Looking back on the course of my life and my education experience, it occurred to me that much of the decisions I made, and many of the behaviors I exhibit in my own life stem from my general hatred of being told what to do. That is not to say that I grew up with a disrespect for authority; in fact, I was on good terms with most of my teachers and employers, in fact. For me, I associate being given orders with being condescended to. Something about having to follow the orders of someone who acted like and believed that they were right made me want to swallow my own tongue. Didn't matter if it was a teacher, a parent, a friend; being given an order only made me dig my heels in deeper. And believe me folks - most, if not all people who give orders display that attitude. I've done it, you've done it; we're all guilty of it. Live with it and accept that you aren't an exception to this rule.
And why is this the case? Because the general attitude of someone who gives orders is that the person being ordered doesn't know what they're doing. Or at least that's how I felt about it. My general view was "Leave me alone; I know how to do this and I'll do it when I'm good and ready!" Needless to say for me, the idea of an internet class was pretty appealing. Accomplish my academic goals with minimal interaction with an authority figure while also working at my own pace; perfect!
Looked through a laundry list of various skills in terms of online student skill requirements recently; pretty basic stuff if you ask me. Self management skills, computer skills, comfort with computers, adaptability to trying situations; all stuff I think most functional people possess in this day and age. I think I'll be ok in that sense. Long as I don't let Facebook, video games, You Tube, and various other things get in my way, I'll be fine.
Ok, ok...never said I was perfect, but you get the idea. Figure long as I don't have to worry about any major catastrophes happening in my life I should be alright. It's hard to be motivated when the world's crashing down on you.
Now, personal issues and neuroses aside, I think I'm good for the most part. The other the drops when we're talking about teamwork though. Ah yes, that lovely experience we all go through when we're in school and life that makes us hate the rest of the human race. Ken Haycock raised a few good points on this issue in his Colloquium presentation back in 2007. Right when I finished my undergrad. I could've used that information about four years before, but I digress.
Haycock noted that the concept of teamwork we possess is generally known as horizontal teamwork; everyone's equal, everyone does things together and pitches in for a final product. Essentially communism. Whoever came up with this one probably grew up on either a commune or a kibutz. As a former high school teacher I can with confidence tell you that this approach doesn't work.
Equality and fair division of work doesn't exist in the human mind; or high school for that matter. Some can do more, some can only do less. The idea of everyone getting their "fair share" doesn't make sense in most cases. It's applying a seven-year-old's idea of fairness to a situation where everyone is supposed to act like adults. Just because one person does more or less does not mean its unfair; it means they're doing the most of what they can. Anyone who doesn't get that, grow up. Fairness is about making sure everyone has what they individually need. Fairness is not about everyone getting the same thing. For example I'm fairly certain most of you don't need an asthma inhaler, now do you?
So then, where's that leave our little idea of teamwork? It's called doing your job people. Putting aside what guys like Haycock and Irwin are talking about with trust, conflict resolution and all that, the only thing one needs to know about teamwork is doing your job. That's a two-fold part; you do what's expected of you, and then you do more. Doing more though doesn't necessarily mean doing everything yourself; it means supporting your teammates. A team is only a strong as its weakest member, so help the poor shlub out! It might not be because he's a lazy ass. Maybe he's got two jobs, kids, and who knows what else. But, you'll never know till you ask and actually give a damn. Who knows, maybe that guy will owe you one and bail you out of a jam later; you never know.
Now me, can I work in a team; sure, if it's a real team. I've got no problem with the slacker on the group; if I'm actually good at teamwork, I'd have already accounted for that. Give him what he can do relatively easy within his limits. Like I said before, the dude probably has a lot on his plate; I don't know any more than that, and don't see a point in making his life hell over a little assignment. Life's bigger than a grade people. Only one I'd be worried about is the drama queen and the grade grubber. Both really don't give a damn about anyone but themselves, and both make the work longer and harder than it needs to be. Going back to my issue with orders, I'd say this is where I'd have some difficulty.
The solution? I don't really have one. My hunch though would be to simply keep things in perspective. Again, life's bigger than a grade: for me anyway; can't say the same for them. And that, folks, is where you find that lovely think called leverage. Now they have to come to the table and negotiate. They can either work with me and everyone gets some of what they want, or they can work against me and I take them all down with me. A callous view of the situation, but I do have to say it pays off well. My only advice on this? If you have to pull this kind of gambit, do it early and well before the assignment is due.
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