A642.5.3.RB – Making Smart Groups
Steiner (2016) claimed that without the skills of self-awareness, the thought process of a leader could be obscured with deception. The chaotic and complex environment of a manager can cause underutilization of self-awareness to the extent of abandonment. Steiner’s research showed evidenced that the authenticity and self-awareness were consequential to successful leadership. Understanding and raising awareness to the essential facet of authenticity and self-awareness as well as authentic behavior and self-awareness posed in leadership was not only imperative to leaders but also to their followers who pursued aligning themselves with their personal authenticity.
Developing teamwork is critical for the success of any organization. It is to the advantage of the company when every member of the team works cohesively to accomplish departmental and organizational goals. It is not only of utmost importance that team members have the autonomy and freedom to achieve assigned tasks, but it is also of importance that they have the capacity to work well with other members of the team. It is also of significance that members of the team not only have the skills to communicate their aspirations or ideas to other members of the team and be collaborative to accomplish departmental projects and tasks successfully but also have the willingness to accept constructive criticisms to improve themselves.
Can these concepts help promote innovation within an organization?
Sunstein & Hastie (2015) stated that due to informational signals and reputational pressures, groups have the tendency to err. When teams make self-destructive or inadequate determinations, generally the cause was due to a) the group amplifying the errors rather than resolving mistakes by team members; b) falling victim to cascading effects by agreeing and taking the same action from the one who acted first; c) polarizing their position to the extreme by making risky decisions; and d) focusing on information(s) that everybody knows thus not taking into considerations crucial data that only a few people possess. Information that is commonly known has an unbalanced impact on group discussions and inferences. This type of actions or behaviors from the group or the team obstructs and suppresses a culture of creativity and innovation within the organization.
According to Sunstein & Hastie (2015), in a group, some members are “cognitive central” which that their acquired knowledge are also the same with other team members. Other team members have what they call “cognitive peripheral” where their acquired knowledge are distinctively held. For a team to be successful, it is to the team’s benefits to profit from those that are cognitively peripheral.
Sunstein & Hastie (2015) recommended the following avenue to make a group wiser:
· Silence the leader. Leaders have the tendency to promote their views beforehand to avoid disagreement from other members of the team or their workforce. To promote a culture of innovation, leaders must possess and open mind and solicit opinions or recommendations.
· “Prime” critical thinking. Priming is activating or sparking a thought that affects an individual’s behavior or options. Research shows that in a group decision-making, giving members of the group the task of “getting along,” members often shut up or silenced. If organizations want to encourage creativity and innovative thinking, members of the team should be given a “critical thinking” task. Critical thinking is learning to think things through, clearly defining the problem or issue at hand, finding authentic resolutions to solve the problem or issue and lastly believing that the acquired resolution will solve the problem or issue at hand. In short, critical thinking is developing our intellectual traits of perseverance, courage, humility and faith. Critical thinking is also essential if we are to get the root of our problems and develop reasonable solutions.
· Reward group success. When organizations incentivize a group success, it encourages and empowers an information disclosure, including new ideas from members of their workforce. The adverse effect of cascades is less likely to occur when every member of the team is aware that there is no benefit for a logical individual decision and everything to their advantage from a sensible or valid group decision. Organizations who are promoting or developing a culture of innovation need to take into consideration to provide either financial or non-financial incentives such as paid days off or working remotely and providing their workforce a work environment that allows them to have work ownership. Supporting social initiatives and development or acquiring new skills is to the organization’s benefits to ensure a culture of creativity and innovation in the workplace.
How do they compare and contrast with the other readings from this module?
Canfield & Smith (2011) introduced us to different skills such as collaboration skills, idea generating and decision-making skills, decision-making and implementing skills or lateral thinking, and company-wide build skills. Collaboration skills enable members of the workforce to interact wisely and productively with other members of their team. Like critical thinking, for collaboration to succeed, members of the team necessitate a spirit that is cooperative, shared respect that is mutual, and as a team, members have the willingness to find balance in achieving their personal and team goals.
Both critical thinking skills and collaborating, idea generating, and implementing thinking skills need a purpose that needs to be distinct, concrete, centered and arguably enunciated. This means we need to ask ourselves if the question is consequential and is it relevant and valuable? Purpose helps us to focus our thinking and accomplish our goal. Leaders learn techniques that are new and discover ways that are efficient and effective to promote improvements and change.
Like Sunstein & Hastie (2015), Kotter (2012) gave us some avenues or principles to assist organizations in overcoming challenges or barriers in creating a culture of team collaboration. The following are Kotter’s (2012) five principles to follow for a dual system (management-driven hierarchy and strategy network) to be effective:
· Many change agents, not just the usual few appointees. For organizations to move quicker and further, they need to bring in more workforce into their initiative of strategic change but is realistic in an economic standpoint such as inviting creative volunteers.
· A want-to and a get-to – not just a have-to – mindset. People need to want to be an agent of change to mobilize brainpower and voluntary energy. Kotter (2012) described a spirit of volunteerism as one’s desire to serve or operate with other individuals for a shared objective or aspiration.
· Head and heart, not just head. According to Kotter (2012), for organizations to succeed in promoting a workplace collaboration and innovation, organizations need to appeal to their workforce’s emotions and not just to logic. Communicating to their authentic desire to contribute and take the organization to a better future strategically, giving higher meaning to their work.
· Much more leadership, not just more management. Definitions of leadership are mostly reflecting the assumption that involves a process whereby intentional influence is exerted over other individuals in guiding, structuring, and facilitating activities and relationships in a group or organization (Yukl, 2012). Kotter (2012) reminded us that a strategy network does not only need a competent management but excellent leadership that promotes and support opportunity, vision, inspired relationship, agility, and accountability for a successful initiative of promoting an innovative and creative culture.
Can they be combined into a process that can be used to promote innovation across the entire organization?
Kotter (2012), Canfield & Smith (2011), and Sunstein & Hastie’s (2015) concepts, principles and skills can be combined into a process that can be used to promote innovation across the entire organization. Continuously stressing to the workplace the importance of innovation is important to give the workforce a good perspective of stretching their innovative wings as their team continues to grow. By creating and developing a creative and innovative workplace environment make their work habits as part of their artistic scrutiny. When leadership organizations support all new ideas regardless of their personal convictions or belief, it encourages their workforce to feel that they are valuable and credible members of the organization.
Incentivising employees for their creative work is not enough to boost advancement in technology and employee morale, retention, and development. Open communication that is built on trust and acknowledging the employee’s creativity and contribution is of utmost importance to continually promote and encourage innovative and creative thinking within the organization. A majority of organizations of today’s business environment has embraced the fact that successful innovation is essential to be competitive in the marketplace. It is also of necessity for company’s promoting a culture of innovation to develop a process or methodology in sustaining and supporting an innovative workplace culture.
References
Canfield, J., & Smith, G. (2011). Imagine: Ideation skills for improvement and innovation today.
Holland, MI: Black Lake Press.
Kotter, J. (2012). Accelerate!. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from
Steiner, Patricia (2016). The leadership self-awareness process: A narrative study exploring how
experienced leaders use self-awareness and deception to align their behavior to their goals. Northeastern University. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/1779253239/fulltextPDF/6876B4AD8A2649DCPQ/1?accountid=27203
Sunstein, C., and Hastie, R. (2015). Making smart groups. Harvard Business Review.
Yukl, Gary (2012), Leadership in the organization (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall
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