week 16, question 1

CMC is obviously very different than face to face communication. I’m sure we have all participated in both CMC and Face to face communication and I’m sure we have noticed some differences. I know that when you purely text message you lose a little bit of the social aspect of communication. You know when you get a text and you’re not really sure if someone is joking or not? Or if someone spells a word wrong and completely changes the meaning of the intended message? This happens all the time during emails and text messages but doesn’t happen when you use face to face communication. You can catch the real meaning in conversations because you can see the expressions and the way they say it. You “lose the lost in translation” aspect because you are getting the information first hand. CMC is on the up and up in today’s world, but in my opinion will never be as effective as face to face.

week 16, question 3

I really liked the discussion about group norms and roles. I find it really amazing to take a step back and really think about all the specific things that people do to maintain that norm in the group. I bet everyone can think of the roles their friends play in their close circle. I know I can think and see everyone of my friends playing their roles in the group perfectly. I actually went to my friends and told them about this particular chapter and how they each fill their own little role on the group. I also coaxed out a dialogue about how when others violate the group norms how they get blackballed to a point. They then recalled numerous times where our group norm was violated and how we handled it. Although they all disagreed and fought it they all also acknowledged that they all have a specific role to play in the group, whether it was a role they chose or were given.

week 16, question 2

I myself wasn’t a big fan of the particular project. I felt that the previous assignment of running the group and then taking step and observing was a much more useful project. The reason being is that you could fuel the fire and let the group take the path they chose. You were able to see a leader emerge as opposed to witnessing an already put together group whose leader was established. There were some useful tools though. I did like the fact that a leader, who was already established, take charge and run the group the way they see fit. The particular group I chose was a group pieced together by different branches of a company who sent representatives to decide how to run an awards ceremony. In witnessing this group I was able to learn a thing or two about how groups like this work. I just feel that the original project was a bit more useful.

week 14, question 3

I particularly took to the section on “Expert Power”. I find it funny how people will submit or relinquish power to someone who has more knowledge on a subject. It’s almost an innate ability that we have as humans as natural followers. “Expert power is generated by having a particular ability or access to particular information that is valued. “ (pg 239)

For instance, with my friends, when it comes to politics they almost always concede the power of the group immediately to me. I could literally make something up and they will believe it. It really amazes me how we trust others who claim to be experts on a particular subject. When it comes to making decisions most people want to be right. SO when push comes to shove most groups will concede to the person with the vastest knowledge in the particular subject being dealt with. Just another interesting part of the group dynamic.

week 14, question 2

I can think of a situation where my fiancé and I were arguing about what we should do on the weekend. I wanted to go to the Giants game and she wanted to go to parents. Well after a long drawn out discussion we both decided and came to a consensus of going to her parent’s house but I get to watch the entire Giants game un-disturbed.

Obviously there are going to be situation where it always isn’t win-win. For instance, my sister can be such a pain that she will not budge on some things. So in most cases it winds up in a lose-lose or a win-lose situation. There is nothing more frustrating than someone who won’t compromise in a given situation. You can sit there for hours and not come to a consensus.

I think when you’re on the winning side of a competitive conflict then that would probably be the more satisfying win. But since you can’t always win the collaborative process will be a small victory for everyone.

Chapter 13, Question 3

I particularly took to the section on analogies. “The use of an analogy is a comparison between things that are similar in some respects but quite different in others, helps open our perceptions to other useful concepts.” (Pg 192)

I use analogies all the time when I am trying to describe something to someone. I use them a lot in arguments in order to solidify a meaning for someone who may not understand what point I’m trying to make.

For instance I might say something like, “Telling me no to argue is like telling a fish not to swim, it just isn’t going to happen.”

Although not the greatest analogy, it usually simplifies a statement I was trying t make that the receiver may not have fully understood. I find this an extremely useful tool to use in arguments. It changes the receiver’s state of mind In a way that they might now accept your point rather than trying to fight it.

Week 13, Question 1

Our book describes creativity as “the power to originate, to break away from the existing ways of looking at things…” (Sack, 1995, pp. 241-242). I feel I have had many chances in my lifetime to be creative as have many of us.

I can think of one time where we were doing a team meeting for Best Buy and it was boring just as it always was. ME and a few other were chosen to do a presentation of the new Geek Squad roll out best buy as doing in order to give our people some knowledge on where the company was going. So we got out materials and read through and decided it was way to boring to go through slides and just read off of them. So instead we put a skit together and dressed up like geeks and acted out the slides instead of just reading them. This was the first time one of our meetings was actually fun.

