Common sense seems to dictate that only one individual person will have the best answer possible. In Suroweicki’s book, The Wisdom of Crowds, he believes that “under the right circumstances, groups are remarkably intelligent and often smarter than the smartest people in them” (XIII). Suroweicki’s way of thinking is extremely useful because it explains why groups of people are collectively smarter when working towards a common goal. More importantly, the events following the tragedy that happened to the Saddle Tramps Motorcycle Club confirm it. Unfortunately, it happens that this tragedy was the group’s motivator to decide on several potential solutions to the problem. In particular, fundraisers that motorcycle clubs have organized is where I have witnessed several people behave in a common way, because everyone is there for the same reason. When it comes to organizing a fundraiser event there is a substantial amount of planning and collaboration amongst a motorcycle clubs members who are hosting the event. More importantly, a mutual consensus amongst the group is necessary to determine the purpose of any fundraiser. Furthermore, its purpose is the deciding factor on whether or not people will attend. Along the same lines, numerous characteristics play an essential role for success that any fundraiser might have.
On November 19, 2010, the Saddle Tramps Motorcycle club were involved in a fatal accident along State Route 98, which led to several of the its members being injured or killed. In the days that passed the accident, the Saddle Tramps had to deal with their emotions while planning for memorials and services for their friends. Moving forward, the club began to collaborate with one another on ways to raise money for their f...
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...ts. More importantly, the club donated all the proceeds from every single event to the families of the injured Saddle Tramps members.
The upshot of all this is that the Saddle Tramps were able to achieve significant results through each member providing a mutual amount of group effort. Looking back, Surowiecki discusses in order to be successful; groups must maintain their diversity and independence (10). It is this fact that led to choosing to write about the tragedy that happened to the Saddle Tramps Motorcycle club. As well as the fact when tragedies occur, I was able to witness the significant outcome of all of these events. Overall, the actions presented by everyone who played a key role in the Saddle Tramp tragedy confirms what Surowiecki thinks about groups.
Works Cited
Surowiecki, James. The Wisdom of Crowds. New York: Random House, 2004. Print
“I looked anxiously. I didn’t see anybody… I’d keep my head up and my eyes open-‘You got a smoke to spare?’” (Walters 3). In Shattered, Eric Walters hauls the reader through the life of Ian, the protagonist who experiences the joy of helping others. Throughout this white pine award novel, Ian continually offers help to people around him reflecting to them that their lives are not perfect and they ought to alter it somewhat. Furthermore, the author effectively compares the significance of family and the importance of acquiring a dream in life. Through the book, Eric Walters demonstrates the theme of compassion through the incidents of Ian helping Jack to overcome his drinking problems, showing Berta the value of patriot and always there for the less fortunate.
In several cases, folks will set aside their personal beliefs or adopt the opinion of the rest of the group. Group-think influences police officer’s rationalizations for some behaviors by preventing members of the group from reconsidering their beliefs while causing them to ignore warning signs. Group-think tends to occur more in situations where group members are very similar to one another and is more likely to take place when a powerful and charismatic leader commands the group. Situations in which the group is placed under extreme stress or where moral dilemmas exist also increase the occurrence of groupthink (Haberfeld et al.2014,
During this past summer I had the opportunity to travel to the Washington Leadership Conference (WLC), where I learned about leadership, citizenship, and service. During the conference we met in what was called large groups and community groups. Each community group had their own unique name, with some being called “revolutionaries” or the “legacies”, but the name of my group was the “Rough Riders”. At the time I really did not know much about the history of the Rough Riders or their impact in history, but after some research and watching a movie based on this story I was able to see a real life example of what lea...
Turman, P. (October 13, 2000b). Group Decision Making & Problem Solving: Group Communication [Lecture] Cedar Falls, IA. University of Northern Iowa, Communication Studies Department.
Surowiecki, James. The wisdom of crowds: Why the many are smarter than the few and how collective wisdom shapes business, economies, societies, and nations. New York: Doubleday, 2004. Kindle edition
...good job to bring us as close as we can to the same experience that they had without us physically being there. I especially like how in almost every community that they visited find the usefulness of the bicycle, rather if it’s the cycle yatra in India or bicibomba (bicycle-powered water pump). This is significant to me because something as simple as a bicycle can help improve a community. The book also provides realistic solutions to the challenges that the global community as a whole is facing. So we can literally apply what we learn and use it in our own community. Our individualism has taken over much of our lives, and our sense of community just isn’t there anymore; but the book suggest that if you don’t want to be oppress by your community due to the lack of it, there is always better alternative. I am glad that the types of community still exist today.
