Adaptation: becoming aware and active in group dynamics

(Record at least one example in at least one of these tables)

Reflex Action

Instinctive action (pre-judgement)

To initially ‘distrust’ the capabilities of team members whom I had never worked with before, then, to find over time that they were valuable assets to each other and me.

The team that I was assigned to was made up of another five full-time MBA students. I had worked with two of these individuals a number of times over the year, but I had never worked with the other three. I was relieved that I could rely on the two people I knew, but apprehensive about the capabilities and personal drive of the three others, even though one had earned a an excellent reputation from previous work. As a somewhat outspoken and assertive individual my tendency is to take control of a new situation and to direct the workload, and therefore the result.

Over the years I have recognised this, and thus developed a response where I keep my ears open and mouth shut until I can evaluate the lay of the land. This is what I planned to do on this module, but was anxious that I would not be able to carry this out.

Reflection on action – transferable lessons about group processes

(Based on your insights above, develop some thoughts about how you would approach group processes in the future, and/or some issue(s) that require further thought, in about 250 words.)

I believe myself to be a mature, assertive and resourceful individual with broad life experiences acquired over years of being an operational XYZ, a manufacturing operations manager and then an operations director in a prominent Scottish business. I was experienced, I had proven I could problem solve, present and lead teams. So, why was it I felt so pensive about commencing this module, in a work group that would be assigned to us?

Daniel Goleman (Goleman, D., 1998) suggests that whilst toughness, intelligence and determination are required of successful leaders, they are not sufficient in themselves and that emotional intelligence, encompassing a plethora of interpersonal skills, is the key differentiator in determining greatness. Already familiar with Goleman’s theory, I thought I possessed a ‘sufficiently’ high Emotional Quotient – moving through four primary schools as a child develops your social antenna! – to operate at a high level, so there was something different going on here.

The MBA cohort like any group can subconsciously resort to Groupthink (Whyte, W.H., 1952) , a result of the ongoing chat around work group selection and grades. I was definitely worried that his new group couldn’t be better than my last group, and that my marks would suffer accordingly. Happily this was not the case!

Our group quickly, and satisfyingly, settled into a professional rhythm manifested by evidence of procedural justice (Rawls, J., 1971) in our willingness to view from the perspective of others, and also what appeared to be an MBA team culture paradigm (Schein, E.H., 1984) that best ideas come from the team, not necessarily the individual. We turned out to be consultative and reflective practitioners (Schon, D.,1983) who constructed what we believed to be an effective solution for the problem we faced.

My initial impression of how this team would operate was way off the mark, and I should have known better from the outset.