I enjoy making music.
So during my time at a private two-year college I made my way across
campus for choir rehearsal at 2 o’clock every afternoon. Students auditioned to become part of this
twenty-singer choir so we saw entrance into Bel Canto as a privilege. We performed at the college celebrations,
sang for area churches, and toured three times a year. Of course, spending that much time together
formed us into a group in a social as well as musical sense.
We all participate in groups, be
they family, social, faith-based, or others, so here’s some information about
group dynamics.
People in groups affect each
other. Part of choir tour was being
with the same people for an extended period of time. Being tired, excited, nervous, grouchy…
spread through the bus like an infectious disease and affected our music. The
accuracy of our pitch depended on the group mood. When conflict sprang up within the confines
of our shared space we couldn’t do anything together very well and our singing
suffered.
Sometimes groups are called “systems.”
Like a mobile above a child’s crib, if something disrupts one piece the whole
thing moves. Not all groups are as
intense as college kids on choir tour, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ve all
experienced the current of emotion running through a group to which we belong.
We often conform to group norms.
Performance dress code was one expectation for group members in Bel Canto. Women wore long black dresses and pearl
necklaces; men wore tuxedos. I forgot my
pearl necklace one day. In that case
conformity meant calling my hosts, whom I had just met the night before, to ask
them to search through my duffel bag, find my necklace, and bring it to the
concert that evening so that I could match my choir mates.
Living up to group expectation has
its place, and yet there needs to be a balance to conformity. We call too large a dose of conformity “groupthink.”
We are still responsible for our
individual behavior. In a small
choir everyone is responsible to pull their weight. Each individual adds his/her musical
knowledge, attention, and voice to create the choir’s sound. It’s not the same if anyone either dominates
with a soloist tone or relies on the rest to pull them along.
In every person there is tension
between our desire to belong and the pull of our own individuality. Groups splinter and become ineffective if
people balk at all conformity and resist group norms. On the other hand, groups can follow a leader
to irrational conclusions or make hasty decisions based on that growing storm of systemic
emotion if no one confronts the pervasive thought.
Since we
all belong to groups, here are a few challenges for healthy group participation:
1. Be aware of the
emotions passing through the groups in which you belong. See if you can feel and process the emotion
without passing it on to others through your speech or actions.
2. Choose some groups
that share your core values. The effects
of groupthink show us the importance of diversity; so don’t place yourself in a
situation where social pressure will push you to act in contradiction to your
values.
3. If a group moves
toward a decision you don’t agree with, be courageous and speak up with an
alternate perspective. Dissent often
creates tension in the short run, but it also serves as a group’s main source
of balance. The minority voice may break
the spell of groupthink and create a space for a more open conversation.
Sources:
Groups: Theory and Practice by Shawn Meghan Burn
Creating a Healthier Church: Family Systems Theory,
Leadership, and Congregational Life by Ronald W. Richardson.
