[Listening + Speaking] The business benefits of doing good

Source: https://www.ted.com/talks/wendy_woods_the_business_benefits_of_doing_good

00:12
A few years ago, all the developed countries in the world -- the wealthier ones -- and all of the charities together donated about 200 billion dollars to developing countries in the world -- the ones that bear most of the burden, the heaviest burden of the world's biggest problems: poverty, hunger, climate change and inequality. That same year, businesses invested in those same countries 3.7 trillion dollars.


00:45
Now, I get to travel a lot in my work and I'm privileged to see the amazing things that NGOs and some governments are doing with some of that 200 billion dollars: helping malnourished children or families that don't have access to clean water, children who wouldn't be educated otherwise. But it's not enough because the biggest problems in our world need trillions not just billions. So if we're going to make lasting and significant progress in the big challenges in our world, we need business, both the companies and the investors, to drive the solutions.


01:28
So let's talk about what business should do. And when I say that, you probably think that I'm going to talk about corporate philanthropy or corporate social responsibility. CSR is the norm today, and it's very useful. It provides a route for corporate generosity and that generosity is important to many corporations' employees and customers. But you know what? It's just not big enough, or strong enough, or durable enough to drive solutions to the biggest problems in our world today because it's incremental cost. Even when business is booming, CSR just isn't designed to scale. And then of course in a downturn, it's one of the first programs to be cut. So no, CSR -- corporate social responsibility -- isn't the answer, but TSI -- total societal impact, is.


02:36
TSI is the sum of all of the ways business can affect society by doing the real work: thinking about their supply chains, working on their product design and manufacturing processes and their distribution. The real work of business, when done with innovation, can actually create core business benefits for the company and it can solve the meaningful problems in our world today.


03:12
So what does TSI look like? Focusing on TSI means incorporating social and environmental considerations. And you know what? It's something that isn't completely new. It's been thought about for a while. But the hard part is that corporations almost exclusively still think about something called TSR: total shareholder returns. But TSI -- total societal impact -- needs to stand alongside TSR as an important and valid driver of corporate strategy and corporate decision-making. And we've got the data to show you why and how.


04:00
Some companies are already making this happen. They're beginning to make it happen. So let me tell you the story about Mars. Mars is the sixth-largest private company in the United States. If you're like me, they make some important products, like coffee and chocolate. So not surprisingly, one of their most important ingredients is cocoa. And some of their competitors are actually really worried about the sustainability and the availability of cocoa supplies. But not Mars. They're confident in the stable supply of that crop for the long term. And why is that? It's because they partner with NGOs around the world that are working with small shareholder farmers. And those certification agency's NGOs are working to help farmers improve crop yields, they're making sure that they get a fair, premium, livable wage and they're helping them address any human rights potential issues in supply chains, and they're helping minimize the effects on the environment, like deforestation. Mars is on a path to 100 percent certified cocoa, so this is a good program for farming communities, it's a good program for the environment, and it's a good program for Mars, who has solved a significant risk in their supply chain.


05:30
But now let's get to the data, because it's actually really awesome. And let me explain exactly what the data points I'm going to talk about are. When analysts and financial people look at companies, they think about a lot of different statistics. I want to talk about two of the most important ones. I'm going to talk about the overall value of a company -- its valuation -- and I'm going to talk about its margin. Basically the difference between all of its earnings and all of its costs.


06:05
So in our study, we looked at oil and gas companies, and the oil and gas companies that are performing most strongly on TSI -- total societal impact -- see a 19 percent premium on their valuation. 19 percent. When they do really well on things like minimizing the impact of their company on the environment and water, and when they have very strong occupational health and safety programs. And when they also add in strong employee training programs, they get a 3.4 percentage point premium on their margins.


06:45
But what about other industries? Biopharmaceutical companies that are the strongest performers on TSI see a 12 percent premium on their valuation. And then if they're best at expanded access to medicines -- making medicines available for the people who need them -- they see a 6.7 percentage point premium on their gross margins.


07:08
For the retail banks that are strongest on TSI, they see a three percentage point premium on their valuation, and then for those that differentially provide financial inclusion -- access to financial products for people who need it -- they see a 0.5 percentage point premium in their net income margin. Now, these numbers for banks may not seem very big, but in highly competitive industries, even really small differences in margin matter a lot.


07:42
Now, what about those consumer goods companies -- the ones who make those products we love like coffee and chocolate? Consumer goods companies that perform best on total societal impact see an 11 percent valuation premium. And then if they do those smart things with their supply chain -- inclusive and responsibly sourcing their product -- they see a 4.8 percentage point premium on their gross margins. These numbers are significant. We've long known that things like fundamental financials, growth rates and financial risks are key drivers of valuation, but this rigorous analysis shows that social and environmental factors -- total societal impact measures -- are also linked to valuations and margins. Wow. All else equal -- we didn't confuse the analysis with anything. All else being equal, companies that perform strongly on social and environmental areas achieve higher margins and higher valuations.


