write summary of chapter 6 The Sincerest Form of Flattery from the book Ropes to Skip" Part 1 Intro and Section 1 and Ans the given Questions
In your own words describe the lesson of the story ie behavior is preseived and interpreted within its context . Stanley could imitate kerry moves but not the interactive context..
This was quite a heady situation for Stanley. He had visions of rapid progress to the upper echelons of Company management, and, in these visions, Stanley the Executive bore an uncanny resemblance to Kerry Drake. No, not in looks-but in manner, grit, determination, and in unbounded intolerance of folly. Yes. That is the way it should be. Occasions that one would expect to dampen this enthusiasm had quite the opposite effect. In one situation, for example, Stanley was Company spokesman in bid THE SINCEREST FORM negotiations with a group of contractors. His responsibility was to present construction specifications to the assembled group and answer questions that arose. Typically, Kerry let his people do this while he observed how things were going. "Finally, the successful bidder will have the responsibility for restoring all sites to grade, with backfill in accordance with spees as described in Section 1. Questions?" Quite pleased with his success thus far, Stanley awaited the next challenge. "It says here on page 21 that under no circumstances will contractors be allowed to use substitutes for Expandrium fittings. Under no circumstances! Will you guarantee availability?" Stanley's answer was crisp and to the point. "The specs are clear enough here. I don't believe anything is left to guesswork. And, I believe the spees are quite clear on the issue of whose responsibility it is for the purchase of materials." (Quite right, the contractor's.) "Say, I have something maybe you could clear up for me," said another, pointing to a stack of blueprints on the table. "These gizmos here are blacked in on the drawing, but these aren't. Otherwise, they look the same to me. Does it mean anything? I don't think so, but I want to be sure." Stanley thought a moment before answering. Fact is, he'd never noticed that before. It looked as if the draftsman had colored in a few just to give the idea but didn't want to waste the time doing all of them. Sure, that was it. No sooner had Stanley conveyed this intelligence to the assembled group of contractors than Kerry was on his feet gesturing wildly. "No, that is not so! This young man doesn't know what the hell he is talking about." And turning to Stanley after a brief explanation of what it did mean, he said, "Keep your damned mouth shut when you don't know what the hell you are talking about. It's that kind of damned-fool talk that can cost The Company money." End of quote. You, of course, need no elaboration as to Stanley's feelings at that point. But was this the end of Stanley's admiration for Kerry? Not at all! Kerry was absolutely right. No place for that kind of thing in The Company. And that was the way to handle it, too. No nonsense. A promptly administered kick in the ass would serve the memory well. The fact was that, half consciously and half not, Stanley's behavior in all respects came to resemble Kerry's more closely. Yet Stanley's results were quite different. When he sat down with the electricians and the "mechanical people" to knock heads together, well, somehow nothing happened. And after a few months, Stanley himself noticed that no one paid particular attention to his edicts. Somehow, injunctions from Stanley like "You people said next week, and next week it's going to be. And if you can't bring it off, well, we'll just have ISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. In your own words, describe the lesson of this story, i.e., "Behavior is perceived and intepreted within its context. Stanley could imitate Kerry's "moves," but not the interpretive context." 2. Have you experienced or encountered any examples of behavior similar to what is described in this story? This was quite a heady situation for Stanley. He had visions of rapid progress to the upper echelons of Company management, and, in these visions, Stanley the Executive bore an uncanny resemblance to Kerry Drake. No, not in looks-but in manner, grit, determination, and in unbounded intolerance of folly. Yes. That is the way it should be. Occasions that one would expect to dampen this enthusiasm had quite the opposite effect. In one situation, for example, Stanley was Company spokesman in bid THE SINCEREST FORM negotiations with a group of contractors. His responsibility was to present construction specifications to the assembled group and answer questions that arose. Typically, Kerry let his people do this while he observed how things were going. "Finally, the successful bidder will have the responsibility for restoring all sites to grade, with backfill in accordance with spees as described in Section 1. Questions?" Quite pleased with his success thus far, Stanley awaited the next challenge. "It says here on page 21 that under no circumstances will contractors be allowed to use substitutes for Expandrium fittings. Under no circumstances! Will you guarantee availability?" Stanley's answer was crisp and to the point. "The specs are clear enough here. I don't believe anything is left to guesswork. And, I believe the spees are quite clear on the issue of whose responsibility it is for the purchase of materials." (Quite right, the contractor's.) "Say, I have something maybe you could clear up for me," said another, pointing to a stack of blueprints on the table. "These gizmos here are blacked in on the drawing, but these aren't. Otherwise, they look the same to me. Does it mean anything? I don't think so, but I want to be sure." Stanley thought a moment before answering. Fact is, he'd never noticed that before. It looked as if the draftsman had colored in a few just to give the idea but didn't want to waste the time doing all of them. Sure, that was it. No sooner had Stanley conveyed this intelligence to the assembled group of contractors than Kerry was on his feet gesturing wildly. "No, that is not so! This young man doesn't know what the hell he is talking about." And turning to Stanley after a brief explanation of what it did mean, he said, "Keep your damned mouth shut when you don't know what the hell you are talking about. It's that kind of damned-fool talk that can cost The Company money." End of quote. You, of course, need no elaboration as to Stanley's feelings at that point. But was this the end of Stanley's admiration for Kerry? Not at all! Kerry was absolutely right. No place for that kind of thing in The Company. And that was the way to handle it, too. No nonsense. A promptly administered kick in the ass would serve the memory well. The fact was that, half consciously and half not, Stanley's behavior in all respects came to resemble Kerry's more closely. Yet Stanley's results were quite different. When he sat down with the electricians and the "mechanical people" to knock heads together, well, somehow nothing happened. And after a few months, Stanley himself noticed that no one paid particular attention to his edicts. Somehow, injunctions from Stanley like "You people said next week, and next week it's going to be. And if you can't bring it off, well, we'll just have ISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. In your own words, describe the lesson of this story, i.e., "Behavior is perceived and intepreted within its context. Stanley could imitate Kerry's "moves," but not the interpretive context." 2. Have you experienced or encountered any examples of behavior similar to what is described in this story
