{"id":49,"date":"2019-08-19T15:22:39","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T15:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/introductiontogroupcommunicationv2\/chapter\/groups-and-problem-solving\/"},"modified":"2023-03-24T14:46:00","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T14:46:00","slug":"groups-and-problem-solving","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/introductiontogroupcommunicationv2\/chapter\/groups-and-problem-solving\/","title":{"raw":"Groups and Problem-Solving","rendered":"Groups and Problem-Solving"},"content":{"raw":"<div id=\"section-container\">\n<div id=\"book-content\">\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01\" class=\"section\" xml:lang=\"en\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\"><span style=\"color: #2388a1\"><span class=\"title-prefix\">11.1<\/span> Group Problem-Solving<\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_n02\" class=\"learning_objectives editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Learning Objective<\/h3>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_l01\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n \t<li>Identify and describe how to implement seven steps for group problem-solving.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">No matter who you are or where you live, problems are an inevitable part of life. This is true for groups as well as for individuals. Some groups\u2014especially work teams\u2014are formed specifically to solve problems. Other groups encounter problems for a wide variety of reasons. Within a family group, a problem might be that a daughter or son wants to get married and the parents do not approve of the marriage partner. In a work group, a problem might be that some workers are putting in more effort than others, yet achieving poorer results. Regardless of the problem, having the resources of a group can be an advantage, as different people can contribute different ideas for how to reach a satisfactory solution.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">Once a group encounters a problem, the questions that come up range from \u201cWhere do we start?\u201d to \u201cHow do we solve it?\u201d While there are many ways to approach a problem, the American educational philosopher John Dewey\u2019s reflective thinking sequence has stood the test of time. This seven step process<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_001\" class=\"footnote\">Adler, R. (1996). <em class=\"emphasis\">Communicating at work: principles and practices for business and the professions.<\/em> Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.<\/span> has produced positive results and serves as a handy organizational structure. If you are member of a group that needs to solve a problem and don\u2019t know where to start, consider these seven simple steps<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_002\" class=\"footnote\">McLean, S. (2005). <em class=\"emphasis\">The basics of interpersonal communication.<\/em> Boston, MA: Allyn &amp; Bacon.<\/span>:<\/p>\n\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_l02\" class=\"orderedlist editable block\">\n \t<li>Define the problem.<\/li>\n \t<li>Analyze the problem.<\/li>\n \t<li>Establish criteria.<\/li>\n \t<li>Consider possible solutions.<\/li>\n \t<li>Decide on a solution.<\/li>\n \t<li>Implement the solution.<\/li>\n \t<li>Follow up on the solution.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">Let\u2019s discuss each step in detail.<\/p>\n\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s01\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Define the Problem<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s01_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">If you don\u2019t know what the problem is, how can you know you\u2019ve solved it? Defining the problem allows the group to set boundaries of what the problem is and what it is not; and begin to formalize a description or definition of the scope, size, or extent of the challenge the group will address. A problem that is too broadly defined can overwhelm the group. If the problem is too narrowly defined, important information will be missed or ignored.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s01_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">In the following example, we have a web-based company called Favorites which needs to increase its customer base and ultimately sales. A problem-solving group has been formed, and they start by formulating a working definition of the problem.<\/p>\n\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s01_l01\" class=\"itemizedlist editable block\">\n \t<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Too Broad:<\/strong> \u201cSales are off, our numbers are down, and we need more customers.\u201d<\/li>\n \t<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">More Precise:<\/strong> \u201cSales have been slipping incrementally for 6 of the past 9 months and are significantly lower than a seasonally adjusted comparison to last year. Overall this loss represents a 4.5% reduction in sales from the same time last year. However, when we break it down by product category, sales of our non-edible products have seen a modest but steady increase, while sales of edibles account for the drop off and we need to halt the decline.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s02\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Analyze the Problem<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s02_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Now the group analyzes the problem, trying to gather information and learn more. The problem is complex and requires more than one area of expertise. Why do non-edible products continue selling well? What is it about the edibles that is turning customers off? Let\u2019s meet our problem-solvers at Favorites.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s02_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">Kevin is responsible for customer resource management. He is involved with the customer from the point of initial contact through purchase and delivery. Most of the interface is automated in the form of an online \u201cbasket model,\u201d where photographs and product descriptions are accompanied by \u201cBuy It\u201d buttons. He is available during normal working business hours for live chat and voice interface if needed, and customers are invited to request additional information. Most Favorites customers do not access this service, but Kevin is kept quite busy, as he also handles returns and complaints. Because Kevin believes that superior service retains customers while attracting new ones, he is always interested in better ways to serve the customer. Looking at edibles and non-edibles, he will study the cycle of customer service and see if there are any common points, from the main webpage through the catalog to the purchase process to returns, at which customers abandon the sale. He has existing customer feedback loops with end-of-sale surveys, but most customers decline to take the survey and there is currently no incentive to participate.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s02_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">Mariah is responsible for products and purchasing. She wants to offer the best products at the lowest price, and to offer new products that are unusual, rare, or exotic. She regularly adds new products to the Favorites catalog and culls underperformers. Right now she has the data on every product and its sales history, but it is a challenge to represent it. She will analyze current sales data and produce a report that specifically identifies how each product, edible and non-edible, is performing. She wants to highlight \u201cwinners\u201d and \u201closers\u201d but also recognizes that today\u2019s \u201closers\u201d may be the hit of tomorrow. It is hard to predict constantly changing tastes and preferences, but that is part of her job. It\u2019s not all science, and it\u2019s not all art. She has to have an eye for what will catch on tomorrow while continuing to provide what is hot today.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s02_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">Suri is responsible for data management at Favorites. She gathers, analyzes, and presents information gathered from the supply chain, sales, and marketing. She works with vendors to make sure products are available when needed, makes sales predictions based on past sales history, and assesses the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s02_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">The problem-solving group members already have certain information on hand. They know that customer retention is one contributing factor. Attracting new customers is a constant goal, but they are aware of the well-known principle that it takes more effort to attract new customers than to keep existing ones. Thus, it is important to ensure a quality customer service experience for existing customers and encourage them to refer friends. The group needs to determine how to promote this favorable customer behavior.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s02_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">Another contributing factor seems to be that customers often abandon the shopping cart before completing a purchase, especially when purchasing edibles. The group members need to learn more about why this is happening.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s03\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Establish Criteria<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s03_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Establishing the criteria for a solution is the next step. At this point, information is coming in from diverse perspectives, and each group member has contributed information from their perspective, even though there may be several points of overlap.<\/p>\n<strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Kevin:<\/strong> Customers who complete the post-sale survey indicate that they want to know 1) what is the estimated time of delivery, 2) why a specific item was not in stock and when it will be, and 3) why their order sometimes arrives with less than a complete order, with some items back-ordered, without prior notification.\n\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s03_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">He notes that a very small percentage of customers complete the post-sale survey, and the results are far from scientific. He also notes that it appears the interface is not capable of cross-checking inventory to provide immediate information concerning back orders, so that the customer \u201cbuys it\u201d only to learn several days later that it was not in stock. This seems to be especially problematic for edible products, because people may tend to order them for special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries. But we don\u2019t really know this for sure because of the low participation in the post-sale survey.<\/p>\n<strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Mariah:<\/strong> There are four edible products that frequently sell out. So far, we haven\u2019t been able to boost the appeal of other edibles so that people would order them as a second choice when these sales leaders aren\u2019t available. We also have several rare, exotic products that are slow movers. They have potential, but currently are underperformers.\n\n<strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Suri:<\/strong> We know from a zip code analysis that most of our customers are from a few specific geographic areas associated with above-average incomes. We have very few credit cards declined, and the average sale is over $100. Shipping costs represent on average 8% of the total sales cost. We do not have sufficient information to produce a customer profile. There is no specific point in the purchase process where basket abandonment tends to happen; it happens fairly uniformly at all steps.\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s04\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Consider Possible Solutions to the Problem<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s04_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">The group has listened to each other and now starts to brainstorm ways to address the challenges they have identified while focusing resources on those solutions that are more likely to produce results.<\/p>\n<strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Kevin:<\/strong> Is it possible for our programmers to create a cross-index feature, linking the product desired with a report of how many are in stock? I\u2019d like the customer to know right away whether it is in stock, or how long they may have to wait. As another idea, is it possible to add incentives to the purchase cycle that won\u2019t negatively impact our overall profit? I\u2019m thinking a small volume discount on multiple items, or perhaps free shipping over a specific dollar amount.\n\n<strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Mariah:<\/strong> I recommend we hold a focus group where customers can sample our edible products and tell us what they like best and why. When the best sellers are sold out, could we offer a discount on related products to provide an instant alternative? We might also cull the underperforming products with a liquidation sale to generate interest.\n\n<strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Suri:<\/strong> If we want to know more about our customers, we need to give them an incentive to complete the post-sale survey. How about a five percent off coupon code for the next purchase, to get them to return and to help us better identify our customer base? We may also want to build in a customer referral rewards program, but it all takes better data in to get results out. We should also explore the supply side of the business and see if we can get a more reliable supply of the leading products, and try to get more advantageous discounts from our suppliers, especially in the edible category.\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s05\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Decide on a Solution<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s05_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Kevin, Mariah, and Suri may want to implement all of the solution strategies, but they do not have the resources to do them all. They\u2019ll complete a <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>cost\/benefit analysis<\/em><\/a><\/span>, which ranks each solution according to its probable impact. The analysis is shown in Table 11.1 \"Cost\/Benefit Analysis\".<\/p>\n\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s05_t01\" class=\"table block\">\n<p class=\"title\"><span class=\"title-prefix\">Table 11.1<\/span> Cost\/Benefit Analysis<\/p>\n\n<table style=\"border-spacing: 0px\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th align=\"left\">Source<\/th>\n<th align=\"left\">Proposed Solution<\/th>\n<th>Cost<\/th>\n<th>Benefit<\/th>\n<th>Comment<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Kevin<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Integrate the cross-index feature<\/td>\n<td>High<\/td>\n<td>High<\/td>\n<td>Many of our competitors already have this feature<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Kevin<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Volume discount<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>Medium<\/td>\n<td>May increase sales slightly<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Kevin<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Free shipping<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>This has a downside in making customers more aware of shipping costs if their order doesn\u2019t qualify for free shipping<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Mariah<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Hold a focus group to taste edible products<\/td>\n<td>High<\/td>\n<td>Medium<\/td>\n<td>Difficult to select participants representative of our customer base<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Mariah<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Search for alternative products to high performers<\/td>\n<td>Medium<\/td>\n<td>Medium<\/td>\n<td>We can\u2019t know for sure which products customers will like best<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Mariah<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Liquidate underperformers<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>Might create a \u201cbargain basement\u201d impression inconsistent with our brand<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Suri<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Incentive for post-sale survey completion<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>Medium<\/td>\n<td>Make sure the incentive process is easy for the customer<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Suri<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Incentive for customer referrals<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>Medium<\/td>\n<td>People may feel uncomfortable referring friends if it is seen as putting them in a marketing role<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Suri<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Find a more reliable supply of top-selling edibles<\/td>\n<td>Medium<\/td>\n<td>High<\/td>\n<td>We already know customers want these products<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Suri<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Negotiate better discounts from vendors<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>High<\/td>\n<td>If we can do this without alienating our best vendors, it will be a win-win<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s05_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">Now that the options have been presented with their costs and benefits, it is easier for the group to decide which courses of action are likely to yield the best outcomes. The analysis helps the group members to see beyond the immediate cost of implementing a given solution. For example, Kevin\u2019s suggestion of offering free shipping won\u2019t cost Favorites much money, but it also may not pay off in customer goodwill. And even though Mariah\u2019s suggestion of having a focus group might sound like a good idea, it will be expensive and its benefits are questionable.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s05_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">A careful reading of the analysis indicates that Kevin\u2019s best suggestion is to integrate the cross-index feature in the ordering process so that customers can know immediately whether an item is in stock or on back order. Of Mariah\u2019s suggestions, searching for alternative products is probably the most likely to benefit Favorites. And Suri\u2019s two supply-side suggestions are likely to result in positive outcomes.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s06\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Implement the Solution<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s06_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Kevin is faced with the challenge of designing the computer interface without incurring unacceptable costs. He strongly believes that the interface will pay for itself within the first year\u2014or, to put if more bluntly, that Favorites\u2019 declining sales will get worse if the website does not soon have this feature. He asks to meet with top management to get budget approval and secures their agreement, on one condition: He must negotiate a compensation schedule with the Information Technology consultants that includes delayed compensation in the form of bonuses after the feature has been up and running successfully for six months.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s06_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">Mariah knows that searching for alternative products is a never-ending process, but it takes time and the company needs results. She decides to invest time evaluating products that competing companies currently offer, especially in the edible category, on the theory that customers who find their desired items sold out on the Favorites website may have been buying alternative products elsewhere instead of choosing an alternative from Favorites\u2019 product lines.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s06_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">Suri decides to approach the vendors of the four frequently sold-out products and ask point blank: \u201cWhat would it take to get you to produce these items more reliably in greater quantities?\u201d By opening the channel of communication with these vendors, she is able to motivate them to make modifications that will improve the reliability and quantity. She also approaches the vendors of the less popular products with a request for better discounts in return for cooperation in developing and test-marketing new products.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s07\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Follow up on the Solution<\/h2>\n<strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Kevin:<\/strong> After several beta tests, the cross-index feature was implemented and has been in place for 30 days. Now customers see either \u201cIn stock\u201d or \u201cAvailable [mo\/da\/yr]\u201d in the shopping basket. As expected, Kevin notes a decrease in the number of chat and phone inquiries to the effect of, \u201cWill this item arrive before my wife\u2019s birthday?\u201d However, he notes an increase in inquiries asking \u201cWhy isn\u2019t this item in stock?\u201d It is difficult to tell whether customer satisfaction is higher overall.\n\n<strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Mariah:<\/strong> In exploring the merchandise available from competing merchants, she got several ideas for modifying Favorites\u2019 product line to offer more flavors and other variations on popular edibles. Working with vendors, she found that these modifications cost very little. Within the first 30 days of adding these items to the product line, sales are up. Mariah believes these additions also serve to enhance the Favorites brand identity, but she has no data to back this up.\n\n<strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Suri:<\/strong> So far, the vendors supplying the four top-selling edibles have fulfilled their promise of increasing quantity and reliability. However, three of the four items have still sold out, raising the question of whether Favorites needs to bring in one or more additional vendors to produce these items. Of the vendors with which Favorites asked to negotiate better discounts, some refused, and two of these were \u201cstolen\u201d by a competing merchant so that they no longer sell to Favorites. In addition, one of the vendors that agreed to give a better discount was unexpectedly forced to cease operations for several weeks because of a fire.