The American Dream Is Sublime Motivation

â€Å"You can have anything you want, if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose† said one of America’s founding father’s, Abraham Lincoln. America, the land of the free, the home of the brave. A country where it doesn’t matter what color of skin a person has, how tall or short they are, or what family they came from; but what does matter is values, and the amount of courage people have. The opportunities in America are endless, and for that reason, people in other countries would do anything to live the American Dream .People will journey far and wide, traverse the entire continent, suffer all manner of pain and suffering, if they believe that, in the end, they will be rewarded, and there is nothing quite like survival to motivate people. The ancient tale of â€Å"The American Dream† has been pursued by many, but only few make it all th e way. The novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the two poems, â€Å"Dream Deferred†, by Langston Hughes, and â€Å"American Dream of Reality†, by Ivy S. , Loganville, all portray the American dream. Today, many oversee life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness instead they all think of fame, fortune, and respect.But even though not everyone can achieve these, without dreams or goals what would America be? The American dream is sublime motivation for accomplishing ones goals and producing achievements, however when tainted with wealth the dream becomes devoid and hollow. The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald embodies many themes, however the most evident one relates to the corruption of the American Dream in the 1920’s where the â€Å"Dream† had been corrupted by the pursuit of wealth. When the American Dream was pure, motivation and ambition were key aspects to achieving life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.In Gatsby’s earli er days he upheld towards the pure American Dream. â€Å"No wasting time at Shafters, No more smoking or chewing, Read one improving book or magazine per week, Save $3. 00 per week, Be better to parents† (Fitzgerald, 182). This is where Gatsby describes his newly revised schedule and how he prepares to become a better person. Though, in the story Gatsby destroys the true American Dream through his materialism. He no longer strives for the more precious things in life, but chases after Daisy’s love. Gatsby became corrupted because his main goal was to have Daisy, and from here money was everything to him and all he wanted to do was impress Daisy. Daisy symbolizes wealth and takes on the characteristics of money, â€Å"Her voice is full of money†(Fitzgerald, 127). His mansion and parties were all part of the plan to try and win Daisy over, the tainted dream was so empty that having accouterments of wealth could provoke feelings of love. â€Å"He’s the man who fixed the World Series back in 1919† (Fitzgerald, 78). The dream became so focused on money that any means of a obtaining it were overlooked, even if it was unprincipled. Ignorance and the ideal of looking out for oneself is prevalent.Where as, in the pure American Dream striving to accomplish ones own personal goal is ones main focus. One should use the American Dream for motivation and hope that one can achieve ones personal goal. The American Dream should not be centered on money and other materialistic things like Gatsby, but on a real goal that has true value. Imagine a bleak and empty future with nothing to look forward to, and in which not even a single good intention manifests into something any more tangible than a wish. Langston Hughes asks the profound question: What happens to a dream deferred?The truth is that if a person if forced to delay his or her dreams, only negativity can be found. The poem depicts certain human emotions when one cannot reach their goal s or dreams. In other words the poem asks: If your dreams remain out of reach, do you shrivel, drawing inward as hope becomes less and less? Or does the inaccessibility of your dreams create tension? Does the distance of the dream create frustration and anger, corrupting the soul and eventually creating an explosion of action or emotion? Langston Hughes uses a unique style, language, and diction to portray his point about dreams. Does it dry up, like a raisin in the sun? †(2-3) This symbolizes a hardening, from a grape to a raisin. If a dream is destroyed it hardens the heart. It becomes useless just the like the dried up raisin. Hughes also suggests that maybe unrealized dreams are a â€Å"heavy load† which symbolizes a burden, something to heavy to bear, something that weighs a person down always. This poem is like the American Dream, if you do not pursue your dream right away it may slip away from you and eventually it will be gone. The American Dream can be fulfille d through hard word work and passion, it will not come easy.Everyone has the opportunity to grasp the chance to become successful through dreams and goals. Langston Hughes realized the importance of dreams and having those dreams torn apart. His poem, â€Å"Dream Deferred†, uses strong images to create a picture of a negative and destructive outcome for a dreamer left unable to dream. â€Å"Nothing can stop a man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude†, Thomas Jefferson. â€Å"So this is where all the dreaming takes me, to a cold, empty reality†, this is the opening line of the poem â€Å"The Dream of Reality†, by Ivy S. , Loganville.Most dreams are meant to be dreams for a reason, but no matter how unreal it may seem, anything is possible with hard work and determination. Many Americans under estimate their power they hold within themselves to accomplish goals, and assume t hey can never amount to what they â€Å"dreamt† to be. Reality strikes millions of people like a ton of bricks every day. â€Å"I’m barefoot and the streets are rough, paved with broken glass, but that’s okay, cause the land is flowing with milk and honey, bread and butter, and justice. † Life is not a promising thing, even though you may have a dream, that doesn’t mean you will fulfill them.Those who find this out quickly enough face the real, cold, harsh world. At those times, the simpler things in life have to be realized. America lets its people roam free, it gives its people food to live, and it gives it’s people protection. A lot of countries have none of these things, concluding why America has so many immigrants, because they want to experience the â€Å"American Dream†. The American Dream is a great experience, but like â€Å"The Dream of Reality†, it doesn’t always workout as people â€Å"dream† it to be . â€Å"With sleep still in my eyes, shivering, confused, I must’ve overslept, now it’s time to wake up†.Dreaming is one of the best things a person can do and everyone has to have dreams, but sometimes when you open your eyes too the real world things seem to change, either for the better or the worse. Without dreams, what can someone’s future look like? If there is no goal to shoot for, what keeps people motivated to try and achieve something each and every day? Everyone needs a dream; it’s what keeps the viscous circle of life moving. The ancient tale of â€Å"The American Dream† has been pursued by many, but only few make it all the way. Though, with hard work and etermination the possibilities are endless. America is one of the very few places that give people an opportunity for success, and when people take advantage of it, good things can happen. The novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the two poems, â€Å"Dream Defer red†, by Langston Hughes, and â€Å"American Dream of Reality†, by Ivy S. , Loganville, all portray the American dream. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are often times overlooked for fame and fortune, but when it comes down to it money doesn’t make you happy, it’s the simpler things that can bring happiness into someone’s life.

Maasranga Communication Limited

[pic] Assignment On Maasranga Communications Limited Submitted To: Maksuda Hossain Lecturer FBA Eastern University Submitted By: Name |ID | |Dewan Abdullah |101200205 | |Nadim Ali Mollah |101200208 | |Shahina Akter |101200211 | |Jahangir Sharif |101200210 | |Abrar Faisal |101200207 | SEC-4 Faculty of Business Administration Submission: 07/11/2011 [pic] [pic] Terms of Reference December 8, 2011 Maksuda Hossain Lecturer Faculty of Business Administration, Eastern University Madam, The report at your hand is on â€Å"Maasranga Communication limited†. You assign us to prepare this report as a part of the Management (MGT 201) course requirement.While preparing this report, we have tried to follow your instructions given in the class. We believe our report contains information help us to make a clear recognize about â€Å"Maasranga Communication limited†. We really enjoyed doing such a challenging report. If you have further queries regarding this paper, we gladly re main stand by whenever you ask for it. Finally, we are grateful to you for giving us a nice opportunity to work on this report, which we have considered as a great chance for us to develop our analytical skills. Sincerely yours, Dewan Abdullah †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Nadim Ali Mollah †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Abrar Faisal †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Shahina Akter †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Jahangir Sharif †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Table of contents Chapter: 1 Introductory Part Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 Objective or purpose of the study†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 6 Methodology†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6 Limitations of the study†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 6 Chapter: 2 Body of the Report Overview of the company†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 Environment of the firm†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 Major competitors of the firm†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 10 Environmental turbulence (Recent problem)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 10 Major uniqueness of the channel†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 11 SWOT analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦11 Chapter: 3 concluding Part Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 12 Findings†¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 2 Recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦12 Appendix†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 13 Maasranga Communications Limited Introductory Part Cause behind named â€Å"Maasranga† It is a sister concern of Square Group. Before that, Square had a production House that is renowned as Maasranga Production. For that, the Name of that our channel is Maasranga communication limited. It starts its operation from 30 July 2011officially. Introduction: Maasranga Television, part of the SQUARE Group, has turned to Grass Valley for a complete newsroom system, production and master control switchers, and infrastructure equipment as part of the rollout of an HDTV station in Bangladesh.It is the first High Definition (HD) TV channel in Bangladesh. At the heart of the channel is a complete digital news production system based on the Aurora production suite, with Grass Valley K2 media servers for content storage and exchange, and EDIUS editing workstations. Each of the two studios is equipped with a Grass Valley Kayak video production switcher. The central infrastructure of the new channel also relies upon Grass Valley technologies, including Maestro master control switching. Maasranga Television began test transmissions from its new center in Dhaka on Oct. 10. Maasranga TV started broadcasting on July 30, 2011 through an hour inaugural show.Maasranga TV will be the first television state that will broadcast in High Definition television, 3G format. #Achievement in these two years Maasranga TV became champions in the Pepsi-DRU Media Cup cricket tournament beating The Daily Star by 33 runs in the final at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium on 21/11/2011. Minister for Information and Cultural Affairs Abul Kalam Azad witnessed the final and distributed prizes among the teams. Objective or purpose of the study: Firstly, we like to mention that, we are preparing this report as our Teacher influenced us to do this. There are others purpose to do the report those are given below———– * To find out the problem they are facing as a new TV channel. To find out who are the competitors of the channel & who are the customers. * In this report, we are trying to focus the whole position & Activity of the channel. Meth odology: We used both primary and secondary data to prepare this report. We visit Maasranga TV channel office and there by the marketing executive provide some information. As they are new in the market and they cannot provided much information in the web site, so we cannot find huge information in the web site about them. Based on this little information we are trying to complete the report. Limitation or barriers to complete this report: We were face many problem to complete the report those are highlighting below –When we visit Maasranga TV we meet there marketing manager he give us some information but some of the information he want to provide through e-mail. We told him that it would be ok. We contract with him several times and every time he tries to convince us, that he will send the e-mail. However, he sends the e-mail six days before of submission date of the report. As the channel is new and they are very busy in maintenances (As they inform us through the e-mail) they cannot uploaded much information about their channel, so we faced trouble in finding information on the web site. Body of the Report Overview of the company (Product or Service): As the marketing executive said that, they sell duration, which they called â€Å"Time Product. Especially they receive money to telecast an advertisement. They charged money based on how long the advertisement will telecast. They charged at least 25000? -30000? for an advertisement that will telecast for thirty seconds. At the very beginning some advertisement agency were strongly disagree, they suggest them as they are new they need to decrease the price. However, when they hear that â€Å"Maasranga† is the first HD channel in Bangladesh they were ready to pay money as the channel demand for an advertisement. Environment of the firm (External & Internal): Division of the channel environment is showing below through a chart—– [pic] Discussion about the above components are given below—External Environment (General): Economics: When we try to know about their economic dimensions, they informed that it is highly confidential or top secret. They were not ready to share anything about daily expenditure, profit etc. related to economy. Technological: They are using the latest HD technology to telecast program. They use digital video camera and many other latest and high technology. Political: The ministry of information and technology has emphasized to develop the principles of telecasting our cultural values, history and the significant measures of our nation that are helpful to enlighten our image to the world itself. External Environment (Task):Competitors: As they are new in the market, so they have to compete with many channels like ATN Bangla, Channel I, Bangla Vision, Baisakhi and many other channels of Bangladesh. Customers: All aged group. â€Å"Maasranga† telecast different types of programs in different times as example they telecast car toon on every Sunday and Monday for children. Suppliers: There main suppliers are those who supplies information to them as an example they mention one name who supplies information, is â€Å"Sirius. † Regulators: This Organization is a member or part of Square group. They mention that â€Å"Square group† works as the regulators. Internal Environment: Owners: The owner of the channel is â€Å"Square group† Board of directors: |Chairman |Shamson H.Chowdhury | |Managing Director |Aanjan Chowdhury | |CEO |Syed Fahim Munaim | |Executive Director |Ajoy Kumar Kundu | Employees: Near about four hundred people are working in the channel. Major competitors of the firm: There are many satellite channels in Bangladesh; â€Å"Maasranga† is not the first one so they have many competitors, their major competitors are Bijoy TV, G TV, My TV, Mohona TV- as they are also newly launched TV channels in Bangladesh. There are many other giant competitors of â€Å"Maasrangaâ⠂¬  like ATN Bangla, Channel I, Bangla vision, Diganta TV and many more – as they are very famous TV channels in Bangladesh. Environmental turbulence: (Recent problem) 0 July 2011 the channel is started officially so they passed near five months (Until the submission date 08/12/2011) after starting, so the every single problem faced by them is â€Å"recent problem† for them. They did not mention any problem specifically. They mention that, this topic is very secret. They only talked about that, there employees working very hard to solve the entire problem. Major uniqueness of the channel: The HD technology differ them from other channels. SWOT Analysis: |Strengths |Weakness | | |New in the marked. | |Strong and experienced management. | | |Not much popular. | |First HD channel in Bangladesh. | | | |Cannot create much awareness among people. | |High quality picture. | | | |Lake of well-trained employee. | |Quality full program. | | | |Lake of information sour ce. |Telecasts programs in time. | | | |High investment to competing with the competitor. | |Took short breaks in programs. | | |Opportunities |Threats | | | | |Can be launched a new program. |Hard competition in the market. | | | |Experienced in using high technology. |Political instability in the country. | | | | |HD technology will increase their demand. |Profit will low then investment. | | | | | |Big threat for them, that they are new. | Concluding PartConclusion: By analyzing the whole report we can say that, the firm or channel are facings many problems as they are new. In addition, their main strength is that, they are using high technology. To peak up the channel they must be choosy in selecting employee, program etc. Findings: From the overall report we can find that, the main problem is awareness. Awareness among people is very important for them. To compete with the competitors they must create awareness among people. Recommendation: †¢ They must select quality full programs. †¢ They must select hard working employee. †¢ They must telecast those programs, which will acceptable for all aged people. Take part in some social work to get emotional benefits. †¢ Choose good presenter and try to telecast true news. Appendix: We provide a soft copy of the report through a CD. That will help you to judge the report. [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic][pic][pic] ———————– |Competitors | |Customers | |Suppliers | |Regulators | Task |Economics | |Technological | |Political | General |Owners | |Board of directors | |Employees | Internal External Environment ———————– 1

