Week 2, Post 1: E&E

*2). Explain how entropy and equifinality impact small groups.

Entropy is not a good thing for groups at all. The book describes it as being disorganized, stagnated, and chaotic. I associate this within groups in the stage when there are no roles for each group member (e.g. leader), and everyone is talking at the same time, and there is no order or organization to anything. “If everyone is talking at once and no one is listening, very little can be accomplished, and someone needs to insist on order” (P. 33). Entropy can cause small groups to not get any work done and be stuck in one place, due to lack of any new information being said or given in the group. This probably happens when some of the members don’t or stop contributing to the group and just let the other members talk. I recall in one of my classes when I had a group of four people and the first day we couldn’t decide on a leader, so when we all gave an opinion on what to do for the assignment there was no one to make the final call and therefore we kept going in a circle. Before we finally decided on a leader, our group was very disorderly and it made me feel like it would be a long semester.

Equifinality allows each group to decide on their own way of doing something, based on strengths, weaknesses, opinions and so forth of the group. Equifinality says that there is no one way of doing something. How this impacts small groups is by giving groups a lot of different options to choose from in completing a task. It gives groups flexibility, and not being boxed in to one way or order of things. As an example the book says, “If you are interested in maintaining your physical health, you can watch your diet, do aerobics, lift weights, play sports, or combine any of those or other activities” (P. 34). Just as there is no one way of being physically healthy, there is also no one way of communication in a small group.