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From the beginning of time it has been evident that as humans we function better in groups than individually (Joining pg. 4). The Cro-Magnons discovered early in time that they were more efficient and productive working in groups than when working independently. Once they pooled their resources, people, and knowledge the possibilities were endless. Until I read the text Joining Together, I had never given the concept of groups much thought. Now I realize that over the course of our entire life we exist in groups. I have learned over these past few weeks dynamics of group structure and the benefits of being in a group.
We are born into a group, we live in a group, and we work in a group. Throughout our lives the groups we associate with shape our identities. The early years of our lives are generally spent in authoritarian models of group structure (Participant Material pg. 48). We are given instruction first by our parents and then later by teachers, with little or no opportunity for disagreement. I found this to be the case in my own home as my father gave the orders and we carried them out. Opinions from my sisters and me were neither asked for or welcomed.
He was, without question, the autocratic leader in our home. Then as we progress in life we discover that there are other forms of leadership where we are not only allowed to have an opinion but expected to have an opinion. Ideally, we are in a democratic leadership with each group member allowed to share ideas rather than an autocratic leadership (the leader controls the group) or laissez-faire leadership (there is a leader but he / she does nothing). I found the Desert Survival exercise to be quite enlightening. The group that I was in consisted of five women and no men. The first thing we did was to rank our choices individually and then we came together as a group to discuss our options for survival.
We found it was fairly simple to rank the least important items and the most important ones, but all the ones that fell in between were a little more difficult. We spent a great deal of time discussing those items that fell in the middle. After weighing the merits of each item, its ranking was chosen by consensus of the group. We did not have any strong disagreements on the choices that were made but I think that was more because our comfort level with each other was not very high. We seemed to want to avoid any conflicts within the group. Two of our members already knew each other and were not afraid to actively discuss the merits of one option over another.
Although we did not choose the leader of our group, she was a wise choice. She was a good listener and adopted a more democratic style of leadership. She never voiced any strong opinions about any of our options. The group next to us had five men and no women in it. We noticed that their group had an Army reserve man in it. Positive that he would know a great deal about surviving in the wilderness, we tried to eavesdrop on them in an attempt to glean some helpful information but to no avail.
As it turned out, their group did much worse than ours did. At the end of the exercise individual scores and group scores were placed on the chalkboard for comparison. Almost everyone scored higher as a group than they did individually, proving that group decisions are more effective than individual decisions. Three individuals scored higher than their groups; I was one of the three.
I found that most of the time if there was a ranking that I disagreed with I went with the group's decision instead of adhering to my own feeling. I enjoyed the exercise as it brought the members of the class together and gave each of us a little insight into our classmates. We were quite disappointed to discover that even though we scored higher than the other groups, we still perished in the desert. During Week Three, we viewed a video on conflict in the workplace. It was very interesting and brought some good points to light.
I could see almost all five of the major causes of conflict in play here: value differences, role pressures, perceptual differences, divergent goals, and status conflict (Class Discussion). Both men needed to step back and look at the problem from the other person's perspective. They both seemed to lose sight of their common goal. Their boss needed to demonstrate better leadership skills.
He could have averted most of the conflict between the two men if he had only shown them some effective ways to resolve conflict. As was illustrated in the video, win / lose or negotiating methods of resolving conflict are really only temporary fixes. Although it is difficult to achieve, the problem-solving method is more effective and it is a long term solution rather than a temporary one (Class Discussion). I always viewed conflict as bad and something to be avoided but now I realize that conflict is not always bad, it can be very good (Class Discussion). Discussing our differences and concerns can clarify situations between people, opening the way for better communication. Unfortunately, many managers feel that all conflict is bad and should be avoided at all costs.
The administration at our school takes the traditionalist view that conflict is bad and should be eradicated (Participant Material pg. 19). Consequently, many issues that need to be dealt with and should be dealt with are ignored rather than resolved. It would be so much more effective to sit down with all parties involved and engage in a little problem-solving. Competition has no place in most organizations. A business and its employees always benefits from a team effort instead of an "every man for himself" attitude. Cooperative efforts are always superior to individuals that are working for their own benefit.
A competitive orientation creates defensive behavior that results in decreased communication between coworkers (Joining Together pg. 147 - 148). On the other hand, a cooperative orientation promotes increased cohesiveness, better communication, and greater productivity. I never knew how effective Brainstorming could be until Week Three when we were asked to participate in the Island Survival Exercise. Each group was given a time limit and asked to list thirty things we could do with a leather thong and a metal peace symbol. It sounded like an impossible task to do alone but as a group we were amazed at the many ways we found to use these items.
I think if we hadn't had one group member that wanted to analyze each idea so much we probably could have come up with several more ideas. I learned that in brainstorming no idea is too stupid and that quite often the most logical solutions to a problem can stem from a brainstorming session (Class Discussion). Virtually all of my decision making experiences have been in the four years since my divorce. As I stated earlier, my father made all decisions in our household and when I married the same was true for my own home, my husband made all decisions. Consequently, my decision making experiences were limited and I lacked the confidence to assert myself. Then four years ago I found myself a single woman responsible for making all decisions in my new household.
It was a challenging and learning experience. I didn't always make the best decision but I learned from those mistakes and now I feel quite confident about the choices I must make. Growing up I always resented the fact that I was never allowed to make my own choices or asked for my opinion on matters, so I have endeavored to allow my children a voice in their home. Most of the decisions in our home are discussed with Josh and...
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