, a specialist in applying genetics to migration studies who is also an explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society, suggested that similar projects in the future could investigate the genetic imprint from the Celtic expansion across the European continent, the Inca through South America, Alexander’s march through central and south Asia and multicultural traffic on the Silk Road.

Picture of the Week

Print Ad of the Week

An Old Irish Prayer

Take time to work, it is the price of success.
Take time to think, it is the source of power.
Take time to play, it is the secret of perpetual youth.
Take time to read, it is the fountain of wisdom.
Take time to be friendly, it is the road to happiness.
Take time to dream, it is hitching your wagon to a star.
Take time to love and be loved, it is the privilege of the Gods.
Take time to look around, the day is too short to be selfish.
Take time to laugh, it is the music of the soul.

Cartoon of the Week

I Am A Sign

I Am A Sign - I inform the public as to my purchaser's name and the products he sells, assisting him in maintaining a profitable enterprise so he can pay his employees, his suppliers, and his taxes

I Am A Sign - Ask any major all company, bank, retail food chain, shopping center, automobile manufacturer or dealer, clothier, jewelry store, etc. how long they could operate at profit without my help

I Am A Sign - I made Coca Cola the best-known name in the world

I Am A Sign - Times Square in New York City became a world famous tourist attraction because of me

I Am A Sign - I am the bright jewel that shines in the night; helping to make our streets safer than they otherwise would be without me

I Am A Sign - Reduce me to unreasonable small, size or blend into a building, and you have destroyed my usefulness

I Am A Sign - Like human beings, there all kinds of us - good and bad - and the majority should not be condemned for the signs of the majority

I Am A Sign - The very politicians who seek to do away with me and my kind are the first to turn to us for aid when they run for re-election

I Am A Sign - All other forms of advertising are sporadic, I am the only constant

I Am A Sign - Limited by architects, discouraged by city planners, restricted by ordinances, and degraded by newspaper-nevertheless, I am the most efficient and economic form of advertising ever devised by the mind of a man. I am the difference between a live city and a dead city. I am a sign, and I am proud of it!

Crash Course in Auto Branding

“The number one attribute when buying a car is still appearance or style. The data shows that consumers rank safety number four or five,” says Peter Wise, a branding consultant for Landor Associates.

Gerald Meyers, a former chairman and president of American Motors, says it’s not so much appearance as “the statement the car makes."

"That’s the primary thing about buying any motor vehicle -- the statement it makes about the person driving,” says Meyers.

In other words, every brand of automobile sends out a message. Cadillac and Mercedes-Benz say luxury and a lofty station in life. Jaguar and Porsche say excitement and swagger. Toyota and Honda say practicality and value.

In the most prosperous countries, the automobile has always been more than a way to get around. It represents who people are or hope to be. The car becomes their personal brand statement to the world. Safety has traditionally not been at the forefront of the car-purchasing decision.

But that attitude may be changing.

There is growing evidence that safety is becoming more important to consumers around the world. In the US a few years ago, the well-publicized one-car accidents involving Ford Explorers equipped with Firestone tires put safety on the radar screen of car buyers. According to Ward’s Auto World, sales of cars and minivans with all-wheel drive (AWD) has nearly tripled since 1991. AWD, which provides power to all four wheels when needed, is widely viewed as a key safety feature.

Another reason for the shift toward safety may be due to the fact that more working mothers are exerting a greater influence on the purchase of the family car. While researching the automotive market for her new book, Marketing to Moms, author Maria Bailey found that car safety is the most desirable feature for mothers. She claims that married women make 80 percent of the car-buying decisions in America. While some automotive executives believe that number to be high, the point is clear: safety is becoming more of an important factor.

Which automakers have already managed to brand their cars as safe?

The name on top of everyone’s list is Volvo, which is part of Ford Motor Company’s Premier Automotive Group. Volvo Car Corporation of Goteberg, Sweden, celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2002. Over the years, critics have called its cars bland, boxy and conservative. But thanks to the dedication and singular focus of Volvo engineers, no one has ever said a Volvo wasn’t safe.

“Volvo is the first car that comes to mind when talking safety. It has had great branding and positioning,” said Robert Gelphman, a San Francisco-based public relations consultant. “But safety is an illusive branding component perpetuated by car manufacturers that maybe do not have anything else to offer.”

Besides Volvo, experts list BMW, Lincoln, Saab, Honda and Subaru as cars that have successfully been branded as safe.

“Years ago, Subaru was never thought of as a safe vehicle. But now it is. They’ve done a remarkably good job in educating consumers on the benefits of the AWD system in their cars,” says Landor’s Wise, adding that automakers today are making safety a larger part of their marketing message.