\n\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s07_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">This scenario allows us to see the problem may have many dimensions, and may have several solutions, but resources can be limited and not every solution is successful. Even though the problem is not immediately resolved, the group problem-solving pattern serves as a useful guide through the problem-solving process.<\/p>\n\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s07_n01\" class=\"key_takeaways editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Key Takeaway<\/h3>\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s07_l01\" class=\"itemizedlist\">\n \t<li>Group problem-solving can be an orderly process when it is broken down into seven specific stages.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s07_n02\" class=\"exercises editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Exercises<\/h3>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s07_l02\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n \t<li>Think of a problem encountered in the past by a group of which you are a member. How did the group solve the problem? How satisfactory was the solution? Discuss your results with your classmates.<\/li>\n \t<li>Consider again the problem you described in Exercise #1. In view of the seven-step framework, which steps did the group utilize? Would following the full seven-step framework have been helpful? Discuss your opinion with a classmate.<\/li>\n \t<li>Research one business that you would like to know more about and see if you can learn about how they communicate in groups and teams Compare your results with those of classmates.<\/li>\n \t<li>Think of a decision you will be making some time in the near future. Apply the cost\/benefit analysis framework to your decision. Do you find this method helpful? Discuss your results with classmates.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02\" class=\"section\" xml:lang=\"en\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\"><span style=\"color: #2388a1\"><span class=\"title-prefix\">11.2<\/span> Group Decision-Making<\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_n02\" class=\"learning_objectives editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_l01\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n \t<li>Define decision-making and distinguish between decision-making and problem-solving.<\/li>\n \t<li>Describe five methods of group decision-making.<\/li>\n \t<li>Identify six guidelines for consensus decision-making.<\/li>\n \t<li>Define autocratic, democratic, and participative decision-making styles and place them within the Tannenbaum-Schmidt continuum.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_ep01\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_p02\" class=\"para\">Life is the sum of all your choices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">Albert Camus<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">Simply put, <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>decision-making<\/em><\/a><\/span> is the process of choosing among options and arriving at a position, judgment, or action. It usually answers a \u201cwh-\u201d question\u2014i.e., what, who, where, or when?\u2014or perhaps a \u201chow\u201d question.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">A group may, of course, make a decision in order to solve a problem. For instance, a group of students might discover halfway through a project that some of its members are failing to contribute to the required work. They might then decide to develop a written timeline and a set of deadlines for itself if it believes that action will lead them out of their difficulty.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">Not every group decision, however, will be in response to a problem. Many decisions relate to routine <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>logistical<\/em><\/a><\/span> matters such as when and where to schedule an event or how to reach someone who wasn\u2019t able to make it to a meeting. Thus, decision-making differs from problem-solving.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">Any decision-making in a group, even about routine topics, is significant. Why? Because decision-making, like problem-solving, results in a change in a group\u2019s status, posture, or stature. Such change, in turn, requires energy and attention on the part of a group in order for the group to progress easily into a new reality. Things will be different in the group once a problem has been solved or a decision has been reached, and group members will need to adjust.<\/p>\n\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Methods of Reaching Decisions<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Research does indicate that groups generate more ideas and make more accurate decisions on matters for which a known preferred solution exists, but they also operate more slowly than individuals.<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_003\" class=\"footnote\">Hoy, W.K., &amp; Miskel, C.G. (1982). <em class=\"emphasis\">Educational administration: Theory, research, and practice<\/em> (2nd ed.). New York: Random House.<\/span> Under time pressure and other constraints, some group leaders exercise their power to make a decision <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>unilaterally<\/em><\/a><\/span>\u2014alone\u2014because they\u2019re willing to sacrifice a degree of accuracy for the sake of speed. Sometimes this behavior turns out to be wise; sometimes it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">Assuming that a group determines that it must reach a decision together on some matter, rather than deferring to the will of a single person, it can proceed according to several methods. Parker and Hoffman <span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_004\" class=\"footnote\">Parker, G., &amp; Hoffman, R. (2006). <em class=\"emphasis\">Meeting excellence: 33 tools to lead meetings that get results.<\/em> San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.<\/span>, along with Hartley and Dawson <span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_005\" class=\"footnote\">Hartley, P., &amp; Dawson, M. (2010). <em class=\"emphasis\">Success in groupwork.<\/em> New York: St. Martin\u2019s Press.<\/span>, place decision-making procedures in several categories. Here is a synthesis of their views of how decision-making can take place:<\/p>\n\n<ol class=\"orderedlist editable block\">\n \t<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ol class=\"orderedlist editable block\">\n \t<li>\n<p class=\"para\">\u201cA plop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p03\" class=\"para\">A group may conduct a discussion in which members express views and identify alternatives but then reach no decision and take no action. When people go their own ways after such a \u201c<span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>plop<\/em><\/a><\/span>,\u201d things sometimes take care of themselves, and the lack of a decision causes no difficulties. On the other hand, if a group ignores or postpones a decision which really needs attention, its members may confront tougher decisions later\u2014some of which may deal with problems brought about by not addressing a topic when it was at an early stage.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \t<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Delegation to an expert.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p04\" class=\"para\">A group may not be ready to make a decision at a given time, either because it lacks sufficient information or is experiencing unresolved conflict among members with differing views. In such a situation, the group may not want to simply drop the matter and move on. Instead, it may turn to one of its members who everyone feels has the expertise to choose wisely among the alternatives that the group is considering. The group can either ask the expert to come back later with a final proposal or simply allow the person to make the decision alone after having gathered whatever further information he or she feels is necessary.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \t<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Averaging.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p05\" class=\"para\">Group members may shift their individual stances regarding a question by \u201csplitting the difference\u201d to reach a \u201cmiddle ground.\u201d This technique tends to work most easily if numbers are involved. For instance, a group trying to decide how much money to spend on a gift for a departing member might ask everyone for a preferred amount and agree to spend whatever is computed by averaging those amounts.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \t<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Voting.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p06\" class=\"para\">If you need to be quick and definitive in making a decision, voting is probably the best method. Everyone in mainstream American society is familiar with the process, for one thing, and its outcome is inherently clear and obvious. A <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>majority vote<\/em><\/a><\/span> requires that more than half of a group\u2019s members vote for a proposal, whereas a proposal subject to a <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>two-thirds vote<\/em><\/a><\/span> will not pass unless twice as many members show support as those who oppose it.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p07\" class=\"para\">Voting is essentially a win\/lose activity. You can probably remember a time when you or someone else in a group composed part of a strong and passionate minority whose desires were thwarted because of the results of a vote. How much commitment did you feel to support the results of that vote?<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p08\" class=\"para\">Voting does offer a quick and simple way to reach decisions, but it works better in some situations than in others. If the members of a group see no other way to overcome a deadlock, for instance, voting may make sense. Likewise, very large groups and those facing serious time constraints may see advantages to voting. Finally, the efficiency of voting is appealing when it comes to making routine or noncontroversial decisions that need only to be officially approved.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \t<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Consensus.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p09\" class=\"para\">In consensus decision-making, group members reach a resolution which all of the members can support as being acceptable as a means of accomplishing some mutual goal even though it may not be the preferred choice for everyone. In common use, \u201cconsensus\u201d can range in meaning from unanimity to a simple majority vote. In public policy facilitation and multilateral international negotiations, however, the term refers to a general agreement reached after discussions and consultations, usually without voting.<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_006\" class=\"footnote\">\u201cconsensus\u201d. (2002). In <em class=\"emphasis\">Dictionary of Conflict Resolution, Wiley<\/em>. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.credoreference.com\/<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p10\" class=\"para\">Consensus should not be confused with <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>unanimity<\/em><\/a><\/span>, which means only that no one has explicitly stated objections to a proposal or decision. Although unanimity can certainly convey an accurate perspective of a group\u2019s views at times, groupthink also often leads to unanimous decisions. Therefore, it\u2019s probably wise to be cautious when a group of diverse people seems to have formed a totally unified block with respect to choices among controversial alternatives.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p11\" class=\"para\">When a consensus decision is reached through full interchange of views and is then adopted <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>in good faith<\/em><\/a><\/span> by all parties to a discussion, it can energize and motivate a group. Besides avoiding the win\/lose elements intrinsic to voting, it converts each member\u2019s investment in a decision into a stake in preserving and promoting the decision after it has been agreed upon.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Guidelines for Seeking Consensus<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">How can a group actually go about working toward consensus? Here are some guidelines for the process:<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">First, be sure everyone knows the definition of consensus and is comfortable with observing them. For many group members, this may mean suspending judgment and trying something they\u2019ve never done before. Remind people that consensus requires a joint dedication to moving forward toward improvement in and by the group.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">Second, endeavor to solicit participation by every member of the group. Even the naturally quietest person should be actively \u201cpolled\u201d from time to time for his or her perspectives. In fact, it\u2019s a good idea to take special pains to ask for varied viewpoints when discussion seems to be stalled or contentious.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">Third, listen honestly and openly to each group member\u2019s viewpoints. Attempt to seek and gather information from others. Do your best to subdue your emotions and your tendency to judge and evaluate.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">Fourth, be patient. To reach consensus often takes much more time than voting would. A premature \u201cagreement\u201d reached because people give in to speed things up or avoid conflict is likely later to weaken or fall apart.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">Fifth, always look for mutually acceptable ways to make it through challenging circumstances. Don\u2019t resort to chance mechanisms like flipping a coin, and don\u2019t trade decisions arbitrarily just so that things come out equally for people who remain committed to opposing views.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p07\" class=\"para editable block\">Sixth, resolve gridlock earnestly. Stop and ask, \u201cHave we really identified every possible feasible way that our group might act?\u201d If members of a group simply can\u2019t agree on one alternative, see if they can all find and accept a next-best option. Then be sure to request an explicit statement from them that they are prepared to genuinely commit themselves to that option.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p08\" class=\"para editable block\">One variation on consensus decision-making calls upon a group\u2019s leader to ask its members, before initiating a discussion, to agree to a deadline and a \u201csafety valve.\u201d The deadline would be a time by which everyone in the group feels they need to have reached a decision. The \u201csafety valve\u201d would be a statement that any member can veto the will of the rest of the group to act in a certain way, but only if he or she takes responsibility for moving the group forward in some other positive direction.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p09\" class=\"para editable block\">Although consensus entails full participation and assent within a group, it usually can\u2019t be reached without guidance from a leader. One college president we knew was a master at escorting his executive team to consensus. Without coercing or rushing them, he would regularly involve them all in discussions and lead their conversations to a point at which everyone was nodding in agreement, or at least conveying acceptance of a decision. Rather than leaving things at that point, however, the president would generally say, \u201cWe seem to have reached a decision to do XYZ. Is there anyone who objects?\u201d Once people had this last opportunity to add further comments of their own, the group could move forward with a sense that it had a common vision in mind.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p10\" class=\"para editable block\">Consensus decision-making is easiest within groups whose members know and respect each other, whose authority is more or less evenly distributed, and whose basic values are shared. Some charitable and religious groups meet these conditions and have long been able to use consensus decision-making as a matter of principle. The Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, began using consensus as early as the 17<sup class=\"superscript\">th<\/sup> century. Its affiliated international service agency, the American Friends Service Committee, employs the same approach. The Mennonite Church has also long made use of consensus decision-making.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s03\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Decision-Making by Leaders<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s03_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">People in the business world often need to make decisions in groups composed of their associates and employees. Take the case of a hypothetical businessperson, Kerry Cash.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s03_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">Kerry owns and manages Wenatcheese, a shop which sells gourmet local and imported cheese. Since opening five years ago, the business has overcome the challenge of establishing itself and has built a solid clientele. Sales have tripled. Two full-time and four part-time employees\u2014all productive, reliable, and customer-friendly\u2014have made the store run efficiently and bolstered its reputation.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s03_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">Now, with Christmas and the New Year coming, Kerry wants to decide, \u201cShall I open another shop in the spring?\u201d Because the year-end rush is on, there\u2019s not a lot of time to weigh pros and cons.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s03_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">As the diagram indicates, many managers in Kerry\u2019s situation employ two means to make decisions like this: intuition and analysis. They\u2019ll feel their gut instinct, analyze appropriate financial facts, or do a little bit of both.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s03_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">Unfortunately, this kind of dualistic decision-making approach restricts an individual leader\u2019s options. It doesn\u2019t do justice to the complexity of the group environment. It also fails to fully exploit the power and relevance of other people\u2019s knowledge.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s03_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">Too much feeling may produce arbitrary outcomes. And, as the management theorist Peter Drucker observed, too much fact can create stagnation and \u201c<span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>analysis paralysis<\/em><\/a><\/span>\u201d: \u201c(A)n overload of information, that is, anything much beyond what is truly needed, leads to information blackout. It does not enrich, but impoverishes.\u201d<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_007\" class=\"footnote\">Drucker, P.F. (1993). <em class=\"emphasis\">The effective executive. <\/em>New York: Harperbusiness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s03_p07\" class=\"para editable block\">Fortunately, a couple of authorities wrote an article in 1973 which can help members of groups assess and strengthen the quality of their decision-making <span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_008\" class=\"footnote\">Tannenbaum, R., &amp; Schmidt, W. (1973, May-June). How to choose a leadership pattern. <em class=\"emphasis\">Harvard Business Review,<\/em> 3\u201311.<\/span> Robert Tannenbaum and Warren Schmidt were those authorities. Their article so appealed to American readers that more than one million reprints eventually sold.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">The Tannnenbaum-Schmidt Continuum<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Kerry Cash, wondering whether to open another Wenatcheese outlet, can refer to the Tannenbaum-Schmidt model in Table 11.2 \"Tannenbaum-Schmidt Continuum\" to identify a spectrum of ways to resolve the question:<\/p>\n\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_t01\" class=\"table block\">\n<p class=\"title\"><span class=\"title-prefix\">Table 11.2<\/span> Tannenbaum-Schmidt Continuum<\/p>\n\n<table style=\"border-spacing: 0px\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th align=\"left\">Autocratic<\/th>\n<th align=\"left\"><\/th>\n<th align=\"left\"><\/th>\n<th align=\"left\">Democratic<\/th>\n<th align=\"left\"><\/th>\n<th align=\"left\"><\/th>\n<th align=\"left\">Participative<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Manager makes decision and announces it<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Manager sells decision<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Manager presents ideas and invites questions<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Manager presents tentative decisions subject to change<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Manager presents problem, gets suggestions, and makes decision<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Manager defines limits asks group to make decision<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Manager permits subordinates to function within limits defined by superior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">Let\u2019s take a look at the components of this continuum, from left to right. First, we have two autocratic options:<\/p>\n\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_l01\" class=\"itemizedlist editable block\">\n \t<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">OPTION ONE: Pure announcement.<\/strong> \u201cAll right, folks, I\u2019ve decided we\u2019re going to open a new shop in Dryden over Memorial Day weekend.\u201d<\/li>\n \t<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">OPTION TWO: \u201cSelling\u201d.<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019d like us to open a new shop in Dryden. I have five reasons. Here they are\u2026\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">Next, three democratic options are available:<\/p>\n\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_l02\" class=\"itemizedlist editable block\">\n \t<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">OPTION THREE: Presentation with questions.