08:57
Now, I do understand that companies are under a lot of short-term earnings pressures. But fortunately, the investors who create some of this pressure are actually more and more themselves starting to think longer-term and starting to think with this TSI lens. In our conversations and surveys with investors, 75 percent of them say they expect to see improved revenues and improved operating efficiency for companies that are thinking with a TSI lens. And they're actually starting to incorporate this in their own investing behavior. Last year, 23 trillion in global assets were in the category of socially responsible investing. Now, that's five billion over just the last two years. And it represents a quarter of the total global assets managed in the world.


10:05
I know that some of you may be cringing a little bit right now. Because in my decades of strategy consulting with businesses and NGOs and governments around the world, I find that many businesspeople are hesitant to talk or even sometimes think about the business benefits of doing good. They somehow think it's going to negate the value of the benefits they're creating for society. Or that they'll be perceived as heartless or even mercenary. But we really do need to think differently. We need to think differently because the only way we're going to make substantial progress on the challenging problems of our time is for business to drive the solutions.


10:56
The job of business is to meet customer needs and to do so profitably. They need to to survive. So one of the best ways for businesses to help ensure their own growth, their own longevity, is to meet some of the hardest challenges in our society and to do so profitably. And when they do that innovatively, when they do that ethically, responsibly, incredibly, they should be proud.


11:34
But if you still aren't sure about this, let's talk about a few more examples. What if you're a technology company and you're trying to grow your platform and you're trying to grow your customers? Like, Airbnb. Airbnb has a portfolio of total societal impact activities. They're all spot-on their core business. In one initiative, they're helping enable their community to provide housing for free to those in disaster: crisis survivors and relief workers. In another effort on their part, they're actually helping and working with NGOs to ensure that people can provide housing for free for refugees. Now, what I love about this program is that I don't think most people would've figured out how to express their generosity and open their homes for those in such dire need -- certainly not so quickly or so easily or efficiently -- without this innovation by Airbnb. But at the same time, this is core to their corporate strategy and core to their growth because they grow by increasing the number of hosts and guests using their platform. But if they'd only been thinking exclusively about the return side of things, I'm not sure they would have ever figured out this route to growth, because they're not charging transaction fees. So it's a pretty exciting way, when they were thinking about how to bring their capabilities to a need in society and at the same time drive their own growth.


13:14
But what if you're trying to find new customer segments? Let's move to South Africa, and let's talk about Standard Bank. In South Africa, the government has a regulation that requires all banks to donate 0.2 percent of their profits to small and medium black-owned enterprises. And many banks just donate this to the entrepreneurs, but Standard Bank thought creatively. And what they did is they took those funds and they invested them in an independent trust, and they used that trust to fund loans to these black entrepreneurs. This is a highly leveraged model. They can support a lot more entrepreneurs with capital, and because their success is completely intertwined with the success of the entrepreneurs, they're actually also using the fund to provide technical assistance. More entrepreneurs supported, more people and communities being lifted out of poverty. And it's successful for Standard Bank. So successful that they're actually working on expanding this program to other areas in their portfolio.


14:27
It's not like we haven't been trying to solve the problems in our world for a long time. We have, and they're still here. We're making progress, but it's not far enough, or fast enough, or universal enough. We need to flip our thinking. We need to have business -- both companies and investors -- bring creative, innovative corporate strategy and capital to solving the biggest problems in our world. And when they do that innovatively, and when they do that with all of their thinking and all of their strategy and all of their capital, and they're creating both total shareholder returns and total societal impact, we know that we will solve those problems, both profitably and generously.

