Organisation Learning Essay Example for Free

Organisation Learning Essay Where Argyris and Schon were the first to propose models that facilitate organizational learning, the following literatures have followed in the tradition of their work: Argyris and Schon (1978) distinguish between single-loop and double-loop learning, related to Gregory Batesons concepts of first and second order learning. In single-loop learning, individuals, groups, or organizations modify their actions according to the difference between expected and obtained outcomes. In double-loop learning, the entities (individuals, groups or organization) question the values, assumptions and policies that led to the actions in the first place; if they are able to view and modify those, then second-order or double-loop learning has taken place. Double loop learning is the learning about single-loop learning. ?March and Olsen (1975) attempt to link up individual and organizational learning. In their model, individual beliefs lead to individual action, which in turn may lead to an organizational action and a response from the environment which may induce improved individual beliefs and the cycle then repeats over and over. Learning occurs as better beliefs produce better actions. ?Kim (1993), as well, in an article titled The link between individual and organizational learning, integrates Argyris, March and Olsen and another model by Kofman into a single comprehensive model; further, he analyzes all the possible breakdowns in the information flows in the model, leading to failures in organizational learning; for instance, what happens if an individual action is rejected by the organization for political or other reasons and therefore no organizational action takes place? ?Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) developed a four stage spiral model of organizational learning. They started by differentiating Polanyis concept of tacit knowledge from explicit knowledge and describe a process of alternating between the two. Tacit knowledge is personal, context specific, subjective knowledge, whereas explicit knowledge is codified, systematic, formal, and easy to communicate. The tacit knowledge of key personnel within the organization can be made explicit, codified in manuals, and incorporated into new products and processes. This process they called externalization. The reverse process (from explicit to implicit) they call internalization because it involves employees internalizing an organizations formal rules, procedures, and other forms of explicit knowledge. They also use the term socialization to denote the sharing of tacit knowledge, and the term combination to denote the dissemination of codified knowledge. According to this model, knowledge creation and organizational learning take a path of socialization, externalization, combination, internalization, socialization, externalization, combination . . . etc. in an infinite spiral. ?Nick Bontis et al. (2002) empirically tested a model of organizational learning that encompassed both stocks and flows of knowledge across three levels of analysis: individual, team and organization. Results showed a negative and statistically significant relationship between the misalignment of stocks and flows and organizational performance. ?Flood (1999) discusses the concept of organizational learning from Peter Senge and the origins of the theory from Argyris and Schon. The author aims to re-think Senges The Fifth Discipline through systems theory. The author develops the concepts by integrating them with key theorists such as Bertalanffy, Churchman, Beer, Checkland and Ackoff. Conceptualizing organizational learning in terms of structure, process, meaning, ideology and knowledge, the author provides insights into Senge within the context of the philosophy of science and the way in which systems theorists were influenced by twentieth-century advances from the classical assumptions of science. ?Imants (2003) provides theory development for organizational learning in schools within the context of teachers professional communities as learning communities, which is compared and contrasted to teaching communities of practice. Detailed with an analysis of the paradoxes for organizational learning in schools, two mechanisms for professional development and organizational learning, (1) steering information about teaching and learning and (2) encouraging interaction among teachers and workers, are defined as critical for effective organizational learning. ?Common (2004) discusses the concept of organisational learning in a political environment to improve public policy-making. The author details the initial uncontroversial reception of organisational learning in the public sector and the development of the concept with the learning organization. Definitional problems in applying the concept to public policy are addressed, noting research in UK local government that concludes on the obstacles for organizational learning in the public sector: (1) overemphasis of the individual, (2) resistance to change and politics, (3) social learning is self-limiting, i.e. individualism, and (4) political blame culture. The concepts of policy learning and policy transfer are then defined with detail on the conditions for realizing organizational learning in the public sector. Organizational knowledge What is the nature of knowledge created, traded and used in organizations? Some of this knowledge can be termed technical ? knowing the meaning of technical words and phrases, being able to read and make sense of economic data and being able to act on the basis of law-like generalizations. Scientific knowledge is ?propositional; it takes the form of causal generalizations ? whenever A, then B. For example, whenever water reaches the temperature of 100 degrees, it boils; whenever it boils, it turns into steam; steam generates pressure when in an enclosed space; pressure drives engines. And so forth. A large part of the knowledge used by managers, however, does not assume this form. The complexities of a managers task are such that applying A may result in B, C, or Z. A recipe or an idea that solved very well a particular problem, may, in