<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019ve decided we\u2019ll open a new shop in Dryden. What would you like to know about the plan?\u201d<\/li>\n \t<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">OPTION FOUR: Tentative decision.<\/strong> \u201cI want to open a new shop in Dryden. Do you have any observations or questions about this possibility?\u201d<\/li>\n \t<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">OPTION FIVE: Soliciting suggestions.<\/strong> \u201cI think we\u2019re in a position to open a new shop. Dryden seems like the best location, but I\u2019d also consider Cashmere or Leavenworth or Okanogan. I\u2019ll decide which way to go after you give me your thoughts.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">Finally, two participative kinds of approaches present themselves:<\/p>\n\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_l03\" class=\"itemizedlist editable block\">\n \t<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">OPTION SIX: Limited group autonomy.<\/strong> \u201cI want to open a new shop in either Dryden, Cashmere, or Leavenworth sometime between Easter and Independence Day. Talk it over and let me know what we should do.\u201d<\/li>\n \t<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">OPTION SEVEN: Full group autonomy.<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019m willing to establish a new shop if you\u2019d like. Let me know by two weeks from now whether you want to do that, and if so, where and when.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">Of course, many decisions embody more complications and include more details than Kerry Cash\u2019s. Some are related to people: Shall we bring more people into the group? If we do, how many should be full-fledged and how many should be temporary or provisional? Or do we need to reduce our number of members?<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">Other decisions depend on financial variables and constraints: Can we trust the economy enough to invest in new equipment? Do we have time to develop and promote any new ideas?<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p07\" class=\"para editable block\">The Tannenbaum-Schmidt model doesn\u2019t tell us how to choose between its own options. Tannenbaum and Schmidt, however, did offer some advice on this score. These are some topics they suggested that leaders address as they decide where to position themselves on the continuum:<\/p>\n\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_l04\" class=\"itemizedlist editable block\">\n \t<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">THE ORGANIZATION.<\/strong> What kind is it? Is it a new, or is it relatively solid and secure?<\/li>\n \t<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">THE PEOPLE.<\/strong> How mature are they? How experienced? How motivated?<\/li>\n \t<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">THE PROBLEM OR DECISION.<\/strong> How intricate is it? What kind of expertise is required to solve it?<\/li>\n \t<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">TIME.<\/strong> What deadlines, if any, do we face? Is there enough time to involve as many people as we\u2019d like?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p09\" class=\"para editable block\">Intel Corporation actually identifies in advance of its meetings the kind of decision-making that will be associated with each question or topic ((<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_009\" class=\"footnote\">Matson, E. (1996, April-May)). The seven sins of deadly meetings. <em class=\"emphasis\">Fast company<\/em>, 122.<\/span> The four categories it uses resemble some of the components of the Tannenbaum\/Schmidt model, as follows:<\/p>\n\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_l05\" class=\"itemizedlist editable block\">\n \t<li>Authoritative (the leader takes full responsibility).<\/li>\n \t<li>Consultative (the leader makes a decision after weighing views from the group).<\/li>\n \t<li>Voting.<\/li>\n \t<li>Consensus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p10\" class=\"para editable block\">Once you\u2019ve reached a decision, take a few steps back. Ask yourself, \u201cIs it truly consistent with our group\u2019s values, or was it perhaps simply a <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>technocratic<\/em><\/a><\/span> outcome: i.e., procedurally proper but devoid of empathy and human understanding? Throughout history, many a group\u2019s decision reached \u201cby the book\u201d later caused dissension, disappointment, or even dissolution of the group itself.<\/p>\n\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_n01\" class=\"key_takeaways editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_l06\" class=\"itemizedlist\">\n \t<li>Groups may choose among several methods of decision-making, including consensus, depending on their circumstances and the characteristics of their leaders and members. Making decisions which are consistent with the group\u2019s values is of paramount importance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_n02\" class=\"exercises editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Exercises<\/h3>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_l07\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n \t<li>Think of major decisions made in the last couple of years by two groups you\u2019re a part of. Which method from this section did the groups use in each case? Which of the decisions are you more satisfied with now? Why? To what degree do you feel the decision-making methods the groups used fit the circumstances and the characteristics of the groups themselves?<\/li>\n \t<li>Tell a classmate about a decision that a group you\u2019re part of needs to make shortly. Ask the classmate for his\/her advice on which decision-making method the group should employ.<\/li>\n \t<li>A major hesitation raised by some people with respect to consensus decision-making is that it requires much more time than voting or other direct methods. In what kind of situation would you be, or have you been, willing to invest \u201cas much time as it takes\u201d to reach consensus in a group?<\/li>\n \t<li>If you were compelled to make every decision either totally by intuition or totally by analysis, which would you choose? On the basis of what experience or value do you feel this way? If you could choose to have every group leader around you make decisions by only one of the two methods, which would you prefer, and why?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03\" class=\"section\" xml:lang=\"en\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\"><span style=\"color: #2388a1\"><span class=\"title-prefix\">11.3<\/span> Effective Strategies for Group Creativity<\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_n02\" class=\"learning_objectives editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_l01\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n \t<li>Define and explain \u201cbisociation.\u201d<\/li>\n \t<li>Describe brainstorming and identify criteria for its effective use.<\/li>\n \t<li>Differentiate between neophiles and neophobes.<\/li>\n \t<li>Distinguish between the creative styles of \u201cbrooders\u201d and \u201cspawners.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_ep01\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p02\" class=\"para\">Sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, teachers\u2014everybody starts to douse your imagination and creativity. At a young age it starts, and then all of a sudden you\u2019re like a trunk going through an airport, covered in stickers. I think I have spent most of my life pulling off stickers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">Kim Basinger<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_ep02\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p03\" class=\"para\">Very few people do anything creative after the age of thirty-five. The reason is that very few people do anything creative before the age of thirty-five.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">Joel Hildebrand<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_ep03\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p04\" class=\"para\">You can\u2019t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">Jack London<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">Human beings are naturally creative from an early age. Think of any four- or five-year-old child you\u2019ve ever met, and you can verify this for yourself. Here are some examples from journals kept by one of the authors concerning his children\u2019s development before age six:<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">I was reading <em class=\"emphasis\">Animal Farm<\/em> the other day and mentioned that one of the \u201cSeven Commandments\u201d of the animals had to do with the beliefs that the beasts liked anything with four legs or wings. Amelia said, \u201cOh\u2014then they like airplanes!\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p07\" class=\"para editable block\">Last night at dinner, Claire looked at the roll-top wooden bread storage compartment over the counter top in our kitchen and said, \u201cThat\u2019s a garage door where food parks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p08\" class=\"para editable block\">When I was explaining that there are only four tastes which human tongues can detect\u2014salty, sweet, sour, and bitter\u2014Claire asked, \u201cWhat about \u2018yucky\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p09\" class=\"para editable block\">Last night on the way to folk-dancing, we started talking about vocabulary. For some reason, Amelia created a new word: \u201ctrampede.\u201d According to her, a \u201ctrampede\u201d is a centipede on a trampoline.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p10\" class=\"para editable block\">Solving problems and making decisions both work best if people in a group are creative; i.e., if they entertain new perspectives and generate new ideas. Can this be a simple matter of having the group\u2019s leader tell people \u201cBe creative,\u201d though? Probably not. It\u2019s like saying, \u201cDon\u2019t think of an elephant\u201d: it\u2019s apt to produce just the opposite effect of the command itself. Still, tools and techniques for encouraging creativity in a group do exist.<\/p>\n\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s01\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">A Theory of Creativity<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s01_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Arthur Koestler, a major intellectual and political force in Europe and the United States throughout most of the 20<sup class=\"superscript\">th<\/sup> century, contended that all creativity comprises a process he called \u201c<span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>bisociation<\/em><\/a><\/span>.\u201d<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_010\" class=\"footnote\">Koestler, A. (1964). <em class=\"emphasis\">The act of creation.<\/em> New York: Macmillan.<\/span> Koestler\u2019s seminal book on this topic, titled <em class=\"emphasis\">The Act of Creation<\/em>, put forth a theory that he believed accounted for people\u2019s \u201cAha\u201d reaction of scientific discovery, their \u201cHa-ha\u201d reaction to jokes, and their \u201cAh\u201d reaction of mystical or religious insight.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s01_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">Above all, creativity creates new things\u2014things that weren\u2019t there before the creative act took place. In every kind of creative situation, according to Koestler, the result is produced by a meeting of lines of thought that bring together hitherto unconnected ideas and fuse them into something new. If the lines of thought concern devotional matters, mystical insight emerges, and when they concern more mundane matters the result is apt to be a joke. If they are scientific, the result is a scientific discovery.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s01_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">The expression \u201cto think outside the box\u201d is often used to refer to creativity. Koestler\u2019s view seems to be that creativity consists, instead, of linking existing but separate \u201cboxes\u201d together. One implication of his theory is that, to be creative, a person not only needs to depart from the <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>status quo<\/em><\/a><\/span> but also needs to be familiar and comfortable with a range of alternatives from a wide variety of fields. Koestler\u2019s perspective would seem to be consistent with the association we often make between creativity on the one hand and intelligence and breadth of knowledge on the other.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s02\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Overcoming Inertia<\/h2>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s02_ep01\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s02_p01\" class=\"para\">At every crossroads on the path that leads to the future, tradition has placed 10,000 men to guard the past.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">Maurice Maeterlinck<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s02_ep02\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s02_p02\" class=\"para\">When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of action you should take, choose the bolder.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">William Joseph Slim<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s02_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">Groups generally comprise a mixture of people when it comes to openness to change. A small fraction of the members may position themselves at one end of the openness continuum or the other. Some of these people, called <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>neophiles<\/em><\/a><\/span>, will eagerly embrace almost anything novel. Others, known as <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>neophobes<\/em><\/a><\/span>, will invariably shun what\u2019s new and prefer the security of what they know and have done in the past. The majority of people, however, probably don\u2019t fit neatly into either of these categories. Instead, they may prefer to produce or experiment with new things under certain circumstances and resist them under others.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s02_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">It\u2019s rarely possible to provoke creativity on the part of an entire group all at once. You needn\u2019t agree with Thomas Fuller\u2019s aphorism that \u201ca conservative believes nothing should be done for the first time\u201d to realize that some people in groups will hold onto what they\u2019re familiar with all the more stubbornly as others begin to waver and experiment with something new.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Brainstorming<\/h2>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_ep01\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p01\" class=\"para\">In regard to every problem that arises, there are counselors who say, \u201cDo nothing\u201d [and] other counselors who say, \u201cDo everything\u201d\u2026I say to you: \u201cDo something\u201d; and when you have done something, if it works, do it some more; and if it does not work, then do something else.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">Franklin Delano Roosevelt<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">One familiar technique that experts in the realm of creative thinking have long recommended is <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>brainstorming<\/em><\/a><\/span>. Alex Osborn, an advertising executive, began using the term in the mid-1950s and described the method in detail in his book <em class=\"emphasis\">Applied Imagination: Principles and Procedures of Creative Problem Solving<\/em>. <span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_011\" class=\"footnote\">Osborn, A.F. (1963) <em class=\"emphasis\">Applied imagination: Principles and procedures of creative problem solving<\/em> (3rd revised ed.). New York: Charles Scribner\u2019s Sons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">One criterion of proper brainstorming is that it must begin with an unrestricted search for quantity and creativity rather than quality. It should actually solicit and reward craziness and zaniness, in other words.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">A second criterion for good brainstorming is that it should encourage and praise \u201cpiggybacking\u201d on ideas which have already emerged. A third is that brainstormers should avoid making any judgments until they\u2019ve generated an extensive list of ideas.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">Robert Sutton, a respected organizational consultant, published a book in 2002 called <em class=\"emphasis\">Weird Ideas That Work<\/em>. <span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_012\" class=\"footnote\">Sutton, R. (2002). <em class=\"emphasis\">Weird ideas that work<\/em>. New York: Free Press.<\/span> Among other things, Sutton\u2019s book paid tribute to brainstorming.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">One of Sutton\u2019s central contentions was that excellence arises from \u201ca range of differences\u201d\u2014precisely what brainstorming aims to generate. To illustrate, Sutton declared that such prodigious geniuses as Shakespeare, Einstein, Mozart, Edison, and Picasso were first and foremost productive. In fact, he argued that these brilliant individuals didn\u2019t succeed at a higher rate than anyone else; they just did more.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p07\" class=\"para editable block\">Mozart, for instance, started composing when he was seven years old and wrote at least 20 pieces of music per year from then until his death at the age of 35. Several of his compositions were routine or even dull, but many were sublime and some are unquestioned masterpieces.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p08\" class=\"para editable block\">Closer to home, Sutton noted that today\u2019s toy business offers examples of the value of starting with lots of ideas and only then selecting quality ones. Skyline, an arm of California\u2019s IDEO Corporation, employed just 10 staff members in 1998 but generated 4,000 ideas in that year for new toys.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p09\" class=\"para editable block\">According to Sutton, those 4,000 ideas boiled down to 230 possibilities worth examining through careful drawings or working prototypes. Of the 230 concepts, 12 were ultimately sold. In other words, the \u201cyield\u201d of saleable products came to only 3\/10 of one per cent of the original ideas. Sutton quoted Skyline\u2019s founder, Brendan Boyle, as saying, \u201cYou can\u2019t get any good new ideas without having a lot of dumb, lousy, and crazy ones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s04\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">The Ostrich and the Sea Urchin<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s04_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Now let\u2019s take a look at what two animals have to do with ideas in general, and with varied ways of being creative about ideas in specific. The two animals are the ostrich and the sea urchin.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s04_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">The ostrich\u2019s reproductive processes lies at one end of a continuum, the sea urchin\u2019s at the other. Like the 350-pound mother which lays it, an ostrich egg is large, imposing, and tough. For 42 days after it\u2019s laid, it grows until it weighs more than three pounds. It will then reliably crack open and release a baby ostrich. Unless something highly unexpected happens, its mother will tend it well, and that single baby ostrich will in turn grow up and become a mature ostrich.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s04_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">A sea urchin differs in almost every respect from an ostrich. The whole animal takes up less space and weighs less than an ostrich egg, for one thing. It has no eyes. It hardly moves all its life. To propagate, an urchin spews a cloud of more than a million miniscule eggs into the ocean. The eggs disperse immediately into the tide pools and reef inlets populated by their spiny parents.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s04_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">Some of the sea urchin eggs meet sea urchin sperm and combine to form tiny, transparent, free-floating embryos. Eggs remain viable for only 6\u20138 hours, however, so lots of them die before this happens. Of a one-million-egg cloud, those which are to have a chance of becoming embryos must do so within 48 hours. The odds aren\u2019t good.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s04_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">Then things thin out even more. A Stanford University publication points out that \u201cthe young embryo is totally at the mercy of the sea. There are many organisms that will consume the young sea urchin embryo and later the young sea urchin.\u201d<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_013\" class=\"footnote\">Brooders vs spawners.\u00a0<\/span> In other words, the overwhelming majority of sea urchin eggs die of loneliness or get eaten.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s04_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">Biologists call animals like ostriches \u201cbrooders\u201d because they create only a few offspring but take care of each one faithfully. Creatures such as sea urchins, which produce vast numbers of candidates for fertilization but don\u2019t take care of them and lose most of them to predators, are called \u201cspawners.\u201d Brainstorming is clearly a \u201cspawning\u201d process rather than a \u201cbrooding\u201d one.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s05\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Threats to the Effectiveness of Brainstorming<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s05_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Although it is meant to generate large quantities of ideas on which to base sound decision-making, brainstorming entails some same challenges. One group of researchers<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_014\" class=\"footnote\">Stroebe, W., Diehl, M., &amp; Abakoumkin, G. (1992). The illusion of group effectivity. <em class=\"emphasis\">Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 18<\/em> (5): 643\u2013650.