Creative Thinking Techniques

IRM Training – White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques Creative Thinking Techniques Derrick Brown, Director Jan Kusiak, General Manager IRM Training Pty Ltd ABN 56 007 219 589 Suite 209, 620 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne, Vic. 3004, Australia 03 9533 2300 [email  protected] com. au jan. [email  protected] com. au Introduction This extract from IRM’s training material looks at how systematic, creative thinking techniques can be used to design practical solutions to business problems. Successful designs don’t just happen.Whilst we can sometimes get ‘flashes of brilliance’, successful designs are more likely to occur as part of a systematic process. Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) The first step in developing a solution is to identify and define the problem – see the IRM paper Problem Analysis Techniques. Using the problem definition as a starting point we can appl y a number of creative thinking techniques to identify potential solutions, then further analyse and refine these to give us an optimum solution for the problem at hand.This paper discusses some of the successful creative thinking techniques used by business analysts and describes a generic model which can be used to guide the process. ________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents 1. 0 2. 0 2. 1 2. 2 3. 0 3. 1 3. 2 4. 0 4. 1 4. 2 4. 3 4. 4 5. 0 6. 0 7. 0 Successful design strategies†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 2 Design methods †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Vertical thinking †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 Creative thinking †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 4 The brain †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 Left and right brain functions †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Blocks to creativity †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6 Creative thinking techniques †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 Brainstorming †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 A bridge – process flow analogy †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ The six thinking hats †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 8 Business process re-engineering: 20 questions †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 Validation †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 10 Creative thinking – generic process model †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 Balance †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 12  © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 1 IRM Training – White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 1. 0 Successful design strategies The design strategies that we choose are crucial to a project’s success – a strategy that initially looks good but that proves to be difficult to implement is not a good strategy. Many projects fail because the strategy proves to be too ambitious and breeches the agreed constraints.Consider the 80/20 rule – often we can solve 80% of the problem with only 20% of the resources, the other 80% of the resources being needed to cater for what may be considered inconsequential factors. This initial consideration may influence all subsequent thinking. Characteristics of succe ssful designs†¦ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ meet the agreed objective(s) solve the defined problem(s) are technically feasible are developed (and operate) within constraints are capable of implementation can absorb medium term business growth are acceptable to the user community Great system. Well done! Thanks†¦ 2. 0Design methods Design is an iterative process and first designs are often thrown away. An outline design is required first, then the details should emerge progressively. Any system design method must: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ force partitioning of the problem progress from the most abstract to the more detailed concentrate on logical design first and physical design last produce a specification that can be understood by its readers There’s nothing wrong in copying ideas that are in general circulation from other businesses. Quite often an idea can be transferred across industry boundaries with great results.People make the difference. The best design teams usually have mixed backgrounds – they bring different experiences and different approaches to the problem. A team of people with IT backgrounds are likely to tackle a problem in the same way, whilst say a customer service representative may have an entirely different outlook – and this is what we need. Don’t rush through problem analysis – good problem analysis will give you a clear understanding and definition of the problem. This definition is critical when communicating potential solutions to stakeholders.  © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. rm. com. au 2 IRM Training – White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques Danger !! IT staff (and others) frequently get swamped far to quickly in the detail of technical design. Much time is then wasted when the outline changes, rendering the details irrelevant. It is an important principle to focus on the major issues first. Leave the detail until later – get t he outline design (the concepts) approved first. A good example of this is found with screen and report designs. Many analysts, designers and users can be quickly sucked into endless discussion on the best-looking, most appropriate design.Much of this discussion will focus on the physical aspects – which are irrelevant to the major issue. This is all detail and is best left to the technical design phase. If system output is the focus of the design discussion then agreement should be sought only on the output data itself, not on the method or format of output. 2. 1 Vertical thinking This tends to be easier for many of us – it is more detailed and physical. It is where many of us feel most comfortable. Vertical thinking†¦ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ is logical results in unique or few solutions is convergent is more natural for ost of us Many of our clients will also be happiest at this level – discussing the screen or report details, for example. However , be aware that we should not get into these details until we have decided in principle what design strategy to adopt. Otherwise much time and effort will be wasted in detailed discussions – only to find out later that none of it is relevant. JAD (Joint Application Development) groups often get focussed on these details – and can soak up much time in doing so. P R O B L E M S SOLUTION Vertical thinking – applicable to detailed, technical design 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 3 IRM Training – White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 2. 2 Creative thinking Most of us are not natural creative thinkers. Telling oneself and the team ‘to be creative’ does not usually yield results. Some special techniques are required to help us use our brains in a different way – to change our usual thinking process. The issue with creative thinking is that almost by definition any idea that has not already been examined is going to sound crazy. But a good solution will probably sound crazy – at first.Unfortunately, that’s why we often won’t put it forward. Creative thinking†¦ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ is imaginative generates many possible solutions is divergent is lateral S O L U T I O N S Applicable to – major company problems – business systems design – overall flow of information 3. 0 The brain In order to find ways of being consciously creative, we must first understand how the brain works. Experimentation on the brain has proved to be very difficult and it is only in the last few years, with advanced scanning technology, that science has discovered much of what we now know.Put simply, the brain consists of two hemispheres joined by a bridge of nervous tissue called the Corpus Callosum. In unusual cases, some people have been born with a split corpus callosum where the two halves of the brain are not connected. Split brain patients are excellent subjects for studying how functions are localised and in which part of the brain they are performed. This has shown that anatomical features in one half of the body are controlled by the opposite half of the brain – the brain is crossed.  © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 4 IRM Training – White PaperCreative Thinking Techniques In one experiment, a split brain subject is shown the words ‘Hat Band’. Each eye sees the whole visual field. The right visual field is processed by the left side of the brain, and the left visual field is processed by the right side of the brain. When the subject is asked what has been read, they reply ‘band’. When asked what sort of band, the subject must guess – Rubber band? Jazz band? The subject has no idea what kind of band. The conclusion is that the left side of the brain is the word processing side and of course, it is this side which reads the word ‘Band’.The right side has received t he impression of the word ‘Hat’, but, because of the cut corpus callosum, this is not transmitted to the left brain. Since the subject cannot say that they have received the impression of the word ‘Hat’, we can deduce that the right brain is not capable of word processing. This and similar experiments allow a model of the brain to be drawn showing the localisation of functions between the two halves. This model is true for right-handed people. There is less specialisation of the two halves when the subject is lefthanded. 3. Left and right brain functions It is found that in right-handed people, the left brain deals with the senses and movement of the right of the body, together with speech, reading, mathematics and analytical (logical) thinking. The right brain deals with the senses and movement of the left side of the body together with creativity, the interpretation of shape and the relationship of objects in space. This is, of course, an oversimplificati on. For example, when a person is brain damaged and loses say movement of one side of the body, the other side of the brain can often be trained to take over the missing brain functions.We can see that the left brain is the text processor and the right brain is the picture processor. Further research tells us that the logical left brain analyses new ideas generated by the creative right brain – and turns these ideas into words. Unfortunately, the left brain is found to be dominant and tends to filter out many ideas because they appear to be crazy. The reason behind this dominance of the left brain is probably rooted in our evolutionary past. Primitive man had few left brain functions and relied on right brain functions for survival.An intruder’s intentions were judged as hostile or friendly by stance and facial expression. When the left brain functions evolved, the left brain suppressed the ‘suspicious’ mistrusting right. Modern man needs to find a way of suppressing left brain activity to allow the right to express itself via the generation of ideas – even, and most importantly, the ‘crazy’ ones.  © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 5 IRM Training – White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 3. 2 Blocks to creativityWe may fear†¦ †¢ making mistakes †¢ looking foolish †¢ being criticised †¢ being alone †¢ being outcast †¢ disturbing tradition †¢ being associated with taboos We may also suffer from†¦ †¢ left brain dominance †¢ incompatible objectives †¢ hostility For these reasons we find that subconsciously we are hindered from coming up with new ideas. If asked at a meeting for ideas to solve a particular problem, most of us are unlikely to do so. We are simply afraid of looking foolish. And our logical left brains prevent the examination of the ideas, seemingly rejecting them before we consciously recognise them!We must take specia l steps to try to prevent this from happening. One way to inhibit the left brain from its dominance is to give it something to do. A right body physical movement will do nicely – like playing with a piece of blu-tack, or doodling. Perhaps you’ve found yourself doodling while listening – it may be something that you’ve found helps you to focus on ideas. Test this for yourself – read a passage from a book aloud, with an observer. Now repeat the exercise, but this time do something with your right hand, say, toss a coin repeatedly. Your reading will suffer!Your left brain has to multi-task and the word-flow is more disjointed.  © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 6 IRM Training – White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 4. 0 Creative thinking techniques Many techniques exists to stimulate creative thinking and whilst the following list is not exhaustive, the examples below can work well when solving business problems. No specia l tools are needed. 4. 1 Brainstorming The process†¦ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Organise the team, materials and scribe Appoint a chairperson State the problems we are trying to solve Restate the problem a number of times: – How to reduce time to †¦ How to speed up †¦ Inhibit the left brain Have a warm up session e. g. – Other uses for: – A gumboot – A torch – A paper clip Brainstorm the restated problems and record the ideas When the session slows down, invite the ‘wildest idea’ At the end of the session, classify all ideas then evaluate do not eliminate ideas too quickly Request assistance from management on matters of policy, don’t speculate †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ To be successful, brainstorming sessions need a good chairperson.It is vital that no discussions are allowed on any idea during the session, the idea is just recorded. The chairperson’s role is to keep the ideas coming, often fast and furious, with people striking sparks off each other. The evaluation is the hard part, but don’t strike out the crazy ones too quickly – they might just be the key to a good solution. Evaluate ideas against a checklist such as the one below: Idea 1 Does it meet the objectives Does it solve the problem Does it introduce new problems Will it fit in with current systems Can it accommodate growth Idea 2 Idea 3 Idea†¦nTry not to make the checklist too comprehensive at this stage. We want to eliminate the ideas that are clearly unworkable but retain all that are worth further consideration.  © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 7 IRM Training – White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 4. 2 A bridge – process flow analogy Solutions to bottleneck or flow problems.. A congested road bridge makes a good theme for a brainstorming session. There are many conceptual similarities between traffic and process flows.Many so lutions fall into one of the following classes: †¢ Speed up the flow †¢ Reduce the flow †¢ Divert the flow These generic solutions apply to many systems, whether traffic, production lines or information flows. We are mainly concerned with information flows and the bridge analogy often helps. Thinking about road traffic problems should also remind us to consider social, political, environmental and economic factors when creating our solutions. 4. 3 The six thinking hats Design options can generate much discussion during the evaluation process. This needs to be controlled if we are to make good use of our time.It is easy to take sides, to defend our own ideas and to attack what we may see as opposing ideas. This may not be constructive. An approach that helps to avoid confrontation and which channels our critical analysis is the ‘Six Thinking Hats’ approach (Dr Edward de Bono). Using this technique a group can evaluate an idea and can argue both the pros an d cons whilst remaining as objective as possible. A chairperson should formally facilitate the process. An individual may ‘wear’ a hat to produce a comment without any possible attached stigma – ‘wearing the black hat for a moment I don’t think that this will work†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢.The person who is always critical without being constructive has to become constructive (or lose face) when asked by the chair – ‘now let us wear the yellow hat and see what good things may result from this idea’. Caution!!! The process does need to be facilitated. Like any of these methods, it may not be useful and may even be counter-productive unless managed correctly. The hats†¦ 1. White hat – neutral – (think of white paper) Information – What do we know? What information do we want? What do we need? 2. Red hat – fire, warmth Feelings, emotion, intuition, hunches 3. Black hat – caution Legality, judgement, moral ity 4.Yellow hat – sunshine Positive, optimism, benefits 5. Green hat – growth New ideas, new slants, options, opportunities 6. Blue hat – sky Overview, control of the process, agenda, next step, action plans, conclusions  © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 8 IRM Training – White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 4. 4 Business process re-engineering: 20 questions This process works well as a design tool (and also as a problem analysis tool – see the IRM paper: Problem Analysis Techniques). The last question of each group (†¦should†¦? ) makes us consider the broader design options. The last group of questions (How†¦? encourages us to focus on the method. It’s important that the What group of questions is asked first, and the How group of questions is asked last. 1. What? †¢ †¢ †¢ What is being done? (what is being achieved) Why is it necessary? What else could be done? What else should be done? Where is it being done? Why there? Where else could it be done? Where else should it be done? When is it done? Why then? When else could it be done? When else should it be done? Who does it? Why this person/group? Who else could do it? Who else should do it? How is it done? Why this way? How else could it be done? How else should it be done? 2.Where? †¢ †¢ †¢ 3. When? †¢ †¢ †¢ 4. Who? †¢ †¢ †¢ 5. How? †¢ †¢ †¢ Use the ideas generated from the brainstorming sessions, apply the BPR 20 questions technique and re-visit the most promising.  © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 9 IRM Training – White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 5. 0 Validation Prior to commencing detailed specification, the analyst should appraise the outline design using the following checklist: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ have the objectives been met? have the problems been solved? what new problems have been introduce d? (there are always some) is the design vulnerable to change in the working environment? ill the design cater for reasonable growth? Characteristics of good ideas.. †¢ †¢ †¢ solve, or partially solve, more than one identified problem can be implemented quickly. Your client will often be attracted to a partial solution that relieves the problem, while you continue to work on the complete solution can be implemented independently. In IT we often put forward complex solutions that depend upon the successful implementation of other systems. When a problem occurs with one system there is often a domino effect of delays mesh well with overall business strategies. These will always find favour with management. an be implemented step-by-step, incremental implementation. Implement a basic solution, then implement more sophistication. In this way you offer a faster solution delivery – albeit not a complete solution – at first. Management may well be willing to wa it for the full solution, especially if the business concepts are new †¢ †¢  © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 10 IRM Training – White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 6. 0 Creative thinking – generic process model Problem Identification Problem Analysis Problem Definition Brainstorm Bridge Six Hats BPR Solution DesignsValidation Solution Hints and tips†¦ †¢ †¢ Modelling the current system (logical & physical) can aid problem understanding Chose creative techniques applicable to the problem and your team. Not all problems lend themselves to all techniques. Be flexible and willing to try a different technique or a combination of some or all of them Be open to new information – for example, facts uncovered during a brainstorming session may require you to revisit your understanding of the problem Essential modelling techniques help give an uncluttered view of the proposed solution Don’t disregard a solution just ecause it doesn’t solve the whole problem. Your final solution may be built from several ideas, each relevant to a different part of the problem †¢ †¢ †¢  © 2005-2007 IRM Training Pty Ltd www. irm. com. au 11 IRM Training – White Paper Creative Thinking Techniques 7. 0 Balance Time Time Budget All solutions are compromises. We may need to balance how many functions we automate against the time and money required to achieve this. We may weigh the merits of automating a process against the frequency (and therefore inconvenience) of doing it manually.Before these decisions can be made, we must establish the basic facts as far as is reasonable (estimating where necessary). Wherever a system design option exists, weigh up the facts, consult the client or your colleagues as appropriate and recommend or make a decision. Never be afraid to think outside the square and to seek alternative solutions, or to re-define the problem. There’s always another wa y of doing it. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955)

