I thought an interesting concept the book provides is its look on wholeness and synergy. It explains that “Whole is greater than the sum of its parts” (p.28). This means that the sum of peoples work in isolation is less than the sum of the same amount of people working together. This is important because this is what a group is really all about. If you got the same work done with no help there would be no need for groups at all. The book then explains that the interaction between each other then produces more work in turn, and it is called synergy. This synergy is a result of the interaction between its group members. Their thoughts and ideas are mixed together in discussion and in turn create a larger and more complete thought. Synergy is one reason that makes small groups effective at solving problems and is another reason why groups are widely used to get better work done.
Awesome post Chim! This post got me thinking about the beginning of the textbook and how "few great ventures are started by a single individual alone. More often they are created by people working together" (p.2). Another thing I'd like to point out is even the US president consults his cabinet members, proving more heads are better than one.
ReplyDeleteI also chose the same concept as well and I really liked how your explanation on how synergy and wholeness was straight to the point and clear on what they both mean and how they are imperative to making small groups effective.
ReplyDeleteI actually did not think of the point you brought up on how the individuals' thought and ideas are mixed together in a discussion and the end point leads to creating a larger and more complete thought. I never really thought about it in those terms and I thought that was a great point that you made. Nice job overall!