Week 13, Questions 2

There are a few cultural barriers to creativity according to Harris.

1) Requirement for conformity
2) Expectations of practicality and efficiency
3) Particular arenas for competition or cooperation
4) Expectations of politeness and following social order
5) A trust in the power of reason and logic

These could cause a couple problems for a group’s creativity. The requirement for conformity might squash the ideas that some members may have. They might feel pressured into thinking like the group rather than outside the box.

I myself have experienced some of these barriers. Particularly with the conformity issue. It happened in high school where conformity tends to be at its highest. I was within my group of friends and we were sitting around thinking of something to do. An idea was thrown out and I wanted to follow up to add onto the idea but refrained because it was out of the norm of the group.

Week 9, Chapter 7, Question 1

For me one of the hardest things to do is control my memory. More importantly my short term memory has been the problem. When engaged in a conversation I try and listen to the best of my ability but sometimes it can be hard to decide what is important to them and what is important to me. But when you are trying to repeat back what you heard in order to get it straight. But there are times when selective hearing also comes into play when you tend to hear that you want to hear in order to prove your point, I tend to do that a lot as well. I have to try and really retain what the person is saying in order to compose a good counter argument or response. But from time to time it is like I am just waiting to talk and I don’t really hear what the person is saying.

Week 9, Chapter 7, Question 2

There have been a few times where I have had selective attention. It happens more often than we want because a lot of times we are waiting to talk versus actually listening. It is actual work when trying to listen. Being in sales it is a huge deal to listen to specifics when trying to gather information about potential customers. But most often I feel that selective attention or selective hearing happens during arguments or debates. Most times people don’t actually listen to what is being said and are just trying to be right by any means possible. For instance, There was a time where me and my dad were getting into a pretty heated political debate. We tend to do this a lot and the ultimate goal is to prove to the other our point whether we are right or wrong. Now obviously in politics it is extremely if not impossible to be 100% right, but this doesn’t stop us from trying. Most of the time we are just spitting words out left and right and not truly listening to anything other than we want to hear. If we were to take a step back and truly listen we might see that we may being arguing the same point but in different perspectives.

Chapter 5, question 3

Nonverbal communication was an interesting part of Chapter 5. Seeing as how the majority of communication is nonverbal it is an intricate part on the group dynamic and normal everyday interactions. Just watching how someone’s face or body reacts to something you say can say way more than the words they spew out of their mouth. I cant tell you how much I value non-verbal communication Vs verbal in my job. As a salesman you are always gauging where the customer is at in the conversation and you can tell more how they are reacting to your words but what the do rather than what they say. If they are swaying while they say “ok” the conversation probably isn’t going the way you hoped it would even though they said “ok”. By watching these queues we can interact with our group members in whole other manner which gives us another look into our group dynamic.

Chapter 5, question 2

“White men of privilege” is a concept that can be interpreted in different ways. I myself see it as a way that minorities view the “white man” as having a cake walk through life. It is a crutch in which minorities use as an excuse for their shortcomings. Being a minority I have heard this term, in different variations, many times. Is there some validity to it? Sure there is. White Caucasian males may have a leg in the corporate world and other areas of our culture. This isn’t the case as much as in the past 50 years, but it is still an issue in today’s world. In the world I have viewed this has never really been the case. Obviously we all have experienced different things in our lives, but I have never truly witnessed a white guy getting something over a black, Hispanic, Asian or any other ethnicity. I feel that this is a way for lazy people to justify them not getting what they want. It is my experience that has taught me that if you want something you have to earn it. May u have to work harder to get it than a white person? Maybe. But that shouldn’t be an excuse to stop trying.

Chapter 5 question 1

I think that almost everyone that went to high school was stereotyped at one point or another. I myself was a jock, and I was labeled everything that accompanies that title. I obviously used to hang out with people who also played sports and as a group was labeled as trouble makers, dumb, “simple”, etc. Granted there were some members of the group that may have fit into that category, but for the most part we were nothing like that. I always found it so funny when I’de be in class and people would make comments regarding me or my friends. But that is the way high school is. When that translates in adult life is where we run into problems. The book talks about how damaging stereotypes can be and how no good comes from them. I would agree with that statement, because for the most part, stereotypes are negative. Very rarely is a stereotype a positive thing.