“One of the things that automakers are doing now more effectively than ever is marketing their cars as safe brands,” agrees Brian Chee, editor of the Autobytel, Inc. websites (autobytel.com, autoweb.com and carsmart.com).

“From a brand perspective, a lot of consumers still rely on what automakers say in their TV commercials as far as what’s safe and what’s not safe. However, that’s changing with people going online to do their own research and even buying over the Internet. Now they have the opportunity to get their own information to make their own decisions,” he says.

Over the years, several automotive brands have earned the reputation of being dangerous. Largely, this was due to several well-publicized accidents and mishaps. Some notorious examples: the Ford Pinto (the gas tank would explode when the car was hit from behind) and the rollover-prone Chevrolet Corvair, which Ralph Nader immortalized in his book, Unsafe at Any Speed.

While safety is more important today, everyone admits that it is difficult to brand a car as especially safe.

“It is a challenge because safety is practically a requirement for modern vehicles,” explains Wise. “But there’s a difference between being safe and being the safest. And there are lots of ways to define safe. One is the ability of the automobile to endure an impact. Another is that the automobile has a certain athleticism and responsiveness to avoid or substantially mitigate an impact. There’s a feeling of being safe amid the chaos of heavy traffic by sitting up high. There is maintaining driver alertness. Certain automobiles are designed to enhance the alertness and the performance of the driver. That is, in fact, safety.

“The Ultimate Driving Machine is core to the promise of the BMW brand,” he continues. “They also happen to be very safe vehicles. But are they the safest in the event of an impact?”

That question brings up the universal debate of which is safer: big and heavy cars or small and nimble ones. There is a widely held perception (especially in the US) that the former is safer.

“It’s not a perception; it’s true,” states Meyers, now a professor at the University of Michigan Business School. “The laws of physics have not been repealed. Drive a Sherman tank; you’ll never get touched.”

Chee of Autobytel doesn’t agree.

“We have this misconception that a bigger car is a safer car,” he says. “That isn’t necessarily true. If you get into an accident with an SUV, you may not get an injury because you have so much metal around you and it’s so high. However, in a typical driving situation where you lose control, a small car is easier to control and get out of trouble.

“The European perspective is that nimble, good handling, quick cars are better,” he says. “The American perspective is that big, lumbering tanks are.”

Says Wise, “Americans feel safe in large trucks and SUV-type vehicles. The justification that people will give for buying them -- it’s almost across brands, to an extent -- is that ‘if there’s going to be an accident, I want to be a survivor.’ ”

The difference between the European and American perceptions of safe cars and the need for them will probably not change.

“For the most part, European consumers have a more sophisticated understanding of automotive safety,” says Wise. “The broad American market tends to equate safety with size. And for the vast amount of Americans, fuel efficiency is nowhere on the radar screen. People are much more concerned about that in Europe and other parts of the world.

Meyers agrees. “Broadly, the European driver is interested in handling, maneuverability, visibility and agility,” he says. “The American driver doesn’t care about those things. The American driver primarily wants big, heavy, tough cars.”

As safety increases as a main concern of today's drivers, it's sure to influence their purchasing decision. The challenge is for carmakers to brand their cars as safe, which will require different strategies depending on who, and where, your market is.

The Earth Knows No Religion

BEIRUT - August 2008: The General Assembly of the Lebanese Green Party elected the members to their National Executive Council.

At the meeting, which was held at the Monroe Hotel in Downtown Beirut, CEO of Grey Advertising Philippe Skaff was elected Party President. Nada Zaarour, President of the Association for Forests, Development and Conservation (AFDC) was elected Green Party Vice President, political analyst Osama Safa Secretary General and Sawsan Abu Fakhredinne, Director General of AFDC, was elected Treasurer.

The Green Party, whose slogan is "The Earth Knows No Religion," was launched in 2004 by a number of prominent environmental advocates, including former Environment Minister Akram Chehayeb, Farid Shaaban, Lamya Mansour, Nada Zaarour, Munir Abou Ghanem, Mohammed Al Khawli, Edgard Chehab and Michel Skaff.

The party was founded, said Skaff, because "people felt that the efforts of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals to impact the ever-deteriorating state of Lebanon's environment had reached its limits, and that the creation of a political party ... would have a better chance in advancing the cause."

According to Abu Fakhreddine, "We thought we should have a group that would push the government to change its environmental policies." Talking about the work of environmental NGOs, she said, "Unless we reach the decision-making levels, we cannot change policy. Environment is a common ground for people to introduce change to many things in Lebanon."

