Organizational Consultation XXII: Empowerment (Part Two)
Conclusions
What I have offered in this essay is a rather simplistic portrait of how a group functions. The four elements of an empowerment pyramid are obviously interweaving with one another in a real-life dynamically-evolving group—as I will note in the next essay that focuses (in part) on stages of group development.
Furthermore, there is ultimately only one kind of decision being made in a group—for at a fundamental level all group decisions are unanimous. At the simplest level, we can look at decisions to see if they are made by the minority or by the majority. In each case, though a differing proportion of the group membership participate in the formal decision-making process, all members of the group have in some sense participated in the decision as to how the formal decision will be made. Even when only one person is making the formal decision, all members of the group have implicitly agreed or chose not to disagree about how the decision is to be made. Group dynamics researchers suggest that these processes represent the collusion of all group members regarding how a decision is to be made. In many instances, this collusion is quite understandable given the cost associated with speak up against the way a group is making the decision. In other cases, the collusion may be a product of indifference, alienation or distorted communication. In yet other instances, everyone is aware of and fully committed to the process of decision-making being used. In this latter case, the group is not colluding. It is instead consciously and explicitly deciding how to decide.
It seems that groups are indeed quite complex and often convoluted entities. Perhaps this is why they are often both frustrating when one is a member and fascinating to observe from the outside. As we will see in the next essay, they are also changing and evolving in ways that add even more to their complex nature.
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[i] Ken Blanchard, John Carlos and Alan Randolph. The Three Keys To Empowerment. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1999, pp. 47-48.
[ii] Cynthia Scott and Dennis Jaffe. Empowerment: A Practical Guide For Success. Menlo Park, CA: Crisp Publications, 1991, p.65.
[iii] Ken Blanchard, John Carlos and Alan Randolph. The Three Keys To Empowerment. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1999, p. 95.
[iv] Ken Blanchard, John Carlos and Alan Randolph. The Three Keys To Empowerment. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1999, pp. 47-48.
[v] Ken Blanchard, John Carlos and Alan Randolph. The Three Keys To Empowerment. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1999, p. 117.
[vi] Ken Blanchard, John Carlos and Alan Randolph. The Three Keys To Empowerment. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1999, p. 187.
[vii] Ken Blanchard, John Carlos and Alan Randolph. The Three Keys To Empowerment. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1999, p. 187.
[viii] Cynthia Scott and Dennis Jaffe. Empowerment: A Practical Guide For Success. Menlo Park, CA: Crisp Publications, 1991, p. 7.
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