A641.5.3.RB_SchreterPaul

The idea behind intentional change theory for the individual level is exactly identical, as you would have it at the group level. Similar to how organizations can be seen as organisms, a group can be seen as a living and breathing entity with a mind of its own. When looking at a group as if it were one entity, or one person, the ideas of intentional change theory are basically the same. As Boyatzis would have it, the five steps to individual intentional change theory include (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005):

Step 1: Finding your ideal self

Step 2: Finding your strengths and weaknesses

Step 3: Creating a learning agenda

Step 4: Experimentation

Step 5: Involve other people and build a support group

With a group dynamic it would look something like this (Akrivou, Boyatzis, & McLeod, 2006):

Step 1: Emergence of shared ideal, vision, or dream

Step 2: Exploration of norms, paradoxes, challenges, and gaps

Step 3: The group’s learning agenda

Step 4: Group experimentation and practice

Step 5: Resonant relationships

I don’t follow sports at all, so the overall performance of the Olympic US Women’s Soccer team vs. the US “Dream Team” basketball men’s team is completely foreign to me. That being said, the general gist that I get from both teams is that for the Olympic US Women’s Soccer team, the members have had a lot of time and practice to develop themselves as a team and work as one unit. There isn’t much media appearance or pressure when it comes to becoming the number one player, which gives a much more of a friendly competitive environment rather than a hostile one.

With basketball on the other hand, there can be a lot of media attention on becoming the best player so the team dynamic and mentality isn’t as strong. In addition, it doesn’t help when the members of the team keep changing as it was noted that more than half of those designated to play in Athens (2004) opted not to play. (United States men's national basketball team, 2015)

References

Akrivou, K., Boyatzis, R., & McLeod, P. (2006). The evolving group: towards a prescriptive theory of intentional group development. Journal of Management Development , 689 - 706.

Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant Leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.

United States men's national basketball team. (2015). Retrieved 2015, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_men%27s_national_basketball_team

A641.4.3.RB_SchreterPaul

Not more than a few days ago was when I first believed I’ve experienced what’s called the “tipping point,” where somebody invoked a part of my personal aspirations and believed in my ability to tackle a challenge and be a part of the solution. Dr. Boyatzis brings up the theory that in order for the tipping point to occur, an individual must be as close to the neutral state as possible before being presented with new opportunities. (Boyatzis, 2013) This happened when a new position opened up in a small unit on base and my Flight Chiefs mentioned my likelihood of scoring such position.

Ever since my return from deployment I’ve been living life day by day with no real goals except for preparing for my eventual date of separation from the military. About a year ago was when I heard of a new program on base being started which entailed everything that I enjoyed: being a part of a brand new solution, writing code, and building wires (and every combination thereof). When I asked what I needed to do to join the program, I was told that my qualifications were perfect except for the fact that I was in the wrong career field (unfortunately the lack of flexibility in their program prohibited them from hiring people outside of one particular career field). When I pushed anyways, I quickly hit a wall when local leadership told me to learn my place and that I was doomed to stay on the flight line forever.

Then sometime in the middle of last week was when the program recruiter started walking around different shops asking to put up their best people who they think would be up for the job; this time no career field restrictions. I happened to be in the right place at the right time as I introduced myself, explained my qualifications, and immediately the Flight Chiefs shook their heads in agreement that I would be a good candidate. The only thing that I would have considered to have done differently was keeping up my relations with other personnel in the program as networking and knowing people helps. Hopefully I set up a good enough impression a year ago to be remembered as a worthy replacement. It’s still too early to tell what the results will be, but this event tipped me into a PEA state and I can only hope my goals and skills will be fully realized in the coming months.

References

Boyatzis, R. (2013). 2 4 Module 4 2 The Positive PEA) and Negative (NEA) Emotional Attractors. Retrieved 2015, from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=197x4dmuug8