[Reading + Listening] How great leaders inspire actions - Simon Sinek

Source:  https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action

00:13
How do you explain when things don't go as we assume? Or better, how do you explain when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions? For example: Why is Apple so innovative? Year after year, after year, they're more innovative than all their competition. And yet, they're just a computer company. They're just like everyone else. They have the same access to the same talent, the same agencies, the same consultants, the same media. Then why is it that they seem to have something different? Why is it that Martin Luther King led the Civil Rights Movement? He wasn't the only man who suffered in pre-civil rights America, and he certainly wasn't the only great orator of the day. Why him? And why is it that the Wright brothers were able to figure out controlled, powered man flight when there were certainly other teams who were better qualified, better funded -- and they didn't achieve powered man flight, and the Wright brothers beat them to it. There's something else at play here.
01:18
About three and a half years ago, I made a discovery. And this discovery profoundly changed my view on how I thought the world worked, and it even profoundly changed the way in which I operate in it. As it turns out, there's a pattern. As it turns out, all the great inspiring leaders and organizations in the world, whether it's Apple or Martin Luther King or the Wright brothers, they all think, act and communicate the exact same way. And it's the complete opposite to everyone else. All I did was codify it, and it's probably the world's simplest idea. I call it the golden circle.
02:08
Why? How? What? This little idea explains why some organizations and some leaders are able to inspire where others aren't. Let me define the terms really quickly. Every single person, every single organization on the planet knows what they do, 100 percent. Some know how they do it, whether you call it your differentiated value proposition or your proprietary process or your USP. But very, very few people or organizations know why they do what they do. And by "why" I don't mean "to make a profit." That's a result. It's always a result. By "why," I mean: What's your purpose? What's your cause? What's your belief? Why does your organization exist? Why do you get out of bed in the morning? And why should anyone care? As a result, the way we think, we act, the way we communicate is from the outside in, it's obvious. We go from the clearest thing to the fuzziest thing. But the inspired leaders and the inspired organizations --regardless of their size, regardless of their industry -- all think, act and communicate from the inside out.
03:14
Let me give you an example. I use Apple because they're easy to understand and everybody gets it. If Apple were like everyone else, a marketing message from them might sound like this: "We make great computers. They're beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. Want to buy one?" "Meh." That's how most of us communicate. That's how most marketing and sales are done, that's how we communicate interpersonally. We say what we do, we say how we're different or better and we expect some sort of a behavior, a purchase, a vote, something like that. Here's our new law firm: We have the best lawyers with the biggest clients, we always perform for our clients. Here's our new car: It gets great gas mileage, it has leather seats. Buy our car. But it's uninspiring.
04:01
Here's how Apple actually communicates. "Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?" Totally different, right? You're ready to buy a computer from me. I just reversed the order of the information. What it proves to us is that people don't buy what you do; people buy why you do it.
04:36
This explains why every single person in this room is perfectly comfortable buying a computer from Apple. But we're also perfectly comfortable buying an MP3 player from Apple, or a phone from Apple, or a DVR from Apple. As I said before, Apple's just a computer company. Nothing distinguishes them structurally from any of their competitors. Their competitors are equally qualified to make all of these products. In fact, they tried. A few years ago, Gateway came out with flat-screen TVs. They're eminently qualified to make flat-screen TVs. They've been making flat-screen monitors for years. Nobody bought one. Dell came out with MP3 players and PDAs, and they make great quality products, and they can make perfectly well-designed products -- and nobody bought one. In fact, talking about it now, we can't even imagine buying an MP3 player from Dell. Why would you buy one from a computer company? But we do it every day. People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have.The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.
05:48
Here's the best part: None of what I'm telling you is my opinion. It's all grounded in the tenets of biology. Not psychology, biology. If you look at a cross-section of the human brain, from the top down, the human brain is actually broken into three major components that correlate perfectly with the golden circle. Our newest brain, our Homo sapien brain, our neocortex, corresponds with the "what" level.The neocortex is responsible for all of our rational and analytical thought and language. The middle two sections make up our limbic brains, and our limbic brains are responsible for all of our feelings, like trust and loyalty. It's also responsible for all human behavior, all decision-making, and it has no capacity for language.
06:36
In other words, when we communicate from the outside in, yes, people can understand vast amounts of complicated information like features and benefits and facts and figures. It just doesn't drive behavior. When we can communicate from the inside out, we're talking directly to the part of the brain that controls behavior, and then we allow people to rationalize it with the tangible things we say and do.This is where gut decisions come from. Sometimes you can give somebody all the facts and figures, and they say, "I know what all the facts and details say, but it just doesn't feel right." Why would we use that verb, it doesn't "feel" right? Because the part of the brain that controls decision-making doesn't control language. The best we can muster up is, "I don't know. It just doesn't feel right." Or sometimes you say you're leading with your heart or soul. I hate to break it to you, those aren't other body parts controlling your behavior. It's all happening here in your limbic brain, the part of the brain that controls decision-making and not language.
07:30
But if you don't know why you do what you do, and people respond to why you do what you do, then how will you ever get people to vote for you, or buy something from you, or, more importantly, be loyal and want to be a part of what it is that you do. The goal is not just to sell to people who need what you have; the goal is to sell to people who believe what you believe. The goal is not just to hire people who need a job; it's to hire people who believe what you believe. I always say that, you know, if you hire people just because they can do a job, they'll work for your money, but if they believe what you believe, they'll work for you with blood and sweat and tears.Nowhere else is there a better example than with the Wright brothers.
08:15
Most people don't know about Samuel Pierpont Langley. And back in the early 20th century, the pursuit of powered man flight was like the dot com of the day. Everybody was trying it. And Samuel Pierpont Langley had, what we assume, to be the recipe for success.Even now, you ask people, "Why did your product or why did your company fail?" and people always give you the same permutation of the same three things: under-capitalized, the wrong people, bad market conditions. It's always the same three things, so let's explore that. Samuel Pierpont Langley was given 50,000 dollars by the War Department to figure out this flying machine. Money was no problem. He held a seat at Harvard and worked at the Smithsonian and was extremely well-connected; he knew all the big minds of the day. He hired the best minds money could find and the market conditions were fantastic. The New York Times followed him around everywhere, and everyone was rooting for Langley. Then how come we've never heard of Samuel Pierpont Langley?