slightly different circumstances backfire and lead to ever more problems. More important than knowing a whole lot of theories, recipes and solutions for a manager is to know which theory, recipe or solution to apply in a specific situation. Sometimes a manager may combine two different recipes or adapt an existing recipe with some important modification to meet a situation at hand. Managers often use knowledge in the way that a handyman will use his or her skills, the materials and tools that are at hand to meet the demands of a particular situation. Unlike an engineer who will plan carefully and scientifically his or her every action to deliver the desired outcome, such as a steam engine, a handyman is flexible and opportunistic, often using materials in unorthodox or unusual ways, and relies a lot on trial and error. This is what the French call ? bricolage, the resourceful and creative deployment skills and materials to meet each challenge in an original way. Rule of thumb, far from being the enemy of management, is what managers throughout the world have relied upon to inform their action. In contrast to the scientific knowledge that guides the engineer, the physician or the chemist, managers are often informed by a different type of know-how. This is sometimes referred to a ? narrative knowledge or ? experiential knowledge, the kind of knowledge that comes from experience and resides in stories and narratives of how real people in the real world dealt with real life problems, successfully or unsuccessfully. Narrative knowledge is what we use in everyday life to deal with awkward situations, as parents, as consumers, as patients and so forth. We seek the stories of people in the same situation as ourselves and try to learn from them. As the Chinese proverb says A wise man learns from experience; a wiser man learns from the experience of others. Narrative knowledge usually takes the form of organization stories (see organization story and organizational storytelling). These stories enable participants to make sense of the difficulties and challenges they face; by listening to stories, members of organizations learn from each others experiences, adapt the recipes used by others to address their own difficulties and problems. Narrative knowledge is not only the preserve of managers. Most professionals (including doctors, accountants, lawyers, business consultants and academics) rely on narrative knowledge, in addition to their specialist technical knowledge, when dealing with concrete situations as part of their work. More generally, narrative knowledge represents an endlessly mutating reservoir of ideas, recipes and stories that are traded mostly by word or mouth on the internet. They are often apocryphal and may be inaccurate or untrue yet, they have the power to influence peoples sense making and actions. Individual versus organizational learning Learning by individuals in an organizational context is a well understood process. This is the traditional domain of human resources, including activities such as: training, increasing skills, work experience, and formal education. Given that the success of any organization is founded on the knowledge of the people who work for it, these activities will and, indeed, must continue. However, individual learning is only a prerequisite to organizational learning. Others take it farther with continuous learning. The world is orders of magnitude more dynamic than that of our parents, or even when we were young. Waves of change are crashing on us virtually one on top of another. Change has become the norm rather than the exception. Continuous learning throughout ones career has become essential to remain relevant in the workplace. Again, necessary but not sufficient to describe organizational learning. What does it mean to say that an organization learns? Simply summing individual learning is inadequate to model organizational learning. The following definition outlines the essential difference between the two: A learning organization actively creates, captures, transfers, and mobilizes knowledge to enable it to adapt to a changing environment. Thus, the key aspect of organizational learning is the interaction that takes place among individuals. A learning organization does not rely on passive or ad hoc process in the hope that organizational learning will take place through serendipity or as a by-product of normal work. A learning organization actively promotes, facilitates, and rewards collective learning. Creating (or acquiring) knowledge can be an individual or group activity. However, this is normally a small-scale, isolated activity steeped in the jargon and methods of knowledge workers. As first stated by Lucilius in the 1st century BC, Knowledge is not knowledge until someone else knows that one knows. Capturing individual learning is the first step to making it useful to an organization. There are many methods for capturing knowledge and experience, such as publications, activity reports, lessons learned, interviews, and presentations. Capturing includes organizing knowledge in ways that people can find it; multiple structures facilitate searches regardless of the users perspective (e. g. , who, what, when, where, why,and how). Capturing also includes storage in repositories, databases, or libraries to insure that the knowledge will be available when and as needed. Transferring knowledge requires that it be accessible to everyone when and where they need it. In a digital world, this involves browser-activated search engines to find what one is looking for. A way to retrieve content is also needed, which requires a communication and network infrastructure. Tacit knowledge may be shared through communities of practice or consulting experts. It is also important that knowledge is presented in a way that users can understand it. It must suit the needs of the user to be accepted and internalized. Mobilizing knowledge involves integrating and using relevant knowledge from many, often diverse, sources to solve a problem or address an issue. Integration requires interoperability standards among various repositories. Using knowledge may be through simple reuse of existing