Week 2

The second week's lesson was about understanding the dynamics of a group and and expanding our knowledge a bit more about the PDP. For starters I have to admit that I enjoyed thoroughly learning and thinking about what a group really is and how it works since teamwork is a vital part of our life. I would also like to add once more that unfortunately I will not be able to discuss about the in class lectures since I was absent at that time.

One might say that groups are the main element that composes our society (not only modern society I must add), if we reflect about this statement it becomes obvious that each and every of us is a part of one or more groups in his life no matter how social or antisocial he is. The prime example that proves the above statement is family since it works with almost the same rules as every other group, rules like good relationship with each other and having someone to assume the role of the leader. Also, besides family, one must think about the groups that work together, lets say for instance, in a company and compare them to how a family “group” works, both need strong leadership and good relations with each other in order to work effectively, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Through this lesson, I can say with certainty that I became more familiar with the way groups work and

that I find this kind of knowledge extremely important in the long run. In order for someone to become an accomplished professional and/or to improve his relations with other people, he must learn to use the basics of group dynamics. More specifically, I believe that learning to work effectively in a group will help me be able to adapt way better in any future endeavors I might take and at the same time not only improve myself but improve and help every other member of the groups I belong to. Via this team work one may achieve things that could be impossible to do by his own, since a good group will be able to cover each members weaknesses and promote their strong points.

Personally I have worked in groups many times in the past and I am familiar with their dynamics. I have been for many years part of a basketball team that had many exceptional players but was unable to play to its full potential and for this reason we suffered many defeats. I can say for sure that only when we developed good relationships with each other, we learned about each and every of us strong and weak points and of course when we decided who will lead us, then and only then we were able to be effectively unleash our full potential. Another example I would like to present is when I worked to as a financial consultant in a company. When I worked there it became obvious to me that there could not be proper teamwork because the mentality of almost everyone working there was “every man for himself” and that had in the long run disastrous effects.

The next part of this week's lesson was about the PDP. Unlike the previous week, this week's main focus was about the self reflection one should make in order to understand better what he is looking for in his life (academic, professional and much more). For me the PDP is a knowledge that allows you to know what you really want and by understanding what are your exact needs and by specifying them only then you can start working towards obtaining them. Also this whole drill can make you way more aware about every single part of your life. In general, I think that PDP being part of a module in my studies will help me extremely improve my awareness and that with the self-criticism it promotes it will make me a better person and a better professional in my future endeavors.

Lastly. I would like to comment about an article about people with disabilities. I personally believe that each and every persons opportunities in life should not be affected by any disabilities he might have but only by their professional abilities and knowledge. Also in our time and age with the current technology it is possible to overcome some of the known disabilities and allow to persons who have are in a state like that to be able to work in the same ground with the rest of us. However, what must change, in my own humble opinion, is that most employers should give more thought about the subject and design their workplaces in such a manner that people with disabilities will be able to work properly and be effective. If such a thing is possible then I can say with certainty that people with disabilities will not only be able to work as much effectively as their “normal” counterparts but also to be even more effective sometimes. Lastly, I would like to conclude this blog's post by saying a quote from a friend of mine “There is nothing as unequal as the equal treatment of unequals”

G.