<\/span> identified three potential weakening factors inherent within brainstorming:<\/p>\n\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s05_l01\" class=\"orderedlist editable block\">\n \t<li><span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>Blocking<\/em><\/a><\/span>. Since only one person at a time in a group can speak, other members may lose the desire to contribute their own ideas or even forget those ideas in the midst of a lively brainstorming session.<\/li>\n \t<li><span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>Social matching<\/em><\/a><\/span>.<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_015\" class=\"footnote\">Brown, V., &amp; Paulus, P. B. (1996). A simple dynamic model of social factors in group brainstorming. <em class=\"emphasis\">Small Group Research, 27<\/em>, 91\u2013114.<\/span> People in a group tend to calibrate their own degree of contribution to its activities on the basis of what the other members do. If someone has lots of ideas but sees that the rest of the group is less productive, that person is apt to reduce his or her own creative production.<\/li>\n \t<li><span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>Illusion of group productivity<\/em><\/a><\/span>. Group members are apt to rate the level of their output as being higher than it actually is. For one thing, members describe their group as being above average in productivity with respect to other groups. They also overrate their individual contributions; people in one study, for instance, said that they had contributed 36% of their group\u2019s ideas when in fact they had offered only 25%.<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_016\" class=\"footnote\">Paulus, P. B., Dzindolet, M. T., Poletes, G., &amp; Camacho, L. M. (1993). Perception of performance in group brainstorming: The illusion of group productivity. <em class=\"emphasis\">Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64<\/em> (4), 575\u2013586.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s05_n01\" class=\"key_takeaways editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s05_l02\" class=\"itemizedlist\">\n \t<li>Creativity, which can play a positive role in group decision-making, has been described as a process of combining two disparate elements. It can be stimulated through brainstorming.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s05_n02\" class=\"exercises editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Exercises<\/h3>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s05_l03\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n \t<li>Do you agree with Arthur Koestler that all creativity involves bringing disparate trains of thought together? Provide 2\u20133 examples which support your answer.<\/li>\n \t<li>Do you consider yourself a \u201cbrooder\u201d or a \u201cspawner\u201d? Explain your response to a fellow student, providing examples which support your answer.<\/li>\n \t<li>When was the last time you showed exceptional creativity? What factors in your environment or within you at the time contributed most to that creativity?<\/li>\n \t<li>Think of a neophile and a neophobe whom you\u2019ve encountered in a group. Describe actions that each person took which illustrate his\/her neophilia or neophobia.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04\" class=\"section\" xml:lang=\"en\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\"><span style=\"color: #2388a1\"><span class=\"title-prefix\">11.4<\/span> Facilitating the Task-Oriented Group<\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_n02\" class=\"learning_objectives editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_l01\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n \t<li>Define \u201cgroup facilitation\u201d<\/li>\n \t<li>Identify five guidelines for facilitating a task-oriented group<\/li>\n \t<li>Distinguish between collaboration and \u201ccoliberation\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_ep01\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p02\" class=\"para\">Remember the story that Pope John XXIII told about himself. He admitted, \u201cIt often happens that I wake at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the Pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">Glenn van Ekeren<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_ep02\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p03\" class=\"para\">I\u2019m extraordinarily patient provided I get my own way in the end.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">Margaret Thatcher<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">You\u2019ve probably experienced being part of groups that pleased and motivated you. One reason you experienced those positive feelings may have been that the groups planned and executed their tasks so smoothly that you were hardly aware the processes were taking place. In this section we\u2019ll examine ways in which leaders can contribute to such pleasant, easy experiences.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">Just as \u201cfacile\u201d in English and \u201cf\u00e1cil\u201d in Spanish mean \u201ceasy,\u201d the word \u201cfacilitate\u201d itself means \u201cto make something easy\u201d and \u201c<span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>group facilitation<\/em><\/a><\/span>\u201d consists in easing a group\u2019s growth and progress. Most student, community, and business groups are task-oriented, so we\u2019ll consider here how they can most easily be guided toward accomplishing the tasks they set for themselves. Another section of this book deals specifically with the details of leading meetings, so for now we\u2019ll consider broader questions and principles.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">If you\u2019re in a position to facilitate a group, you need to take that position seriously. Just as Pope John XXIII realized with respect to his authority and responsibility in the Catholic Church, it\u2019s best to consider yourself the primary source of direction and the ultimate destination for questions in your group. With those concepts in mind, let\u2019s consider five major guidelines you should probably follow in order to facilitate a group whose purposes include achieving tasks.<\/p>\n\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_l02\" class=\"orderedlist editable block\">\n \t<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Know the group\u2019s members. This means more than just identifying their names and recognizing their faces. If you hope to accomplish anything significant together, you need to be familiar with people\u2019s opinions, their needs, their desires, and their personalities.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p07\" class=\"para\">Perhaps one member of a group you\u2019re leading is particularly time-conscious, another likes to make jokes, and a third prefers to see concepts represented visually. If you take these propensities into account and respond to them as much as possible, you can draw the best cooperative effort from each of the people.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p08\" class=\"para\">You may want to keep track of who\u2019s done what favors for whom within the group, too. Like it or not, many people operate at least from time to time on the principle that \u201cI\u2019ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \t<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Weigh task and relationship considerations. The word \u201c<span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>equilibristic<\/em><\/a><\/span>\u201d is sometimes applied to the actions of athletes and musicians. It refers to a capability to balance differing and sometimes conflicting forces so as to maintain continuous movement in a chosen direction.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p09\" class=\"para\">Although almost any group has some work to do, and all groups comprise people whose welfare needs to be tended to, the effective facilitator realizes that it\u2019s impossible to emphasize both those elements to the same degree all the time. If people are disgruntled or frustrated, they can\u2019t contribute well to accomplishing a task. Likewise, if people are always contented with one another and their group but can\u2019t focus on getting things done, the group will be unable to attain its objectives. To facilitate a group well, thus, requires that you be equilibristic.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \t<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Understand and anticipate prevalent features of human psychology. Keep in mind that everyone in a group will perceive what the facilitator does in light of his or her own circumstances and wishes.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p10\" class=\"para\">Recall also that everyone possesses diverse and numerous capacities for self-justification and self-support. In their book <em class=\"emphasis\">Mistakes were made (but not by me)<\/em>, Carol Tavris and Ellion Aronson referred to studies of married couples\u2019 behavior. They indicated that when husbands and wives are asked what proportion of the housework they perform, the totals always exceed 100 percent by a large margin.<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_017\" class=\"footnote\">Tavris, C., &amp; Aronson, E. (2007). <em class=\"emphasis\">Mistakes were made (but not by me).<\/em> Orlando, FL: Harcourt<\/span> Tavris and Aronson also described the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, which presents visitors with interactive exhibits portraying categories of people about whom many of us harbor negative preconceptions\u2014including ethnic and racial minorities, obese individuals, people with disabilities, and so on. A video attempts to persuade visitors that they possess prejudices, after which two doors are offered as an exit. One is marked \u201cPrejudiced\u201d and the other is labeled \u201cUnprejudiced.\u201d The second door is locked, to make the point that all of us are indeed subject to prejudice.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \t<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Deal well with disruptions. The playwright Paddy Chayevsky wrote that \u201clife is problems.\u201d An effective group facilitator needs to anticipate and skillfully cope with problems as a part of life, whether they\u2019re caused by other people\u2019s behavior or by physical and logistical factors.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p11\" class=\"para\">If you\u2019re an adherent of <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>Theory Y<\/em><\/a><\/span>, you probably believe that people enjoy pursuing their goals energetically, in groups or individually. You also probably believe that people prefer to select times and places along the way to relax and recharge. Unfortunately, interruptions often arise in such a way as to make both these aims difficult to achieve. Think about all the unexpected academic, family, and work-related reasons why you and other students you know have found it challenging to \u201cstay the course\u201d toward your personal and collective goals.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p12\" class=\"para\">A group\u2019s facilitator, thus, needs to make sure that interruptions and disruptions don\u2019t derail it. In fact, he or she might profit from actually celebrating these elements of life, as one Seattle office executive did. According to Dale Turner, the executive\u2019s office had a sign on the wall reading \u201cDon\u2019t be irritated by interruptions. They are your reason for being.\u201d Turner went on to quote the executive as saying \u201cHappily, I have learned how to sit loose in the saddle of life, and I\u2019m not usually disturbed by interruptions. I have made it a habit through the years to leave a stretch factor in my daily schedule. I start early and have tried not to so crowd my day with appointments that I have no time for the unexpected. I have not seen interruptions as an intrusion.\u201d<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_018\" class=\"footnote\">Turner, D. (1991, March 23). Slaves of habit\u2014we lose when there\u2019s no room for interruptions in our lives. <em class=\"emphasis\">Seattle Times<\/em>. Retrieved from ProQuest Database.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n \t<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Keep returning to the task. You\u2019ve probably been part of a group in which the leader or facilitator had what might be called a divergent, rather than a convergent, personality. Perhaps that person had lots of good ideas but seemed to jump around from topic to topic and chore to chore so much that your head spun and you couldn\u2019t keep track of what was going on. Maybe the person \u201cmissed the forest for the trees\u201d because of dwelling excessively on minutia\u2014small and insignificant details. Or perhaps each time you met with the group its facilitator led a discussion of something valuable and important, but every time it was a different thing.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p13\" class=\"para\">The organizational theorist Anthony Jay wrote that it\u2019s important for leaders to \u201clook for problems through a telescope, not a microscope.\u201d<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_019\" class=\"footnote\">Jay, A. (1967). <em class=\"emphasis\">Management and Machiavelli: An inquiry into the politics of corporate life.<\/em> New York: Bantam Books.<\/span> He also contended that, as far as a leader is concerned, \u201cother people can cope with the waves, it\u2019s [the leader\u2019s] job to watch the tide.\u201d By these comments, Jay meant that the primary duty of a group facilitator is to maintain an unwavering focus on the group\u2019s central tasks, whatever they may be.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p14\" class=\"para\">The Dalai Lama has written, \u201cWhether you are a spiritual leader or a leader in an organization, it is your job to inspire faith.\u201d<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_020\" class=\"footnote\">His Holiness the Dalai Lama &amp; Muyzenberg, L. (2009). <em class=\"emphasis\">The leader\u2019s way: The art of making the right decisions in our careers, our companies, and the world at large. <\/em>New York: Broadway Books.<\/span> Slogans, mottos, mission statements, quotations, logos, and written objectives can all contribute to a facilitator\u2019s ability to inspire faith by maintaining a group\u2019s focus and resolve to move in a common direction. Busy students and others in our society often need reminders like these to block out the competing stimuli surrounding them and focus their attention. Such mechanisms, however, should not be merely gimmicks, nor should they be used to promote blind faith in the group\u2019s facilitator.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p15\" class=\"para\">Another way to think of how a facilitator should keep bringing the group\u2019s attention back to its tasks relates to the process of meditation. Practitioners of meditation know that people\u2019s minds are naturally active and tend to move readily from subject to subject. When someone is meditating, they say, thoughts will naturally pop into his or her mind. The way to deal with this phenomenon is to regard the thoughts as clouds drifting across the sky. Rather than trying to banish them, the better approach is to allow them to pass by and dissipate, and then to return to serene contemplation.<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_021\" class=\"footnote\">Rondon, N. (2006, Meditate. <em class=\"emphasis\">Current Health 2<\/em> (32), 20\u201323. Retrieved from ProQuest Database<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_s01\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Coliberation<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_s01_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Above all, a facilitator\u2019s responsibility is to enable members of a group to function together as easily and happily as possible as they pursue their goals. When this happens, the group will achieve a high level of collaboration. In fact, it may rise beyond collaboration to achieve what the author and computer game designer Bernard DeKoven called \u201c<span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>coliberation<\/em><\/a><\/span>.\u201d In speaking about meetings, he had this to say: \u201cGood meetings aren\u2019t just about work. They\u2019re about fun\u2014keeping people charged up. It\u2019s more than collaboration, it\u2019s \u2018coliberation\u2019\u2014people freeing each other up to think more creatively.\u201d<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_022\" class=\"footnote\">Matson, E. (1996, April-May). The seven sins of deadly meetings. <em class=\"emphasis\">Fast Company<\/em>, 122.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_s01_n01\" class=\"key_takeaways editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Key Takeaway<\/h3>\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_s01_l01\" class=\"itemizedlist\">\n \t<li>To facilitate a task-oriented group requires several skills and behaviors and can lead to a state of \u201ccoliberation.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_s01_n02\" class=\"exercises editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Exercises<\/h3>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_s01_l02\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n \t<li>Recall a time when you were in a group whose leader stressed either its task or relationship factors too much. How did the members of the group react? Did the leader eventually develop an equilibristic approach?<\/li>\n \t<li>Do you agree with the business executive who said that interruptions are \u201cyour reason for being\u201d? In your studies and family life, what measures do you take to ensure that interruptions are beneficial rather than destructive? What further steps do you feel you might take in this direction?<\/li>\n \t<li>Think of someone who effectively facilitated a group you were part of. Did the person perform the job identified by the Dalai Lama\u2014inspiring faith in the group? If so, how?<\/li>\n \t<li>What, if anything, do you feel members of most groups need to be \u201ccoliberated\u201d from?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05\" class=\"section\" xml:lang=\"en\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\"><span style=\"color: #2388a1\"><span class=\"title-prefix\">11.5<\/span> Summary<\/span><\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">In this chapter we have explored problem-solving in groups. We have identified steps which groups can use to attack and solve problems, as well as several methods of reaching decisions. We have considered the nature of group creativity and reviewed how brainstorming may contribute to creative problem-solving and decision-making. Finally, we have identified methods which can be used to facilitate the problem-solving and decision-making behavior or task-oriented groups. Following systematic, sequential processes can help groups communicate in ways which resolve problems and lead to appropriate decisions.<\/p>\n\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05_n02\" class=\"exercises editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Review Questions<\/h3>\n<p class=\"simpara\">Interpretive Questions<\/p>\n\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05_l01\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n \t<li>In what 2\u20133 ways has your view of problem-solving or decision-making changed as a result of reading this chapter?<\/li>\n \t<li>Under what circumstances, or with what kinds of group members, do you feel brainstorming is most likely to produce better results than other methods of generating creative ideas?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p class=\"simpara\">Application Questions<\/p>\n\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05_l02\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n \t<li>Call the office of a state senator or representative. Ask the person who answers the phone to provide you with a list of five creative ideas the legislator has put forth to solve problems facing his or her constituency. If you wanted to expand on the list, who else would you consult, and what process would you use to generate more ideas?<\/li>\n \t<li>Pick two historical figures who you believe made it easy for people they lived or worked with to achieve shared goals. Find two or three descriptions of episodes in which those figures took action demonstrating that capacity. Identify someone leading a group of which you\u2019re now a member and share the information about the historical figures with that person. What is the person\u2019s reaction? What do you feel might have made the leader\u2019s response more positive?<\/li>\n \t<li>Look up the phrase \u201cgroup decision support system\u201d on line and locate 4\u20135 software programs meant to assist groups with decisions. List advantages and disadvantages of each and share your conclusions with your classmates.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05_s01\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Additional Resources<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05_s01_p01\" class=\"para editable block\"><a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.deepfun.com\/coliberation-the-short-form\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.deepfun.com\/coliberation-the-short-form\/<\/a>: Bernard \u201cBernie\u201d De Koven\u2019s blog. A source of provocative ideas on why and how to indulge in creative fun as part of a group.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05_s01_p04\" class=\"para editable block\"><a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.co-intelligence.org\/I-decisionmakingwithout.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.co-intelligence.org\/I-decisionmakingwithout.html<\/a> (\u201cHow to Make a Decision Without Making a Decision\u201d): An article describing how guided \u201cnon-decision-making\u201d can be used by groups to discover what the author refers to as \u201cbig obvious truths.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05_s01_p05\" class=\"para editable block\"><a class=\"link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.tobe.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.tobe.net\/<\/a>: The website of Dynamic Facilitation Associates, a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching groups how to create choices through intentional facilitation. One of the site\u2019s pages, describes \u201cCo-Counseling\u201d and compassionate communication as further facilitation tools.