Interdependence and Interrelationships

There are a couple instances in my life where in small groups where interdependence and interrelationships did not function well and it ended up being the downfall, or ruining the situation at hand. One example that stuck out to me was a time where there was a teammate on my basketball team that was always late during our spring workouts. He was new on the team so no one really quite knew who he was, so because of that as teammates we didn’t really ask or try to clarify why he was always late. Instead we yelled at him and as a team were punished from time to time and that made some of us distance ourselves from him. After a while we decided to have a team meeting and address his tardiness during it. We then found out that his reason for being late was that he had to pick up his seven year old sister from school or she would not have a ride. Knowing his situation helped us understand what he was dealing with and thus helped us function better as a group after realizing he had other obligations he had to take care of outside of basketball.

            Another example was recently my group of friends and I was all searching for an apartment to live in for this current school year. We all agreed to make our way down to San Jose on certain days to look together and also to be looking individually since we were all in separate cities and couldn’t be together all the time. But some of our friends within the group didn’t seem to be putting in any effort on their own or in coming to San Jose on the days we decided to do so. So as a result not all of us were able to get an apartment together and those friends are now commuting back and forth from home.

            Overall I feel that the book is saying that, when the “system” is working together or in unison it can help keep things secure and clear as far as communication within your small group. But when those things are out of place or communication is lacking within the group it can tear the group apart it so many ways.