post 3, week of may 8-15

A concept I would like to talk about that I found important was diversity. The importance of diversity is high because when taken advantage of, it can add new solutions to complex problems. Diversity in groups helps solving complex problems because members with diverse backgrounds have different insights on how to solve problems because they have a different upbringing.  Diversity is difficult though because it can have a negative impact on the group if it is not dealt with properly. I think it is important and is something that needs to be learned to take advantage of because most groups now have some diverse background involved. Groups that take advantage of their diversity will be turning a possible negative of the group into a positive that will greatly add effectiveness to the entire group. I choose this term because I think it is important, and relevant. I also picked it because it is something that I observed in my group and saw how it can help solve complex problems

post 2, week of may 8-15

Throughout the class, I have learned a lot about the complexity that small groups involve. Things that stuck out to me where the chapters that went over group synergy. I Thought that was an important thing I learned that I never really thought about. I also learned about how there are a bunch of different factors that lead to solving complex problems like diversity and creativity, and thought those are important terms. My least favorite thing about the class was just reminding myself to do the post every week because sometimes I forgot. I also thought the test were somewhat hard and did not get a good score on most of them. I think you all of the info assessable with the power points and overviews of each chapter so maybe I just had trouble with the test. The only thing that could be made more clear would be what you wanted for the papers. The second paper was good because there were the same requirements, but the first one I missed points for not doing something you wrote on the rubric. I should have read it but I think a post on the blogger with the things you could miss points on to remind would be helpful. Besides this small thing I thought the class was great.

post 1 Week of may 8-15

I thought my group observation project was very useful because it allowed me to apply what the book was explaining in real practice. I thought it required me to think critically about the terms from the book, which in turn help me understand the full meaning of the terms. Something I learned was the complexity of small groups and how much effort goes into a small group being effective. I thought it was good that I wasn’t allowed to observe a group I was involved with because it was more interesting to observe another group and let me notice things that I would have neglected if I had observed a group I was a part of. I also thought the whole project was good because like I said earlier it helped me better understand the terms and I think this will help me on the final. Overall I thought the project was difficult, but helpful, and don’t think there are much improvements to be made

Post#2 4/29

Collaborative being defined as a ‘Win-win” situation is best type of conflict resolution and is what every group strives from when in conflict. Collaborative conflict resolution is energy consuming because it takes time and effort to come up with a solution that satisfies all parties involved. Collaborative conflict resolution that I have engaged in was when I was a part of a group that was deciding on when to meet next. Half the group wanted to meet in the morning to get it done with, while the other half wanted to sleep in and meet later. The group decided to meet a little before noon because it let members sleep in as well as get it done with somewhat early in the day. This is a simple example of collaboration conflict resolution because it was a win-win for all members in the group. It required extra time and energy to find a time that everyone was free at but the solution was worth it.

            Competitive conflict is different from collaborative conflict in that one side wins, or gets what they want, while the other side has to deal with it. This would be if the group said they were going to meet in the morning and those who wanted to sleep in would be out of luck. I would say that most of the time collaborative conflict resolution is the most satisfying to me because I like to go along with the team. There are times that in the win-lose situation I might lose and that’s never fun. I figure if everyone is willing to compromise a little the best decision for the group members will be made, but it dosent always work out like that.

question #1 4/25

A forum, panel, colloquium, and symposium all have distinctive differences. A forum is a public discussion that the entire audience is involved with. A panel has four to eight participants that are experts on a topic and openly discuss that topic. A colloquium also experts that discuss a topic in front of an audience, but the colloquium is only three to six experts and there is also a moderator that facilitates their interaction. Lastly, the symposium deals with more difficult and complex problems and is disused in front of an audience through two to six speeches that focuses on specific aspects of the complex problem. When making a public a presentation I would prefer to do or listen to a forum. I would prefer a forum because nothing goes unsaid. If the audience has any questions about anything they can ask questions they have to make it clear. The only down side to a forum is that the dissicussion could get off topic. But when staying on topic, I think the forum is most effect because it gets every ones thoughts on the topic out in the open.

post #3 4/23

I thought an important concept to from chapter ten were the barriers to creativity. I think that these were more important than the cultural barriers of creativity because occur more often. The barriers listed are lack of self-confidence, fear of taking risk, feel a need to conform, do not feel we are in an environment that encourages creativity, or find ourselves locked into our habitual ways of looking at the world. The three most common of these that happen that I see happen the most, or that I face are lack of self-confidence, fear of taking risks, and being locked in habitual ways. In addition, every group that I am in that lacks creativity is because of one of this reason. Reason that people fall in to this happening are failed attempts. You are in a group and try to be creative, but it fails and all the heat comes down on you for suggesting it, next time you are in a situation like this you don’t mention a creative way because you are afraid of taking a risk,  and have no confidence. It is important to push failed attempts out of mind and keep trying until it works out.

5 cultural barriers

Cultural barriers can be detrimental to group creativity. Barriers that are mentioned in the book are a requirement for conforminity, an expectation of practically, particular arenas for competition or cooperation, an expectation of politeness and following rules for social order, reliance on statically proofs, a dependence on generalizations, a trust in the power of reason and logic, and a reliance on expert knowledge. I think that some of these things would keep a group from being creative because every different person has a set of rules that has been shaped for him/her while he was growing up. If someone does not know how to be free and is used to doing it the way he has been taught then it would be hard for a member to free himself from the old way and be creative. I myself have fallen in this. My group gets a problem that I know how to solve one way but no other way. When the way I know how to solve it is not available then its hard for me to think about another way to solve the problem