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<hr>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<img src=\"https:\/\/piwik.lardbucket.org\/piwik.php?idsite=9#fixme\" alt=\"\">","rendered":"<div id=\"section-container\">\n<div id=\"book-content\">\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01\" class=\"section\" xml:lang=\"en\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\"><span style=\"color: #2388a1\"><span class=\"title-prefix\">11.1<\/span> Group Problem-Solving<\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_n02\" class=\"learning_objectives editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Learning Objective<\/h3>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_l01\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n<li>Identify and describe how to implement seven steps for group problem-solving.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">No matter who you are or where you live, problems are an inevitable part of life. This is true for groups as well as for individuals. Some groups\u2014especially work teams\u2014are formed specifically to solve problems. Other groups encounter problems for a wide variety of reasons. Within a family group, a problem might be that a daughter or son wants to get married and the parents do not approve of the marriage partner. In a work group, a problem might be that some workers are putting in more effort than others, yet achieving poorer results. Regardless of the problem, having the resources of a group can be an advantage, as different people can contribute different ideas for how to reach a satisfactory solution.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">Once a group encounters a problem, the questions that come up range from \u201cWhere do we start?\u201d to \u201cHow do we solve it?\u201d While there are many ways to approach a problem, the American educational philosopher John Dewey\u2019s reflective thinking sequence has stood the test of time. This seven step process<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_001\" class=\"footnote\">Adler, R. (1996). <em class=\"emphasis\">Communicating at work: principles and practices for business and the professions.<\/em> Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.<\/span> has produced positive results and serves as a handy organizational structure. If you are member of a group that needs to solve a problem and don\u2019t know where to start, consider these seven simple steps<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_002\" class=\"footnote\">McLean, S. (2005). <em class=\"emphasis\">The basics of interpersonal communication.<\/em> Boston, MA: Allyn &amp; Bacon.<\/span>:<\/p>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_l02\" class=\"orderedlist editable block\">\n<li>Define the problem.<\/li>\n<li>Analyze the problem.<\/li>\n<li>Establish criteria.<\/li>\n<li>Consider possible solutions.<\/li>\n<li>Decide on a solution.<\/li>\n<li>Implement the solution.<\/li>\n<li>Follow up on the solution.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">Let\u2019s discuss each step in detail.<\/p>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s01\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Define the Problem<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s01_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">If you don\u2019t know what the problem is, how can you know you\u2019ve solved it? Defining the problem allows the group to set boundaries of what the problem is and what it is not; and begin to formalize a description or definition of the scope, size, or extent of the challenge the group will address. A problem that is too broadly defined can overwhelm the group. If the problem is too narrowly defined, important information will be missed or ignored.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s01_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">In the following example, we have a web-based company called Favorites which needs to increase its customer base and ultimately sales. A problem-solving group has been formed, and they start by formulating a working definition of the problem.<\/p>\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s01_l01\" class=\"itemizedlist editable block\">\n<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Too Broad:<\/strong> \u201cSales are off, our numbers are down, and we need more customers.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">More Precise:<\/strong> \u201cSales have been slipping incrementally for 6 of the past 9 months and are significantly lower than a seasonally adjusted comparison to last year. Overall this loss represents a 4.5% reduction in sales from the same time last year. However, when we break it down by product category, sales of our non-edible products have seen a modest but steady increase, while sales of edibles account for the drop off and we need to halt the decline.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s02\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Analyze the Problem<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s02_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Now the group analyzes the problem, trying to gather information and learn more. The problem is complex and requires more than one area of expertise. Why do non-edible products continue selling well? What is it about the edibles that is turning customers off? Let\u2019s meet our problem-solvers at Favorites.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s02_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">Kevin is responsible for customer resource management. He is involved with the customer from the point of initial contact through purchase and delivery. Most of the interface is automated in the form of an online \u201cbasket model,\u201d where photographs and product descriptions are accompanied by \u201cBuy It\u201d buttons. He is available during normal working business hours for live chat and voice interface if needed, and customers are invited to request additional information. Most Favorites customers do not access this service, but Kevin is kept quite busy, as he also handles returns and complaints. Because Kevin believes that superior service retains customers while attracting new ones, he is always interested in better ways to serve the customer. Looking at edibles and non-edibles, he will study the cycle of customer service and see if there are any common points, from the main webpage through the catalog to the purchase process to returns, at which customers abandon the sale. He has existing customer feedback loops with end-of-sale surveys, but most customers decline to take the survey and there is currently no incentive to participate.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s02_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">Mariah is responsible for products and purchasing. She wants to offer the best products at the lowest price, and to offer new products that are unusual, rare, or exotic. She regularly adds new products to the Favorites catalog and culls underperformers. Right now she has the data on every product and its sales history, but it is a challenge to represent it. She will analyze current sales data and produce a report that specifically identifies how each product, edible and non-edible, is performing. She wants to highlight \u201cwinners\u201d and \u201closers\u201d but also recognizes that today\u2019s \u201closers\u201d may be the hit of tomorrow. It is hard to predict constantly changing tastes and preferences, but that is part of her job. It\u2019s not all science, and it\u2019s not all art. She has to have an eye for what will catch on tomorrow while continuing to provide what is hot today.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s02_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">Suri is responsible for data management at Favorites. She gathers, analyzes, and presents information gathered from the supply chain, sales, and marketing. She works with vendors to make sure products are available when needed, makes sales predictions based on past sales history, and assesses the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s02_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">The problem-solving group members already have certain information on hand. They know that customer retention is one contributing factor. Attracting new customers is a constant goal, but they are aware of the well-known principle that it takes more effort to attract new customers than to keep existing ones. Thus, it is important to ensure a quality customer service experience for existing customers and encourage them to refer friends. The group needs to determine how to promote this favorable customer behavior.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s02_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">Another contributing factor seems to be that customers often abandon the shopping cart before completing a purchase, especially when purchasing edibles. The group members need to learn more about why this is happening.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s03\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Establish Criteria<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s03_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Establishing the criteria for a solution is the next step. At this point, information is coming in from diverse perspectives, and each group member has contributed information from their perspective, even though there may be several points of overlap.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Kevin:<\/strong> Customers who complete the post-sale survey indicate that they want to know 1) what is the estimated time of delivery, 2) why a specific item was not in stock and when it will be, and 3) why their order sometimes arrives with less than a complete order, with some items back-ordered, without prior notification.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s03_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">He notes that a very small percentage of customers complete the post-sale survey, and the results are far from scientific. He also notes that it appears the interface is not capable of cross-checking inventory to provide immediate information concerning back orders, so that the customer \u201cbuys it\u201d only to learn several days later that it was not in stock. This seems to be especially problematic for edible products, because people may tend to order them for special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries. But we don\u2019t really know this for sure because of the low participation in the post-sale survey.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Mariah:<\/strong> There are four edible products that frequently sell out. So far, we haven\u2019t been able to boost the appeal of other edibles so that people would order them as a second choice when these sales leaders aren\u2019t available. We also have several rare, exotic products that are slow movers. They have potential, but currently are underperformers.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Suri:<\/strong> We know from a zip code analysis that most of our customers are from a few specific geographic areas associated with above-average incomes. We have very few credit cards declined, and the average sale is over $100. Shipping costs represent on average 8% of the total sales cost. We do not have sufficient information to produce a customer profile. There is no specific point in the purchase process where basket abandonment tends to happen; it happens fairly uniformly at all steps.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s04\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Consider Possible Solutions to the Problem<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s04_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">The group has listened to each other and now starts to brainstorm ways to address the challenges they have identified while focusing resources on those solutions that are more likely to produce results.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Kevin:<\/strong> Is it possible for our programmers to create a cross-index feature, linking the product desired with a report of how many are in stock? I\u2019d like the customer to know right away whether it is in stock, or how long they may have to wait. As another idea, is it possible to add incentives to the purchase cycle that won\u2019t negatively impact our overall profit? I\u2019m thinking a small volume discount on multiple items, or perhaps free shipping over a specific dollar amount.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Mariah:<\/strong> I recommend we hold a focus group where customers can sample our edible products and tell us what they like best and why. When the best sellers are sold out, could we offer a discount on related products to provide an instant alternative? We might also cull the underperforming products with a liquidation sale to generate interest.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Suri:<\/strong> If we want to know more about our customers, we need to give them an incentive to complete the post-sale survey. How about a five percent off coupon code for the next purchase, to get them to return and to help us better identify our customer base? We may also want to build in a customer referral rewards program, but it all takes better data in to get results out. We should also explore the supply side of the business and see if we can get a more reliable supply of the leading products, and try to get more advantageous discounts from our suppliers, especially in the edible category.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s05\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Decide on a Solution<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s05_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Kevin, Mariah, and Suri may want to implement all of the solution strategies, but they do not have the resources to do them all. They\u2019ll complete a <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>cost\/benefit analysis<\/em><\/a><\/span>, which ranks each solution according to its probable impact. The analysis is shown in Table 11.1 &#8220;Cost\/Benefit Analysis&#8221;.<\/p>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s05_t01\" class=\"table block\">\n<p class=\"title\"><span class=\"title-prefix\">Table 11.1<\/span> Cost\/Benefit Analysis<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-spacing: 0px\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th align=\"left\">Source<\/th>\n<th align=\"left\">Proposed Solution<\/th>\n<th>Cost<\/th>\n<th>Benefit<\/th>\n<th>Comment<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Kevin<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Integrate the cross-index feature<\/td>\n<td>High<\/td>\n<td>High<\/td>\n<td>Many of our competitors already have this feature<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Kevin<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Volume discount<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>Medium<\/td>\n<td>May increase sales slightly<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Kevin<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Free shipping<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>This has a downside in making customers more aware of shipping costs if their order doesn\u2019t qualify for free shipping<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Mariah<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Hold a focus group to taste edible products<\/td>\n<td>High<\/td>\n<td>Medium<\/td>\n<td>Difficult to select participants representative of our customer base<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Mariah<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Search for alternative products to high performers<\/td>\n<td>Medium<\/td>\n<td>Medium<\/td>\n<td>We can\u2019t know for sure which products customers will like best<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Mariah<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Liquidate underperformers<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>Might create a \u201cbargain basement\u201d impression inconsistent with our brand<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Suri<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Incentive for post-sale survey completion<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>Medium<\/td>\n<td>Make sure the incentive process is easy for the customer<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Suri<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Incentive for customer referrals<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>Medium<\/td>\n<td>People may feel uncomfortable referring friends if it is seen as putting them in a marketing role<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Suri<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Find a more reliable supply of top-selling edibles<\/td>\n<td>Medium<\/td>\n<td>High<\/td>\n<td>We already know customers want these products<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Suri<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Negotiate better discounts from vendors<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>High<\/td>\n<td>If we can do this without alienating our best vendors, it will be a win-win<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s05_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">Now that the options have been presented with their costs and benefits, it is easier for the group to decide which courses of action are likely to yield the best outcomes. The analysis helps the group members to see beyond the immediate cost of implementing a given solution. For example, Kevin\u2019s suggestion of offering free shipping won\u2019t cost Favorites much money, but it also may not pay off in customer goodwill. And even though Mariah\u2019s suggestion of having a focus group might sound like a good idea, it will be expensive and its benefits are questionable.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s05_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">A careful reading of the analysis indicates that Kevin\u2019s best suggestion is to integrate the cross-index feature in the ordering process so that customers can know immediately whether an item is in stock or on back order. Of Mariah\u2019s suggestions, searching for alternative products is probably the most likely to benefit Favorites. And Suri\u2019s two supply-side suggestions are likely to result in positive outcomes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s06\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Implement the Solution<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s06_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Kevin is faced with the challenge of designing the computer interface without incurring unacceptable costs. He strongly believes that the interface will pay for itself within the first year\u2014or, to put if more bluntly, that Favorites\u2019 declining sales will get worse if the website does not soon have this feature. He asks to meet with top management to get budget approval and secures their agreement, on one condition: He must negotiate a compensation schedule with the Information Technology consultants that includes delayed compensation in the form of bonuses after the feature has been up and running successfully for six months.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s06_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">Mariah knows that searching for alternative products is a never-ending process, but it takes time and the company needs results. She decides to invest time evaluating products that competing companies currently offer, especially in the edible category, on the theory that customers who find their desired items sold out on the Favorites website may have been buying alternative products elsewhere instead of choosing an alternative from Favorites\u2019 product lines.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s06_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">Suri decides to approach the vendors of the four frequently sold-out products and ask point blank: \u201cWhat would it take to get you to produce these items more reliably in greater quantities?\u201d By opening the channel of communication with these vendors, she is able to motivate them to make modifications that will improve the reliability and quantity. She also approaches the vendors of the less popular products with a request for better discounts in return for cooperation in developing and test-marketing new products.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s07\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Follow up on the Solution<\/h2>\n<p><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Kevin:<\/strong> After several beta tests, the cross-index feature was implemented and has been in place for 30 days. Now customers see either \u201cIn stock\u201d or \u201cAvailable [mo\/da\/yr]\u201d in the shopping basket. As expected, Kevin notes a decrease in the number of chat and phone inquiries to the effect of, \u201cWill this item arrive before my wife\u2019s birthday?\u201d However, he notes an increase in inquiries asking \u201cWhy isn\u2019t this item in stock?\u201d It is difficult to tell whether customer satisfaction is higher overall.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Mariah:<\/strong> In exploring the merchandise available from competing merchants, she got several ideas for modifying Favorites\u2019 product line to offer more flavors and other variations on popular edibles. Working with vendors, she found that these modifications cost very little. Within the first 30 days of adding these items to the product line, sales are up. Mariah believes these additions also serve to enhance the Favorites brand identity, but she has no data to back this up.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">Suri:<\/strong> So far, the vendors supplying the four top-selling edibles have fulfilled their promise of increasing quantity and reliability. However, three of the four items have still sold out, raising the question of whether Favorites needs to bring in one or more additional vendors to produce these items. Of the vendors with which Favorites asked to negotiate better discounts, some refused, and two of these were \u201cstolen\u201d by a competing merchant so that they no longer sell to Favorites. In addition, one of the vendors that agreed to give a better discount was unexpectedly forced to cease operations for several weeks because of a fire.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s07_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">This scenario allows us to see the problem may have many dimensions, and may have several solutions, but resources can be limited and not every solution is successful. Even though the problem is not immediately resolved, the group problem-solving pattern serves as a useful guide through the problem-solving process.<\/p>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s07_n01\" class=\"key_takeaways editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Key Takeaway<\/h3>\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s07_l01\" class=\"itemizedlist\">\n<li>Group problem-solving can be an orderly process when it is broken down into seven specific stages.