solutions that have worked previously. It may also come through adapting old solutions to new problems. Conversely, a learning organization learns from mistakes or recognizes when old solutions no longer apply. Use may also be through synthesis; that is creating a broader meaning or a deeper level of understanding. Clearly, the more rapidly knowledge can be mobilized and used, the more competitive an organization. An organization must learn so that it can adapt to a changing environment. Historically, the life-cycle of organizations typically spanned stable environments between major socioeconomic changes. Blacksmiths who didnt become mechanics simply fell by the wayside. More recently, many fortune 500 companies of two decades ago no longer exist. Given the ever-accelerating rate of global-scale change, the more critical learning and adaptation become to organization relevance, success, and ultimate survival. Organizational learning is a social process, involving interactions among many individuals leading to well-informed decision making. Thus, a culture that learns and adapts as part of everyday working practices is essential. Reuse must equal or exceed reinvent as a desirable behavior. Adapting an idea must be rewarded along with its initial creation. Sharing to empower the organization must supersede controlling to empower an individual. Clearly, shifting from individual to organizational learning involves a non-linear transformation. Once someone learns something, it is available for their immediate use. In contrast, organizations need to create, capture, transfer, and mobilize knowledge before it can be used. Although technology supports the latter, these are primarily social processes within a cultural environment, and cultural change, however necessary, is a particularly challenging undertaking. Learning organization The work in Organizational Learning can be distinguished from the work on a related concept, the learning organization. This later body of work, in general, uses the theoretical findings of organizational learning (and other research in organizational development, system theory, and cognitive science) in order to prescribe specific recommendations about how to create organizations that continuously and effectively learn. This practical approach was championed by Peter Senge in his book The Fifth Discipline. Diffusion of innovations Diffusion of innovations theory explores how and why people adopt new ideas, practices and products. It may be seen as a subset of the anthropological concept of diffusion and can help to explain how ideas are spread by individuals, social networks and organizations.

Sociology Essay -- Sociology Essays

Sociology is a field which developed over a millennia ago, but it was not until the nineteenth century that it came into the fore as a bona fide social science, in need of its own classification apart from other social sciences. Sociology, 'the study of the process of companionship';(pg.396, Ambercrombie,Hill,Turner), is a discipline, which is not exclusively independent in and of its self, yet borrows from many other disciplines such as: history, geography, and anthropology. 'American sociology is fundamentally analytical and empirical; it proposes to examine the way of life of individuals in the societies … prefers to explain institutions and structures in terms of the behavior of individuals and the goals, mental states, and motives which determine the behavior of members of various social groups (pg.5,Aron).'; A specialization within Sociology is social stratification. This segment of sociology attempts to deal with the structures of any given society and ones' relationship with the institution. 'Social stratification means that inequality has been hardened or institutionalized, and there is a system of social relationships that determines who gets what, and why (pg.11, Kerbo).'; Through various paradigms, and theories we are able to come to a better understanding of social stratification. The paradigm that is most rational to my understanding of social stratification is the critical-conflict. In this paradigm the state embodies the interests of the "common citizen," and mediates between primitive human desires and the rational need for freedom and well being. Conflict theorists view that definitions of norms and values are also a source of conflict over who has the right to create laws and justice. As a consequence, not only behavior but also power relationships become important topics to study. Unlike the structural-functionalist view of society, which views harmony as the basis of order, conflict theorists see conflict as the natural state of social existence. Despite their critical examination of power relations, conflict theorists tend to accept the fundamental existing social arrangements, and instead of arguing for new social systems tend to argue for rearrangement of existing relations. 'This paradigm (critical-conflict) shares with the uncritical-conflict paradigm an image or model of society that considers conflict and... ...ack the essential tools such as: family name, wealth, and networking opportunities. These tools are utilized to gain access to the training necessary to achieve in a meritocracy like the United States. As the Upper Class and the Corporate Class wonder why those on the bottom are not able to 'pull themselves up by their boot straps'; and find solutions to their social, political, and economic predicament. The people on the bottom are screaming the solutions yet the Upper Class and Corporate Class are turning a deaf ear. Bibliography 1.) Abercrombie, Nicholas; Hill, Stephen; and Turner, Bryan S. The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology. Penguin Books.London: 1984 2.) Aron, Raymond, Main Currents In Sociological Thought. Anchor Books: 1968. 3.) Campbell, Ken. Http://cst.colorado.edu/psn/Marx/bio/Marx-karl/Granat/z.Html March 1,1999. 4.) Kerbo, Harold R., Social Stratification and Inequality: Class Conflict in Historical and Comparative Perspective. McGraw-Hill Companies,Inc. New York: 1996. 5.) McLellan, David., Karl Marx: Selected Writings. Oxford University Press: 1979. 6.) Tumin, M.,'; Some principles of stratification: A critical analysis.'; American Sociological Review, New York:1954

