4 peer responses – due in 12 hours

  
Guided Response: Respond to at least four of your classmates’ posts. Remember to cite sources including the video, text, and at least one other scholarly resource.

Qiana’s Post
According to our textbook readings piggybacking can occur when ideas of another person or within a group are used to improve that persons ideas that were not originally theirs. (Coget & Losh, 2018). When watching the video “Got a Wicked Problem ? First tell me how you make Toast”, Drawings were use as well as sticky notes and cards. Pictures and diagrams of how to make toast began to become more clear when these items were used. Once there was a group involved , the models began to refine and piggybacking occured. (Wujec, T. 2013)The significanc is that each person in the group began to work as a team and look to each other for how to make the drawing be logical and different aspects can be added from each member of the group.
Within the video once the group began working together on the diagram on how to make toast it was done in silence , because talking gets in the way. It is quicker and more effective to work in silence. (Wujec, T. 2013). If there is two much chatter amongst the group it can cause confusion, disagreements and slow the work process down, therefore making them less productive.
According to the video, group notes showed different points of view and they were synthasized and had better system models versus individuals.(Wujec, T. 2013). A advantage to working in groups is a expanded knowledge base, experience that is accessible to the group as a whole. (Coget & Losh, 2018). When people can come together and share information and resources more can get done and have better outcomes for whatever the goal or project being performed. 

References:
1. Coget, J. and Losh, S. (2018). Group behavior in organizations (2nd ed.). [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/ (Links to an external site.)
2. Wujec, T. (2013, June). Got a wicked problem? First, tell me how you make toast (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_got_a_wicked_problem_first_tell_me_how_you_make_toast

David’s Post:

A way groups work to solve problems is brainstorming. It was developed by Alex Osborn in 1939 to reduce the inefficiencies that occur in group work. One important principle is when the group begins to take initial ideas, combine and build on them in what is called piggybacking (Coget & Losh, 2018, sec. 5.5). This is a powerful result from working collaboratively in groups.
In a demonstration of the power of directed groups, Tom Wujec describes how first individuals, then later groups choose to visually display how to make toast. The sketches for the individuals had varying degrees of complexity, clarity and artistic quality. Once the groups tackled the project, the piggybacking began to occur and the quality, clarity and unique talents came out of refining and combing the ideas (Wujec, 2013). Wujec notes that the when the groups worked in silence, the lack of talking improved the quality of their piggybacking. Directed groups provide better solutions to solving problems than individuals alone because they can use a diversity of backgrounds, skills and experiences. Coget and Losh note, “Even if members possess the same or similar KSAs, they will vary in their degree of knowledge or achievement and their ability to use their KSAs in collaboration with others or in the context of the problem at hand” (Coget & Losh, 2018, sec. 5.2). Along with the diversity of ideas, the intelligence of the group increases if there is gender diversity and if the group doesn’t have a dominant voice. As Woolley et al. (2010) showed, enhanced interaction and communication in teams with greater numbers of women, as well as egalitarian rather than autocratic norms, improve group processes, which, in turn, facilitate increased collective intelligence (p.688).

References

Coget, J. and Losh, S. (2018). Group behavior in organizations (2nd ed.). [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/ (Links to an external site.)
Woolley, A.W., Chabris, C.F., Pentland, A., Hashmi, N., and Malone, T.W. (2010). Evidence for a collective intelligence factor in the performance of human groups. Science.Vol. 330, Issue 6004, pp. 686-688. DOI: 10.1126/science.1193147
Wujec, T. (2013, June). Got a wicked problem? First, tell me how you make toast (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_got_a_wicked_problem_first_tell_me_how_you_make_toast

Qiana’s Post
According to our textbook, groupthink is consideed disfunctional when groups want to keep harmony or peace within the group rather than doing what is best decion wise for the organization and to avoid conflict. (Coget & Losh, 2018). 
Groupthink has occured in my organization and I m sure it happens all the time in many others, I just didnt know that there was a actual word to describe it. In my work experience we are constantly short handed and in need of people because of a high turnover rate. There was a situation where we had employees who were not actually up to standard as for follwing protocol. The higher management took a blind eye to the situations because of the lack of emloyees and let these particular employees continue in their behavior for the sake of having people on those particular jobs. Over this decision making created a harder  more rigid work environment because we felt they were getting away with things we knew were wrong, just to avoind conflict and maintain a high employment state. These decisons effected our over audit and these individuals eventually wee fired. 
Groups can be successful when they collaborate together and have effective communication, shared knowledge, and their members within the group have a voice, even though most groups tend to lean toward choices that are harmonius.(Mcleod &; Feller, 2019). In most groups and organzations leaders, supervisors, managers, want to keep their employees happy, bus as in goupthink it should never jeapordize the integrity of the group or cause dissention amongst the group members. There are signs of groupthink such as a cohesive decision group that have norms that are lacking, and unbiased discussion, as well as leadership that is impartial. (Elder, F. 2019). Leadership is an important role and the employees need to be able to feel that there leaders or people in the group will make correct decisions. 