Speaking at the meeting on Tuesday, Skaff said the Green Party would support the Environment Ministry and hold it accountable for Lebanon's environmental policies. Skaff also identified the priorities of the party, which included a massive reforestation program over a 10-year period to return to Lebanon "the levels of forest surface area it had in the 1970s, at the very least." A National Environmental Watch Center would also be established, along with "what we would like to call 'the Green Brigade' under the command of the Lebanese Armed Forces, which would enforce laws that impact the environment and without which, no progress can be expected on any front."

Providing detailed examples of why a Green Party was needed in Lebanon, Skaff told The Daily Star that Lebanon's forests were disappearing at an alarming rate. He added that "5,000 years ago a squirrel could travel the whole country by merely hopping from tree to tree."

But by the 1960s, forests covered only 35 percent of the country, he said. In 1972 that had decreased to 22 percent, and today stands at a mere 13 percent. AFDC, an NGO actively working on fire fighting and fire prevention, "has counted over 70,600 forest fires since 1993," said Skaff. "If we carry on in this way our forests will have totally disappeared by 2030," he warned.

Lebanon's environmental management record was similarly unimpressive.

"Out of 22,000 industrial factories, half of which are in Beirut, 90 percent throw their toxic and non-toxic waste in the sea," said Skaff.

"Out of 863 samples of our drinking water, 40 percent proved to be microbiologically polluted," he said, adding that while there were "800 companies selling water in Lebanon, only 11 percent are approved by the Ministry of Health. The rest operate illegally."

AFDC is currently "providing the Green Party with technical information" on Lebanon's environmental and development issues, said Fakhreddine, adding that the Green Party hoped to stand in future elections.

However, according to Skaff, "we have vowed not to run in any election so long as our political system is based on the archaic confessional distribution of responsibilities."

Fakhreddine likewise stressed the secular nature of the Green Party, saying that members in political parties "could not run" for public positions within the party.

"In the next few years, we need to focus on gaining more support," she said.

Adding to that, Skaff said "I cannot pretend that Lebanese people will rally us because of our non-confessional status, but I know a lot of them have had enough with sectarianism."

Skaff recalled that French philosopher Ernest Renan once described Beirut as 'the Florence of the Orient.' But 10 years ago, he said, French magazine "Paris Match voted it the ugliest city on the Mediterranean."

He added: "You ask me about my credentials as leader of the Green Party and I will answer very simply: you do not have to be a chicken to identify a rotten egg."

Cartoon of the Week

The 8th Habit - From Effectiveness to Greatness

Review

"I have no life. I'm burned out - exhausted." "No one really values or appreciates me. My boss doesn't have a clue of all I'm capable of." "I'm frustrated and discouraged." If these questions or one's similar are all too familiar to you or your organization, then The 8th Habit is for you. The 8th Habit is a powerful and inspirational book. However, this book is not for the casual reader though.

To recap the full benefits that The 8th Habit has to offer, the reader needs to come prepared to engage and participate in the resources and activities that are offered throughout. We believe that this book will take some time to navigate. It is lengthy, thorough and engaging. Readers are invited to utilize this book as a road map in changing how they view leadership and their own personal influence. We are strongly recommending that serious leaders take the opportunity to read and embrace the concepts that Dr. Covey shares in The 8th Habit.

Covey has delivered a phenomenal resource to leaders that will move them and their organization "from effectiveness to greatness." Covey shares a unique model and numerous strategies including, clear pictures and diagrams, an array of research and data, and real life stories. In addition, Covey utilizes another dimension in order to communicate the principles and concepts of The 8th Habit, every book comes with a DVD that has 16 video segments that are both entertaining and inspirational.

Summary of Main Points
"Accessing the higher levels of human genius and motivation in today's new reality requires a sea change in thinking: a new mind-set, a new skill-set, a new tool-set --- in short, a whole new habit. The crucial challenge of our world today is this: to find our voice and inspire others to find theirs. It is what Covey calls the 8th Habit."

Covey begins the book by describing the pain that exists in people and organizations today, what the problem is that causes this pain, and the solution to the problem (the 8th Habit). The 8th Habit has two major parts: Find Your Voice and Inspire Others to Find Their Voice. "This two-part solution … is a road map for individuals at any level of an organization to maximize their fulfillment and influence, become an irreplaceable contributor, and inspire their team and the broader organization to do the same."

Finding your own voice is divided into two stages. First an individual needs to discover and then express their own voice. According to Covey, "Deep within each one of us there is an inner longing to live a life of greatness and contribution - to really matter, to really make a difference." Finding your own voice is best understood when Covey writes, "Discover your voice by coming to understand your true nature - what I (Dr. Covey) call three magnificent birth-gifts (chapter 4) and by developing and using with integrity the intelligence tied to each of the four parts of your nature." Covey continues by explaining that expressing your own voice is accomplished through "…cultivating the highest manifestations of these human intelligences - vision, discipline, passion and conscience (chapter 5)."