wk 3, question 3

One concept that I like in this chapter was Cohesiveness. “Is the extent of which member are loyal to the group.” (Pg 54) This is a great definition. Its funny how when it’s a member of your group you can except things from the m that you wouldn’t from others. I know some of my friends do some pretty stupid things, but you still tend to stand by them and stay loyal to the end. I don’t know what it is. It really is “A force that binds groups together.” (Pg 54) You develop a sense of camaraderie and are willing to do things for them that you wouldn’t do for anyone else. I have gone above and beyond the call of duty for my group of friends as they have for me. But taking a step back and looking at it from an outside perspective it has to seem weird the things we go through for our friends.

week 3, question 2

I have witnessed a violation of group norm on many occasions. My close group of friends tend to mingle with other groups all of the time. For instance, I have grown very close to my sister boyfriend and his friends over the past year or so and sometimes have my group of friends come over his house from time to time. When this happens there tends to be some norm violation by my group of friends when it comes to his group norms. For the most part depending on who’s group setting it is, the foreign group tends to have an internal obligation to conform to the “home” groups norms. When it comes to say beerpong, my group of friends play one way and his group plays another. My group tends to adapt to that norm for the most part. But when a specific rule such as rebuttal throws come in, my group tends to disagree and a violation of a norm comes into play making it somewhat uncomfortable.

wk 3, question 1

As you and your friends begin to hang out you begin to develop habits or norms, I know my group of friends definitely do. You begin to go to the same places and do the same things. And when in our group you are expected to act certain way and do certain things. We talk a lot of crap and you are required to develop tough skin. We are also very dependable when it comes to coming through when you say you will, and if this doesn’t happen it puts a big damper on the entire group dynamic. When people come into our group that aren’t exactly normal visitors, it is easy to see what our group dynamic is. In fact people comment on it all the time. We don’t really hide who we are or how we act, I find it very funny because for the most part we don’t even notice it.

Question 3

One subject that was touched on in Chapter 2 that I want to talk about is Irreversibility. The author brings up a really good point in regards to this subject. “Once something is said- in anger, frustration, enthusiasm, or excitement - it can never be taken back and will have some impact on the participants and future discussions.” (Pg 38). I find this to be very true. Once something is said and even if the speaker didn’t mean for it to come out that way, there is no real way to the people who heard it to forget how it originally made them feel when they first heard. Even if the person apologizes and tries to take it back, the damage is already done. Some groups are strong enough to overcome something like this, a lot of groups aren’t. Which is why you especially need to be careful about what you say in your group setting with people you may not have a prior relationship with. First impressions can never be re-done.

Question 1

Interdependence is crucial in order for a group to reach its ultimate goal. Harris explains that the group benefits by the passing along of their ideas and similar interactions. The group needs to depend on one another and each share the responsibility.

I feel a perfect example is that of my basketball team. In order for a team to be good, they have to all handle their individual jobs well while backing each other up. We have to know that if I do my job the others will do theirs. We have to work together by doing our part in order for us to win the game. If one falters we all falter.

Another example would be that of my co-workers. In a bank we all have a specific job to do. We all work on referrals. The tellers refer people to me and I in turn refer to specialists. We only get crediot for the referral is the account is opened. Therefore, we are depending on that other person to get eh job done when I hand the customer off.

Question 2

Entropy and equifinality impact groups in different ways. Entropy impacts all sorts of groups and the way they operate. It’s about keeping a balance between over-stimulation and stagnation. Groups, need to keep an order to things and stay organized otherwise entropy will set in and set the group back from accomplishing what they set out to do in the first place. Equifinality on the other hand is a reference to the fact that group can attain the same goal but do it in different ways. It is good to keep this in mind because you can mold the path you take based on the type of people you have in your group. This is key to make your group function to its fullest capabilities. By realizing equifinality and maintaining entropy you can have your group move toward its common goal without chaos or stagnation. These are two very important factors in the small group dynamic.

Intro post

Hey everyone,

This is my second semester at SJSU and my first online class at this school. I have taken many online classes at De Anza so I am very familiar with how the process works for the most part. Communication is not currently my major, political science is, but I am in the process of switching back to communications. I have taken around 6-7 communication classes in the past and have enjoyed participating in them. As for myself, I generally spend my time playing or watching sports, playing video games, following politics and just hanging out with friends. I tend to have an opinion on everything and generally dont refrain from voicing it :). I look forward to talking to and joining you all in discussions this semester.

Jrod