Research Summary The team organization is an emerging form of structure in which

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Research Summary

The team organization is an emerging form of structure in which there is little functional hierarchy. People work on specific projects that require their particular skills and then move on to different projects. This provides a flexible and dynamic structure. It can help avoid the potential for groupthink that can occur in long-standing work teams.

In an interview on the fallacies and challenges of work teams, J. Richard Hackman—the Edgar Pierce Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at Harvard University—noted that teams perform better the longer they are able to stay and work together. When asked how a long-standing team can avoid complacency, Hackman said this:

“This is where what I call a deviant comes in. Every team needs a deviant, someone who can help the team by challenging the tendency to want too much homogeneity, which can stifle creativity and learning. Deviants are the ones who stand back and say, ‘Well, wait a minute, why are we even doing this at all? What if we looked at the thing backwards or turned it inside out?’ That’s when people say, ‘Oh, no, no, no, that’s ridiculous,’ and so the discussion about what’s ridiculous comes up. Unlike the CFO I mentioned before, who derailed the team by shutting down discussions, the deviant opens up more ideas, and that gets you a lot more originality. In our research, we’ve looked carefully at both teams that produced something original and those that were merely average, where nothing really sparkled. It turned out that the teams with deviants outperformed teams without them. In many cases, deviant thinking is a source of great innovation.”

Professor Hackman was commenting on the effect of a deviant in a long-standing work team. Step back and consider whether a deviant might have a similar effect in the team organization, which does not have long-term or permanent teams. Hackman suggests that a deviant can improve a group’s innovation by opening up discussion of new ideas. This corresponds to a reduction in(options) A.Groupthink B.Social loafing C. Costs

which is desirable, but can also result in meetings that are

(options) A. short and efficient B. Brief and uneventful C. Lengthy and unproductive

Explanation / Answer

1. B. Social Loafing

The individuals themselves put more effort to make the possibility of the group successful to a great extent

2. A. Short and efficient

Such meetings are better because they are ti the point and does not require much of issues from the team or group.

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