After watching a herd of buffalo respond to a crisis on a video segment called "The Battle at Kruger,” I realized group cohesion was perfectly illustrated by a herd of buffalo. In the video, the buffalo are grazing in a field. Lying in wait is a pride of lions. As with most predatory species, the lions look for the best opportunity for food. When the buffaloes first happen upon the lions, their initial instinct is to scatter or respond individually. That’s when the baby buffalo becomes vulnerable when the lions pounce. The lions overtake the baby and bring it down. To make matters worse, the lions trap the baby near a body of water where crocodiles lurk. Now it becomes a battle between the lions and the crocodile for who is having dinner. The pride of lions emerges victorious over the crocodile and gets the baby buffalo back. However, the most amazing thing happens, the herd comes back for its own. As the video clip progresses, the viewers in the background keep exclaiming, "You're too late! You're too late!" It's a lion ‘dog’ pile on top of one defenseless young buffalo and all hope seems lost. But the herd demonstrates cohesion and comes back for the baby with a few brave ones confronting the lions directly. The baby does his part and struggles to get free and runs for safety to the middle of the herd. What seemed like an impossible situation becomes one of great victory. This is one instance where having a “herd mentality” can be a good thing. If buffalo can come together cohesively and perform well under extreme circumstances, surely people can, too. The purpose of this paper is to explore how cohesion forms and how it affects performance.
There are eight symptoms of groupthink. The first symptom is when all or most of the group view themselves as invincible which causes them to make decisions that may be risky. The group has an enormous amount of confidence and authority in their decisions as well as in themselves. They see themselves collectively better in all ways than any other group and they believe the event will go well not because of what it is, but because they are involved. The second symptom is the belief of the group that they are moral and upstanding, which leads the group to ignore the ethical or moral consequences of the decisions. The group engages in a total overestimation of its morality. There is never any question that the group is not doing the right thing, they just act. The disregarding of information or warnings that may lead to changes in past policy is the third symptom. Even if there is considerable evidence against their standpoint, they see no problems with their plan. Stereotyping of enemy leaders or others as weak or stupid is the fourth symptom. This symptom leads to close-mindedness to other individuals and their opinions. The fifth symptom is the self-censorship of an individual causing him to overlook his doubts. A group member basically keeps his mouth shut so the group can continue in harmony. Symptom number six refers to the illusion of unanimity; going along with the majority, and the assumption that silence signifies consent. Sometimes a group member who questions the rightness of the goals is pressured by others into concurring or agreeing, this is symptom number seven. The last symptom is the members that set themselves up as a buffer to protect the group from adverse information that may destroy their shared contentment regarding the group’s ...
To remind people in an organization why they belong takes continued focus on a common goal or common belief. By having one main function, a group is generally more effective than if everyone has different ideas and outlooks on specific topics. However, to keep everyone on the same page, the members of a group need to accurately know where they stand in reference to their goal. One way to do this is through social facilitation. This is the concern of self image through the presence of other people. It's a concept that allows members to know the acceptable opinions of the group. Someone who agrees to the ideas set out from the organization. "Group polarization is the concept of changing personal opinions to extremities after a group discussion.(Johnson 13)" This concept eliminates members who aren't sure what they think of the group's purpose. They decide that either they agree completely or they disagree completely. Either way it means they decide if they are in or out after the group discussion. A common goal is one way to distinguish and separate the devoted members from the questionable individuals in a group.
When there is a dilemma that affects a group of people, actions by the right people can be
Social Workers must be knowledgeable on how to facilitate and lead group sessions with clients. They must be cognizant on their responsibilities as a facilitator, and diligently work to meet the needs of all group members collectively and individually. According to Toseland, Ronald, & Rivas, Robert (2009) group work practice focuses on Social Work practice with a broad range of treatment and task groups and the group’s environment (pg. 2.). It is significant for Social Workers to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to be able to properly assess and assist in group atmospheres. At my field placement which is at the Covenant House, a homeless shelter in Detroit that services youth from ages 18-24. I am responsible for co-facilitating along with the agency’s Social Worker, a
Even though we are all categorized in to groups from the day were conceived. We can still create our own group, and whether are not you create your own group or if it was chosen for you there will be effective and ineffective aspects of that group. Base the circumstances that each individual’s values and beliefs are different. Further more, participation and similarity of other group members and the goals of the group will also affect the group dynamic.
...and show an open mind to everyone’s ideas. I’ve found that this makes for a lighter and more fun environment and we’ve shown success in completing our task. Most times I’m put into groups, I don’t know the other people very well. This is common at school with my classmates. I’m used to having no leader in the group and everyone fighting to have their ideas chosen. Once a leader was chosen in the group we started discussing openly everyone’s ideas with the chosen leader voicing their opinion on which idea to choose and why. Usually when it comes to my friends I take the leadership role and make an try to hear everyone’s opinion before making a decision. I believe that for a team to find success and reach their goal someone needs to take leadership and voice an unbiased opinion. The team needs to hear everyone’s ideas and choose one based on which will lead to success.
Groups can be made up of different individuals that are coming together to accomplish a specific
Realizing that a group can become a high performance team is important. Accomplishing this goal is invaluable, advantageous and profitable. Once able to operate from a group to the high performing team is a great step into preparation into the big business world. Leaders and members must also realize not only how to accomplish this but that some problems will and can arise from different demographic characteristics and cultural diversity. That is if one is in such a group, which the probability would be quite high.