English Essay Essay

The writer, Moniza Alvi, has picked the perfect setting in the poem ‘An Unknown Girl’ for the narrator to explore her thoughts and feelings about her Indian birth culture- an Indian bazaar. Probably like Moniza who has dealt with getting to know her Pakistani birth culture after being raised in the UK, the Indian narrator has grown up away from her birth culture. Thrown in the middle of the Indian bazaar where everything is unfamiliar and strange to her much like her cultural identity. The writer has the narrator confront her culture head on forcing her through the process of emersion to come to terms with her culture and eventually embrace it as being an essential part of her identity. By finding connections between her western culture in which she was probably raised and this foreign eastern culture, the narrator develops strong feelings of longing to get to know her birth culture more. From the start of the poem, it is clear that the writer is effectively communicating the narrator’s feelings of disconnection with her eastern heritage. The repetition of the word ‘unknown’ effectively summarises her contact with her culture; it is something foreign to her. Her first thought of disconnection is the main feeling in her mind. The fact that through-out the poem she keeps repeating ‘evening’, which is usually a time when people are asleep and dreaming of important things in their lives, further highlights that her culture has been hibernating within her waiting for someone to wake it up. Presently her culture only exists in her dreams; it is not a reality in her daily life. The title ‘unknown girl’ suggests that her own identity is a stranger to her; she does not fully know herself as she has cut off an essential part of anyone’s identity; her birth culture. At the same time, the repetition of ‘unknown girl’ through-out the poem creates a chorus-like effect that effectively draws the reader’s attention to the fact that it is the ‘unknown girl’ who is hennaing her hand that will wake up the eastern culture within the narrator. The unknown girl represents what her culture is to her: foreign. Unlike the narrator, this ‘unknown girl’ has embraced her culture which is shown by the fact that she is ‘hennaing [her] hand’ which is a traditional eastern art and is wearing traditional ‘satin’ clothes. As the narrator gazes at this girl during the  long process of hennaing her hand, she probably has begun to wonder why she has not embraced the eastern heritage like this girl has. She is perhaps feeling a little timid about getting to know her culture though this unknown girl as the unknown girl ‘steadies’ her hand. In the first steps towards getting to know her culture, the narrator begins to see some beauty within this eastern culture. The writer effectively shows that the narrator now sees a clear link between her eastern and her western culture and realises there is beauty in both. Through the use of a metaphor, she compares the beautiful art of henna flowing elegantly on her hand to that of the traditional western art of ‘icing’ a cake. Icing a cake is naturally beautiful and artistic as well. This girl helps her to recognise that the Eastern traditional art of hennaing her hand since it is like ‘icing’ a cake is also a beautiful art-craft that obviously takes skills as the unknown girl is doing it ‘deftly’ and is, therefore, an art to be admired. Yes, she does recognise her culture and the beauty in it, but at this point she only associates it as belonging to the unknown girl only. The repetition of the third person pronoun ‘she’ and ‘her’ highlights that her culture is currently outside of her and only belongs to the girl hennaing her hand. It hasn’t yet seeped into her yet; the remains of her culture that the unknown girl has begun to give her at this point only exists on the outside- on her hand. Later on, she realises that the gift that has been given to her is priceless. ‘For a few rupees’ the unknown girl gave her something that she would value for life. It conveys that a rich gift like her culture was handed to her without any price. Through the process of hennaing her hand, the culture that was once a distant imagination has now become a reality. At this point in the poem, the writer effectively specifies colour into the poem. The mention of ‘balloons’ creates and image of bright colour in the reader’s mind. Since we are all familiar with balloons in our childhood and the carefree times associated with them at parties, the writer has also created an idea of joy and happiness one can experience through embracing their cultural identity. The colour along with the use of sustained use of traditional Indian dialect such as ‘kameez’ suggests that at this point, the narrator’s culture is becoming more of a reality; she can no longer ignore it. As the ‘unknown girl’ continues to henna, the narrator notes more beautiful aspects of her culture. As the henna is placed on her hands, she  is struck by the beauty of the ‘peacock lines’ and she reflects the beauty of the henna with the form of the poem itself. A peacock is a bird that only reveals its beauty by fanning out its colourful feathers, similar to how the radiance in her culture is gradually becoming aware to her. The colours like the ‘neon lights’ are vibrant suggesting her culture is alive and shining in the dark evening. At this point, we are made aware that the narrator’s culture is becoming more of a part of her reality as the ‘peacock spreads across [her] palm,’ suggesting that her culture will soon not be restricted to just her hand. So, while the peacock can be argued to represent the beauty that is unearthing in her birth culture, it could also be argued that since the peacock is a national bird of India, it can also represent the national pride that surrounds her eastern culture identity which foreshadows that she too will also find pride through embracing her eastern heritage. Furthermore, the fact that a peacock doesn’t reveal its beauty until it opens its feathers, suggests that one must be open and willing in order to notice the beauty in a foreign culture