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s07_n02\" class=\"exercises editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Exercises<\/h3>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s01_s07_l02\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n<li>Think of a problem encountered in the past by a group of which you are a member. How did the group solve the problem? How satisfactory was the solution? Discuss your results with your classmates.<\/li>\n<li>Consider again the problem you described in Exercise #1. In view of the seven-step framework, which steps did the group utilize? Would following the full seven-step framework have been helpful? Discuss your opinion with a classmate.<\/li>\n<li>Research one business that you would like to know more about and see if you can learn about how they communicate in groups and teams Compare your results with those of classmates.<\/li>\n<li>Think of a decision you will be making some time in the near future. Apply the cost\/benefit analysis framework to your decision. Do you find this method helpful? Discuss your results with classmates.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02\" class=\"section\" xml:lang=\"en\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\"><span style=\"color: #2388a1\"><span class=\"title-prefix\">11.2<\/span> Group Decision-Making<\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_n02\" class=\"learning_objectives editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_l01\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n<li>Define decision-making and distinguish between decision-making and problem-solving.<\/li>\n<li>Describe five methods of group decision-making.<\/li>\n<li>Identify six guidelines for consensus decision-making.<\/li>\n<li>Define autocratic, democratic, and participative decision-making styles and place them within the Tannenbaum-Schmidt continuum.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_ep01\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_p02\" class=\"para\">Life is the sum of all your choices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">Albert Camus<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">Simply put, <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>decision-making<\/em><\/a><\/span> is the process of choosing among options and arriving at a position, judgment, or action. It usually answers a \u201cwh-\u201d question\u2014i.e., what, who, where, or when?\u2014or perhaps a \u201chow\u201d question.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">A group may, of course, make a decision in order to solve a problem. For instance, a group of students might discover halfway through a project that some of its members are failing to contribute to the required work. They might then decide to develop a written timeline and a set of deadlines for itself if it believes that action will lead them out of their difficulty.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">Not every group decision, however, will be in response to a problem. Many decisions relate to routine <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>logistical<\/em><\/a><\/span> matters such as when and where to schedule an event or how to reach someone who wasn\u2019t able to make it to a meeting. Thus, decision-making differs from problem-solving.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">Any decision-making in a group, even about routine topics, is significant. Why? Because decision-making, like problem-solving, results in a change in a group\u2019s status, posture, or stature. Such change, in turn, requires energy and attention on the part of a group in order for the group to progress easily into a new reality. Things will be different in the group once a problem has been solved or a decision has been reached, and group members will need to adjust.<\/p>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Methods of Reaching Decisions<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Research does indicate that groups generate more ideas and make more accurate decisions on matters for which a known preferred solution exists, but they also operate more slowly than individuals.<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_003\" class=\"footnote\">Hoy, W.K., &amp; Miskel, C.G. (1982). <em class=\"emphasis\">Educational administration: Theory, research, and practice<\/em> (2nd ed.). New York: Random House.<\/span> Under time pressure and other constraints, some group leaders exercise their power to make a decision <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>unilaterally<\/em><\/a><\/span>\u2014alone\u2014because they\u2019re willing to sacrifice a degree of accuracy for the sake of speed. Sometimes this behavior turns out to be wise; sometimes it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">Assuming that a group determines that it must reach a decision together on some matter, rather than deferring to the will of a single person, it can proceed according to several methods. Parker and Hoffman <span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_004\" class=\"footnote\">Parker, G., &amp; Hoffman, R. (2006). <em class=\"emphasis\">Meeting excellence: 33 tools to lead meetings that get results.<\/em> San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.<\/span>, along with Hartley and Dawson <span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_005\" class=\"footnote\">Hartley, P., &amp; Dawson, M. (2010). <em class=\"emphasis\">Success in groupwork.<\/em> New York: St. Martin\u2019s Press.<\/span>, place decision-making procedures in several categories. Here is a synthesis of their views of how decision-making can take place:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"orderedlist editable block\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n<ol class=\"orderedlist editable block\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"para\">\u201cA plop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p03\" class=\"para\">A group may conduct a discussion in which members express views and identify alternatives but then reach no decision and take no action. When people go their own ways after such a \u201c<span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>plop<\/em><\/a><\/span>,\u201d things sometimes take care of themselves, and the lack of a decision causes no difficulties. On the other hand, if a group ignores or postpones a decision which really needs attention, its members may confront tougher decisions later\u2014some of which may deal with problems brought about by not addressing a topic when it was at an early stage.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Delegation to an expert.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p04\" class=\"para\">A group may not be ready to make a decision at a given time, either because it lacks sufficient information or is experiencing unresolved conflict among members with differing views. In such a situation, the group may not want to simply drop the matter and move on. Instead, it may turn to one of its members who everyone feels has the expertise to choose wisely among the alternatives that the group is considering. The group can either ask the expert to come back later with a final proposal or simply allow the person to make the decision alone after having gathered whatever further information he or she feels is necessary.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Averaging.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p05\" class=\"para\">Group members may shift their individual stances regarding a question by \u201csplitting the difference\u201d to reach a \u201cmiddle ground.\u201d This technique tends to work most easily if numbers are involved. For instance, a group trying to decide how much money to spend on a gift for a departing member might ask everyone for a preferred amount and agree to spend whatever is computed by averaging those amounts.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Voting.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p06\" class=\"para\">If you need to be quick and definitive in making a decision, voting is probably the best method. Everyone in mainstream American society is familiar with the process, for one thing, and its outcome is inherently clear and obvious. A <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>majority vote<\/em><\/a><\/span> requires that more than half of a group\u2019s members vote for a proposal, whereas a proposal subject to a <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>two-thirds vote<\/em><\/a><\/span> will not pass unless twice as many members show support as those who oppose it.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p07\" class=\"para\">Voting is essentially a win\/lose activity. You can probably remember a time when you or someone else in a group composed part of a strong and passionate minority whose desires were thwarted because of the results of a vote. How much commitment did you feel to support the results of that vote?<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p08\" class=\"para\">Voting does offer a quick and simple way to reach decisions, but it works better in some situations than in others. If the members of a group see no other way to overcome a deadlock, for instance, voting may make sense. Likewise, very large groups and those facing serious time constraints may see advantages to voting. Finally, the efficiency of voting is appealing when it comes to making routine or noncontroversial decisions that need only to be officially approved.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Consensus.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p09\" class=\"para\">In consensus decision-making, group members reach a resolution which all of the members can support as being acceptable as a means of accomplishing some mutual goal even though it may not be the preferred choice for everyone. In common use, \u201cconsensus\u201d can range in meaning from unanimity to a simple majority vote. In public policy facilitation and multilateral international negotiations, however, the term refers to a general agreement reached after discussions and consultations, usually without voting.<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_006\" class=\"footnote\">\u201cconsensus\u201d. (2002). In <em class=\"emphasis\">Dictionary of Conflict Resolution, Wiley<\/em>. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.credoreference.com\/<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p10\" class=\"para\">Consensus should not be confused with <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>unanimity<\/em><\/a><\/span>, which means only that no one has explicitly stated objections to a proposal or decision. Although unanimity can certainly convey an accurate perspective of a group\u2019s views at times, groupthink also often leads to unanimous decisions. Therefore, it\u2019s probably wise to be cautious when a group of diverse people seems to have formed a totally unified block with respect to choices among controversial alternatives.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s01_p11\" class=\"para\">When a consensus decision is reached through full interchange of views and is then adopted <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>in good faith<\/em><\/a><\/span> by all parties to a discussion, it can energize and motivate a group. Besides avoiding the win\/lose elements intrinsic to voting, it converts each member\u2019s investment in a decision into a stake in preserving and promoting the decision after it has been agreed upon.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Guidelines for Seeking Consensus<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">How can a group actually go about working toward consensus? Here are some guidelines for the process:<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">First, be sure everyone knows the definition of consensus and is comfortable with observing them. For many group members, this may mean suspending judgment and trying something they\u2019ve never done before. Remind people that consensus requires a joint dedication to moving forward toward improvement in and by the group.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">Second, endeavor to solicit participation by every member of the group. Even the naturally quietest person should be actively \u201cpolled\u201d from time to time for his or her perspectives. In fact, it\u2019s a good idea to take special pains to ask for varied viewpoints when discussion seems to be stalled or contentious.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">Third, listen honestly and openly to each group member\u2019s viewpoints. Attempt to seek and gather information from others. Do your best to subdue your emotions and your tendency to judge and evaluate.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">Fourth, be patient. To reach consensus often takes much more time than voting would. A premature \u201cagreement\u201d reached because people give in to speed things up or avoid conflict is likely later to weaken or fall apart.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">Fifth, always look for mutually acceptable ways to make it through challenging circumstances. Don\u2019t resort to chance mechanisms like flipping a coin, and don\u2019t trade decisions arbitrarily just so that things come out equally for people who remain committed to opposing views.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p07\" class=\"para editable block\">Sixth, resolve gridlock earnestly. Stop and ask, \u201cHave we really identified every possible feasible way that our group might act?\u201d If members of a group simply can\u2019t agree on one alternative, see if they can all find and accept a next-best option. Then be sure to request an explicit statement from them that they are prepared to genuinely commit themselves to that option.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p08\" class=\"para editable block\">One variation on consensus decision-making calls upon a group\u2019s leader to ask its members, before initiating a discussion, to agree to a deadline and a \u201csafety valve.\u201d The deadline would be a time by which everyone in the group feels they need to have reached a decision. The \u201csafety valve\u201d would be a statement that any member can veto the will of the rest of the group to act in a certain way, but only if he or she takes responsibility for moving the group forward in some other positive direction.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p09\" class=\"para editable block\">Although consensus entails full participation and assent within a group, it usually can\u2019t be reached without guidance from a leader. One college president we knew was a master at escorting his executive team to consensus. Without coercing or rushing them, he would regularly involve them all in discussions and lead their conversations to a point at which everyone was nodding in agreement, or at least conveying acceptance of a decision. Rather than leaving things at that point, however, the president would generally say, \u201cWe seem to have reached a decision to do XYZ. Is there anyone who objects?\u201d Once people had this last opportunity to add further comments of their own, the group could move forward with a sense that it had a common vision in mind.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s02_p10\" class=\"para editable block\">Consensus decision-making is easiest within groups whose members know and respect each other, whose authority is more or less evenly distributed, and whose basic values are shared. Some charitable and religious groups meet these conditions and have long been able to use consensus decision-making as a matter of principle. The Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, began using consensus as early as the 17<sup class=\"superscript\">th<\/sup> century. Its affiliated international service agency, the American Friends Service Committee, employs the same approach. The Mennonite Church has also long made use of consensus decision-making.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s03\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Decision-Making by Leaders<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s03_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">People in the business world often need to make decisions in groups composed of their associates and employees. Take the case of a hypothetical businessperson, Kerry Cash.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s03_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">Kerry owns and manages Wenatcheese, a shop which sells gourmet local and imported cheese. Since opening five years ago, the business has overcome the challenge of establishing itself and has built a solid clientele. Sales have tripled. Two full-time and four part-time employees\u2014all productive, reliable, and customer-friendly\u2014have made the store run efficiently and bolstered its reputation.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s03_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">Now, with Christmas and the New Year coming, Kerry wants to decide, \u201cShall I open another shop in the spring?\u201d Because the year-end rush is on, there\u2019s not a lot of time to weigh pros and cons.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s03_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">As the diagram indicates, many managers in Kerry\u2019s situation employ two means to make decisions like this: intuition and analysis. They\u2019ll feel their gut instinct, analyze appropriate financial facts, or do a little bit of both.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s03_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">Unfortunately, this kind of dualistic decision-making approach restricts an individual leader\u2019s options. It doesn\u2019t do justice to the complexity of the group environment. It also fails to fully exploit the power and relevance of other people\u2019s knowledge.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s03_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">Too much feeling may produce arbitrary outcomes. And, as the management theorist Peter Drucker observed, too much fact can create stagnation and \u201c<span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>analysis paralysis<\/em><\/a><\/span>\u201d: \u201c(A)n overload of information, that is, anything much beyond what is truly needed, leads to information blackout. It does not enrich, but impoverishes.\u201d<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_007\" class=\"footnote\">Drucker, P.F. (1993). <em class=\"emphasis\">The effective executive. <\/em>New York: Harperbusiness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s03_p07\" class=\"para editable block\">Fortunately, a couple of authorities wrote an article in 1973 which can help members of groups assess and strengthen the quality of their decision-making <span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_008\" class=\"footnote\">Tannenbaum, R., &amp; Schmidt, W. (1973, May-June). How to choose a leadership pattern. <em class=\"emphasis\">Harvard Business Review,<\/em> 3\u201311.<\/span> Robert Tannenbaum and Warren Schmidt were those authorities. Their article so appealed to American readers that more than one million reprints eventually sold.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">The Tannnenbaum-Schmidt Continuum<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Kerry Cash, wondering whether to open another Wenatcheese outlet, can refer to the Tannenbaum-Schmidt model in Table 11.2 &#8220;Tannenbaum-Schmidt Continuum&#8221; to identify a spectrum of ways to resolve the question:<\/p>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_t01\" class=\"table block\">\n<p class=\"title\"><span class=\"title-prefix\">Table 11.2<\/span> Tannenbaum-Schmidt Continuum<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-spacing: 0px\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th align=\"left\">Autocratic<\/th>\n<th align=\"left\"><\/th>\n<th align=\"left\"><\/th>\n<th align=\"left\">Democratic<\/th>\n<th align=\"left\"><\/th>\n<th align=\"left\"><\/th>\n<th align=\"left\">Participative<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\">Manager makes decision and announces it<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Manager sells decision<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Manager presents ideas and invites questions<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Manager presents tentative decisions subject to change<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Manager presents problem, gets suggestions, and makes decision<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Manager defines limits asks group to make decision<\/td>\n<td align=\"left\">Manager permits subordinates to function within limits defined by superior<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">Let\u2019s take a look at the components of this continuum, from left to right. First, we have two autocratic options:<\/p>\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_l01\" class=\"itemizedlist editable block\">\n<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">OPTION ONE: Pure announcement.<\/strong> \u201cAll right, folks, I\u2019ve decided we\u2019re going to open a new shop in Dryden over Memorial Day weekend.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">OPTION TWO: \u201cSelling\u201d.<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019d like us to open a new shop in Dryden. I have five reasons. Here they are\u2026\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">Next, three democratic options are available:<\/p>\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_l02\" class=\"itemizedlist editable block\">\n<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">OPTION THREE: Presentation with questions.<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019ve decided we\u2019ll open a new shop in Dryden. What would you like to know about the plan?\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">OPTION FOUR: Tentative decision.<\/strong> \u201cI want to open a new shop in Dryden. Do you have any observations or questions about this possibility?\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">OPTION FIVE: Soliciting suggestions.<\/strong> \u201cI think we\u2019re in a position to open a new shop. Dryden seems like the best location, but I\u2019d also consider Cashmere or Leavenworth or Okanogan. I\u2019ll decide which way to go after you give me your thoughts.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">Finally, two participative kinds of approaches present themselves:<\/p>\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_l03\" class=\"itemizedlist editable block\">\n<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">OPTION SIX: Limited group autonomy.<\/strong> \u201cI want to open a new shop in either Dryden, Cashmere, or Leavenworth sometime between Easter and Independence Day. Talk it over and let me know what we should do.