09:16
A few hundred miles away in Dayton, Ohio, Orville and Wilbur Wright, they had none of what we consider to be the recipe for success.They had no money; they paid for their dream with the proceeds from their bicycle shop. Not a single person on the Wright brothers' team had a college education, not even Orville or Wilbur. And The New York Times followed them around nowhere.
09:39
The difference was, Orville and Wilbur were driven by a cause, by a purpose, by a belief. They believed that if they could figure out this flying machine, it'll change the course of the world. Samuel Pierpont Langley was different. He wanted to be rich, and he wanted to be famous. He was in pursuit of the result. He was in pursuit of the riches. And lo and behold, look what happened. The people who believed in the Wright brothers' dream worked with them with blood and sweat and tears. The others just worked for the paycheck.They tell stories of how every time the Wright brothers went out, they would have to take five sets of parts, because that's how many times they would crash before supper.
10:20
And, eventually, on December 17th, 1903, the Wright brothers took flight, and no one was there to even experience it. We found out about it a few days later. And further proof that Langley was motivated by the wrong thing: the day the Wright brothers took flight, he quit. He could have said, "That's an amazing discovery, guys, and I will improve upon your technology," but he didn't. He wasn't first, he didn't get rich, he didn't get famous, so he quit.
10:51
People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. If you talk about what you believe, you will attract those who believe what you believe.
10:59
But why is it important to attract those who believe what you believe? Something called the law of diffusion of innovation, if you don't know the law, you know the terminology. The first 2.5% of our population are our innovators. The next 13.5% of our population are our early adopters. The next 34% are your early majority, your late majority and your laggards. The only reason these people buy touch-tone phones is because you can't buy rotary phones anymore.
11:29
(Laughter)
11:31
We all sit at various places at various times on this scale, but what the law of diffusion of innovation tells us is that if you want mass-market success or mass-market acceptance of an idea, you cannot have it until you achieve this tipping point between 15 and 18 percent market penetration, and then the system tips. I love asking businesses, "What's your conversion on new business?" They love to tell you, "It's about 10 percent," proudly. Well, you can trip over 10% of the customers. We all have about 10% who just "get it." That's how we describe them, right? That's like that gut feeling, "Oh, they just get it."
12:06
The problem is: How do you find the ones that get it before doing business versus the ones who don't get it? So it's this here, this little gap that you have to close, as Jeffrey Moore calls it, "Crossing the Chasm" -- because, you see, the early majority will not try somethinguntil someone else has tried it first. And these guys, the innovators and the early adopters, they're comfortable making those gut decisions. They're more comfortable making those intuitive decisions that are driven by what they believe about the world and not just what product is available. These are the people who stood in line for six hours to buy an iPhone when they first came out, when you could have bought one off the shelf the next week. These are the people who spent 40,000 dollars on flat-screen TVs when they first came out, even though the technology was substandard. And, by the way, they didn't do it because the technology was so great; they did it for themselves. It's because they wanted to be first. People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it and what you do simply proves what you believe. In fact, people will do the things that prove what they believe. The reason that person bought the iPhone in the first six hours, stood in line for six hours, was because of what they believed about the world, and how they wanted everybody to see them: they were first. People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it.
13:28
So let me give you a famous example, a famous failure and a famous success of the law of diffusion of innovation. First, the famous failure. It's a commercial example. As we said before, the recipe for success is money and the right people and the right market conditions. You should have success then. Look at TiVo. From the time TiVo came out about eight or nine years ago to this current day,they are the single highest-quality product on the market, hands down, there is no dispute. They were extremely well-funded. Market conditions were fantastic. I mean, we use TiVo as verb. I TiVo stuff on my piece-of-junk Time Warner DVR all the time.
14:06
(Laughter)
14:08
But TiVo's a commercial failure. They've never made money. And when they went IPO, their stock was at about 30 or 40 dollars and then plummeted, and it's never traded above 10. In fact, I don't think it's even traded above six, except for a couple of little spikes.
14:24
Because you see, when TiVo launched their product, they told us all what they had. They said, "We have a product that pauses live TV,skips commercials, rewinds live TV and memorizes your viewing habits without you even asking." And the cynical majority said, "We don't believe you. We don't need it. We don't like it. You're scaring us."
14:48
What if they had said, "If you're the kind of person who likes to have total control over every aspect of your life, boy, do we have a product for you. It pauses live TV, skips commercials, memorizes your viewing habits, etc., etc." People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it, and what you do simply serves as the proof of what you believe.
15:12
Now let me give you a successful example of the law of diffusion of innovation. In the summer of 1963, 250,000 people showed up on the mall in Washington to hear Dr. King speak. They sent out no invitations, and there was no website to check the date. How do you do that? Well, Dr. King wasn't the only man in America who was a great orator. He wasn't the only man in America who suffered in a pre-civil rights America. In fact, some of his ideas were bad. But he had a gift. He didn't go around telling people what needed to change in America. He went around and told people what he believed. "I believe, I believe, I believe," he told people. And people who believed what he believed took his cause, and they made it their own, and they told people. And some of those people created structures to get the word out to even more people. And lo and behold, 250,000 people showed up on the right day at the right time to hear him speak.
16:17
How many of them showed up for him? Zero. They showed up for themselves. It's what they believed about America that got them to travel in a bus for eight hours to stand in the sun in Washington in the middle of August. It's what they believed, and it wasn't about black versus white: 25% of the audience was white.
16:39
Dr. King believed that there are two types of laws in this world: those that are made by a higher authority and those that are made by men. And not until all the laws that are made by men are consistent with the laws made by the higher authority will we live in a just world. It just so happened that the Civil Rights Movement was the perfect thing to help him bring his cause to life. We followed, not for him, but for ourselves. By the way, he gave the "I have a dream" speech, not the "I have a plan" speech.
17:08
(Laughter)
17:12
Listen to politicians now, with their comprehensive 12-point plans. They're not inspiring anybody. Because there are leaders and there are those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or authority, but those who lead inspire us. Whether they're individuals or organizations, we follow those who lead, not because we have to, but because we want to. We follow those who lead, not for them, but for ourselves. And it's those who start with "why" that have the ability to inspire those around them or find others who inspire them.
17:53
Thank you very much.