Definition and Meaning of Environment Assignment

Definition and Meaning of Environment - Assignment Example So the environment is the foundation for the human sustenance and growth and we need to protect it at all costs. According to ( Beggs,2012) â€Å"The regulation of practices that affect the environment has been a relatively recent development in the United States, but it is a good example of government intervention in the economy for a social purpose†. 2. Risk controls can be categorized into three types mainly; prevention, detection, and correction. In this type of risk control, there are controls to prevent the harm and loss from occurring. Like authorizing people in an organization with different tasks and having specific experts for hazard management can avoid problems. In detection, activities are monitored to identify risky behaviors and actions. In corrective type, the controls are made to restore the system or process to a normal position like as in state prior to the harmful event. Factors leading to hazard can be an unrefined authority, inappropriate hiring system, unhygienic atmosphere and unplanned management. For example, if the employee having less professional knowledge of hazard management, handling hazardous materials can bring forth a lot of mishaps, accidents, conflicts, and chaos. 3. The nine classes of hazardous material by D.O.T are 1) Explosives 2) Gases 3) Flammable and combustible liquid 4) Flammable solid, spontaneously combustible and dangerous when wet 5)Oxidizer and Organic Peroxide 6) Poison and Poison Inhalation Hazard 7)Radioactive 8)Corrosive 9) Miscellaneous. One of the news articles which research on acid has been detailed to understand its nature and hazardous effect. This article titled â€Å"Rise of Acid Ocean eats away the base of the food chain† explains the effect of acidic content in the ocean on its marine life. As per (Connor,2014 ) â€Å"Rising amounts of carbon dioxide dissolving in the ocean is causing the acid corrosion of tiny sea creatures that form the base of the marine food chain, scientists have discovered†.  Ã‚  

Research paper for drunk driving Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Research paper for drunk driving - Essay Example The paper tries a research work on the topic drunk driving. The main purpose of the work is to give people awareness about the social problem of drunk driving. The topic has got wide scope as it has become one of the serious social problems in the modern world. The work will certainly motivate people to abstain from alcohol and other drugs while driving. The paper has wider significance as it helps people ponder over the matter seriously and also helps them in taking a stand negative in attitude towards drunk driving. The paper tries to research and argue that the number of people who drive vehicles under the influence of alcohol is alarmingly on the increase. This research paper contains a cover letter and analysis of the research topic drunk driving. Special attention is paid to analyze the thesis statement, introduction, conclusion, content, and organization of the research paper under consideration Driving under the influence of alcohol and other drugs is a crime in almost all countries of the world. Now a days people mix driving with drinking. The number of people who drink while driving is on the increase. People are unaware of the adversities that mixing up of drinking and driving can bring about. There are many instances of accidents which have been caused by drunk driving. When people mix up drinking with driving the possibilities for accidents are many and rather serious. The ability to act according to the demands of the situation is inactive in a drunkard and if he or she is driving a vehicle it will certainly affect their driving. It is the main reason why drunkards tend to make most of the accidents on roads. When people drive vehicles under the influence of alcohol they fail to effectively respond to the challenging situations on roads. People lose control over their action after having consumed alcohol. Likewise drunkards lose control over their driving as well as their vehicles. This causes accidents. There