Once a person discovers and expresses their own voice, the next step in achieving greatness is to inspire others to find and express their voice. "Once you've found your own voice, the choice to expand your influence, to increase your contribution, is the choice to inspire others to find their voice." Focus and Execution are the two key strategies for inspiring others to discover and express their voice.

Focus is the concept of role modeling and creating a vision. Leaders need to role model both character and competence. The importance of developing trust and building relationships are introduced as critical factors in inspiring others. Creating a vision is the concept of engaging others in seeking the "Third Alternative" and developing ownership in a shared direction.

Execution is the concept of aligning and empowering people. Organizations need to align their goals and systems in order to achieve results and empower individuals in order to "release passion and talent."

"So many people feel frustrated, discouraged, unappreciated, and undervalues - with little or no sense of voice or unique contribution. The 8th Habit is the answer to the soul's yearning for greatness, the organization's imperative for significance and superior results, and humanity's search for its 'voice'. Dr. Covey provides thorough, practical, and inspiring principles and strategies to each one of us to move from effective to greatness.

Call to Action
After reading this book, the following six actions are recommended for those interested in effective leadership:

* Take time to discover your own voice, your own desire to achieve greatness by choosing not to settle for mediocrity, but choosing to set goals for excellence.
* Determine how you can use your voice to move your organization to greatness.
* Encourage others to find and express their voice by "… communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves."
* Utilize role modeling to influence others around you.
* Build trusting relationships by being trustworthy and trusting others.
* Release the passions and talents of the people around you by providing "… directed autonomy through win-win agreements around cascading line-of-sight goals and accountability for results."

Picture of the Week

A woman passes graffiti depicting Argentine-born revolutionary icon Ernesto “Che” Guevara in Havana. Cuba marks the 41st anniversary of Che’s death on October 8, although he was killed on October 9, 1967, in La Higura, Bolivia.
AP Photo

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

In his #1 bestseller, Stephen R. Covey presented a framework for personal effectiveness. The following is a summary of the first part of his book, concluding with a list of the 7 habits.

Inside-Out: The Change Starts from Within

While working on his doctorate in the 1970's, Stephen R. Covey reviewed 200 years of literature on success. He noticed that since the 1920's, success writings have focused on solutions to specific problems. In some cases such tactical advice may have been effective, but only for immediate issues and not for the long-term, underlying ones. The success literature of the last half of the 20th century largely attributed success to personality traits, skills, techniques, maintaining a positive attitude, etc. This philosophy can be referred to as the Personality Ethic.

However, during the 150 years or so that preceded that period, the literature on success was more character oriented. It emphasized the deeper principles and foundations of success. This philosophy is known as the Character Ethic, under which success is attributed more to underlying characteristics such as integrity, courage, justice, patience, etc.

The elements of the Character Ethic are primary traits while those of the Personality Ethic are secondary. While secondary traits may help one to play the game to succeed in some specific circumstances, for long-term success both are necessary. One's character is what is most visible in long-term relationships. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "What you are shouts so loudly in my ears I cannot hear what you say."

To illustrate the difference between primary and secondary traits, Covey offers the following example. Suppose you are in Chicago and are using a map to find a particular destination in the city. You may have excellent secondary skills in map reading and navigation, but will never find your destination if you are using a map of Detroit. In this example, getting the right map is a necessary primary element before your secondary skills can be used effectively.

The problem with relying on the Personality Ethic is that unless the basic underlying paradigms are right, simply changing outward behavior is not effective. We see the world based on our perspective, which can have a dramatic impact on the way we perceive things. For example, many experiments have been conducted in which two groups of people are shown two different drawings. One group is shown, for instance, a drawing of a young, beautiful woman and the other group is shown a drawing of an old, frail woman. After the initial exposure to the pictures, both groups are shown one picture of a more abstract drawing. This drawing actually contains the elements of both the young and the old woman. Almost invariably, everybody in the group that was first shown the young woman sees a young woman in the abstract drawing, and those who were shown the old woman see an old woman. Each group was convinced that it had objectively evaluated the drawing. The point is that we see things not as they are, but as we are conditioned to see them. Once we understand the importance of our past conditioning, we can experience a paradigm shift in the way we see things. To make large changes in our lives, we must work on the basic paradigms through which we see the world.

The Character Ethic assumes that there are some absolute principles that exist in all human beings. Some examples of such principles are fairness, honesty, integrity, human dignity, quality, potential, and growth. Principles contrast with practices in that practices are for specific situations whereas principles have universal application.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People presents an "inside-out" approach to effectiveness that is centered on principles and character. Inside-out means that the change starts within oneself. For many people, this approach represents a paradigm shift away from the Personality Ethic and toward the Character Ethic.