[Writing]The husband should bring most of the money in the family

The husband should bring most of money in the family?

It seems a weird question for NON-ASIAN but it is really a big question for ASIAN people, especially the Vietnamese. I did a small survey on my friends and saw that most of them agreed that the husband should bring most of money for the family.

Let's see what the majority of men talk about this phenomenon. There were many different options however they all agreed that man is the breadwinner of family then they must have responsibility to guard the family. They needed to do the important tasks in family and earn money to ensure that all family members have the good standard of life. However, they also admitted that in the modern life they cannot earn enough money for their family and they need supports from their wife. They also wish that they can earn much money in order to let their wives stay at home and take care of their children as well as do housework.

How about women? What do they think? I did the survey on my relatives who are modern women and realized that all of them don't like to stay at home to do housework and take care of baby, including me. My aunt, an intelligent woman, has the master degree and is working with high salary said that her husband can earn enough money for their family to have an affluent life. And she used to think about staying at home to take care of children but finally she decided to hire a babysitter to help her take care of their children because she didn't want to lose all knowledge that she learned at school. She wanted to use what she learned to devote to society, and moreover, she wanted to be financially independent of her husband.

The second woman I interviewed was my cousin. She has neither graduated from a famous university nor earned a high salary but she wanted to go to work to have the social relationships. She felt stressful when she was in maternity leave. She accepted to pay 60% her salary to send her daughter to the school. She knows that the amount of money she earns cannot support the family but it makes her happier.

Finally, I would say that in Vietnam the majority of men want their wives to stay at home to take care of children while most of the women want to go to work and to be treated as equally as men. In my perspective, I prefer to go to work to gain the financial autonomy and do our dream but in case I must stay at home for some special reason, I am willing to do that.

[Grammar]Comparative correlative

Definition:

In grammar, a minor sentence pattern containing two corresponding phrases or clauses, each one headed by the and expressing a comparative: the X-er . . . the X-er or the X-er . . . the Y-er.

The comparative correlative is also known as thecorrelative construction, the conditional comparative, or the "the . . . the" construction.

Grammatically, the comparative correlative is a type of paired construction. Rhetorically, the comparative correlative is often (but not always) a type ofparison.

Examples and Observations:

• The greater the risk, the greater the return.



• The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.



• The deeper our sorrows, the louder we'll sing.



• "Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art."
  (Maya Angelou, Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now. Random House, 1993)



• "The more we do, the more we can do; the more busy we are, the more leisure we have."
  (William Hazlitt, The Spirit of the Age, 1825)



• "The older the men are here, the more likely it is that they are wearing suits and ties."
  (John McPhee, "Giving Good Weight." Giving Good Weight. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1979)



• "The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
  (Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa in Star Wars, 1977)



• "The less we deserve good fortune, the more we hope for it."
  (Seneca)



• "The greater your achievements, the less satisfactory your personal and domestic life will be."
  (Saul Bellow, More Die of Heartbreak. William Morrow, 1987)



• "The more you pay attention to the richness of the world, the more you allow your interest to be absorbed by things outside of you, the more interesting a person you will become. And the more you pay attention to the world outside you, the more it gives back: by a kind of miracle, it will become a more interesting place."
  (Barbara Baig, How to Be a Writer: Building Your Creative Skills Through Practice and Play. Writer's Digest Books, 2010)



