The Rotten Egg Theory or Group Dynamics 101

After nearly 20 years of school teaching (!) I can happily say I have learned a lot about people. This is one of the reasons I choose to stay in this profession – I love learning, and I love working with people. Sometimes, however, things aren’t so rosy when dealing with a particular group of people. So this is my understanding of Group Dynamics, aka The Rotten Egg Theory.

In any given group of people, there will usually emerge a key personality, an influential person. This individual is not necessarily the leader of the group, as they may not be up to the task of that responsibility, but they exhibit particular behaviours which are quite powerful in shaping the group dynamic – the feel of the group, the quality of the interactions amongst the group and the general productivity level. Geez, I’m sounding a bit serious here, aren’t I? But this is what I’ve observed, over and over again, mainly with teenagers, but also amongst my adult colleagues, in many different locations around Australia.

This key personality is sometimes a rotten egg, a negative influence. Like the foul odour of hydrogen sulphide that exudes from the bad egg and settles over the other unsuspecting good eggs, such a person can spread their viral rot and turn a group for the worse. The group focus becomes negative, the talk vicious, the action unproductive and the general feel of the group is ….well, not nice. In my experience, the bad egg never goes about their business quietly. They loudly point out all the things they deem wrong, hijacking conversations with their boisterous descriptions of a negative nature. Others tend to join in, offering examples that feed the negativity, talking down other people. Too quickly their thinking changes…. This is the Rotten Egg Theory in action. The one rotten egg, spreading their stinking gas and gradually turning all the good eggs bad.

It can work the other way, however. It can take one positive and outgoing type to change the group dynamic for the better. This person embodies the behaviour they value. They give descriptive praise, use humour, include everybody, set clear goals, empathise, paraphrase what others are trying to say and celebrate success, small and large. This key personality is a gem to have in a group, the enthusiastic high-fiver, who may have demons of their own, but for the benefit of the group, keeps these quiet. When this good egg is around, they spread their goodwill and positive energy to all, like Tinkerbell sprinkling her magic fairy dust. It is just as infectious as the rotten gas, and it is better for everyone involved.

So, in a group of people, who would you rather have, the  the rotten egg or Tinkerbell?

Thanks for reading this far. 😉

 

Slow Sundays and solo parenting

I started writing this post using Annie Lamott’s advice in the chapter “Shitty first drafts”. Expressly put, her suggestion is to  “get it all down”. So I duly obeyed, but couldn’t help rereading my unfinished verbal vomit and realised I sounded quite ungrateful and self-obsessed. So here’s a photographic representation of my slow Sunday spent solo parenting. (Actual events may or may not have occurred on Sunday 😉

Taking Stock: Blog With Pip

I have enrolled in an e-course “Blog With Pip”, from Meet Me At Mikes. This is one of the writing assignments Pip has given us. I wasn’t sure about publishing it, but then I read some others’ and quite liked how the phrases built a scene in my mind. I wonder what scene the following phrases will turn into in your imagination?

Taking Stock: August

Making: a fire

Cooking: Spag Bol (have you seen the How To Speak Australian clip on Youtube?  Hilarious!) and Apple Turnovers

Drinking: Peppermint Tea

Reading: Bird by Bird by Annie Lamott (thanks for the tip, Pip!)

Wanting: My husband to come back home for good

Looking: at the fire, the paddock, the ocean

Playing: Lego inventions

Deciding: whether its the job or the commitment I don’t like

Enjoying: the longer days now the solstice has passed

Waiting: for my husband’s return in four weeks

Wondering: if I should cook the pasta yet

Loving: our TV free weekdays

Pondering: Salerno’s Ideal Human Environment I just read an article about – community living over the nuclear family….

Wearing: uggies

Feeling: quiet, grateful

Thinking: that sometimes I think too much (see deciding)

The Big Drive Out

After three years in the Pilbara, we said our goodbyes, packed the car and drove the long drive to Tasmania. This was a major goal of ours, and very exciting to realise, but we still miss parts of Heddy life – 5am morning swims with my good mate Mel, riding our bikes everywhere, the one-season wardrobe, Mastso’s Ginger Beer and associated cocktails, and desert-wandering on a Sunday afternoon. We don’t miss constant sunscreen applications, intrusive flies, Double-G thorns, inflated air-fares and the baking heat. The Big Drive Out Half-way Round gave us some really good experiences and took us to some really lovely places, but brought us to one of the loveliest of all – our new home.

Hello from our new home

A new house calls for a new blog site. And also. my original sarahshouseoftrousers@blogspot.com wasn’t getting along with this here ye laptop. So thanks for visiting and enjoy having a look around. Just like moving in to a new house, there’s not much to see at the moment. Give me a few weeks and it’ll look more like a home. That is, lots of stuff lying around……..