Paradoxes of Group Life

During the past decade, leaders have increasingly relied onself-managing work groups, multifunctional teams, andcross-national executive groups to create the organization of thefuture. Yet groups are not a panacea for organizational problems;conflicts between individuals or factions within a group oftencreate seemingly contradictory situations?paradoxes?that canprevent the group from reaching its goals. In this groundbreaking classic, Kenwyn Smith and David Berg offera revolutionary approach to understanding groups and overcoming theproblems that often paralyze group members, the group as a whole,and relations among groups. They explore the hidden dynamics thatcan prevent a group from functioning effectively. And they show howan apparently paradoxical suggestion?for example, inviting asuccess oriented group to risk failure, or affirming the benefitsof going nowhere to a group focused on moving ahead?can breakaction barriers, overcome conflicts, and improve groupperformance. Smith and Berg offer a different way of thinking about groups thatwill open new avenues of inquiry for professors and students ofgroup behavior, and they propose many innovative ideas that willprove valuable to consultants, trainers, therapists, and others whowork with groups on a regular basis.

"Paradoxes of Group Life is probably the most important volume ongroup dynamics written within the last twenty years. It hasinfluenced an entire generation of scholars andmanager-leaders?often without the explicit recognition it deserves.For those who are ready, this work offers thoughtful, clear andenriching concepts about the most troubling and potentiallyliberating elements of group life." (Clayton P. Aldefer, Ph.D.,ABPP, distinguished professor of organizational behavior, RutgersUniversity Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology;editor, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science) "Smith and Berg have provided a new and interesting frame ofreference for the study of behavior in groups that iscomprehensive, often counterintuitive, and interesting." (LeopoldGruenfeld, professor of organizational behavior, New York StateSchool of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University,Administrative Science Quarterly) "Professionals and academics will find a very intelligent andvaluable examination of many classical theories of personality andgroup interaction. Involving ourselves in the Smith and Berg modelwas, without a doubt, educational and intellectually provocative."(Samuel A. Culbert, Graduate School of Management, University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles, and Oscar Ortsman, Departement desSciences Economiques, Humaines et Sociales, Ecole Centrale deParis, Academy of Management Review) "Paradoxes of Group Life is an empowering book ofpossibilities....It is a book that proposes that we think aboutgroups in a different way and that by thinking in that way, we opennumerous possibilities for altering the nature of social systems.It is in illustrating this way of thinking that this book has donea very good job, and it is in the possibilities that stem from thisway of thinking that this book gains a power beyond what itsimmediate subject appears to be." (Jeffrey D. Ford, associateprofessor of management and human resources, Ohio State University,Contemporary Psychology)

KENWYN K. SMITH teaches at the University of Pennsylvania in the School of Social Work, and in executive programs at the Wharton Business School. He has devoted his career to the study of organizational change, group and intergroup dynamics, and conflict management. Over recent years, Smith has focused his studies on how organizational dynamics impact the physical and emotional health of employees DAVID N. BERG maintains a private practice in organizational psychology and also teaches in the department of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. A professor of organizational behavior for fifteen years, Berg continues to work as a consultant to various organizations and groups. He is the deputy editor of the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science and has an abiding interest in group and intergroup relations, as well as organizational diagnosis. He lives in Bethany, Connecticut.