• The More the Merrier
  "This construction--schematically [the X-er the Y-er]--is commonly referred to as the correlative construction (Culicover 1999: 83-5); Culicover and Jackendoff 1999; Fillmore, Kay, and O'Connor 1988). It conveys that any increase (or decrease) in the value of X is associated with, and may even be construed as the cause of, an increase (or decrease) in the value of Y. A notable feature of the construction is the fact that the word the which features in it is not a determiner and is therefore not to be identified with the definite articlethe. Some instantiations of the construction:

  (16a) The more I know the more I worry. 
  (16b) The less they have to say the more they talk. 
  (16c) The bigger they are the harder they fall. 
  (16d) The earlier you start the more you chance you have of being successful. 
  (16e) The bigger the risk the bigger the payout. 
  (16f) The less said the better.

  It is also worth noting that although the correlative construction is highly unusual, given the general principles of English syntax, it is not totally isolated from the rest of the language. There are, in fact, quite a few bipartite expressions in which the first element is presented as the cause, precondition, or explanation for the second. Like the correlative construction, these expressions lack a finite verb. Here are some examples:

  (17a) Garbage in, garbage out. 
  (17b) Out of the frying pan (and) into the fire. 
  (17c) Easy come, easy go. 
  (17d) Cold hands, warm heart. 
  (17e) Once bitten, twice shy. 
  (17f) Out of sight, out of mind. 
  (17g) Once a whinger, always a whinger.* 
  (17h) One for me (and) one for you. 
  (17i) First come, first served. 
  (17j) Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

  "* This expression instantiates the construction [ONCE A N, ALWAYS A N]. Examples from the BNC [British National Corpus] include once a Catholic, always a Catholic; once a Russian, always a Russian; once a misfit, always a misfit; once a dealer, always a dealer. The construction conveys that a person is not able to change their personality or their entrenched behaviour."
  (John R. Taylor, The Mental Corpus: How Language is Represented in the Mind. Oxford University Press, 2012)



• the . . . the
  "(129) The more John eats the less he wants.
  
  "This construction . . . is composed of two phrases, each of which expresses a comparative. Both may be of the form the more XP . . ., in which case the first is interpreted as a subordinate clause and the second as a main clause. Or, the first clause can simply contain a comparative, e.g. John wants less, in which case the first clause is interpreted as the main clause and the second is interpreted as a subordinate clause.
  
  "Of particular relevance to the present discussion is the fact that the internal structure of the more . . . is sui generis, in the sense that the learner must simply acquire the knowledge that an expression of this form can be used in the way that we have described. As shown by Culicover and Jackendoff (1998), the morefunctions as an operator that binds a variable, and the chain that is formed is subject to the usual locality constraints. The form the more . . . must be initial in the clause, and cannot piedpipe a preposition . . .."
  (Peter W. Culicover, Syntactic Nuts: Hard Cases, Syntactic Theory, and Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press, 1999)



• The Little Word the
  "(6) The more a student studies, the better grades she will receive
  
  In English, both the first phrase and the second phrase obligatorily begin with the little word the. The unacceptability of (7a) is due to the absence of the in the first clause, in (7b) in the second clause, in (7c), the absence of the in both clauses unsurprisingly also results in unacceptability.

  (7a) * More a student studies, the better grades she will receive. 
  (7b) * The more a student studies, better grades she will receive. 
  (7c) * More a student studies, better grades she will receive."

  (Ronald P. Leow, Little Words: Their History, Phonology, Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics, and Acquisition. Georgetown University Press, 2009)

Source: http://grammar.about.com/od/c/g/Comparative-Correlatives.htm

[Grammar]Comparative/superlative

Comparative is the name for the grammar used when comparing two things. The two basic ways to compare are using as .. as or than. Examples of each are shown below:

• She's twice as old as her sister.
• He's not as stupid as he looks!
• I'm almost as good in maths as in science.
• This book is not as exciting as the last one.
• The cafeteria is not as crowded as usual.
• Russian is not quite as difficult as Chinese.

• This computer is better than that one.
• She's stronger at chess than I am.
• It's much colder today than it was yesterday.
• Our car is bigger than your car.
• This grammar topic is easier than most others.
• I find science more difficult than mathematics.
• Today's ESL lesson was more interesting than usual.

Note: In each of the example sentences above, the comparative form of the adjective is shown. See the foot of this page for information about the comparison of adverbs.

When comparing with as .. as, the adjective does not change. When comparing with than, however, some changes are necessary, depending on the number of syllables the adjective has:

1-syllable adjectives: add -er to the adjective

• My sister is much taller than me.†
• It's colder today than it was yesterday.

Note: If the word ends: consonant-vowel-consonant, then the last consonant is usually doubled in the comparative. Examples: big-bigger, fat-fatter, hot-hotter.