Criminological theories with the context of social policy Essay

Criminological theories with the context of social policy - Essay Example 5). Looking at the lens of criminological theories, their essential applications could be primarily seen in the creation of various social policies which are mostly grounded on the bases of effective criminological theories. According to Dr. Paul Knepper (2007), various criminological theories—which basically resulted from the instituted questions regarding crimes—have led to the institution of a diversified array of policy implications—i.e., social policy, which concerns social welfare (p. 3). Most of the different criminological theories contributed significantly to the institution of social policy which grounded on the very core of such criminological theories. In fact, there were different social policies (and policy implications) which were formed and directed to addressing the problems of crimes stipulated and made essential by the different criminological theories. Education policy, for example, has been one of the major social policies, which has significant relationship to crime reduction (p. 83). Moreover, social policy creation through the basis of criminological theories is likely to proliferate in various strata with which various policy programs are implemented prior to the assertions embedded in each criminological theory. As being holistically stipulated in the account of Eric See (2004), the variously identified criminological theories significantly have their corresponding social policies presented and implemented. Cases in point are the programs which yielded solutions and alternatives in addressing crimes grounding essentially on Choice and Deterrence theory of criminology. Choice theory stipulates that it is the very choice of an individual to engage him/herself in and commit crime. This criminal act should therefore be responsibly blamed to the individual who performed the act and not to

THE QUEST FOR FREEDOM Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

THE QUEST FOR FREEDOM - Thesis Example hand, Douglass’s narrative presents a vivid account of one of the darkest periods in American history, marked with â€Å"lawful† violence and suppression, outrageous cruelty to, and disregard for the human nature of millions of people, whose only fault was the color of their skin. On the other hand, the narrative depicts the bold quest for freedom of a man, born as a chattel, who passed through the whole spectrum of woes and humiliation one would imagine to become an â€Å"American icon† and â€Å"Representative American man† (Stauffer 201). Although Douglass’s quest for freedom was thorny and everlasting, i.e. having continued far beyond the point of achievement of physical freedom, one particular episode in it denotes the actual transformation of the slave into a free man – when a single act of resistance annihilated years of humiliation and century-long collective self-perception of inferiority. Frederick Douglass was born and grew up in slavery; being separated from his mother too early in his life – even before he knew her as his mother – he was unaware about who his father was (Douglass 9). That, in fact, was nothing unwonted in early-nineteenth-century America, especially in the South, where â€Å"the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs†, and more often than not â€Å"before the child has reached its twelfth month, its mother is taken from it and hired out on some farm a considerable distance off† (Douglass 10). It had been a common practice by that time slaveholders to have children from slave-women, which engendered the paradox of being both masters and fathers of those children; which probably was the case of Douglass’s coming into the world – â€Å"the whisper that my master was my father may or may not be true† (Douglass 11). Another common occurrence in the South, also established by the law, was that those â€Å"fathers† had the right to and did torture, as well as sell their children to other

Reflecting on whether it is in the best interests of the business Essay

Reflecting on whether it is in the best interests of the business community for there to be constraints on a government's disc - Essay Example Nevertheless, this report looks at the nature of fiscal and monetary policy and implementation may affect business specifically with regard to investment. In the end, the report postulate that there is little effect resulting from expansionary fiscal policy and that it has little effect on demand, output, and employment. Also, the report notes the important role business community should play in fiscal and monetary policy making since they constitute the largest group that get affected by these policies. Governmental Discretion over Fiscal and/or Monetary Policy Introduction Business activities are affected by different factors macro and microenvironment operation environment. While microenvironment sometimes may be within the control of the organization, macro-environment –on the other hand involves external factors that affect the business, which in turn may define the success or the failure of the organization. For example, macro-environment spans politics, economics, socia l matters, technology, legislation, and eco-environment (Elearn Limited and Pergamon Flexible Learning 2005). Political environment particularly legislative environment constitutes specific set of external business environment that business communities in any given country have been forced to adhere to. For example, monetary and fiscal policy process in any country has affected business in the positive way or negative way given the nature of the particular legislation law. Therefore, the focus of this paper will dwell on investigating and finding out whether it is in the best interests of the business community for there to be constraints on government discretion over fiscal and monetary policy. Exploring the concept of fiscal and monetary policy Both fiscal and monetary policies are seen to be interrelated and key tools to the development of many countries especially the developing one. For instance, fiscal policy constitute all measures that are adopted in order to increase the ge neral welfare through the public control of resources by means of public spending, resource mobilization and price fixation in public and semi-public enterprises (Elearn Limited and Pergamon Flexible Learning 2005). Today, fiscal policy has been embraced as a toll of development strategy when analyzed in broadest sense it can be seen that it provides a set of instruments to pursue both the best use of resources in terms of efficiency and equity and their maximum possible use in terms of employment, price stability and satisfactory rate of growth (Mukherjee 2007). Exhibiting characteristics of monetary policy, fiscal policy performs a very critical and beneficial role in the economy and analysis has shown this kind of policy performs two important roles in the economy with regard to raising financial resources for development (Mukherjee 2007). First, fiscal policy constitutes a set of mechanisms that ensure the country’s employment level is maintained at its full capacity and as such, the aggregate capacity to save does not go down (Mukherjee 2007). Secondly, it helps to raise the marginal propensity to save of the community above the average propensity to the maximum extent possible without discouraging work effort or violating the law of equity (Mukherjee 2007). Fiscal, together with monetary policy, are seen to be two

Article Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Review - Article Example Consequently, the market experiences a disequilibrium condition in terms of either surpluses or scarcities (Yetter, 2013). Given that, supply and demand assessment can be quite complex, the newsletter helps the reader to separate changes in both demand and supply from activities alongside supply and demand curves. The newsletter offers a practical meaning regarding two forms of government interventions within the markets, comprising price controls and quantity controls. One major supposition deduced from the newsletter is that government price floors tend to form surpluses, since they place prices higher than equilibrium price. As a result, the quantity of goods or service supplied surpasses quantity demanded. On the other hand, government price ceilings tend to form shortages since they institute prices lower than equilibrium, and as a result, the quantity demanded surpasses quantity supplied. However, Mishkin & Eakins (2012), observes that the semi-strong outline in efficient marke t hypothesis is the one that makes the present market prices to mirror information already present in the public domain. This is because market prices tend to adjust to any good information or bad news contained in the performance of the economy. Therefore, if a price ceiling imposed by the government becomes greater than market equilibrium price, then the price ceiling would have no effect on the economy. Nevertheless, Yetter concurs with Mishkin & Eakins that in current market economy, prices serve the duo purpose of sending signals regarding relative scarceness of both goods and services (2012). This is more so through the provision of incentives to both buyers and sellers. Therefore, there will be no supply restrictions or encouragement in demand. Both observe that the price ceiling will hold, only when the equilibrium price is higher than the price ceiling, and coupled with a shortage of the service or goods. Furthermore, the newsletter asserts that, if government makes market prices to be higher than equilibrium prices, then a surplus will follow. This is because more people will offer the services at a minimum price, compared to the number of people willing to pay for the service. Yetter argument can be observed in the current health-care market, whereby states governments, which incur most of their residents’ health-care bills, have made prices to increase (2013). Consequently, the high prices make the state governments to implement price controls, such that massive physician shortage takes place and which leads to massive queues and patients waiting lists. As such, only price caps enforced by government will only force the healthcare prices to return to liberated market rates. Therefore, the issue becomes whether government intervention will affect the demand and supply of healthcare considering the far-reaching government regulations such as Obama-care. Yetter in the newsletter observes that any increase in anticipated price will change the su pply-curve towards the right (2012). Yetter points out that in the case of airlines baggage, if government enforces a price floor due to increasing charges, then passengers will increase the number of baggage considerably, such that airlines can make available space to be relatively fixed while refusing to inspect additional baggage. Therefore, in healthcare paid by government, most people will be obliged to purchase insurance instead of buying as you go, and which