The 7 Habits - An Overview

Our character is a collection of our habits, and habits have a powerful role in our lives. Habits consist of knowledge, skill, and desire. Knowledge allows us to know what to do, skill gives us the ability to know how to do it, and desire is the motivation to do it.

The 7 Habits move us through the following stages:

1. Dependence: the paradigm under which we are born, relying upon others to take care of us.

2. Independence: the paradigm under which we can make our own decisions and take care of ourselves.

3. Interdependence: the paradigm under which we cooperate to achieve something that cannot be achieved independently.

Much of the success literature today tends to value independence, encouraging people to become liberated and do their own thing. The reality is that we are interdependent, and the independent model is not optimal for use in an interdependent environment that requires leaders and team players.

To make the choice to become interdependent, one first must be independent, since dependent people have not yet developed the character for interdependence. Therefore, the first three habits focus on self-mastery, that is, achieving the private victories required to move from dependence to independence. The first three habits are:

• Habit 1: Be Proactive

• Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

• Habit 3: Put First Things First

Habits 4, 5, and 6 then address interdependence:

• Habit 4: Think Win/Win

• Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

• Habit 6: Synergize

Finally, the 7th habit is one of renewal and continual improvement, that is, of building one's personal production capability. To be effective, one must find the proper balance between actually producing and improving one's capability to produce. Covey illustrates this point with the fable of the goose and the golden egg.

In the fable, a poor farmer's goose began laying a solid gold egg every day, and the farmer soon became rich. He also became greedy and figured that the goose must have many golden eggs within her. In order to obtain all of the eggs immediately, he killed the goose. Upon cutting it open he discovered that it was not full of golden eggs. The lesson is that if one attempts to maximize immediate production with no regard to the production capability, the capability will be lost. Effectiveness is a function of both production and the capacity to produce.

The need for balance between production and production capability applies to physical, financial, and human assets. For example, in an organization the person in charge of a particular machine may increase the machine's immediate production by postponing scheduled maintenance.

As a result of the increased output, this person may be rewarded with a promotion. However, the increased immediate output comes at the expense of future production since more maintenance will have to be performed on the machine later. The person who inherits the mess may even be blamed for the inevitable downtime and high maintenance expense.

Customer loyalty also is an asset to which the production and production capability balance applies. A restaurant may have a reputation for serving great food, but the owner may decide to cut costs and lower the quality of the food. Immediately, profits will soar, but soon the restaurant's reputation will be tarnished, the customer's trust will be lost, and profits will decline.

This does not mean that only production capacity is important. If one builds capacity but never uses it, there will be no production. There is a balance between building production capacity and actually producing. Finding the right tradeoff is central to one's effectiveness.

The above has been an introduction and overview of the 7 Habits. The following introduces the first habit in Covey's framework.

FROM DEPENDENCE TO INDEPENDENCE

Habit 1: Be Proactive

A unique ability that sets humans apart from animals is self-awareness and the ability to choose how we respond to any stimulus. While conditioning can have a strong impact on our lives, we are not determined by it. There are three widely accepted theories of determinism: genetic, psychic, and environmental. Genetic determinism says that our nature is coded into our DNA, and that our personality traits are inherited from our grandparents. Psychic determinism says that our upbringing determines our personal tendencies, and that emotional pain that we felt at a young age is remembered and affects the way we behave today. Environmental determinism states that factors in our present environment are responsible for our situation, such as relatives, the national economy, etc. These theories of determinism each assume a model in which the stimulus determines the response.

Viktor Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist who survived the death camps of Nazi Germany. While in the death camps, Frankl realized that he alone had the power to determine his response to the horror of the situation. He exercised the only freedom he had in that environment by envisioning himself teaching students after his release. He became an inspiration for others around him. He realized that in the middle of the stimulus-response model, humans have the freedom to choose.

Animals do not have this independent will. They respond to a stimulus like a computer responds to its program. They are not aware of their programming and do not have the ability to change it. The model of determinism was developed based on experiments with animals and neurotic people. Such a model neglects our ability to choose how we will respond to stimuli.

We can choose to be reactive to our environment. For example, if the weather is good, we will be happy. If the weather is bad, we will be unhappy.

If people treat us well, we will feel well; if they don't, we will feel bad and become defensive. We also can choose to be proactive and not let our situation determine how we will feel. Reactive behavior can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. By accepting that there is nothing we can do about our situation, we in fact become passive and do nothing.

The first habit of highly effective people is proactivity. Proactive people are driven by values that are independent of the weather or how people treat them. Ghandi said, "They cannot take away our self respect if we do not give it to them." Our response to what happened to us affects us more than what actually happened. We can choose to use difficult situations to build our character and develop the ability to better handle such situations in the future.