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">OPTION SEVEN: Full group autonomy.<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019m willing to establish a new shop if you\u2019d like. Let me know by two weeks from now whether you want to do that, and if so, where and when.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">Of course, many decisions embody more complications and include more details than Kerry Cash\u2019s. Some are related to people: Shall we bring more people into the group? If we do, how many should be full-fledged and how many should be temporary or provisional? Or do we need to reduce our number of members?<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">Other decisions depend on financial variables and constraints: Can we trust the economy enough to invest in new equipment? Do we have time to develop and promote any new ideas?<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p07\" class=\"para editable block\">The Tannenbaum-Schmidt model doesn\u2019t tell us how to choose between its own options. Tannenbaum and Schmidt, however, did offer some advice on this score. These are some topics they suggested that leaders address as they decide where to position themselves on the continuum:<\/p>\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_l04\" class=\"itemizedlist editable block\">\n<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">THE ORGANIZATION.<\/strong> What kind is it? Is it a new, or is it relatively solid and secure?<\/li>\n<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">THE PEOPLE.<\/strong> How mature are they? How experienced? How motivated?<\/li>\n<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">THE PROBLEM OR DECISION.<\/strong> How intricate is it? What kind of expertise is required to solve it?<\/li>\n<li><strong class=\"emphasis bold\">TIME.<\/strong> What deadlines, if any, do we face? Is there enough time to involve as many people as we\u2019d like?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p09\" class=\"para editable block\">Intel Corporation actually identifies in advance of its meetings the kind of decision-making that will be associated with each question or topic ((<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_009\" class=\"footnote\">Matson, E. (1996, April-May)). The seven sins of deadly meetings. <em class=\"emphasis\">Fast company<\/em>, 122.<\/span> The four categories it uses resemble some of the components of the Tannenbaum\/Schmidt model, as follows:<\/p>\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_l05\" class=\"itemizedlist editable block\">\n<li>Authoritative (the leader takes full responsibility).<\/li>\n<li>Consultative (the leader makes a decision after weighing views from the group).<\/li>\n<li>Voting.<\/li>\n<li>Consensus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_p10\" class=\"para editable block\">Once you\u2019ve reached a decision, take a few steps back. Ask yourself, \u201cIs it truly consistent with our group\u2019s values, or was it perhaps simply a <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>technocratic<\/em><\/a><\/span> outcome: i.e., procedurally proper but devoid of empathy and human understanding? Throughout history, many a group\u2019s decision reached \u201cby the book\u201d later caused dissension, disappointment, or even dissolution of the group itself.<\/p>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_n01\" class=\"key_takeaways editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_l06\" class=\"itemizedlist\">\n<li>Groups may choose among several methods of decision-making, including consensus, depending on their circumstances and the characteristics of their leaders and members. Making decisions which are consistent with the group\u2019s values is of paramount importance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_n02\" class=\"exercises editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Exercises<\/h3>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s02_s04_l07\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n<li>Think of major decisions made in the last couple of years by two groups you\u2019re a part of. Which method from this section did the groups use in each case? Which of the decisions are you more satisfied with now? Why? To what degree do you feel the decision-making methods the groups used fit the circumstances and the characteristics of the groups themselves?<\/li>\n<li>Tell a classmate about a decision that a group you\u2019re part of needs to make shortly. Ask the classmate for his\/her advice on which decision-making method the group should employ.<\/li>\n<li>A major hesitation raised by some people with respect to consensus decision-making is that it requires much more time than voting or other direct methods. In what kind of situation would you be, or have you been, willing to invest \u201cas much time as it takes\u201d to reach consensus in a group?<\/li>\n<li>If you were compelled to make every decision either totally by intuition or totally by analysis, which would you choose? On the basis of what experience or value do you feel this way? If you could choose to have every group leader around you make decisions by only one of the two methods, which would you prefer, and why?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03\" class=\"section\" xml:lang=\"en\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\"><span style=\"color: #2388a1\"><span class=\"title-prefix\">11.3<\/span> Effective Strategies for Group Creativity<\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_n02\" class=\"learning_objectives editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_l01\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n<li>Define and explain \u201cbisociation.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Describe brainstorming and identify criteria for its effective use.<\/li>\n<li>Differentiate between neophiles and neophobes.<\/li>\n<li>Distinguish between the creative styles of \u201cbrooders\u201d and \u201cspawners.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_ep01\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p02\" class=\"para\">Sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, teachers\u2014everybody starts to douse your imagination and creativity. At a young age it starts, and then all of a sudden you\u2019re like a trunk going through an airport, covered in stickers. I think I have spent most of my life pulling off stickers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">Kim Basinger<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_ep02\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p03\" class=\"para\">Very few people do anything creative after the age of thirty-five. The reason is that very few people do anything creative before the age of thirty-five.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">Joel Hildebrand<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_ep03\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p04\" class=\"para\">You can\u2019t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">Jack London<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">Human beings are naturally creative from an early age. Think of any four- or five-year-old child you\u2019ve ever met, and you can verify this for yourself. Here are some examples from journals kept by one of the authors concerning his children\u2019s development before age six:<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">I was reading <em class=\"emphasis\">Animal Farm<\/em> the other day and mentioned that one of the \u201cSeven Commandments\u201d of the animals had to do with the beliefs that the beasts liked anything with four legs or wings. Amelia said, \u201cOh\u2014then they like airplanes!\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p07\" class=\"para editable block\">Last night at dinner, Claire looked at the roll-top wooden bread storage compartment over the counter top in our kitchen and said, \u201cThat\u2019s a garage door where food parks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p08\" class=\"para editable block\">When I was explaining that there are only four tastes which human tongues can detect\u2014salty, sweet, sour, and bitter\u2014Claire asked, \u201cWhat about \u2018yucky\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p09\" class=\"para editable block\">Last night on the way to folk-dancing, we started talking about vocabulary. For some reason, Amelia created a new word: \u201ctrampede.\u201d According to her, a \u201ctrampede\u201d is a centipede on a trampoline.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_p10\" class=\"para editable block\">Solving problems and making decisions both work best if people in a group are creative; i.e., if they entertain new perspectives and generate new ideas. Can this be a simple matter of having the group\u2019s leader tell people \u201cBe creative,\u201d though? Probably not. It\u2019s like saying, \u201cDon\u2019t think of an elephant\u201d: it\u2019s apt to produce just the opposite effect of the command itself. Still, tools and techniques for encouraging creativity in a group do exist.<\/p>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s01\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">A Theory of Creativity<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s01_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Arthur Koestler, a major intellectual and political force in Europe and the United States throughout most of the 20<sup class=\"superscript\">th<\/sup> century, contended that all creativity comprises a process he called \u201c<span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>bisociation<\/em><\/a><\/span>.\u201d<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_010\" class=\"footnote\">Koestler, A. (1964). <em class=\"emphasis\">The act of creation.<\/em> New York: Macmillan.<\/span> Koestler\u2019s seminal book on this topic, titled <em class=\"emphasis\">The Act of Creation<\/em>, put forth a theory that he believed accounted for people\u2019s \u201cAha\u201d reaction of scientific discovery, their \u201cHa-ha\u201d reaction to jokes, and their \u201cAh\u201d reaction of mystical or religious insight.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s01_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">Above all, creativity creates new things\u2014things that weren\u2019t there before the creative act took place. In every kind of creative situation, according to Koestler, the result is produced by a meeting of lines of thought that bring together hitherto unconnected ideas and fuse them into something new. If the lines of thought concern devotional matters, mystical insight emerges, and when they concern more mundane matters the result is apt to be a joke. If they are scientific, the result is a scientific discovery.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s01_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">The expression \u201cto think outside the box\u201d is often used to refer to creativity. Koestler\u2019s view seems to be that creativity consists, instead, of linking existing but separate \u201cboxes\u201d together. One implication of his theory is that, to be creative, a person not only needs to depart from the <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>status quo<\/em><\/a><\/span> but also needs to be familiar and comfortable with a range of alternatives from a wide variety of fields. Koestler\u2019s perspective would seem to be consistent with the association we often make between creativity on the one hand and intelligence and breadth of knowledge on the other.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s02\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Overcoming Inertia<\/h2>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s02_ep01\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s02_p01\" class=\"para\">At every crossroads on the path that leads to the future, tradition has placed 10,000 men to guard the past.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">Maurice Maeterlinck<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s02_ep02\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s02_p02\" class=\"para\">When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of action you should take, choose the bolder.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">William Joseph Slim<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s02_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">Groups generally comprise a mixture of people when it comes to openness to change. A small fraction of the members may position themselves at one end of the openness continuum or the other. Some of these people, called <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>neophiles<\/em><\/a><\/span>, will eagerly embrace almost anything novel. Others, known as <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>neophobes<\/em><\/a><\/span>, will invariably shun what\u2019s new and prefer the security of what they know and have done in the past. The majority of people, however, probably don\u2019t fit neatly into either of these categories. Instead, they may prefer to produce or experiment with new things under certain circumstances and resist them under others.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s02_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">It\u2019s rarely possible to provoke creativity on the part of an entire group all at once. You needn\u2019t agree with Thomas Fuller\u2019s aphorism that \u201ca conservative believes nothing should be done for the first time\u201d to realize that some people in groups will hold onto what they\u2019re familiar with all the more stubbornly as others begin to waver and experiment with something new.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Brainstorming<\/h2>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_ep01\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p01\" class=\"para\">In regard to every problem that arises, there are counselors who say, \u201cDo nothing\u201d [and] other counselors who say, \u201cDo everything\u201d\u2026I say to you: \u201cDo something\u201d; and when you have done something, if it works, do it some more; and if it does not work, then do something else.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">Franklin Delano Roosevelt<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">One familiar technique that experts in the realm of creative thinking have long recommended is <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>brainstorming<\/em><\/a><\/span>. Alex Osborn, an advertising executive, began using the term in the mid-1950s and described the method in detail in his book <em class=\"emphasis\">Applied Imagination: Principles and Procedures of Creative Problem Solving<\/em>. <span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_011\" class=\"footnote\">Osborn, A.F. (1963) <em class=\"emphasis\">Applied imagination: Principles and procedures of creative problem solving<\/em> (3rd revised ed.). New York: Charles Scribner\u2019s Sons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">One criterion of proper brainstorming is that it must begin with an unrestricted search for quantity and creativity rather than quality. It should actually solicit and reward craziness and zaniness, in other words.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">A second criterion for good brainstorming is that it should encourage and praise \u201cpiggybacking\u201d on ideas which have already emerged. A third is that brainstormers should avoid making any judgments until they\u2019ve generated an extensive list of ideas.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">Robert Sutton, a respected organizational consultant, published a book in 2002 called <em class=\"emphasis\">Weird Ideas That Work<\/em>. <span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_012\" class=\"footnote\">Sutton, R. (2002). <em class=\"emphasis\">Weird ideas that work<\/em>. New York: Free Press.<\/span> Among other things, Sutton\u2019s book paid tribute to brainstorming.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">One of Sutton\u2019s central contentions was that excellence arises from \u201ca range of differences\u201d\u2014precisely what brainstorming aims to generate. To illustrate, Sutton declared that such prodigious geniuses as Shakespeare, Einstein, Mozart, Edison, and Picasso were first and foremost productive. In fact, he argued that these brilliant individuals didn\u2019t succeed at a higher rate than anyone else; they just did more.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p07\" class=\"para editable block\">Mozart, for instance, started composing when he was seven years old and wrote at least 20 pieces of music per year from then until his death at the age of 35. Several of his compositions were routine or even dull, but many were sublime and some are unquestioned masterpieces.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p08\" class=\"para editable block\">Closer to home, Sutton noted that today\u2019s toy business offers examples of the value of starting with lots of ideas and only then selecting quality ones. Skyline, an arm of California\u2019s IDEO Corporation, employed just 10 staff members in 1998 but generated 4,000 ideas in that year for new toys.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s03_p09\" class=\"para editable block\">According to Sutton, those 4,000 ideas boiled down to 230 possibilities worth examining through careful drawings or working prototypes. Of the 230 concepts, 12 were ultimately sold. In other words, the \u201cyield\u201d of saleable products came to only 3\/10 of one per cent of the original ideas. Sutton quoted Skyline\u2019s founder, Brendan Boyle, as saying, \u201cYou can\u2019t get any good new ideas without having a lot of dumb, lousy, and crazy ones.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s04\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">The Ostrich and the Sea Urchin<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s04_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Now let\u2019s take a look at what two animals have to do with ideas in general, and with varied ways of being creative about ideas in specific. The two animals are the ostrich and the sea urchin.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s04_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">The ostrich\u2019s reproductive processes lies at one end of a continuum, the sea urchin\u2019s at the other. Like the 350-pound mother which lays it, an ostrich egg is large, imposing, and tough. For 42 days after it\u2019s laid, it grows until it weighs more than three pounds. It will then reliably crack open and release a baby ostrich. Unless something highly unexpected happens, its mother will tend it well, and that single baby ostrich will in turn grow up and become a mature ostrich.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s04_p03\" class=\"para editable block\">A sea urchin differs in almost every respect from an ostrich. The whole animal takes up less space and weighs less than an ostrich egg, for one thing. It has no eyes. It hardly moves all its life. To propagate, an urchin spews a cloud of more than a million miniscule eggs into the ocean. The eggs disperse immediately into the tide pools and reef inlets populated by their spiny parents.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s04_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">Some of the sea urchin eggs meet sea urchin sperm and combine to form tiny, transparent, free-floating embryos. Eggs remain viable for only 6\u20138 hours, however, so lots of them die before this happens. Of a one-million-egg cloud, those which are to have a chance of becoming embryos must do so within 48 hours. The odds aren\u2019t good.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s04_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">Then things thin out even more. A Stanford University publication points out that \u201cthe young embryo is totally at the mercy of the sea. There are many organisms that will consume the young sea urchin embryo and later the young sea urchin.\u201d<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_013\" class=\"footnote\">Brooders vs spawners.\u00a0<\/span> In other words, the overwhelming majority of sea urchin eggs die of loneliness or get eaten.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s04_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">Biologists call animals like ostriches \u201cbrooders\u201d because they create only a few offspring but take care of each one faithfully. Creatures such as sea urchins, which produce vast numbers of candidates for fertilization but don\u2019t take care of them and lose most of them to predators, are called \u201cspawners.\u201d Brainstorming is clearly a \u201cspawning\u201d process rather than a \u201cbrooding\u201d one.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s05\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Threats to the Effectiveness of Brainstorming<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s05_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Although it is meant to generate large quantities of ideas on which to base sound decision-making, brainstorming entails some same challenges. One group of researchers<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_014\" class=\"footnote\">Stroebe, W., Diehl, M., &amp; Abakoumkin, G. (1992). The illusion of group effectivity. <em class=\"emphasis\">Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 18<\/em> (5): 643\u2013650.<\/span> identified three potential weakening factors inherent within brainstorming:<\/p>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s05_l01\" class=\"orderedlist editable block\">\n<li><span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>Blocking<\/em><\/a><\/span>. Since only one person at a time in a group can speak, other members may lose the desire to contribute their own ideas or even forget those ideas in the midst of a lively brainstorming session.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>Social matching<\/em><\/a><\/span>.<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_015\" class=\"footnote\">Brown, V., &amp; Paulus, P. B. (1996). A simple dynamic model of social factors in group brainstorming. <em class=\"emphasis\">Small Group Research, 27<\/em>, 91\u2013114.<\/span> People in a group tend to calibrate their own degree of contribution to its activities on the basis of what the other members do. If someone has lots of ideas but sees that the rest of the group is less productive, that person is apt to reduce his or her own creative production.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>Illusion of group productivity<\/em><\/a><\/span>. Group members are apt to rate the level of their output as being higher than it actually is. For one thing, members describe their group as being above average in productivity with respect to other groups. They also overrate their individual contributions; people in one study, for instance, said that they had contributed 36% of their group\u2019s ideas when in fact they had offered only 25%.