Multicultural Britain Essay Example for Free

Multicultural Britain Essay My task is to explain why people chose to immigrate to Britain, with reference to the period 1880 to the present day. Britain has been Multicultural for hundreds of years. There are the diverse cultures and languages of the people of Scotland, Wales, Ireland and England. Britains links with the commonwealth countries of the Caribbean, Anglophone Africa, Cyprus, Australia, New Zealand and the Indian subcontinent were established through trade and subsequent conquest and colonization. Around five per cent of Britains present population are from ethnic minorities. Multicultural can be a controversial term, associated with various ideas about racial and cultural identities, cultural, diversity and difference, and policies and practices in schools and local government authorities. Since ancient times people have been moving to Britain and settling there. These immigrants have all made a change to Britain as a whole. There are many reasons for immigration, some of which being wars, famine, draught, economic changes, lack of facilities, religious restraints, prejudice, discrimination or even as refugees. Since the seventeenth century Jews had lived in Britain and had soon become a vital part of British life, including the social, political and economic life of Britain. Throughout the nineteenth century a minority of Jews continued to migrate to Britain, with many Jews even being born there. However after the welcoming of 1880, the minority of Jews already living there (Anglo-Jewish) experienced a sudden flood of Jews into Britain. In 1881 the Russian Jews were held responsible for the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. Many Jews now became certain that it was time to leave and start a new life in a Western country. Many moved to Britain knowingly there was already a secure successful community of Jews there. The Jewish immigrants were condemned by some English Jews whilst others welcomed them with open arms. On the other hand the English people blamed the Jews for the overcrowding in Britain and also for making it difficult to look for jobs and work. The Jews settled in the large cities of London, Leeds and Manchester. These cities had a large population of Jews who were hoped to be supported by the Russian Jews, there was also a great opportunity of work here. However the Jews had to live in the poorer, overcrowding areas of these cities. Despite the overcrowding and poor living conditions, the house rent was high due to the shortage of housing. The rent along with lack of jobs and living conditions were all causes of racism and injustice against the Jews. However most Jews lived in the poorer areas, as this was all they could afford. Some wealthy Jews took action and built blocks of flats. Due to the immigration of the Jews, before 1881 British inhabitants expanded at a rate of 4% per year, after 1881 the population increased 10% every year. However the Jews that had come all settled in the East end, thus making this area concentrated with the number of Jews. This worried some of the Anglo-Jewish community for many reasons. It made the Jews very visible; the Jewish people already living in England were disturbed regarding the influence that so many Jews would have on the good interaction built up by the Jews already living in England with the English people. The Jews were already very different in their traditions, etiquettes and political affairs than that of the British Jews. Soon the Jews became news. The type of work the Jews chose to do in tailoring and footwear they chose to do it with Jews who could speak Yiddish (a Jewish language), and who understood their religious needs. The work they chose relied on their existing skills or involved skills that could be learned quickly and had a number of simple recurring procedures. All the work could be done in small grounds, such as houses, cellars e.t.c. The work was done by a small number of people. The situation in such work areas was objectionable. Work hours could also be varied according to the religious calendar. The Jews entered England at a time of rising redundancy and therefore were held responsible by the legislator of challenging with the English taking into account the few jobs which were obtainable. The idea of the immigrant Jews and sweating (the practice of overworking and underpaying workers in cramped, ill-lit and unhealthy conditions), became associated in the minds of many English people. The people of England had many views of the Jews. A negative impression of the Jewish immigrants is that they caused overcrowding, working in unhygienic conditions and breathing an atmosphere of wool particles containing dangerous dyes. The flush was also so outlandish to the laypeople that they had not yet learnt how to pull the chain so as to wash out and clear the toilet. However a positive impression is gained by other inhabitants that they soon became successful and praised them of their intelligence. Most British people commiserated with the Jews but because of the numbers and celebrity of Russian Jewish immigrants, the attitude of people to the Jewish immigrants began to revolutionize. The alien question, soon became the subject in the British politics. The Alien question was of three parts being that some individuals sensed that a law was essential to determine who could colonize in Britain, The aliens became a factor to the sweating matter, and some also reasoned that it was the aliens who pushed up the rents of houses. Soon later a pressure group, the British Brothers league was structured, which was to confine alien immigrants. With all these pressures the Conservative Government allotted a Royal Commission on Alien immigration. A new law was soon primed on the Royal Commissions work. The Bill of 1904 would eliminate as undesirable, persons of extremely bad character, or without perceptible means of support or likely to become a public charge. However the shipping companies who transported the immigrants also promoted the Government to gain their support and the liberals also strongly opposed this bill being passed. Due to such opposition the bill was withdrawn. However the Conservatives that the new law would promote voters especially at a time when the next general election was in a years time, so the Aliens Bill was put back into the Parliament in 1905, and this time the Liberals also never stood in its way as they knew a new law be popular. On 10 August 1905 the bill became law, however if the immigrant is seeking admission to avoid prosecution or punishment on religious or political grounds, permission to enter shall not be refused on the ground that he does not have enough money or will be a burden on others. An extract from the Aliens Act (1905) The conservatives lost the election in 1906, and so the Liberal Home Secretaries operated the law. To start with many immigrants were sent back as they failed to state things which would grant them entry, therefore the number of Jews coming to Britain fell until 1909. However after 1909 the figure of immigrants returned back to the normal figure of 5000 a year. Many Jews welcomed the act or refused to condemn it. The Jews who had just immigrated t6o the East End of London reacted in much the same way as they feared overcrowding and competition of work. The Anglo-Jewish community had stated that the Jews settling in one place would bring attention to their dress, language and manner. They also warned that in fifteen years time the progeny of todays refugees would be the great bulk of Englands population, and therefore bring shame to the community. To deal with this prospect the education of the children of the Immigrated Jews was encouraged. The leaders of the Jewish community were very anxious and supportive in the fist world war. In the last ten years of the nineteenth century a new movement was put into action called Zionism, this was in favour to gain a Jewish homeland. The favoured place for this was in the ancestral Jewish home, Palestine. However the Anglo-Jewish community opposed the idea of a homeland as they never wanted all their relationships with the British to be gone down the drain. They wanted to be seen as a community loyal to the British and religious not as a people without a homeland. In 1917 the British army invaded Palestine which was then under Turkish rule. The British government issued a statement that broadly supported the creation of a homeland. At t6he same time the British issued another statement which promised the Arabs inde3pendence from the Turks. This was to win the support of the Jews in America and to involve America in the war. Empty promises were also made to the Arabs to involve them in the war too on Britains side. From 1914, the anti-German hysteria that swept the country did not distinguish between Jew and German. Criticism to the Jewish immigrants centred on how many of the new immigrants joined up to fight. The Anglo-Jewish wanted to fight for their new country. Press reports of Russian Jews moving from London to the countryside to avoid the Zeppelin raids added to prejudice towards the Jews. The Balfour Declaration brought attention to Zionism in Britain which made people believe that the Jews were ungrateful to their adapted country Britain. The Russian Revolution also helped form the views of the British against the Jewish immigrants and were portrayed by the newspaper as communists. The Aliens Restrictions Act was passed in 1914 which as a result had a huge influence on Jewish immigrants. Zionism was too now weakened whilst prejudice against the Jews increased. Using the powers of 1919 almost all the poor working-class immigrants went to decline. In the 1920s many Jews had now gained a higher position within the British society and were a more prosperous community. Due to this prosperity the Jews now started to move out of the East end of London. As Britain saw the beginning of the Depression years one Labour Politician was Sir Oswald Mosley. He resigned from Labour in 1930 as many of his ideas of how to solve the problem of unemployment were rejected. He set up his own new party in 1931 known as the New Party. Mosley, in 1932 created the British Union Fascists (BUF). Mosley saw the socialists and the communists as a danger. Mosley also enjoyed support from the Daily Mirror owner, Lord Rothermere, through which he made sure that it reported favourably of the BUF. In the beginning the BUF were not anti-Semitic, but later in 1934 the BUF policy changed and now Jewish people were no longer allowed to be members of the BUF. Throughout the year 1934 Jewish people were attacked and provoked. The Jews were all advised not to do anything against the law thus not to be seen as lawbreakers. On 4 October 1936 the BUF planned a march through the East End of London and planned to listen to Mosley speak at intervals. Jewish Trade Unionists and communists arranged a blockade to the march with barricades. As a result the BUF had to abandon the march from the Tower of London to Victoria Park in Hackney. Immediately after the event of Cable Street, support for the BUF grew. However in the long term the BUF were in decline. Mosleys attempts to try and stir up violence towards the Jews were much criticised. The Government tried to stop this by passing the Incitement to Disaffection Act in November 1934 and a new public Order Act in 1936 which affected the holding of marches. However the BUF did not win any local or general election seats and as a result Mosley was imprisoned from 1940 to 1943. The event of Cable Street showed that there were divisions among the Jews themselves as thousands of working-class Jews rejected the calls of their leaders to stay off the streets. This event also proved that extreme parties were also a threat to law and order, and as a result was acted quickly to in order to stop their influence. In 1945 when the Second World War ended, Europe had changed. Millions of people had lost their homes etc. Towns and cities were devastated. Countries in Eastern Europe were taken over by the communist government with very different ideas about equality and freedom to those governments in the West. Many people in Eastern Europe did not want to live under a communist government. As a result of these wars millions of people became refugees. Many people were already in Britain when the war ended. After Hitler invaded Poland many Poles left Poland and many came to Britain, and some came to Britain only to fight against Germany. When Poland became communist in 1945, many of the Poles decided to stay in Britain. Some of the refugees from Europe came to Britain in search of a new life and were welcomed by the British as Britain needed to be re-built after the devastation of the war. Large numbers of workers were needed especially in mining, engineering, agriculture, transport and building. This was due to many British men and women being killed, injured etc. During the war many women were encouraged to work but after were encouraged to stay at home. This meant that more workers were needed to replace them. Britain was made worse by many British people moving to the Old Common Wealth countries. During the Second World War the British Empire was very important in the war, as these people had raw materials, people industries etc. After the Second World War, these people from British colonies were encouraged to come to settle in Britain. This was because Britains post war labour shortage could not be solved by refugees alone. British companies advertised in the New Commonwealth Countries for workers. All citizens of the British colonies were given the right to settle in Britain. Almost one quarter of the worlds population was allowed to settle in Britain due to its great empire. In 1948 the British Nationality Act was passed which gave citizens of the British colonies and of the commonwealth equal rights of citizenship in Britain as those people who had been born and bread in Britain. After the second World War many Caribbeans emigrated to Britain. This was partly because they had fought for this country and others were just curious to see the land they had fought for. At first immigration from the Caribbean to Britain was slow but soon after a hurricane in Jamaica in 1951 immigration increased. Another cause of the rise in immigration was that the USA had set strict rules on immigration from the Caribbean and so people who wanted to migrate had to look for other options of where to migrate to. Many people who lived in cities were well paid and did not want to do jobs like cleaning etc and so immigrants from the colonies were encouraged to do this type of work. Many West Indians were welcomed as nurses and the Caribbeans settled in Britain and so the later arrivals were mainly wives, children and parents of those people who had settled in Britain. Britain was portrayed to these people who migrated to Britain as being the mother-country, kind, caring and powerful. Upon migrating, many of these people were surprised to see the amount of filth and dirt in Britain. Britain was not as wealthy as they had expected. However people who had come to Britain to fight in the Second World War were welcomed warm heartedly, but on the other hand when these people returned to Britain due to labour shortages, the treatment they received was completely contradictory to what they had received at the Second World War. When Queen Victoria came to throne, Britain had the smallest empire with the least territory. Queen Victorias death however, left behind a greater territory approximately ruling 500 million people. British ideas were of being superior to any other race, thus inferior. Britain used adverts to target many people and to spread its ideas of unity and loyalty to the people of Britain. Between 1945 and 1968, important changes were made to who had the right of citizenship in Britain. The rights of citizenship had been restricted by 1968. The changes happened partly because of racist attitudes and partly due to changing economic changes. Since the Second World War the pattern of migration into and out of Britain has changed. This has been due to changes in the law, wars, abuses of human rights, poverty, famine, and the formation of the European Union. Since 1990 the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in Britain have also changed and become a controversial political issue. There was less immigration after the Second World War of the British citizenships had been born in the colonies of commonwealth. The British Nationality Act and the immigration Laws made it difficult to enter Britain. However immigration from the European Union was allowed however immigration from poor undeveloped countries such as the Caribbean were not allowed to set work permits in Britain. Overtime people had come to Britain as refugees and also left in search of refuge such as the Jews. Nevertheless, people have migrated to Britain due top wars in their own countries leaving millions of people homeless, in search of jobs, famine in their homelands, in search of a better life, education, medication, for marriage purposes, persecution in their country and some have also come to Britain as refugees and even as asylum seekers. In conclusion, the reasons for the entry of millions of people into Britain during the years from 1880 to the recent day are extremely complicated, revolving around a complex of economic, political. Short term, underlying and personal push and pull factors. The immigration of any individual minority includes a set of factors peculiar to itself. In some cases, such as the mid-nineteenth century, Irish push factors played an overwhelming role, as the famine literally forced the people off the land. However the geographical proximity of Britain and the open door policy towards immigration played a fundamental role in attracting the Irish. The potato crop failed completely and one million Irish died of disease starvation. As a result about 200,000 people emigrated, about half of them to Britain. Between 1870 and 1914 over 200,000 Jewish people arrived in Britain. Most of these Jews lived in East London where living conditions were bad. It was easy for them to fin d work (for untrained people e.g. clothing and furniture) but were low paid and worked long hours. Yet many Jews visited the synagogue and were free to practice their religion. The entry of immigrants to Britain did not happen steadily but in waves. Some periods had more immigrants flooding into Britain than others. The media have recognised that Britain has become a multi society and presents some positive images of Blacks and Asians. People of Asian origin have become the most successful businessmen in Britain. In short, there have been both continuities and new developments in the history of immigrant minorities in Britain before and after 1945. Because of the more complete documentation after 1945, we can form a fuller picture of the contemporary situation. However, we can make the following assertions for the whole course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. First, Britain has witnessed for a complex of reasons, the constant entry of a wide variety of immigrants, who have played an important role in the development of the economy. Second, these groups have varied in size, social composition, and gender make-up, but they are part of British capitalist class society, not distinct from it. Finally, ethnicity has developed to a great extent, especially amongst larger minorities. However, as a different view, in conclusion, I also say that social scientists have found it very difficult to explain one of the most popular methods of explanation is to use a push pull model which distinguishes between the push of economic necessity in the migrants home society and the pull of opportunity from abroad. The difficulty with this approach is that it obscures the inherent complexity of population movements and, as some critics have pointed out, it often treats the subjects as if they were automatons reacting to forces beyond their control. Ceri Peach, in his study of West Indian migration to Britain (1968), warns against relying too much on push determinism. The movements he describes did not take place during periods of economic depression in the Caribbean and they were not correlated to high rates of population growth. Peach concludes that there is strong evidence for the view that (West Indian) migration was reacting not to internal conditions, but to a sing external stimulus namely the demand for labour in Britain (1968:93). This conclusion might be satisfactory if one wishes to leave the analysis of the highest levels of abstraction, but the migrants themselves rarely accept generalisations of this nature. Furthermore, other Historians have clearly demonstrated that it is impossible to categorise all of the relevant factors as either push or pull.