otherwise they might just be blinded by the negative images and blaring ‘neon’ lights. Despite recognising the beauty that surrounds her culture, the writer then shows us that the narrator is beginning to feel conflicted about her cultural identities. The dummies ‘tilt and stare’ at her as if they are judging and questioning her. The dummies are an external symbol of her internal struggle. They wear traditional clothing and yet have western perms. Through the personification of the dummies through their ’tilt[s] and stare[s]’ the writer suggests that the narrator feels as if they are mocking her, asking why she is embracing this eastern culture when the western one she comes from is far from superior. It makes her self-conscious, and yet again, she is left confused. She’s just like them; it’s like she can’t seem to decide whether to embrace the eastern or western culture. Can they both exist together? What’s more, the people in the bazaar itself only compound her conflicting feelings. It seems that people within this ‘neon bazaar’ are also being pulled into two directions as they have embraced many aspects of the western culture. The banners of â€Å"Miss India† make her wonder why she should embrace her eastern culture when people in her own culture have abandoned it. The Miss India contest is originated from the west; it requires females to be less modest than the eastern culture permits. The streets are ‘furious’ with sounds  which implies chaos and I imagine that is how she feels at the moment. Yet, it could also be argues that the banners for ‘Miss India’ also reinforce the idea that there is beauty in her culture. Probably due to her upbringing in the west, the narrator most like felt like she was different from the norm, but back in the eastern culture she sees that people that look like her are also considered beautiful. This is probably the first time that she realised that someone with dark skin, hair and eyes could be used as an icon as in the west the standard for beauty is fair skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. This knowledge that she is beautiful is comforting that she feeling knowing that there is beauty in her culture. Before, she associated culture with the unknown girl hennaing her hand, but now, she sees it as an essential part of her. She was metaphorically asleep, in a dreamlike state, in this ‘evening bazaar’. But now she is waking up. The writer at this point shows that the narrator has acknowledged that her culture is an essential part of her. Through the use of a metaphor, the writer effectively communicates that the narrator has ‘new brown veins’. These represent her eastern culture seeping into her skin and going all the way to her heart like veins do, replacing (metaphorically) her previously ‘western’ blood with ‘eastern’ blood. It is as if a new life force, flowing powerfully through her. As we know, veins travel through-out our body and provide a blood supply to vital organs indicating that her culture is now a vital part of her being. This change towards embracing her culture was only done through the sense of safety. Here the writer’s use of free verse is seen as important suggesting that one should be free to explore their feelings and culture at their own free will when you are ready as being forced to might cause someone to develop negative feelings towards those trying to force the culture on them. The free verse suits the poem as it reflects that the narrator is exploring her thoughts freely and at her own pace, as everyone comes to important understandings at their own speed and should not feel rushed or forced to confirm. Because the writer essentially allowed the narrator to freely explore her thoughts, she is able to embrace the beautiful aspects of her culture. In addition, the writer effectively shows the narrator’s desperation to ‘cling’ onto her culture. She expertly conveys this through her use of the simile ‘like people who cling to the side of a train’. Like the people ‘cling[ing]’ onto the train, the narrator feels she must ‘cling’  onto her culture, grab it and never let go, because you don’t know when another ‘train’ will come again. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and if she doesn’t catch this ‘train’ she may never get another chance. This may well be her last chance to connect with her culture, and she must grab it, otherwise, it might fade away. This feeling of desperation to cling onto her culture matches with the fact that her cultural reawakening is very faint to begin with. Like the henna that initially is ‘soft as a snail trail’ her reconnection with her culture is fragile and weak. If she doesn’t hard like ‘scrap[ing] the henna ‘off’ she might never unearth all the beautiful aspects of her culture like the ‘amber bird beneath’. She knows that if she doesn’t put effort to fully grasp and embrace her culture, it will disappear just like the henna that will ‘fade in a week’. Her once conflicting feelings are now calm; she has fully embraced her culture. The juxtaposition of contrasting sounds of the streets, signals the end of her internal conflict. The ‘furious’ streets at first represented her confusion and how out-of-place she felt, but once she has unearthed the beauty beneath the brown lines of henna, the ‘furious’ streets are now ‘hushed’, and this contrast shows how great her feelings towards her culture have changed. To conclude, she is grateful to this unknown girl but realises that if she doesn’t work hard to reconnect with her culture after this evening bazaar that she will lose connection and her reawakening will fade just like the henna of her hand will fade in a week’s time. So a girl who once found the scene strange and foreign now reaches across the table in thanks and in desperation to get to know this unknown girl. She now has new ‘brown veins’ as if the henna has seeped inside and her culture courses through her blood. On this night, a bond has been made between the two cultures. Instead of distancing herself from her eastern heritage, the narrator will now ‘lean across’ reaching out, yearning for the ‘unknown girl’ symbolising that she will not let the bond she has developed with her birth culture die.