Proactive people use their resourcefulness and initiative to find solutions rather than just reporting problems and waiting for other people to solve them.

Being proactive means assessing the situation and developing a positive response for it. Organizations can be proactive rather than be at the mercy of their environment. For example, a company operating in an industry that is experiencing a downturn can develop a plan to cut costs and actually use the downturn to increase market share.

Once we decide to be proactive, exactly where we focus our efforts becomes important. There are many concerns in our lives, but we do not always have control over them. One can draw a circle that represents areas of concern, and a smaller circle within the first that represents areas of control.

Proactive people focus their efforts on the things over which they have influence, and in the process often expand their area of influence. Reactive people often focus their efforts on areas of concern over which they have no control. Their complaining and negative energy tend to shrink their circle of influence.

In our area of concern, we may have direct control, indirect control, or no control at all. We have direct control over problems caused by our own behavior. We can solve these problems by changing our habits. We have indirect control over problems related to other people's behavior. We can solve these problems by using various methods of human influence, such as empathy, confrontation, example, and persuasion. Many people have only a few basic methods such as fight or flight. For problems over which we have no control, first we must recognize that we have no control, and then gracefully accept that fact and make the best of the situation.

SUMMARY OF THE 7 HABITS

Habit 1: Be Proactive

Change starts from within, and highly effective people make the decision to improve their lives through the things that they can influence rather than by simply reacting to external forces.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Develop a principle-centered personal mission statement. Extend the mission statement into long-term goals based on personal principles.

Habit 3: Put First Things First

Spend time doing what fits into your personal mission, observing the proper balance between production and building production capacity. Identify the key roles that you take on in life, and make time for each of them.

Habit 4: Think Win/Win

Seek agreements and relationships that are mutually beneficial. In cases where a "win/win" deal cannot be achieved, accept the fact that agreeing to make "no deal" may be the best alternative. In developing an organizational culture, be sure to reward win/win behavior among employees and avoid inadvertantly rewarding win/lose behavior.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

First seek to understand the other person, and only then try to be understood. Stephen Covey presents this habit as the most important principle of interpersonal relations. Effective listening is not simply echoing what the other person has said through the lens of one's own experience. Rather, it is putting oneself in the perspective of the other person, listening empathically for both feeling and meaning.

Habit 6: Synergize

Through trustful communication, find ways to leverage individual differences to create a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. Through mutual trust and understanding, one often can solve conflicts and find a better solution than would have been obtained through either person's own solution.

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Take time out from production to build production capacity through personal renewal of the physical, mental, social/emotional, and spiritual dimensions. Maintain a balance among these dimensions.

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Gibran K. Gibran: Your Thought and Mine

Your thought is a tree rooted deep in the soil of tradition and whose branches grow in the power of continuity. My thought is a cloud moving in the space. It turns into drops which, as they fall, form a brook that sings its way into the sea. Then it rises as vapour into the sky. Your thought is a fortress that neither gale nor the lightning can shake. My thought is a tender leaf that sways in every direction and finds pleasure in its swaying. Your thought is an ancient dogma that cannot change you nor can you change it. My thought is new, and it tests me and I test it morn and eve.

You have your thought and I have mine.

Your thought allows you to believe in the unequal contest of the strong against the weak, and in the tricking of the simple by the subtle ones. My thought creates in me the desire to till the earth with my hoe, and harvest the crops with my sickle, and build my home with stones and mortar, and weave my raiment with woollen and linen threads. Your thought urges you to marry wealth and notability. Mine commends self-reliance. Your thought advocates fame and show. Mine counsels me and implores me to cast aside notoriety and treat it like a grain of sand cast upon the shore of eternity. Your thought instils in your heart arrogance and superiority. Mine plants within me love for peace and the desire for independence. Your thought begets dreams of palaces with furniture of sandalwood studded with jewels, and beds made of twisted silk threads. My thought speaks softly in my ears, “Be clean in body and spirit even if you have nowhere to lay your head.” Your thought makes you aspire to titles and offices. Mine exhorts me to humble service.

You have your thought and I have mine.

