When
parts of the system do not function well, small groups fall apart. It's part of
human nature. According to Harris and Sherblom, "Living systems tend
toward entropy - that is: disorganization, stagnation, and chaos," (31). A
great example of I have from my personal life has to do with my event planning
class a couple of semesters ago. The assignment was to create an event with
your team and host it. Our event was definite chaos. A lot of us were
extroverts and leaders. We were closed minded, shout over one another and most
of the time give negative feedback. In the end, we all had a major contribution
to the end result of our event and couldn't complete the event without
everyone's participation. We learned this through experience. One person was
late and another forgot something so we had to adapt accordingly. Another
example I have is another small group project I had to do in another class.
This group had the exact opposite problem where no one wanted to take charge or
shared their ideas. Basically if one person said how about this, we just went
with it because no one else voiced their opinions. Again this was another type
falling apart because the small group did not fully grasp the concept of
interdependence and interrelationships.
Hey there! Wow, the example sounds pretty intense. I believe that it is hard to work together in groups because people might get into conflicts with each other and people might be unreliable. When members of the group depend on each other, it gives out a better result because of the mutual trusting bond. Also I feel a leader in a group is always important. I remember back in high school people would always forget something during the day of presentation or the day when the assignment is due. This of course caused a lot of problems but in the end it was okay because we did make adjustments in time. Anyways I hope your future group assignments will go better. Nice posts this week!
ReplyDeleteThese experiences relate not only to entropy but also bifurcation. Entropy is an inevitable part of life, things fall apart. Small groups are no different. But many people come into a group valuing thier ideas over those of others. These individuals can trample over others, to the detrement of the group. Sometimes, groups form, where the participants need encouragement to volunteer any ideas. Everyone needs to participate and contribute to the groups' objectives. If this type of situation is created, synergy can exist within the group and any group will produce results greater than what the individuals could produce. I think we have all had similar experiences and can relate to poor group communication and entropy.
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