<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_016\" class=\"footnote\">Paulus, P. B., Dzindolet, M. T., Poletes, G., &amp; Camacho, L. M. (1993). Perception of performance in group brainstorming: The illusion of group productivity. <em class=\"emphasis\">Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64<\/em> (4), 575\u2013586.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s05_n01\" class=\"key_takeaways editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s05_l02\" class=\"itemizedlist\">\n<li>Creativity, which can play a positive role in group decision-making, has been described as a process of combining two disparate elements. It can be stimulated through brainstorming.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s05_n02\" class=\"exercises editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Exercises<\/h3>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s03_s05_l03\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n<li>Do you agree with Arthur Koestler that all creativity involves bringing disparate trains of thought together? Provide 2\u20133 examples which support your answer.<\/li>\n<li>Do you consider yourself a \u201cbrooder\u201d or a \u201cspawner\u201d? Explain your response to a fellow student, providing examples which support your answer.<\/li>\n<li>When was the last time you showed exceptional creativity? What factors in your environment or within you at the time contributed most to that creativity?<\/li>\n<li>Think of a neophile and a neophobe whom you\u2019ve encountered in a group. Describe actions that each person took which illustrate his\/her neophilia or neophobia.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04\" class=\"section\" xml:lang=\"en\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\"><span style=\"color: #2388a1\"><span class=\"title-prefix\">11.4<\/span> Facilitating the Task-Oriented Group<\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_n02\" class=\"learning_objectives editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_l01\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n<li>Define \u201cgroup facilitation\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Identify five guidelines for facilitating a task-oriented group<\/li>\n<li>Distinguish between collaboration and \u201ccoliberation\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_ep01\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p02\" class=\"para\">Remember the story that Pope John XXIII told about himself. He admitted, \u201cIt often happens that I wake at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the Pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">Glenn van Ekeren<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_ep02\" class=\"epigraph block\">\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p03\" class=\"para\">I\u2019m extraordinarily patient provided I get my own way in the end.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">Margaret Thatcher<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p04\" class=\"para editable block\">You\u2019ve probably experienced being part of groups that pleased and motivated you. One reason you experienced those positive feelings may have been that the groups planned and executed their tasks so smoothly that you were hardly aware the processes were taking place. In this section we\u2019ll examine ways in which leaders can contribute to such pleasant, easy experiences.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p05\" class=\"para editable block\">Just as \u201cfacile\u201d in English and \u201cf\u00e1cil\u201d in Spanish mean \u201ceasy,\u201d the word \u201cfacilitate\u201d itself means \u201cto make something easy\u201d and \u201c<span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>group facilitation<\/em><\/a><\/span>\u201d consists in easing a group\u2019s growth and progress. Most student, community, and business groups are task-oriented, so we\u2019ll consider here how they can most easily be guided toward accomplishing the tasks they set for themselves. Another section of this book deals specifically with the details of leading meetings, so for now we\u2019ll consider broader questions and principles.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p06\" class=\"para editable block\">If you\u2019re in a position to facilitate a group, you need to take that position seriously. Just as Pope John XXIII realized with respect to his authority and responsibility in the Catholic Church, it\u2019s best to consider yourself the primary source of direction and the ultimate destination for questions in your group. With those concepts in mind, let\u2019s consider five major guidelines you should probably follow in order to facilitate a group whose purposes include achieving tasks.<\/p>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_l02\" class=\"orderedlist editable block\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Know the group\u2019s members. This means more than just identifying their names and recognizing their faces. If you hope to accomplish anything significant together, you need to be familiar with people\u2019s opinions, their needs, their desires, and their personalities.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p07\" class=\"para\">Perhaps one member of a group you\u2019re leading is particularly time-conscious, another likes to make jokes, and a third prefers to see concepts represented visually. If you take these propensities into account and respond to them as much as possible, you can draw the best cooperative effort from each of the people.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p08\" class=\"para\">You may want to keep track of who\u2019s done what favors for whom within the group, too. Like it or not, many people operate at least from time to time on the principle that \u201cI\u2019ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Weigh task and relationship considerations. The word \u201c<span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>equilibristic<\/em><\/a><\/span>\u201d is sometimes applied to the actions of athletes and musicians. It refers to a capability to balance differing and sometimes conflicting forces so as to maintain continuous movement in a chosen direction.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p09\" class=\"para\">Although almost any group has some work to do, and all groups comprise people whose welfare needs to be tended to, the effective facilitator realizes that it\u2019s impossible to emphasize both those elements to the same degree all the time. If people are disgruntled or frustrated, they can\u2019t contribute well to accomplishing a task. Likewise, if people are always contented with one another and their group but can\u2019t focus on getting things done, the group will be unable to attain its objectives. To facilitate a group well, thus, requires that you be equilibristic.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Understand and anticipate prevalent features of human psychology. Keep in mind that everyone in a group will perceive what the facilitator does in light of his or her own circumstances and wishes.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p10\" class=\"para\">Recall also that everyone possesses diverse and numerous capacities for self-justification and self-support. In their book <em class=\"emphasis\">Mistakes were made (but not by me)<\/em>, Carol Tavris and Ellion Aronson referred to studies of married couples\u2019 behavior. They indicated that when husbands and wives are asked what proportion of the housework they perform, the totals always exceed 100 percent by a large margin.<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_017\" class=\"footnote\">Tavris, C., &amp; Aronson, E. (2007). <em class=\"emphasis\">Mistakes were made (but not by me).<\/em> Orlando, FL: Harcourt<\/span> Tavris and Aronson also described the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, which presents visitors with interactive exhibits portraying categories of people about whom many of us harbor negative preconceptions\u2014including ethnic and racial minorities, obese individuals, people with disabilities, and so on. A video attempts to persuade visitors that they possess prejudices, after which two doors are offered as an exit. One is marked \u201cPrejudiced\u201d and the other is labeled \u201cUnprejudiced.\u201d The second door is locked, to make the point that all of us are indeed subject to prejudice.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Deal well with disruptions. The playwright Paddy Chayevsky wrote that \u201clife is problems.\u201d An effective group facilitator needs to anticipate and skillfully cope with problems as a part of life, whether they\u2019re caused by other people\u2019s behavior or by physical and logistical factors.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p11\" class=\"para\">If you\u2019re an adherent of <span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>Theory Y<\/em><\/a><\/span>, you probably believe that people enjoy pursuing their goals energetically, in groups or individually. You also probably believe that people prefer to select times and places along the way to relax and recharge. Unfortunately, interruptions often arise in such a way as to make both these aims difficult to achieve. Think about all the unexpected academic, family, and work-related reasons why you and other students you know have found it challenging to \u201cstay the course\u201d toward your personal and collective goals.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p12\" class=\"para\">A group\u2019s facilitator, thus, needs to make sure that interruptions and disruptions don\u2019t derail it. In fact, he or she might profit from actually celebrating these elements of life, as one Seattle office executive did. According to Dale Turner, the executive\u2019s office had a sign on the wall reading \u201cDon\u2019t be irritated by interruptions. They are your reason for being.\u201d Turner went on to quote the executive as saying \u201cHappily, I have learned how to sit loose in the saddle of life, and I\u2019m not usually disturbed by interruptions. I have made it a habit through the years to leave a stretch factor in my daily schedule. I start early and have tried not to so crowd my day with appointments that I have no time for the unexpected. I have not seen interruptions as an intrusion.\u201d<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_018\" class=\"footnote\">Turner, D. (1991, March 23). Slaves of habit\u2014we lose when there\u2019s no room for interruptions in our lives. <em class=\"emphasis\">Seattle Times<\/em>. Retrieved from ProQuest Database.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"para\">Keep returning to the task. You\u2019ve probably been part of a group in which the leader or facilitator had what might be called a divergent, rather than a convergent, personality. Perhaps that person had lots of good ideas but seemed to jump around from topic to topic and chore to chore so much that your head spun and you couldn\u2019t keep track of what was going on. Maybe the person \u201cmissed the forest for the trees\u201d because of dwelling excessively on minutia\u2014small and insignificant details. Or perhaps each time you met with the group its facilitator led a discussion of something valuable and important, but every time it was a different thing.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p13\" class=\"para\">The organizational theorist Anthony Jay wrote that it\u2019s important for leaders to \u201clook for problems through a telescope, not a microscope.\u201d<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_019\" class=\"footnote\">Jay, A. (1967). <em class=\"emphasis\">Management and Machiavelli: An inquiry into the politics of corporate life.<\/em> New York: Bantam Books.<\/span> He also contended that, as far as a leader is concerned, \u201cother people can cope with the waves, it\u2019s [the leader\u2019s] job to watch the tide.\u201d By these comments, Jay meant that the primary duty of a group facilitator is to maintain an unwavering focus on the group\u2019s central tasks, whatever they may be.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p14\" class=\"para\">The Dalai Lama has written, \u201cWhether you are a spiritual leader or a leader in an organization, it is your job to inspire faith.\u201d<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_020\" class=\"footnote\">His Holiness the Dalai Lama &amp; Muyzenberg, L. (2009). <em class=\"emphasis\">The leader\u2019s way: The art of making the right decisions in our careers, our companies, and the world at large. <\/em>New York: Broadway Books.<\/span> Slogans, mottos, mission statements, quotations, logos, and written objectives can all contribute to a facilitator\u2019s ability to inspire faith by maintaining a group\u2019s focus and resolve to move in a common direction. Busy students and others in our society often need reminders like these to block out the competing stimuli surrounding them and focus their attention. Such mechanisms, however, should not be merely gimmicks, nor should they be used to promote blind faith in the group\u2019s facilitator.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_p15\" class=\"para\">Another way to think of how a facilitator should keep bringing the group\u2019s attention back to its tasks relates to the process of meditation. Practitioners of meditation know that people\u2019s minds are naturally active and tend to move readily from subject to subject. When someone is meditating, they say, thoughts will naturally pop into his or her mind. The way to deal with this phenomenon is to regard the thoughts as clouds drifting across the sky. Rather than trying to banish them, the better approach is to allow them to pass by and dissipate, and then to return to serene contemplation.<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_021\" class=\"footnote\">Rondon, N. (2006, Meditate. <em class=\"emphasis\">Current Health 2<\/em> (32), 20\u201323. Retrieved from ProQuest Database<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_s01\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Coliberation<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_s01_p01\" class=\"para editable block\">Above all, a facilitator\u2019s responsibility is to enable members of a group to function together as easily and happily as possible as they pursue their goals. When this happens, the group will achieve a high level of collaboration. In fact, it may rise beyond collaboration to achieve what the author and computer game designer Bernard DeKoven called \u201c<span class=\"margin_term\"><a class=\"glossterm\" href=\"\"><em>coliberation<\/em><\/a><\/span>.\u201d In speaking about meetings, he had this to say: \u201cGood meetings aren\u2019t just about work. They\u2019re about fun\u2014keeping people charged up. It\u2019s more than collaboration, it\u2019s \u2018coliberation\u2019\u2014people freeing each other up to think more creatively.\u201d<span id=\"venditti_0.0-fn11_022\" class=\"footnote\">Matson, E. (1996, April-May). The seven sins of deadly meetings. <em class=\"emphasis\">Fast Company<\/em>, 122.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_s01_n01\" class=\"key_takeaways editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Key Takeaway<\/h3>\n<ul id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_s01_l01\" class=\"itemizedlist\">\n<li>To facilitate a task-oriented group requires several skills and behaviors and can lead to a state of \u201ccoliberation.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_s01_n02\" class=\"exercises editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Exercises<\/h3>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s04_s01_l02\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n<li>Recall a time when you were in a group whose leader stressed either its task or relationship factors too much. How did the members of the group react? Did the leader eventually develop an equilibristic approach?<\/li>\n<li>Do you agree with the business executive who said that interruptions are \u201cyour reason for being\u201d? In your studies and family life, what measures do you take to ensure that interruptions are beneficial rather than destructive? What further steps do you feel you might take in this direction?<\/li>\n<li>Think of someone who effectively facilitated a group you were part of. Did the person perform the job identified by the Dalai Lama\u2014inspiring faith in the group? If so, how?<\/li>\n<li>What, if anything, do you feel members of most groups need to be \u201ccoliberated\u201d from?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05\" class=\"section\" xml:lang=\"en\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\"><span style=\"color: #2388a1\"><span class=\"title-prefix\">11.5<\/span> Summary<\/span><\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05_p02\" class=\"para editable block\">In this chapter we have explored problem-solving in groups. We have identified steps which groups can use to attack and solve problems, as well as several methods of reaching decisions. We have considered the nature of group creativity and reviewed how brainstorming may contribute to creative problem-solving and decision-making. Finally, we have identified methods which can be used to facilitate the problem-solving and decision-making behavior or task-oriented groups. Following systematic, sequential processes can help groups communicate in ways which resolve problems and lead to appropriate decisions.<\/p>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05_n02\" class=\"exercises editable block\">\n<h3 class=\"title\">Review Questions<\/h3>\n<p class=\"simpara\">Interpretive Questions<\/p>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05_l01\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n<li>In what 2\u20133 ways has your view of problem-solving or decision-making changed as a result of reading this chapter?<\/li>\n<li>Under what circumstances, or with what kinds of group members, do you feel brainstorming is most likely to produce better results than other methods of generating creative ideas?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p class=\"simpara\">Application Questions<\/p>\n<ol id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05_l02\" class=\"orderedlist\">\n<li>Call the office of a state senator or representative. Ask the person who answers the phone to provide you with a list of five creative ideas the legislator has put forth to solve problems facing his or her constituency. If you wanted to expand on the list, who else would you consult, and what process would you use to generate more ideas?<\/li>\n<li>Pick two historical figures who you believe made it easy for people they lived or worked with to achieve shared goals. Find two or three descriptions of episodes in which those figures took action demonstrating that capacity. Identify someone leading a group of which you\u2019re now a member and share the information about the historical figures with that person. What is the person\u2019s reaction? What do you feel might have made the leader\u2019s response more positive?<\/li>\n<li>Look up the phrase \u201cgroup decision support system\u201d on line and locate 4\u20135 software programs meant to assist groups with decisions. List advantages and disadvantages of each and share your conclusions with your classmates.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05_s01\" class=\"section\">\n<h2 class=\"title editable block\">Additional Resources<\/h2>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05_s01_p01\" class=\"para editable block\"><a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.deepfun.com\/coliberation-the-short-form\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.deepfun.com\/coliberation-the-short-form\/<\/a>: Bernard \u201cBernie\u201d De Koven\u2019s blog. A source of provocative ideas on why and how to indulge in creative fun as part of a group.<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05_s01_p04\" class=\"para editable block\"><a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.co-intelligence.org\/I-decisionmakingwithout.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.co-intelligence.org\/I-decisionmakingwithout.html<\/a> (\u201cHow to Make a Decision Without Making a Decision\u201d): An article describing how guided \u201cnon-decision-making\u201d can be used by groups to discover what the author refers to as \u201cbig obvious truths.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"venditti_0.0-ch11_s05_s01_p05\" class=\"para editable block\"><a class=\"link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.tobe.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.tobe.net\/<\/a>: The website of Dynamic Facilitation Associates, a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching groups how to create choices through intentional facilitation. One of the site\u2019s pages, describes \u201cCo-Counseling\u201d and compassionate communication as further facilitation tools.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/piwik.lardbucket.org\/piwik.php?idsite=9#fixme\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"menu_order":11,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-49","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":19,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/introductiontogroupcommunicationv2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/49","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/introductiontogroupcommunicationv2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/introductiontogroupcommunicationv2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/introductiontogroupcommunicationv2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/introductiontogroupcommunicationv2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/49\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/introductiontogroupcommunicationv2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/49\/revisions\/50"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/introductiontogroupcommunicationv2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/19"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/introductiontogroupcommunicationv2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/49\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/introductiontogroupcommunicationv2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/introductiontogroupcommunicationv2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=49"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/introductiontogroupcommunicationv2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=49"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.usnh.edu\/introductiontogroupcommunicationv2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}