Chapter 20

The idea of workplace democracy like an ideal situation, however I am a believer in the phrase "If you build a horse by committee, you'll end up with a camel."
I was frustrated in reading the "Strategy" and "Consent" sections of the text due to their enlightening of the struggle that goes on between the managerial side and the employee side of an organization. It's interesting that most employees don't even realize that they are subject to an oppressive company attitude. That's what's great about studying all of this is that we now realize that we have a choice - to be a cog in the machine or to be our own machine. Therefore, as I've said before, I still think that one is only a victim if they let themselves be. The voice of the workers are definitely important and the idea of having happy workers to build a better product rings true, but it isn't an employers job to make an employee warm and fuzzy. It is his job to make a better product, and he has hired employees to make that product. The employees realize this, also, or they wouldn't have signed up for the job. A manager does have the duty to provide for the employees so that their needs related to doing their job are taken care of, and to provide a standard quality for all, but at the end of the day responsibility comes on the shoulders of each individual. If management tries too hard to cater to the needs of employees it may backfire, because there is no way to please everyone. So, total democracy in the workplace is a nice thought, but in the end I wonder if it would do more harm than good.

Chapter 19 - Culture of an Organization

This chapter resonated with me easily because of my involvement with a commercial real estate brokerage firm for 2 years, prior to coming back to SJSU. All of these pieces described in the chapter applied easily to my experience.

I was interested in the section "Can a manager be an agent of cultural change?" because I've always been interested in what makes a good manager vs. a poor one, in respect to the employee's perspective. "Managers may articulate a new vision in a fresh vocabulary, but it is the workers who smile, sigh, snicker, or scoff." This happens because "shared interpretations as naturally emerging from all members of a group rather than consciously engineered by leaders." It seems that based on this chapter, a manager has little to do with the culture of an office, and no matter what an manager's efforts are, the employees will generate their own cultural reality.

Chapter 18 - What groups produce

If effective groups must analyze a problem, set a goal, identify alternatives, and evaluate those positive and negative characteristics, what then are they accomplishing? What is their product?
According to Poole, groups produce decisions. The duality of a group structure means that decisions both effect the group and are affected by the group. Stability and change are a product of the duality of groups. These decisions reinforce the group as well as alter its structures altogether.

Chapter 18 - The big picture

I like the way Chapter 18 ends, where Griffin brings it all home with a common sense idea of what we should take away from all of this. On p. 244, the comparison of different types of people sums it up best:

Some people make things happen.
Some people watch things happen.
Some people have things happen to them.
Som people don't even know things are happening.

Then, he encourages us to Step up from a passive role to having an active voice within your group.

I couldn't agree more with his words of wisdom. Especially during this time of the election, and as we as students move on to bigger and better things. Employers definitely do not want a passive, meek person to fill the needs of a company. Even if you don't have an employer and are going the entrepreneurial route this applies all the more.

This chapter came across a bit dry to me, so I'm glad I ran into these last words to put it in perspective. In the last paragraph of the chapter on page 245, Griffin concludes "Adaptive structuration theory may not be playful, but it holds out the satisfying promise that every group member can be a player in the process of what the group creates."

Chapter 17 - Group Decision Making

Reading chapter 17 opened my eyes in regards to many of the issue that groups face to reach an agreeable decision. So many times a group will get ahead of themselves because they all feed off each others nervous energy and the decisions that end up being made are completely counter-productive.
First things first, the analysis of the problem is key. Without understanding what everyone trying to accomplish, all work is futile. The problem provides the starting point for the map of how to get things done.
Second, by setting goals, the group can pul together for a cause and understand where they are headed. If analyzing the problem is the starting point, the goal would be the destination.
Third, identifying alternatives will let the group voice individual opinions. This where the strength of a group shows itself because no one person can know everything. With different minds at work, alternatives can be explored and the end result should be stronger because of it.
Lastly, when a group evaluates their alternatives, they can work out the bugs of certain ideas and dismiss others, ultimately reaching the best solution.

The Fleeting Moment

Chapter 12 describes dialogue as an "Aesthetic Moment" on page 162-163, and defines it as "A fleeting sense of unity through a profound respect for disparate voices in dialogue." This boils down to the fact that no matter how precious or profound a moment may be, it will pass. This makes me sad when I think of the romantic times my wife and I have shared, or that my son is now 5 months old and these moments are gone forever, but happy because we still have a lifetime to create new ones. Every step of the way has its own joys and excitement.

In our own lives, it is important to make every moment count, treat it as if it were our last so that we don't regret one thing when our life is over. Life is so short, and these wonderful, "aesthetic" moments are makes it all worth living.

Social Information Process Theory

One of the big themes of this chapter is that Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) is vastly impersonal as compared to face to face communication. The author argues that so much gets lost in translation when communication is typed or displayed through the means of a computer. When face to face, a conversation is filled with non-verbal cues galore, the inflection of someone's voice, the look on their face, body language, etc. Over the telephone one at least has the sound of someone's voice to work with. Any misunderstanding can immediately be cleared up because of the instantaneous nature, but in written communication all non-verbal cues are lost. People's interpretation of written text can be grossly misinterpreted. Negative feelings can result from these misunderstandings, leading to further inflamatory conversation.

I have been developing a website for some time now related to one of my biggest passions - baseball. The biggest challange and my biggest goal is to convey myself in a manner where there is no misunderstanding whatsoever of my intentions - to pass the passion of the game onto future generations. It can be a daunting task, but the amount of time and energy that is going into will be well worth it in the end. The static "Coming Soon" page is here. I hope that nothing is lost in translation when it is finally launched and everyone that reads it will be inspired in some way.