Self-realization of knowledge may stimulate our work

A new study revealed that the process of association of an individual to an effective and problem-solving group encourages the individual to realize that even they have vital ideas in their mind to share.

The first step towards building a successful organization is quite simple .i.e. self-realization by each member of the organization of his or her unique knowledge and experience, believes Dr. Bryan Bonner, an associate professor at the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business.

According to the conclusion of the study "for groups to be successful, they must exploit the knowledge of their (individual) members effectively.""It doesn't take much. All you have to do is have people sit there for a while and think, 'What is it I already know about this, and how can that help find the solution?'" Bonner said.

"People find they often know more than they think they do; they realize that they might not know the whole answer to the problem, but there are a couple things they do know that might help the group come to a solution." He added.

The research was done with the 540 undergraduate students of 540 University of Utah, out of which haft of the participants were divided into three-member groups while the remaining 270 participants working as individually on the given task.

Their task included: giving the closet answers to the questions such questions as the elevation of Utah's King's Peak; the weight of the heaviest man in history; the population of Utah; and the minimum driving distance between Salt Lake City and New York City.

"We solve problems by using the many examples, good and bad, we've gathered through hard-won experience throughout our lives. The problem is that we're not nearly as good at applying old knowledge to new problems as you'd think," Bonner said.

"Research over more than a century has tried, without much success, to figure out how we can do a better job." He added.
Bonner and Dr. Michael Baumann, an associate professor of Psychology at the University of Texas in San Antonio, concluded the results of the study and said "although the sheer amount of brainpower it takes to consistently and effectively transfer learning from old to new is beyond many individuals, groups of people working together can actually be very good at it."

The detail of the study has been published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

-With inputs from ANI.