Influence of Cannabis Abuse Variables on Psychotic Symptoms

Influence of Cannabis Abuse Variables on Psychotic Symptoms Influence of variables of cannabis abuse on psychotic symptoms and their severity: an Indian experience Abstract: Context: Cannabis is probably the most commonly used illicit drug. While not all cannabis users present mental health problems, heavy cannabis use may increase the risk of cognitive abnormalities, psychotic illness, and mood disorders. Cannabis-induced psychosis is not easily distinguishable from schizophrenic symptomatology, although it is characterized by more bizarre behaviour, violence, panic, more agitation, and less blunting of affect, and incoherent speech. Aims: To evaluate severity of various psychotic symptoms in relation to variables of cannabis abuse. Settings and Design: A cross sectional study of 30 male patients admitted at tertiary psychiatric centre, with diagnosis of cannabis induced psychosis was carried out. Methods and Material: Cannabis abuse variables along with psychotic symptoms severity on BPRS scale was obtained. Statistical analysis used: SPSS-17 was used for analysis, and significance level was at p-value Results: The symptoms that were associated with increased severity in majority of patients were hostility (83%), excitement (77%), and elevated mood, grandiosity, suspiciousness and motor hyperactivity were preset in more than 60% of individuals in range of severe to very severe form. Conclusions: Patients with long duration and early onset of cannabis abuse were presented with more severe form of psychosis. Frequency of cannabis use was not significantly correlated with total BPRS score, although amount spent over cannabis was significantly associated with total BPRS score. Family history of cannabis abuse predicted early onset of cannabis abuse. Introduction Cannabis is probably most commonly used illicit drug. [1,2] It is widely used in India and is an integral part of Indian culture and religious customs.[3,4] The correlation between cannabis and negative mental health outcomes has been unequivocally established [1,5,6,7,12]. While not all cannabis users present mental health problems, [5] epidemiological studies suggest that heavy cannabis use during adolescence may increase the risk of cognitive abnormalities and psychotic disorders.[1,8-10] Use of cannabis at early age and high frequency are associated with a greater risk of problems [5,7,11]. Arendt et al. consider that this cannabis-induced psychosis is an early expression of schizophrenia in vulnerable individuals rather than part of the differential diagnosis [12]. Moore’s review reported a 40% higher risk of psychosis in subjects who occasionally used cannabis and a probability of 50% to 200% higher in regular cannabis users [13]. Swedish Conscripts Study (Andreasson et al.) of inductees into the military reported a risk for schizophrenia 2.4 times higher among those who had used cannabis by 18 years than among non-users [14,24]. This cannabis-induced psychosis is not easily distinguishable from Schizophrenic symptomatology, [15,19] although it has been characterized by more bizarre behavior, violence, panic, more hypomanic symptoms and agitation, and fewer hallucinations and less blunting of affect and incoherent speech.[20,21] Need of the current study Studies have found cannabis associated psychosis a constellation of affective symptoms (euphoria, increased psychomotor activity), [16,17,18] whereas others have found similarity with schizophrenic symptomology of social withdrawal, thought disorder and disorganized behavior [19,22] so there is immense need to define the presenting features of this disorder in Indian population. Additionally phenomenology of the cannabis use disorder need to be explored to clearly define, identify and manage this population. Despite widespread use of cannabis there is lack of research data from most part of the world including India. Aims and objectives: Based on the existing literature we formulated following hypothesis that â€Å"Patients with cannabis associated psychosis have different symptom profile than other common psychiatric disorders, relating to variables of cannabis abuse e.g. dose, frequency, duration†. To test the hypothesis following objectives were formulated To assess variables of cannabis abuse in patients with cannabis associated psychosis. To explore the relationship between variables of cannabis abuse, and individual symptom profile and total BPRS score. Subjects and Methods: Patients in whom there was temporal association of cannabis use with onset of psychotic illness were included in the study. The study included 30 consequentially admitted, Hindi speaking patients of 18-50 years of age at tertiary psychiatric centre in north India from March 2011 to July 2011. Patients with mental retardation, a significant medical condition compromising ability to participate, history of head injury with any documented cognitive sequele, and inability to provide informed consent were excluded from study. Patients having history of psychiatric illness prior to onset of cannabis abuse, predominant abuse/dependence of other psychoactive substance and having any other significant medical illness were also excluded from study. Study design: A cross sectional study of subjects who satisfied the inclusion criteria was carried out. After recording socio demographic data, each participant in the study was subjected to questionnaire regarding his cannabis abuse and brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS). To measure the quantity of cannabis intake by individual indirect measure in form of average amount (INR) spent daily was inquired. The age of onset, duration of abuse, and cause of onset- accidental, casual, peer group and offer by elder family members were recorded. The history of cannabis abuse as well as psychiatric illness in other family members was inquired. Results: Majority of the participants were young male adults of the rural background. About 47 % (n-14) of them were unmarried and 60 % (n-18) were belonged to joint family. All the study participants were formally educated and at least one family member of about 43% (n-13) of participants had history of cannabis abuse. As it has been shown in table 2 majority of the study participants were abusing cannabis for more than 10 years with mean duration of cannabis abuse 14.2 years. 50 % of the individuals experienced first cannabis intake before age of 13 years with average onset of cannabis use 14.5 years. Majority of the participants (66%) were daily cannabis abusers. More than 2/3 rd of the subjects was spending Rs. 15 per day on average over the cannabis. Onset of cannabis was occurred mostly due to influence of peer group (n-21). The symptoms that were associated with increased severity in majority of patients were hostility 25 (83%), excitement 23 (77%), and elevated mood, grandiosity, suspiciousness, distractibility and motor hyperactivity in more than 60% of individuals. Other symptoms that were present in severe to very severe form in more than half individuals were hallucinations, unusual thought content, uncooperativeness, and self neglect. Suicidability and tension was absent in 28(93%) of p atients, depression and motor retardation was absent in 25(83%) of participants, guilt was absent in 70% of patients and blunted affect, conceptual disorganization and emotional withdrawal were completely absent in >60% of individual patients. Correlation with duration of cannabis abuse Long duration of abuse was negatively correlated with depression and hostility but other symptoms like suspiciousness, hallucinations, unusual thought content were positively correlated. Duration of cannabis abuse was significantly associated with total BPRS score (p-0.002). Patients with long duration of cannabis were presented with more severe form of psychosis than patients with short duration of cannabis abuse. Correlation with Age of onset of cannabis abuse Older age of onset of cannabis use was significantly associated with depression (p Correlation with frequency of cannabis abuse Frequency of cannabis abuse was significantly associated with self neglect (p-0.007) and tension (p Correlation with amount spent over cannabis The amount spent over cannabis was significantly correlated with anxiety (p-0.030), hallucinations (p-0.001), bizarre behavior (p Discussion: This study was aimed at determining clinical symptoms in relation to variables of cannabis abuse. All subjects were male. This could be attributable to low levels of substance use among females in general and cannabis in particular. Age range was wide and may be due to variation in genetic vulnerability to psychosis, dose of cannabis and duration of illness leading to variable age at presentation. Positive symptoms (motor hyperactivity, excitement, hostility, elevated mood, suspiciousness, grandiosity) were found at higher frequency than negative symptoms (blunted effect, emotional withdrawal and motor retardation). Hallucinations were present in only half of the participants. Other symptoms of the psychosis like conceptual disorganization and catatonic symptoms were absent. Our result was in support of Vani Kulhali and colleagues [23] finding that patients with cannabis associated psychosis had high positive scores (>5) on respective BPRS items were hostility 25 (83%), excitement 23 (77%), and motor hyperactivity, elevated mood, grandiosity, suspiciousness, distractibility in more than 60% of individuals. The least common symptoms were suicidability and tension 2 (6), depression and motor retardation 5 (15%), guilt was present in 30% of patients and blunted affect, conceptual disorganization and emotional withdrawal were completely absent in >60% of individuals. Most studies have reported that cannabis produces psychosis with prominent positive symptoms [16,1718]. Our findings are in keeping with these studies. Scores on BPRS reflected both the total intensity and the profile of psychopathology. Thus our findings largely confirm that reports of other authors that cannabis produces a psychosis with predominantly affective features and more of positive symptoms. Family history of drug disorders is regarded as risk factor for substance use including cannabis, whether it also results in increased vulnerability to cannabis psychosis is not clear. Conclusions The implication of this study is that cannabis contributes in causing and modifying psychosis. Several noteworthy findings emerged from this heterogeneous sample of cannabis associated psychosis. First the severity of psychotic episode was significantly associated with younger age of onset of cannabis abuse and increased spending was associated with more severe psychotic episode. Second family history of psychosis was not associated with increased severity of cannabis abuse, although family history of psychosis predicted more severe excitement, elevated mood and grandiosity and early onset of cannabis abuse. Limitations of the study As this was a cross sectional study and cannabis variables were obtained from interview possibility of â€Å"recall bias† can`t be ruled out. It was not possible to measure the amount of cannabis in unit time. Proxy used to represent this variable may not be representative of active ingredient of delta- 9THC. We have to rely on the subjects `self- report` of not using any other substances and were unable to objectively verify this report. Thus, the possibility that some symptoms were related to abstinence from other drugs cannot be completely excluded. Wide age range could be a drawback of study since homogeneity in duration of illness and amount of cannabis abuse could not be ensured.