Definitions and Examples of Argument in Rhetoric

In rhetoric, an argument is a course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating truth or falsehood. In composition, argument is one of the traditional modes of discourse. Adjective: argumentative. The Use of Argument in Rhetoric Daniel J. OKeefe, a professor of communication and persuasion theory, has distinguished two senses of argument. Put simply, Argument1, the first sense, is a thing people make, as when an editorialist argues that some public policy is wrong. Argument2 is a kind of interaction people have, as when two friends argue about where to have lunch. So argument1 comes close to the ancient rhetorical notion of argument, while argument2 legitimates the modern interactional research (quoted by Dale Hample in A Third Perspective on Argument. Philosophy and Rhetoric, 1985). Rhetorical Argument and Context An argument field  is a subdivision of rhetorical argument as determined by context or subject matter. (See  Toulmin Model.) (For the specialized use of this term in language studies, see Argument [Linguistics].) Robert Benchley on Arguments Most of the arguments to which I am party fall somewhat short of being impressive, owing to the fact that neither I nor my opponent knows what we are talking about. (Robert Benchley) Kinds of Arguments Argument, in its most basic form, can be described as a claim (the arguers position on a controversial issue) which is supported by reasons and evidence to make the claim convincing to an audience. All of the forms of argument described below include these components. Debate, with participants on both sides trying to win.Courtroom argument, with lawyers pleading before a judge and jury.Dialectic, with people taking opposing views and finally resolving the conflict.Single-perspective argument, with one person arguing to convince a mass audience.One-on-one everyday argument, with one person trying to convince another.Academic inquiry, with one or more people examining a complicated issue.Negotiation, with two or more people working to reach consensus.Internal argument, or working to convince yourself. (Nancy C. Wood, Perspectives on Argument. Pearson, 2004) General Rules for Composing a Short Argument 1. Distinguish premises and conclusion2. Present your ideas in natural order3. Start from reliable premises4. Be concrete and concise5. Avoid loaded language6. Use consistent terms7. Stick to one meaning for each term​  (Adapted from A Rulebook for Arguments, 3rd ed., by Anthony Weston. Hackett, 2000) Adapting Arguments to an Audience The goals of clarity, propriety, and persuasiveness dictate that we adapt our arguments, as well as the language in which they are cast, to an audience. Even a well-constructed argument may fail to convince if it is not adapted to your actual audience.(James A. Herrick, Argumentation: Understanding and Shaping Arguments, 3rd ed. Strata, 2007) The Lighter Side of Argument: The Argument Clinic Patron: I came here for a good argument.Sparring Partner: No, you didnt. You came here for an argument.Patron: Well, an argument is not the same as contradiction.Sparring Partner: Can be . . .Patron: No, it cant. An argument is a connected series of statements to establish a definite proposition.Sparring Partner: No it isnt.Patron: Yes it is. It isnt just contradiction.Sparring Partner: Look, if I argue with you, I must take up a contrary position.Patron: But it isnt just saying no it isnt.Sparring Partner: Yes it is.Patron: No it isnt! An argument is an intellectual process. Contradiction is just the automatic gain-saying of anything the other person says.Sparring Partner: No it isnt. (Michael Palin and John Cleese in The Argument Clinic. Monty Pythons Flying Circus, 1972) EtymologyFrom the Latin, to make clear Pronunciation: ARE-gyu-ment