Group Dynamics

What was the average influence (number generated on the Pack Item Ranking Spreadsheet) on your individual rankings as a result of the Group Discussion? Were you surprised by this outcome?

My average influence number was one. My individual ranking compared to the group ranking only fluctuated by one. No, I wasn’t surprised by this because in terms of survival, the group knew what were essential. I wasn’t alarmed if someone chose a flashlight first, as opposed to another choosing the cell phone, as long as they were both chosen, I didn’t have a problem with the order. My concerns would have been different if we only had the option of picking one item. The debate then would have continued longer, in trying to convince someone why a cell phone is more essential (even if it only had one bar of energy) than a flashlight.

In your opinion, how effective is working as a group in reaching a good decision? In what ways did the quality of the decision change for better or worse? Which of the pros and cons of group decision making did you observe in your group’s discussion?

Working in a group has its advantages and disadvantages to reaching a good decision. For a group to succeed, all group members have to actively participate and be conscientious of the other group members’ time and effort. You will never have a good decision if all members are not present at the same time to give their opinions, debate their reasoning and collectively come to a consensus.

The advantage of working in a group helps you to see other’s methodology to reaching a conclusion. Group dynamics help us to think beyond ourselves, to embrace other opinions and ideas. We may think our way of doing something is the best, but when we are willing to listen and absorb other ideas and rationale, we may just learn that what we thought was the best may in fact not be.

The quality of the decision was pretty much concise, no better or worse. Our individual rankings in comparison to the group...