Showing posts with label or. Show all posts
Showing posts with label or. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Love Em or Hate Em Icebreakers Have Value!
Love Em or Hate Em Icebreakers Have Value!
Cari Room has written an article this week for New York magazine titled, "Icebreakers Are Terrible. They Also, Unfortunately, Work Really Well." She interviews former Rice University Anton Villado in the article. Villado argues that icebreakers accomplish three important things for a group:
- They calm peoples nerves about being in an unfamiliar or novel situation.
- They also provide an opportunity for the facilitator to model the behavior that people should expect throughout the session, and/or the behavior he or she would like to encourage. Team members also can model behavior, providing that all-important first impression about themselves.
- Most importantly, they provide an opportunity for self-disclosure. People grow closer to one another when they share about themselves. Research shows that self-disclosure proves more effective at building relationships than simple small talk.
Penn State Professor Susan Mohammed explains in the article that icebreakers can begin to build psychological safety within a group. Room writes,
And even when the bonds it creates are superficial and temporary, both Villado and Mohammed say that an icebreaker can help to foster a sense of “psychological safety,” or an atmosphere in which people feel free to speak up — to question, criticize, say something out-there — without fear of being ostracized. “Having people do weird and crazy stuff, or step out and do something wild — having people feel kind of uncomfortable, basically — would begin to help foster that,” Mohammed says. You may hate every second of it, but you’re not the only one undergoing humiliation. If everyone in the room has to tell their life story in a silly voice, or mime their favorite thing to do on weekends, at least you all look stupid together.
Mohammed stresses, however, that one should set the appropriate expectations for icebreakers. They can begin to build psychological safety, but much more work needs to be done to create a climate where people truly feel comfortable speaking up, asking questions, admitting mistakes, and expressing dissent. I agree wholeheartedly. Ultimately, psychological safety will be shaped by how people begin to engage with one another as they work to solve real problems. Moreover, if the team has a leader, that person will have a substantial impact on the climate of psychological safety. Icebreakers can be helpful, but you have to build upon that "risk-taking" atmosphere with concrete actions that make people comfortable speaking up on real issues.
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Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Low Impact or Nonimpact Aerobics Part 1
Low Impact or Nonimpact Aerobics Part 1
Fitness activities that involve steady, rhythmic motions of your major muscle groups and burn oxygen for more than a brief spurt are considered aerobics. They force your heart and lungs to work at anywhere from 60 to 85 percent of their capacity. Brisk walking or bicycling, for example, are aerobic. So is aerobic dance – informally choreographed routines that combine calisthenics and dance.
Aerobics dance classes became the rage in the early 1980s, but the shock to bones and tendons caused by repeated jumping and bouncing produced a number of injuries. Now, low-impact and nonimpact aerobics have replaced many higher-intensity aerobics workouts. Both are kinder to your skeleton.
Distance Guide for Exercise Goals | ||
Stair Climbing | ||
Peak or Building | Distance | Equivalent* |
Mt. Everest | 29,028 ft. | 49,762 stairs |
Mt. Rainier | 14,410 ft. | |
Empire State Building | 1,250 ft. | |
Eiffel Tower | 984 ft. | |
Swimming | ||
Body of Water | ||
English Channel | 21 mi. | 1,848 laps |
Lake Michigan | 118 mi. | 10,384 laps |
Mississippi River | 2,348 mi. | 206,624 laps |
Atlantic Ocean | 4,150 mi. | 365,200 laps |
Walking/Jogging/Cycling | ||
Route | ||
New York | 831 mi. | |
Boston to Seattle | 3,123 mi. | |
Miami to San Francisco | 3,147 mi. | |
Great Wall of China | 3,950 mi. | |
* One stair equals approximately 7 inches. One lap equals 60 feet; 88 laps equal 1 mile. Check the length of your swimming pool.