Systems Theory Paper

Communication is essential in our society today. There are many different types and methods of communication that people use. Throughout life, people learn to use communication in order to interact in the everyday world. People form groups to place themselves where they think they belong in society. Whether people know they are doing it or not, they consciously or subconsciously place themselves into certain groups. There are many different reasons for people to join different groups, these being for learning, activity, personal growth, and problem solving.

Members of groups must all contribute in order to complete a task. People can have both positive and negative effects on groups. There are many concepts that help people understand systems through groups. The ripple effect is an important element of systems theory. The ripple effect works as a chain reaction and spreads across the entire group. This can be either a positive or negative spread. The effect is caused when one person in a group effects everyone else in that same group.

An example of a positive ripple effect is if a child receives a scholarship to college then that whole family will benefit positively from the news because they will be happy. The happiness will spread from the child to the rest of the family. Families are a strong form of a group because the mood or feelings of one person in the household effects the other members of the family whether positively or negatively. Another example of a positive ripple effect that I have experienced is being on a soccer team. When one person is excited about a game and determined to win, all the other team members will start the get the same feeling.

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The vibe of determination to win is passed on through communication. A negative effect of the ripple effect would be a spread of a disease in a certain group. If one person has a disease that is contagious then they hold the risk of passing it on to the rest of the group members. A personal experience that I have had of this is in grade school when one child came to school with strep throat and eventually all the members of the class ended up getting it. The ripple effect is a strong element that can be a good or bad thing for groups.

Another element that is important in groups and systems is dynamic equilibrium. Dynamic equilibrium deals with managing stability and change within a group. If a group doesn’t manage their equilibrium, than they will be affected negatively. However, if their equilibrium is managed than they won’t run into any problems. For example, if there is too much stability in a group than it is not healthy, and if there is too much change in a group than it can be overwhelming and things may get out of hand. There is a certain medium that a system should be at in order to promote growth and success within that group.

For example, if a sports team decides to never practice than they will not grow or excel, but if they practice too much than they will be tired for the game and will not perform as well. Dynamic equilibrium is an important element within systems. Finally, an essentially important element within systems is the group size and complexity. The more members that a group has, the more complex problems they are going to have to deal with. Size is a critical element in any human system. For example, even with such a basic group need to schedule meetings, as the size of the group increases, problems increase.

The more people that are in a group, the more people that are not going to be able to meet on a certain date. However, there are also complexities within smaller groups. For example, people will feel more obligated to agree to whatever everyone else agrees with when the group is smaller. If there are four people in a group who all agree on one idea and the fifth person has a good idea also, that person feels pressure to comply with the rest of the group. Group size will also affect cooperation levels. The higher number of people a group has the more people there are too cause distractions and not pay attention.

Group size greatly affects the complexity within systems. Groups are extremely difficult systems to manage due to many elements. However, there are also some elements that make groups easier to manage. Systems are very complicated and most people don’t realize that they deal with them everyday. People join groups without even knowing they are joining a group. People also join groups knowing what they will have to deal with to make that system work. Groups are essential in living life and no person will ever go through life without being part of one.

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