首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
When Ruth Redding, an account manager, was sent on a management training course to improve her relationships with her colleagues
When Ruth Redding, an account manager, was sent on a management training course to improve her relationships with her colleagues
admin
2009-12-11
97
问题
When Ruth Redding, an account manager, was sent on a management training course to improve her relationships with her colleagues by learning how to communicate with them more effectively, instead of being asked to address her boss or her peers, she found herself talking to a horse. In fact, during the course, which is organised by Manchester University Business School, Redding found herself standing in a pen whispering to an animal and communicating in a non-aggressive way. This form of communication, which is the subject of the best-selling novel The Horse Whisperer, later filmed with Robert Redford in the starring role, might appear bizarre on a stud farm, let alone a management training course. But horse whispering is among a number of unusual activities now being used to teach staff about every aspect of working life, from self-confidence to communication.
In the 1980s and 1990s, it became fashionable to dump executives on a remote mountainside, or windswept Scottish isle, and leave them to survive a weekend in order to develop initiative, build team spirit and promote leadership skills. An alternative to the classic "chalk and talk" format, with the lecturer and obedient staff seated round a table, it all seemed wild and rather outlandish.
Today, by comparison, it looks increasingly tame. A new generation of management training gurus are adopting a different approach. In Italy, stressed executives have been dressing up as gladiators to confront each other as their ancient forebears did, and in America, sales-people are herding cattle, while in Britain, one supermarket reportedly put its executives in Native American teepees for a weekend to develop a spirit of co-operation. Naturally, the originators of these new courses claim to have respectable psychological theories to back them up.
Tudor Rickards, a professor at Manchester, was intrigued when he heard about the work done by the famous horse whisperer, Monty Roberts. "The idea is that instead of ’breaking’ the horse, you co-operate with it. Traditionally, you would coax a horse into a box and then reward it by slamming the door shut. Monty leads the horse in and out of the box and offers it a reward," explains Professor Rickards. "Monty’s approach is founded on the recognition of a foal’s instinctive desire to be part of the herd. " He matched this with research from the Industrial Society, which revealed that often the difference between a successful and unsuccessful leader is trust. "As they observe the way horses react to certain behavior, participants think about how they themselves or other colleagues react to different management styles," explains Professor Rickards. "The discussion often leads to one about experiences of bullying and abusive behavior, a discussion that might not otherwise surface in a leadership course. We’vefound this helps the participants draw fine distinctions between being tough, being assertive, being supportive and being soft. "
Team building is also the aim of murder mystery days run by a company called Corporate Pursuits. Actors mingle with participants and play out a scene until someone is found "murdered" Clues, such as photographs, personal items or a cryptic message, are arranged around the room, and small teams, often pitted against each other, will work to solve the mystery under the gaze of trained observers.
Although fun and a sense of release is important, managing director Mandie Chester Bristow admits that this type of corporate clue do occasionally meets with skepticism among clients. "On one occasion, people were messing around and not taking it seriously at all, so I had to say to them, ’You’re behaving like a bunch of school children. ’ " Another challenge can be reporting the observers’ findings. "We would never say, ’You’ve failed, ’ if they didn’t identify the murderer correctly. Instead, we would praise them for the progress they made and how they worked together as a team. "
"There are lots of gimmicks in training and headline-grabbing courses at the moment, but what they deliver is often variable," says Nick Isles of the Industrial Society. "People often say afterwards that they enjoyed the event, but it’s very difficult to measure how much they’ve actually learned from it. " He argues that ongoing training in the work place, or courses that last months, are a better way of improving aspects of business such as productivity and customer service.
In the first paragraph, what does the writer say about the technique Ruth Redding found herself practising.9
选项
A、It is a way of learning how to address your boss properly.
B、It is designed to help managers relax.
C、It is perfectly acceptable in its original context.
D、It is popular despite its eccentricity.
答案
D
解析
文章第一段最后一句指出But horse whispering is among a number of unusual activities now being used to teach staff…这种不同寻常的马语方式被用来培训公司员工,这与选项D“它现在很流行尽管它很怪异”相吻合。eccentricity古怪的行为,怪癖。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/2O8K777K
本试题收录于:
A类竞赛(研究生)题库大学生英语竞赛(NECCS)分类
0
A类竞赛(研究生)
大学生英语竞赛(NECCS)
相关试题推荐
Workingouttomusiccanimprovethecoordinationofyourmindandbody,【C1】______youarefootballcrazyorkeenontennis.Th
WhichofthefollowingsisNOTareasonwhywomenbossesareunpopular?
WhichofthefollowingsisNOTareasonwhywomenbossesareunpopular?
Librarieshavereferencebooks______youcancheckoutaphysician’seducationalbackground,training,andothercredentials.
Generallyaccounted,withTheTimesandTheDailyTelegraph,______isaninfluentialdailynewspaperpublishedinLondonandMan
—Morning,Madam!I’dlikesomeinformationaboutthecourse.—Certainly.______
Diamondisthehardestnaturallyoccurringsubstanceknown.Itisthemostpopulargemstoneandbecauseofitsextreme【C1】_____
TensofmillionsoftelevisionviewersaroundtheworldhavebecomefamiliarwiththemusicaltalentshowTheXFactor,whichor
TensofmillionsoftelevisionviewersaroundtheworldhavebecomefamiliarwiththemusicaltalentshowTheXFactor,whichor
随机试题
领导活动的重要作用是______。
Thereareseveral______(means)thatcanbeusedtodealwiththisproblem.
级数,当a________时发散.
肾小管对葡萄糖的重吸收
缺铁性贫血的诊断依据有
男性,60岁,反复咳嗽2年,伴低热、消瘦。查体:气管左移,左上肺可闻及湿性啰音。胸片示左上肺多个厚壁空洞。左肺门上移确诊的首选检查是
注册结构工程师可同时受聘于()勘察设计单位执行业务。
关于排桩、地下连续墙构造,说法正确的有()。
对于需要冷藏、保温或加温的货物,虽不够整车运输条件,但也应按整车托运。()
邢某与有夫之妇夏某勾搭成奸,后夏某因受丈夫责骂,与邢某中断了关系,邢某怀恨在心。一天下午,邢某将夏某骗至自己的住处将其杀害,当晚又潜入夏某家将其丈夫杀害。邢某的行为属于()。
最新回复
(
0
)