References:
1.  Coget, J. and Losh, S. (2018). Group behavior in organizations (2nd ed.). [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
2. Groupthink: What’s So Great About Teamwork? (Links to an external site.)
Academic Journal
By: MCLEOD, KAITLYN; FELLER, EDWARD. Rhode Island Medical Journal. Sep2019, Vol. 102 Issue 7, p8-9. 2p. , Database: Academic Search Complete (Links to an external site.)
3. Making Concurrence-Seeking Visible: Groupthink, Discourse Networks, and the 2003 Iraq War. (Links to an external site.)
Academic Journal
By: Eder, Franz. Foreign Policy Analysis , Jan2019, Vol. 15 Issue 1, p21-42, 22p. Publisher: Oxford University Press / USA., Database: Complementary Index

Myeshia’s Post:
An example of groupthink is the disaster of the Space Shuttle Challenger. The Challenge exploded 73 seconds after it launched and all the crew members on board were killed. The O-rings (rubber seals in the solid rocket booster) failed which caused the space shuttle to break up. According to the Report of the Presidential Commission on the Challenger accident, the primary cause of the disaster was flaws in the decision making process (Hughes, 2010). There were three decision making groups involved in incident; the US government, the engineers, and NASA managers. NASA’s shuttle program had four levels of management that work interdependently. All levels of management have to certify in writing the readiness of the elements that they are responsible for. Additionally, each space shuttle program approves the fact that it has completed the manufacture assembly test and check of all pertinent components (Hughes, 2010). Another practice of NASA is a critical item list that classifies the parts of a shuttle’s elements. There were 200 elements listed on the critical items list about the rocket booster. All management levels are notified of the items on the critical item list. It is understood that items on the critical items list can cause the launch to be restricted until it can be demonstrated that no problems will occur at launch. Administrators ignored the engineers concerns about the O-rings failing.
Groupthink is detrimental to effective decision making because concurrence becomes dominant in a group and overrides realistic alternative solutions (Behl, 2012). When asked about O-ring failure the top NASA administrator stated, “It’s true of every other flight we’ve had” (Hughes, 2010). There have been O-ring damages in other launches but none of them resulted in death. “Groupthink occurs when a strongly cohesive group is exposed to limited and one-sided information and is isolated from outside influence or correction” (Coget & Losh, 2018, Sec. 6.5, para. 24). The symptoms of groupthink that occurred are stifling dissent or non-conforming views, harboring illusions of morality, harboring illusions of invulnerability, and experiencing group isolation or insolation. NASA is an insular group by nature which means they are isolated from criticism, influence, and outside input. Since NASA members almost only interact with each other, they feel a sense of invulnerability and superiority to those not in the group. NASA managers made unpleasant comments to the engineers when they recommended postponing the launch due to temperature concerns. NASA managers saw engineers as perfectionist and not risk takers (Hughes, 2010). NASA managers tried to prove that the launch would fail instead of making sure it would succeed by providing information on failed missions that had been discussed in the past.  I believe NASA had a rigid decision making style. Most power is consolidated at the top but some power is distributed to lower levels. Ultimately it was up to the senior manager who continued with the launch when problems were noted multiple times about the O-rings in the rocket booster.
Behl, A. (2012). Groupthink: The role of Leadership in Enhancing and Mitigating the Pitfall in Team Decision-Making. Northwestern School of Education and Social Policy. Retrieved from http://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/
Coget, J. and Losh, S. (2018). Group behavior in organizations (2nd ed.). [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/ (Links to an external site.)
Hughes, P., White, E. (2010). The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster: A classic example of Groupthink. Academia. Retrieved from http://www.academic.edu/ (Links to an external site.)