2-syllable adjectives ending in -y: change the -y to -ier

• She's looking happier today.
• This grammar topic is easier than the last one.
• Why is everyone else luckier than me? †

Beware: Do not confuse adjectives and adverbs. 2-syllable adverbs ending in -y must be compared with the word more. Example: I drive more quickly (quicklier) than my brother.

Other 2-syllable adjectives: use more with the unchanged adjective

• The shops are always more crowded just before Christmas.
• Is there anything more boring than reading about grammar?
• My sister is more careful with her writing than I am with mine.

Note: The comparative of some shorter 2-syllable adjectives can be formed with -er. Examples: simple-simpler, clever-cleverer, narrow-narrower. To be sure which comparative method to use, you will need to consult a good dictionary.

Adjectives with 3 or more syllables: use more with the unchanged adjective

• Russian grammar is more difficult than English grammar.
• My sister is much more intelligent than me.†
• I find maths lessons more enjoyable than science lessons.
• The older you get, the more irritating you become.

---

In the superlative you talk about one thing only and how it is the best, worst, etc. You do not compare two things. The following guidelines apply to the superlative:

1-syllable adjectives: add -est to the adjective (plus the)

• My sister is the tallest in our family.
• Yesterday was the coldest day of the year so far.

Note: If the word ends: consonant-vowel-consonant, then the last consonant is usually doubled in the superlative. Examples: big-biggest, fat-fattest, hot-hottest.

2-syllable adjectives ending in -y: change the -y to -iest (plus the)

• The richest people are not always the happiest.
• Which do you think is the easiest language to learn?
• She's the luckiest person I know.

Beware: Do not confuse adjectives and adverbs. 2-syllable adverbs ending in -y form their superlative with the words the most. Example: Of all the people I know my father drives the most quickly (quickliest).

Other 2-syllable adjectives: use the most with the unchanged adjective

• The most boring thing about ESL class is doing grammar exercises.
• My sister is the most careful person I know.

Note: The superlative of some shorter 2-syllable adjectives can be formed with -er. Examples: simple-simplest, clever-cleverest, narrow-narrowest. To be sure which superlative method to use, you will need to consult a good dictionary.

Adjectives with 3 or more syllables: use the most with the unchanged adjective

• Some people think that Russian is the most difficult language.
• Albert Einstein was the most intelligent person in history.
• My most enjoyable class is English.
• You are the most irritating person I have ever met!

Following are two common irregular comaparative/superlative forms:

• good-better-the best
• bad-worse-the worst

---

The following guidelines apply to the comparative/superlative of mostadverbs:

1-syllable adverbs: add -er/-est

• I can run faster than you. / I can run the fastest in my class.
• She works harder than me.† / She works the hardest of all students.

Other adverbs: use more / the most*

• She ran more quickly than me.† / Of all the students she ran the most quickly.

* In informal English it is common to hear the adjectival comparative/superlative form of two-syllable adverbs. For example: She ran quicker than me.† | She ran the quickest.

† Many educated English speakers prefer to use the nominative plus a verb rather than the accusative in such comparative sentences, especially in formal situations. They say, for example, My sister is taller than I am. or She ran more quickly than I did.The alternative, omitting the verb as in the following examples, is considered to be even more formal and is avoided by most British English speakers: My sister is taller than I. or She ran more quickly than I.

Source: http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/comp.htm

Writing Effective Emails

Email is a widely used tool for business communications, but a 2013 survey by Sendmail, Inc., found that it has caused tension, confusion, or other negative consequences for 64 percent of working professionals.
So, how can you avoid your emails doing this? And how can you write emails that get the results you want?
This article looks at strategies you can use to ensure that your use of email is clear, effective, and successful.

Writing Effective Emails

The average office worker receives around 80 emails each day. With that volume of mail, individual messages can easily get overlooked. Follow these simple rules to get your emails noticed and acted upon.

1. Don't overcommunicate by email.
2. Make good use of subject lines.
3. Keep messages clear and brief.
4. Be polite.
5. Check your tone.
6. Proofread.

1. Don't Overcommunicate by Email

One of the biggest sources of stress at work is the sheer volume of emails that people receive. So, before you begin writing an email, ask yourself: "Is this really necessary?"
As part of this, you should use the phone or IM to deal with questions that are likely to need some back-and-forth discussion. Use our Communications Planning Tool   to identify the channels that are best for different types of message.
Also, email is not as secure as you might want it to be, particularly as people may forward emails without thinking to delete the conversation history. So avoid sharing sensitive or personal information in an email, and don't write about anything that you, or the subject of your email, wouldn't like to see plastered on a billboard by your office.
Whenever possible, deliver bad news   in person. This helps you to communicate with empathy, compassion, and understanding, and to make amends   if your message has been taken the wrong way.