Electroconvulsive Therapy for Severe Depression: Evaluation

Electroconvulsive Therapy for Severe Depression: Evaluation Can electroconvulsive therapy make a meaningful contribution in the treatment of Severe depressive illness? The work of mental health nurses. Contents Abstract Introduction Methodology of the review Critical Review of the literature The place of electroconvulsive therapy in the therapeutic armamentarium The place of electroconvulsive therapy in relapse prevention Mechanism of action Preference of site of stimulation Side effects of treatment Discussion Conclusions Appendix References Abstract This dissertation seeks to explore the evidence base for electroconvulsive therapy. It does so by considering the historical background to the procedure and its evolution to the present. It considers the professional and legislative guidelines which govern its use and contrasts the regulations in the UK with those in other cultures, notably the USA. In order to assist the exploration, the literature review is subdivided into five sections, each exploring a different area of interest. Electroconvulsive therapy is placed within a therapeutic spectrum of treatment for patients with major depressive illness and psychosis and is compared with other modalities of treatment. Its use in both acute treatment and its role in disease prevention and relapse is discussed. Current hypotheses of its possible mode of action are explored, and conclusions drawn about the strength of the evidence base in this area. There appears to be considerable discussion about the site of optimal stimulation for electroconvulsive therapy. This area is discussed in depth with a critical analysis of the studies which inform the evidence base in this area. The literature review concludes with an examination of the various side effects of the treatment. There is an element of discussion of the evidence and conclusions are drawn from the evidence extrapolated and presented. The whole dissertation is fully referenced. Introduction Electroconvulsive therapy was introduced into clinical practice in the late 1930s and rapidly gained a place in the standard treatment of major depressive illness. It was originated by the Hungarian, Dr Meduna, who mistakenly believed that schizophrenia and epilepsy were mutually exclusive conditions. He argued that epilepsy was never seen in schitzophrenic patients and therefore artificially inducing fits (epilepsy) in patients would cure schizophrenia. (Mowbray R M 1959). The effects on schitzophrenia were soon recognised to be minor and the most marked effect appeared to be in the patients with major depressive illness. The advent of effective classes of antidepressant, antipsychotic and mood stabilising drugs has seen a marked decline in the use of electroconvulsive therapy, but recent figures suggest that it is still used in over 10,000 cases per year in the UK (ECT Survey 2003). Currently the main use of electroconvulsive therapy is in major depressive illness although it also is considered still to have a place in the treatment of schizophrenia and some other mood disorders (UK ECT 2003), psychosis (Corrible E et al. 2004), and overt suicidal intent (Kellner C H et al. 2005). The Mental Health Act of 1983 allowed Psychiatrists to give electroconvulsive therapy to inpatients without consent if they were sectioned. This should be contrasted to the situation after the 1959 Mental Health Act, where psychiatrists had no clear guidance and a number of litigation cases forced a change in legislation. (Duffett R et al. 1998) The procedure itself involves anaesthetising the patient with a general anaesthetic and a muscle relaxant and the a small, brief pulse current (typically about 800 milliamperes) is passed between two electrodes applied directly to the scalp. This generates a seizure and there are a number of demonstrable biochemical changes in the brain after the event. (Nobler M S et al. 2001) Electroconvulsive therapy is usually given as a course over several weeks. The evidence base for length of time of treatment is not strong and appears to vary considerably between authorities. (Lisanby S H 2007) In 2003 NICE investigated the evidence base for electroconvulsive therapy and issued guidelines which suggested that it should only be used only to achieve rapid and short-term improvement of severe symptoms after an adequate trial of treatment options has proven ineffective and/or when the condition is considered to be potentially life-threatening in individuals with severe depressive illness, catatonia or a prolonged manic episode. (NICE 2003) One of the most extensive recent reviews on electroconvulsive therapy concluded that it had been demonstrated to be effective short term treatment for depressive illness in otherwise healthy adults. Many studies were cited and had shown it to have a greater effect than drug treatment. The authors noted shortcomings in many of the trials cited, especially in areas such as drug resistant depressive illness where electroconvulsive therapy is believed to be particularly helpful. (UK ECT Review Group 2003) One of the major side effects of electroconvulsive therapy is short and long term memory loss cited in many trials and studies (viz Gupta N 2001) Methodology of the review Cormack suggests that â€Å"Ultimately all good research is guided by and founded on a critical review of all of the relevant literature published on the subject.† (Cormack, D. 2000). It is therefore important not only to define what is currently believed about a subject, but also to place this in a historical context. This is particularly important in the field of electroconvulsive therapy, as the introduction to this dissertation has suggested, with great fluctuations in both understanding and application of this type of therapy over the years. One of the prime reasons for conducting a literature review is to establish the current evidence base for a particular subject. A critical review of the literature must be preceded by a careful literature search. It is often believed that searching the literature is a linear or â€Å"single episode† process. Current thinking suggests that this is seldom an optimal strategy. Bowling advises that a good literature review is â€Å"primarily a cyclical recursive process that mirrors the thinking and research process, where the discovery of new information results in new ideas, new knowledge and possibly new understanding. Once an overview, or initial opinion has been formed, it then becomes possible to revisit the initial reviews from a more informed perspective which, in turn, allows for a more perceptive interpretation of the data. (Bowling A 2002). The methodology used in this particular review was to allow for an initial period of reflection on the subject matter and to consult a small number of reference books to achieve an overview of the area. (Taylor, E. 2000). References were noted and some followed up in order to ascertain the main themes of the review. Once these were established, then methodical searches of a number of databases were carried out utilising the facilities of the local University library, the Post-graduate library (Client to personalise here) and a number of on-line search engines and literary sources including Cochrane, Cinhal, Ovid, BMJ and Lancet archives, Royal College of Psychiatrists archive and various NICE publications. Papers were accessed in both hard back and electronic forms. (Fink A 1998) Search terms included electroconvulsive therapy; evidence base; evolution; history; schizophrenia; psychosis; major depressive illness; mental health nurse; antidepressant drugs; Mental Health Act; psychiatrist. These terms were used in various combinations to sift papers with varying degrees of relevance to the topic under consideration. (Carr LT 1994) Inclusion criteria were papers less than 10 years old (unless there were specific reasons for older paper inclusion). UK sources were preferred to other ones. It should be noted that a substantial proportion of the body of literature on the subject of electroconvulsive therapy is American based. A number of authorities have suggested that this may be because the USA currently uses electroconvulsive therapy more frequently than the UK and therefore has a greater experience with it. Papers were only considered from peer reviewed sources unless making a historical point. (Bell J 1999). Each paper considered was then ranked according to its evidential value (See Appendix 1) and the highest value paper was presented for each point to be made. Critical Review of the literature The place of electroconvulsive therapy in the therapeutic armamentarium A good place to start this literature review is with the Olfsen paper. (Olfson M et al. 1998). This is an authoritative overview of the place of electroconvulsive therapy in the treatment spectrum. It has to be noted that this paper is already 10 years old and reflects clinical patterns of usage in the USA. The reason that this paper is selected for discussion is primarily on the vast size of its study cohort, which is 6.5 million patient contacts (249,600 with a diagnosis of depressive illness) spread over mainland USA. Critical analysis of the paper suggests that the authors reveal their viewpoint in the first few sentences of the paper and therefore the opinion part of the review must be understood on the basis that the authors consider electroconvulsive therapy a â€Å"safe and effective treatment for patients with all subtypes of major depression† citing the authority of the APA for this statement (APA 1997) The paper suggests that there is a strong evidence base to confirm that electroconvulsive therapy is at least as effective as antidepressant drugs pharmaceuticals for the treatment of major depressive illness. (Weiner R D 2004) The authors make the point that despite this general belief, electroconvulsive therapy is not as widely used as it should be due to three major misconceptions namely public concern about the safety of the procedure, reactive regulations and guidelines and the belief that it is not cost-effective. They then set about addressing each of these concerns Rather worryingly, the authors cite evidence of safety with the unqualified comment that â€Å"None of the depressed patients who received ECT died during the hospitalisation. In contrast, 30 (0.14%) of the depressed patients who did not receive ECT died in the hospital. (Schulz K F et al. 1995) Although this may well be the case, it is entirely possible that patients who were ill with other comorbidities (and therefore at greater risk of death) were not offered electroconvulsive therapy, as it required a general anaesthetic. One cannot jump to the implied conclusion that these figures suggest that electroconvulsive therapy is therefore intrinsically safe. (Mohammed, D et al. 2003) The authors draw a number of conclusions, perhaps the most significant of which is that current practice tends to reserve electroconvulsive therapy for the elderly, and those with comorbidities such as schizophrenia, dementia, and general medical (nonpsychiatric) disorders. They also comment that prompt use of electroconvulsive therapy is associated with shorter in patient stays and, by definition, more rapid resolution of the depressive state. Despite these findings, there is a large body of literature documenting the fact that many patients with major depressive illness remain largely unresponsive to therapeutic intervention. With this in mind one should consider the contribution of the Spanish research group under Gonzalez-Pinto who published a trial of a small group of patients (13) who had proved resistant to both venlafaxine and electroconvulsive therapy separately but who responded to both measures when used in a combined fashion. (Gonzalez-Pinto A et al. 2002). This was a non-randomised non-controlled trial and therefore constitutes evidence value at level III. Curiously the response was not proportional to the dose of venlafaxine used. The authors however, report the rather worrying side effect of asystole in 3 of the 13 patients immediately after the electroconvulsive therapy. A number of authorities suggest that there is a definite place for electroconvulsive therapy in the severely depressed patient who is a suicidal risk. The Kellner paper addresses this suggestion directly. (Kellner C H et al. 2005). Suicide remains one of the major associations of major depressive illness and carries a 15% lifetime risk for any patient who has been hospitalised with the same. (Bostwick J M et al. 2000) with symptoms such as profound hopelessness, hypochondriacal ruminations or delusions, and thoughts of suicide or self-harm during depression predict future suicide. (Schneider B et al. 2001). The Kellner study was a randomised crossover comparative follow-up trial making it evidence value of level 1b. There are a great many result strands from this study, but if one specifically considers the suicidal elements, then one can state that the study showed that of the 444 patients enrolled in the trial as having major depressive illness, 26% had suicidal ideation at a level of 3 or greater on the Hamilton rating scale (the measurement tool used in the trial) and 3% achieving a score of 4 (actual suicidal attempt). This group had a reduction of their scores to 0 in over 80% within the two week course of the electroconvulsive therapy. It was also reported that in the group who scored 4, 100% dropped to 0 by the end of the treatment. Despite there impressive figures for short term remission, one would have to note that the trial did not have any significant long term follow-up and there is no information on the rate of relapse after the initial treatment. (Rosenthal R. 1994). The authors state that they were aware of two successful suicide attempts which occurred whilst the trial was running (but after these patients had completed their treatment. The authors suggest that electroconvulsive therapy should be used early in the treatment regime once a diagnosis of suicidal risk has been made. To provide a balanced argument on the place of electroconvulsive therapy in the spectrum of treatment, one can consider the recent paper by Eranti (Eranti S et al. 2007) who tested out the hypothesis that has recently been published, that Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is as effective as electroconvulsive therapy but does not have the same side effect profile that restricts the use of electroconvulsive therapy in some patients. (viz. Gershon A A et al. 2003 and Loo C K et al. 2005) This trial was a randomised, blinded comparative trial with a substantial entry cohort (260 patients) being followed up for 6 months after treatment giving it a level 1b significance. (Clifford C 1997). There were a number of possible outcome measures studied but, of relevance to our considerations in this dissertation, one can state that the authors found that Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) was not as effective as electroconvulsive therapy in the treatment of depressive illness both at the end of the treatment period and at the end of the 6 month study. The authors were able to comment however, that the rTMS was virtually free of demonstrable side effects. The place of electroconvulsive therapy in relapse prevention It is fair to comment that a brief examination of the literature shows virtually no good quality published material on this topic with the studies that have been