Your thought is social science, a religious and political dictionary. Mine is simple axiom. Your thought speaks of the beautiful woman, the ugly, the virtuous, the prostitute, the intelligent, and the stupid. Mine sees in every woman a mother, a sister, or a daughter of every man. The subjects of your thought are thieves, criminals, and assassins. Mine declares that thieves are the creatures of monopoly, criminals are the offspring of tyrants, and assassins are akin to the slain. Your thought describes laws, courts, judges, punishments. Mine explains that when man makes a law, he either violates it or obeys it. If there is a basic law, we are all one before it. He who disdains the mean is himself mean. He who vaunts his scorn of the sinful vaunts his disdain of all humanity. Your thought concerns the skilled, the artist, the intellectual, the philosopher, the priest. Mine speaks of the loving and the affectionate, the sincere, the honest, the forthright, the kindly, and the martyr. Your thought advocates Judaism, Brahmanism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. In my thought there is only one universal religion, whose varied paths are but the fingers of the loving hand of the Supreme Being. In your thought there are the rich, the poor, and the beggared. My thought holds that there are no riches but life; that we are all beggars, and no benefactor exists save life herself.

You have your thought and I have mine.

According to your thought, the greatness of nations lies in their politics, their parties, their conferences, their alliances and treaties. But mine proclaims that the importance of nations lies in work – work in the field, work in the vineyards, work with the loom, work in the tannery, work in the quarry, work in the timberyard, work in the office and in the press. Your thought holds that the glory of the nations is in their heroes. It sings the praises of Rameses, Alexander, Caesar, Hannibal, and Napoleon. But mine claims that the real heroes are Confucius, Lao-Tse, Socrates, Plato, Abi Taleb, El Gazali, Jalal Ed-din-el Roumy, Copernicus, and Pasteur. Your thought sees power in armies, cannons, battleships, submarines, aeroplanes, and poison gas. But mine asserts that power lies in reason, resolution, and truth. No matter how long the tyrant endures, he will be the loser at the end. Your thought differentiates between pragmatist and idealist, between the part and the whole, between the mystic and materialist. Mine realizes that life is one and its weights, measures and tables do not coincide with your weights, measures and tables. He whom you suppose an idealist may be a practical man.

You have your thought and I have mine.

Your thought is interested in ruins and museums, mummies and petrified objects. But mine hovers in the ever-renewed haze and clouds. Your thought is enthroned on skulls. Since you take pride in it, you glorify it too. My thought wanders in the obscure and distant valleys. Your thought trumpets while you dance. Mine prefers the anguish of death to your music and dancing. Your thought is the thought of gossip and false pleasure. Mine is the thought of him who is lost in his own country, of the alien in his own nation, of the solitary among his kinfolk and friends.

You have your thought and I have mine.

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The Economical Crisis

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Gibran K. Gibran: My Countrymen

What do you seek, my countrymen?

Do you desire that I build for you gorgeous palaces, decorated with words of empty meaning, or temples roofed with dreams? Or do you command me to destroy what the liars and tyrants have built?

Shall I uproot with my fingers what the hypocrites and the wicked have implanted?

Speak your insane wish!

What is it you would have me do, my countrymen? Shall I purr like the kitten to satisfy you, or roar like the lion to please myself?

I have sung for you, but you did not dance; I have wept before you, but you did not cry. Shall I sing and weep at the same time?

Your souls are suffering the pangs of hunger, and yet the fruit of knowledge is more plentiful than the stones of the valleys.

Your hearts are withering from thirst, and yet the springs of life are streaming about your
Homes -- why do you not drink?

The sea has its ebb and flow, the moon has its fullness and crescents, and the ages have their winter and summer, and all things vary like the shadow of an unborn god moving between earth and sun, but truth cannot be changed, nor will it pass away; Why, then, do you endeavour to disfigure its countenance?

I have called you in the silence of the night to point out the glory of the moon and the dignity of the stars, but you startled from your slumber and clutched your swords in fear, crying, "Where is the enemy? We must kill him first!" At morning tide, when the enemy came, I called to you again, but now you did not wake from your slumber, for you were locked in fear, wrestling with the processions of spectres in your dreams.

And I said unto you, "Let us climb to the mountain top and view the beauty of the world." And you answered me, saying, "In the depths of this valley our fathers lived, and in its shadows they died, and in its caves they were buried. How can we depart this place for one which they failed to honour?"

And I said unto you, "Let us go to the plain that gives its bounty to the sea." And you spoke timidly to me, saying, "The uproar of the abyss will frighten our spirits, and the terror of the depths will deaden our bodies."

I have loved you, my countrymen, but my love for you is painful to me and useless to you; and today I hate you, and hatred is a flood that sweeps away the dry branches and quavering houses.

I have pitied your weakness, my countrymen, but my pity has but increased your feebleness, exalting and nourishing slothfulness which is vain to life. And today I see your infirmity which my soul loathes and fears.

I have cried over your humiliation and submission, and my tears streamed like crystalline, but could not sear away your stagnant weakness; yet they removed the veil from my eyes.

My tears have never reached your petrified hearts, but they cleansed the darkness from my inner self.