2. Make Good Use of Subject Lines

A newspaper headline has two functions: it grabs your attention, and it summarizes the article, so that you can decide whether to read it or not. The subject line of your email message should do the same thing.
A blank subject line is more likely to be overlooked or rejected as "spam," so always use a few well-chosen words to tell the recipient what the email is about.
You may want to include the date in the subject line if your message is one of a regular series of emails, such as a weekly project report. For a message that needs a response, you might also want to include a call to action, such as "Please reply by November 7."
A well-written subject line like the one below delivers the most important information, without the recipient even having to open the email. This serves as a prompt that reminds recipients about your meeting every time they glance at their inbox.

Bad Example	Good Example
Subject: Meeting	Subject: PASS Process Meeting - 10 a.m. February 25, 2014

If you have a very short message to convey, and you can fit the whole thing into the subject line, use "EOM" (End of Message) to let recipients know that they don't need to open the email to get all the information that they need.

Example
Subject: Could you please send the February sales report? Thanks! EOM

(Of course, this is only useful if recipients know what "EOM" means.)

3. Keep Messages Clear and Brief

Emails, like traditional business letters, need to be clear and concise. Keep your sentences short and to the point. The body of the email should be direct and informative, and it should contain all pertinent information. See our article on writing skills   for guidance on communicating clearly in writing.
Unlike traditional letters, however, it costs no more to send several emails than it does to send just one. So, if you need to communicate with someone about a number of different topics, consider writing a separate email for each one. This makes your message clearer, and it allows your correspondent to reply to one topic at a time.

Bad Example

Good Example

Subject: Revisions For Sales Report Hi Jackie, Thanks for sending that report last week. I read it yesterday, and I feel that Chapter 2 needs more specific information about our sales figures. I also felt that the tone could be more formal. Also, I wanted to let you know that I've scheduled a meeting with the PR department for this Friday regarding the new ad campaign. It's at 11:00 a.m. and will be in the small conference room. Please let me know if you can make that time. Thanks! Monica

Subject: Revisions For Sales Report Hi Jackie, Thanks for sending that report last week. I read it yesterday, and I feel that Chapter 2 needs more specific information about our sales figures. I also felt that the tone could be more formal. Could you amend it with these comments in mind? Thanks for your hard work on this! Monica (Monica then follows this up with a separate email about the PR department meeting.)

It's important to find balance here. You don't want to bombard someone with emails, and it makes sense to combine several, related, points into one email. When this happens, keep things simple   with numbered paragraphs or bullet points, and consider "chunking"   information into small, well-organized units to make it easier to digest.
Notice, too, that in the good example above, Monica specified what she wanted Jackie to do (in this case, amend the report). If you make it easy for people to see what you want, there's a better chance that they will give you this.

4. Be Polite

People often think that emails can be less formal than traditional letters. But the messages you send are a reflection of your own professionalism  , values, and attention to detail, so a certain level of formality is needed.
Unless you're on good terms with someone, avoid informal language, slang, jargon  , and inappropriate abbreviations. Emoticons can be useful for clarifying your intent, but it's best to use them only with people you know well.
Close your message with "Regards," "Yours sincerely," or "All the best," depending on the situation.
Recipients may decide to print emails and share them with others, so always be polite.

5. Check the Tone

When we meet people face-to-face, we use the other person's body language  , vocal tone, and facial expressions to assess how they feel. Email robs us of this information, and this means that we can't tell when people have misunderstood our messages.
Your choice of words, sentence length, punctuation, and capitalization can easily be misinterpreted without visual and auditory cues. In the first example below, Emma might think that Harry is frustrated or angry, but, in reality, he feels fine.

Bad Example	Good Example
Emma, I need your report by 5 p.m. today or I'll miss my deadline. Harry	Hi Emma, Thanks for all your hard work on that report. Could you please get your version over to me by 5 p.m., so I don't miss my deadline? Thanks so much! Harry

Think about how your email "feels" emotionally. If your intentions or emotions could be misunderstood, find a less ambiguous way to phrase your words.

6. Proofreading

Finally, before you hit "send," take a moment to review your email for spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes. Your email messages are as much a part of your professional image as the clothes you wear, so it looks bad to send out a message that contains typos.
As you proofread, pay careful attention to the length of your email. People are more likely to read short, concise emails than long, rambling ones, so make sure that your emails are as short as possible, without excluding necessary information.
Our article on writing skills   has tips and strategies that you can use when proofreading your emails.

Key Points

Most of us spend a significant portion of our day reading and composing emails. But the messages we send can be confusing to others.
To write effective emails, first ask yourself if you should be using email at all. Sometimes, it might be better to pick up the phone.
Make your emails concise and to the point. Only send them to the people who really need to see them, and be clear about what you would like the recipient to do next.
Remember that your emails are a reflection of your professionalism, values, and attention to detail. Try to imagine how others might interpret the tone of your message. Be polite, and always proofread what you have written before you click "send."

Source:http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/EmailCommunication.htm