done comprising individual case reports (viz Kramer B A 1990), naturalistic studies and small studies of retrospective cases (viz. Schwarz T et al. 1995), none of which have any control element and all of which are evidence level IV at best. A notable exception is Keller et al. who made a large UK based study of relapse prevention in major depressive illness with a randomised controlled trial over a seven year period involving over 500 patients. (Kellner C H et al. 2006). The trial is a level 1b evidence level trial and is of a particularly robust structure with great efforts made to achieve standardisation. (Denscombe, M 2002). The structure is a direct comparison between electroconvulsive therapy and a standard pharmacological regime (lithium carbonate plus nortriptyline hydrochloride). Both were given as a therapeutic course (the medication over a six month period) and the patients were followed up with DSM-IV assessments to determine their degree of relapse The analysis is long and complex but, in essence, the study clearly demonstrated that both groups had better results than a placebo control with similar percentages (about 33%) suffering a relapse and about 46% remaining disease free. The trial suffered from having a large group (about 20%) failing to complete the trial protocol. (Rosenthal R. 1994). This study does however, provide firm evidence that electroconvulsive therapy is at least as effective as pharmacological measures in reducing the likelihood of clinical relapse. Further evidence for longer term efficacy comes from the Gagnà © study (Gagnà © G G et al. 2000), which starts by acknowledging the fact that depressive illness tends to be a long term disability with long term pharmacological intervention a comparatively normal treatment strategy. The authors make a subtle distinction between continuance therapy (which is starting a new course of treatment after initial resolution and then relapse) and maintenance therapy which extends beyond the continuation therapy stage and is aimed at preventing relapse. This paper is noteworthy because, as the authors point out, there is general acceptance by healthcare professionals that long term maintenance therapy with pharmaceuticals is both rational and indicated in patients with a high likelihood of relapse of depressive illness. Treatment with continuation electroconvulsive therapy has failed to gain general acceptance. The authors argue that such an approach is particularly rational, at least in a group of patients who have demonstrated their ability to respond to electroconvulsive therapy in the past, are at high risk of relapse and who may be refractory to pharmacological intervention. The Gagnà © study is a retrospective case-controlled comparative study comparing the long term course of electroconvulsive therapy plus pharmacological maintenance therapy with long-term antidepressant treatment alone in a demographically matched group. The two groups comprised 60 patients. The maintainence electroconvulsive therapy group received the electroconvulsive therapy as a single treatment monthly after the normal intensive treatment course for the acute episode. It has to be noted that this regime is comparatively arbitrary as there appears to be no preceding published evidence base to support it. The results from this study are nonetheless quite impressive. Both groups are reported to have responded to treatment, but the group who were also maintained with follow up electroconvulsive therapy did markedly better in terms of resistance to relapse being almost doubled at two years (93% vs. 52%), and quadrupled at five years (73% vs. 18%). This result could also be expressed as a doubling of the mean time to relapse in the electroconvulsive therapy group (6.9 years versus 2.7 years for the antidepressant-alone group). A major criticism of this study would have to be a lack of standardisation of treatment in the electroconvulsive therapy group with some patients receiving univocal and others bipolar electroconvulsive therapy. The number and duration of each was left â€Å"to the clinical judgement† of the responsible clinician. This does not reduce the impact of the overall finding, but does make for difficulties in comparison with any other trials which might follow. (Berlin J A et al. 1999) A critical analysis of the study would also have to conclude that the study suffered from a comparatively small number of patients with assignments to the comparison groups not being random. More importantly, the trial assessor was not blinded to the patients group assignment. These factors make it difficult to confidently assign an evidence level to this trial. (Denzin, N K et al. 2000) The authors conclude their study with the comment that a larger, prospective study on the subject is currently underway. One should perhaps regard the results of this study as interesting, but not proven. In assessing the validity of this paper, one should note comments that it has generated in the peer reviewed press. Gupta makes a number of valid points of criticism (Gupta N. 2001), arguably the most important of which is that the study did not make any measurement of the well recognised effect on memory function that short term electroconvulsive therapy is known to have. (Isenberg K E et al. 2001). Gupta suggests that clinical effectiveness must be assessed only after a risk-benefit ratio has been properly determined. Certainly a valid point and one that was not addressed in the original paper. Mechanism of action A number of papers have been published reporting biochemical changes after electroconvulsive therapy. There seems to be a general agreement that depressive illness is associated with a disturbance in the monoaminergic-cholinergic balance within the cerebral cortex. (Schatzberg A F et al. 2005). A novel and significant advance was published in 1998 by Avissar (Avissar S et al. 1998) when a correlation with G-protein levels in leucocytes was found and was discovered to be significantly reduced in depressive illness. The significance of this paper was that the authors found that electroconvulsive therapy resulted in a normalisation of the G-proteins level which preceded (by about a week), and thus predicted, clinical improvement. Patients who did not respond to electroconvulsive therapy did not show a change in G-protein levels. The significance of this finding is enhanced with the knowledge that lithium is also known to alter G-protein levels (Schreiber G et al. 2000), as are some other treatments for bipolar disorder. (Young L T et al. 2003). It is also known the G-protein levels are raised in manic states thereby suggesting that it is a marker for affective mood states. (Schreiber G et al. 2001) Further evidence of altered metabolism comes from the Nobler study (Nobler M S et al. 2001). This study used Positron emission tomography (PET) to study glucose metabolism in different brain areas. It has to be noted that this was a small study of 10 patients who were assessed before and after a course of electroconvulsive therapy. This study involved highly sophisticated measurements and concluded that certain areas of the brain showed marked reduction in metabolic rate after electroconvulsive therapy and these changes were most significant in the frontal, prefrontal, and parietal cortices. The authors suggest that their results support the hypothesis that electroconvulsive therapy works by suppression of functional (non trophic) brain activity, most prominently in the prefrontal cortex. The authors comment that their findings are consistent with the earlier Drevets study which demonstrated a reduction in brain metabolism after successful treatment with antidepressant drugs. (Drevet s W C 1998) A more modern paper by Sanacora reported alterations in the GABA concentrations in plasma, and cortex after electroconvulsive therapy. (Sanacora G et al. 2003). It is known that patients with depressive illness have reduced levels of the neurotransmitter GABA. This study, again with a small entry cohort of 10 patients, assessed patients before and after electroconvulsive therapy. It was found that the levels of GABA increased with successive treatments. It was also found that the length of duration of the convulsions was proportional to the concentrations of GABA found in the cortex supporting the view that GABA decreases cortical excitability. It may also be significant that GABA concentrations have been found to increase after the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment. (Sanacora G et al. 2002). These findings suggest that enhanced GABA activity may be central to any antidepressant activity Takano et al. have recently produced a yet more sophisticated study along the lines of the Nobler investigation. (Takano H et al. 2007). This study also uses positron emission tomography (PET) and it studied patients before, during and after the application of electroconvulsive therapy. This is essentially a technical rather than a clinical study. It also has to be noted that all the data was derived from only six patients. The majority of the results are therefore not relevant to this consideration other than the fact that the authors concluded that electroconvulsive therapy exerts its effect by increasing the post treatment blood supply to the anterior cingulate and medial frontal cortex and thalamus. They refine this comment by acknowledging that it cannot be stated that this observed phenomenon is cause or effect, but simply an association with the mechanism of treatment and is associated with a resolution of symptoms. Preference of site and nature of stimulation There is a great deal of discussion in the peer reviewed literature about the optimal sites for electroconvulsive therapy application and whether univocal or bipolar stimulation gives better results. Unfortunately the vast majority of it is anecdotal and of poor evidential value. The Bailine study is a notable exception providing a randomised comparative trial with a moderate size of entry cohort (60) making it a level 1b trial. (Bailine S H et al. 2000). The authors compared the efficacy of bitemporal stimulation with bifrontal stimulation over a treatment period of 12 treatments. The study was assessor blinded. The rationale behind the trial was that bifrontal stimulation avoids direct stimulation of the temporal areas which are directly involved with cognition and memory functions. The authors reported that they found both placements to be equally effective in their ability to relieve depressive illness, but the bifrontal positioning achieved statistical significance in reducing cognitive and memory effects. Although not directly tested, the authors comment that right sided unilateral frontal placement has fewer cognitive side effects than bilateral stimulation but needs 2 5 times the current to achieve its therapeutic effect. (citing Letemendia F J J et al. 1993) One area of difficulty which, even a brief overview of the subject illuminates, is the level of stimulus that is required to achieve therapeutic results. Some studies do not specify the level of stimulus, others simply refer to a supra-threshold stimulus, a third group refer to a â€Å"titration of stimulusâ€Å". This makes direct comparison of results difficult. Some authorities have made the comment that not standardising the level of stimulus applied is similar to conducting a comparative trial of antidepressant drugs to placebo when the drugs are given at a sub-optimal dosage and therefore not achieving their maximal therapeutic effect. Krystal has attempted to tackle this problem by reviewing the regulations governing the administration of electroconvulsive therapy and also trying to achieve a generally acceptable standard of treatment. (Krystal A D et al. 2000) The USA limits (by statute) the maximum output charge for clinical applications of electroconvulsive therapy to 576 millicoulombs. The equivalent restriction in the UK is 1,200 millicoulombs for electroconvulsive therapy devices and this has been determined by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and this limit is more than double the limit allowed in the USA. As far as the USA is concerned there is no evidence base to ensure that this limit will allow for consistently effective electroconvulsive therapy, which is something of a paradox considering that the USA considers electroconvulsive therapy more mainstream than does the UK. Krystal published a retrospective study of nearly 500 patients who had received electroconvulsive therapy. Although most of the patients reviewed had a clinically successful treatment, the authors noted that 15% of patients required the maximum stimulus intensity to trigger a seizure and 5% of the total did not have a seizure at all. The authors comment that the clinicians responsible for the patient had to use enhancing strategies to boost the therapeutic response with caffeine, ketamine, or hyperventilation. This still left a residual 5% of patients with a sub-therapeutic response at the maximum permitted output charge. Further problems can be encountered as not only can patients vary with regard to the amount of charge that they need to trigger tonic-clonic seizures, but the amount of charge can vary as the course of treatment progresses in each individual patient. (Coffey C E et al. 2005) The difficulty that therefore arises in these non-responders, is that there is no greater therapeutic response than placebo if a tonic-clonic seizure is not triggered, but the effects on cognition and memory impairment are still present. (PECT 2000). If this is added to the clinical and economic costs, it is clear that a case can be made for higher limits of initial triggering charge, at least in the USA. The other factor which may also be relevant and can be a major cause of inconsistency between studies is the pulse width with some electroconvulsive therapy machines delivering a shorter pulse width and longer stimulus duration than others. The majority deliver a pulse width between 0.5–0.75 msec. but other machines are capable of delivering pulse widths considerably beyond these limits. There has been no definitive study which has considered the possible effect of pulse width on either the therapeutic response or the likelihood of triggering a tonic-clonic seizure. The final point made in the Krystal paper is the fact that one of the reasons that the charge limit was set at the level that it is was the fact that the authorities wanted to minimise the theoretical risk of neuropathological damage. There is now evidence that the levels of stimulus charge necessary to cause such damage is far in excess of the imposed limits. (viz. Weiner R D 1994 and Devanand D P et al. 2004) The concept of stimulus titration is referred to in many of the clinically based papers reviewed. If this concept is considered in parallel with the comments by Krystal relating to the variation of charge required to produce the seizure, the situation can be clarified in an monograph by MacEwan who advises that it is an important feature of the treatment to allow sufficient time between the initial unsuccessful shock and the attempt at restimulation as the effect of the comparative refractivity after the first shock takes a little time to wear off. (MacEwan T 2002) Side effects of treatment Considering the rather gross and intrusive physical nature of the treatment, it is quite remarkable that the literature shows very few studies which have specifically explor