Today I am mocking at your suffering, for laughter is a raging thunder that precedes the tempest and never comes after it.

What do you desire, my countrymen? Do you wish for me to show you the ghost of your countenance on the face of still water? Come, now, and see how ugly you are!

Look and meditate! Fear has turned your hair grey as the ashes, and dissipation has grown over your eyes and made them into obscured hollows, and cowardice has touched your cheeks that now appear as dismal pits in the valley, and death has kissed your lips and left them yellow as the autumn leaves.

What is it that you seek, my countrymen? What ask you from life, who does not any longer count you among her children? Your souls are freezing in the clutches of the priests and sorcerers, and your bodies tremble between the paws of the despots and the shudders of blood, and your country quakes under the marching feet of the conquering enemy; what may you expect even though you stand proudly before the face of the sun?

Your swords are sheathed with rust, and your spears are broken, and your shields are laden with gaps, why, then, do you stand in the field of battle?

Hypocrisy is your religion, and falsehood is your life, and nothingness is your ending; why, then, are you living? Is not death the sole comfort of the miserable?

Life is a resolution that accompanies youth, and a diligence that follows maturity, and a wisdom that pursues senility; but you, my countrymen, were born old and weak. And your skins withered and your heads shrank, whereupon you become as children, running into the mire and casting stones upon each other.

Knowledge is a light, enriching the warmth of life, and all may partake who seek it out; but you, my countrymen, seek out darkness and flee the light, awaiting the coming of water from the rock, and your nation's misery is your crime. I do not forgive you your sins, for you know what you are doing.

Humanity is a brilliant river singing its way and carrying with it the mountains' secrets into the heart of the sea; but you,y countrymen, are stagnant marshes infested with insects and vipers.

The spirit is a sacred blue torch, burning and devouring the dry plants, and growing with the storm and illuminating the faces of the goddesses; but you, my countrymen, your souls are like ashes which the winds scatter upon the snow, and which the tempests disperse forever in the valleys.

Fear not the phantom of death, my countrymen, for his greatness and mercy will refuse to approach your smallness; and dread not the dagger, for it will decline to be lodged in your shallow hearts.

I hate you, my countrymen, because you hate glory and greatness. I despise you because you despise yourselves. I am your enemy, for you refuse to realize that you are the enemies of the goddesses.

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You've Got Lies

Can You Trust Your E-Mails?

From its humble beginnings as a laboratory tool in the early 1970's, e-mail has become a vital tool of business. It's the first thing most executives check in the morning, and the last thing they do at night.

New studies suggest people are more likely to lie in e-mails than in old-fashioned, pen-and-paper messages.

All very well. But can you trust it? A strange question perhaps -- but a relevant one following some innovative (and perhaps alarming) new research by professors at three business schools.

Psychologists have long known that people find it easier to mislead and dissemble in written communication, without the telltale visual clues which help others know when someone is lying.

But the two new studies, by business professors at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, Rutgers University in New Jersey and Chicago's DePaul University, suggest that people are notably more likely to lie in an e-mail even than in traditional pen-and-paper communication.

More surprising still is that many people actually feel justified when lying in e-mail, the studies show.

The findings are reported in a paper called "Being Honest Online: The Finer Points of Lying in Online Ultimatum Bargaining."

In one study, a group of MBA students were given a supposed $89 to divide between themselves and a fictional second party, who only knew that the amount in question was somewhere between $5 and $100. There was no negotiation; the other party had to accept whatever offer was made.

When communicating their offers via e-mail, 92 percent of students lied about the amount of money available, and said they felt justified in handing over an average of just $29, rather than the $56 equal split.

However, those using pen and paper passed on an average of $34, with just 64 percent lying about the total available pot.

"Keep in mind that both of these media -- e-mail and pen and paper --are text only. Neither has greater 'communication bandwidth' than the other," said Charles Naquin of DePaul University, one of the co-authors. "Yet we still see a dramatic difference."

"These findings are consistent with our other work that shows that e-mail communication decreases the amount of trust and cooperation we see in professional group-work, and increases the negativity in performance evaluations, all as opposed to pen and paper systems," said Terri Kurtzberg of Rutgers. "People seem to feel more justified in acting in self-serving ways when typing as opposed to writing."

Hypothesizing that a shared sense of identity might reduce e-mailers' propensity to lie, the researchers set up a second study of other MBA students. This indicated the more familiar e-mailers are with each other the less deceptive they tend to be -- but they still tend to lie.

There were important lessons for the business world in the findings, said Liuba Belkin of Lehigh.

"The study of industrial psychology and the evolving use of e-mail are presenting some interesting challenges for organizations across the board. We know it's a socially acceptable way to communicate, but how that translates in the workplace is a different story entirely."