Literature Review- Equipment for living for those who want to form and build teams. - PowerPoint Presentation

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Literature Review- Equipment for living for those who want to form and build teams.

Queens University Comm 601Sean G. McKelvey

Intro:

TEAM BUILDING –AVENGERS STYLE

The Avengers is the joining of super powered individuals to achieve a common goal and theme. That central goal and theme, is to enable themselves to work together toward the mutual benefit of saving Planet Earth from an alien invasion. I believe The Avengers movie provides equipment for living for those who need to understand the methods for team building. In this paper I will refer to articles that evaluate Kenneth Burke’s equipment for living communications theory, and examine how each article interprets Burke’s theory with respect to an organization and/or team.

The Avengers, is successful at explaining team building because it locates common themes that galvanize it’s heroes to focus on the one and only goal which is the save the world. Those themes include, Honor, Loyalty, Patriotism, and of course, Vengeance, thus the title of the film.

Author Brian

Ott

(2010) illustrates how the 2006 film V for Vendetta adopts a “multi-modal approach that focuses on the interplay of discourse, Figure, and ground.”

Ott

contends

that “the film mobilizes viewers at a visceral level to reject a politics of apathy in favor of a politics of democratic struggle.” A team is formed in the friendship between the lead character and the hero V, with the Heroine played by Natalie Portman,

Evey

Hammond.

Ott describes the bond between V and Evey as a feeling mutual extreme disapproval of the corrupt Government establishment. While I agree that a large organization such as Government can compel special interest to work together, I believe both Yergensen and Ott have missed one of the more essential motivators for a forming a cohesive team.

Brent

Yergensen

, (2006) explains how Christians use The Lord of the Rings films as equipment for living. He details that this is done through the process of sharing various ways of how they use the films, Christians construct fantasy themes. The unifier is the “realization of God”, which is a “theme that gives strength, and aids as a teaching tool”.

Yergensen

(2006) states: “Indeed, film can be shown to be a significant part of not only solving problems for individuals, but also being capable of solving problems at a collective cultural level as well”.

Yergensen

specifies that a unifier is the “realization of God” with respect to the lord of the Rings film. Indeed religion can be a cohesive bond in team building. As is Government oppression as suggested by

Ott. However the key to truly unifying groups, in all of these situations as well as the Avengers, is a common enemy. The bad guy is the key in film and in real life. Once a target is identified, characters may settle their respective differences for the time being to eliminate the greater enemy.

Yergensen’s equipment for living as Christians in Lord of the Rings, actually is more appropriate when referring to Saruman who is a version of Satan. The Hobbits, the

Drawfs

, Elves, and Man refuse to live under

Suraman’s

rule and his army of Goblins. The unifier for these teams is a common enemy which they must thwart.

God vs. Chief Rival

Ott

(2010) does much better at explaining the motive for the partnership between V and

Evey Hammond.

Frentz, T. S., & Farrell, T. B. (1975) data pertaining to the Rhetoric of The Exorcist does a better job illustrating the dynamic that unifies teams. “Through the tactics of compression, personification, and elevation, the Exorcist depicted the struggle between Positivism and Transcendence in a manner which was immediately persuasive to most Americans”

Frents

, T.S. & Farrell, T.B. (1975). This demonstrates that a bond is formed via a common struggle which allowed viewers, (even non-Catholic viewers) to align themselves with Father

Merin

. Saving the little girl’s life is almost secondary after defeating her possessed demon spirit.

Forming teams is a lot like developing a cinematic film. The characters and each of their abilities must be identified. A common theme must then be established. Revenge for example because we want to beat that rival High School basketball team who has beating us every season for the last two years. Or getting the higher score in couple’s figures skating against that Russian duo. Patriotism would also be a potential team motivator in that scenario as well. The next step is to really isolate the enemy. Who do we really need to defeat? Is it a rival advertising agency, or another development team at GOOGLE who you are competing against? Once the enemy, and vitriol for that enemy is solidified, groups take on a cohesion.

In

every scenario we’ve

the

leaders, usually take on this responsibility. In the Avengers, it’s Nick Fury who puts the goals expresses the need for the Avengers to work together, or as he refers to it, the “push” they needed. After the S.H.E.I.L.D agent Phil Coulson is killed by Loki, the chief antagonist in the Avengers movie, S.H.E.I.L.D Director Nick Fury expresses to Iron Man, and Captain America how important all of them were to Phil. This inspires the Avengers to not only work together to save the world, but more importantly, to work together to beat Loki. discussed, a leader has emerged to channel everyone’s energy towards the unifying goal. Communicating the message to the team is crucial for team bonding and the leader, or one of

Groupthink Theory states “Cohesiveness is the degree of mutual interest among members. In a highly cohesive group, a strong mutual identification keeps a group together” Littlejohn and Foss (2011). Cohesiveness enhances a groups interpersonal relationships. This is the case in business, Government, and academia. If you find the right nerve, people will demand themselves to work with one another

.

In conclusion, a common enemy is the great unifier for team building. This compels the members to pursue a mutually beneficial goal. This creates cohesion. “The more cohesive a group, the more pressure it exerts on the members to maintain that cohesiveness. Littlejohn and Foss (2011). Groupthink theory accurately explains why and how people participate in a group successfully with this quote. Phil Coulson death in the Avengers, was effectively the glue that galvanized and pressurized the avengers to complete their task.

References

Frentz

, T. S., & Farrell, T. B. (1975). Conversion of America’s consciousness: The rhetoric of

The Exorcist

.

Quarterly Journal Of Speech

, 61(1), 40.  Littlejohn, S. W. and Foss, Karen A. (2011). Theories of Human Communication.

Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press Inc.

Ott

, B.L. (2010).

The Visceral Politics of V for Vendetta: On Political Affect in Cinema. Critical Studies In Media Communication,

27(1), 39-54. Doi:10.1080/15295030903554359

Young, S. (2000). Movies as Equipment for Living:

A Developmental Analysis of the Importance of Film in Everyday Life. Critical Studies In Mass Communication

, 17(4), 447-468.