Yes I believe there are themes from the different posts throughout the semester that tie in together with each other. Aside from the introductory blog post, it seems that the ideas from blog posts are very different however they also build upon each other and intertwine. The themes of the blog posts had been transaction costs, opportunism, successful team structures, and transfer pricing. Within the transaction costs post I had discussed the transaction costs of relationships within work and why they had mattered. The next post discussing opportunism had been a different concept, however I had still been able to write about relationships within work. In terms of successful team structures, the hierarchy of teams and delegation of work had been discussed but that was also a post that mainly surrounded relationships within an organization. When discussing transfer pricing, I had mostly discussed how “Illinibucks” could be used to affect course registration. This had not discussed the direct influence on individual relationships, but how people’s choices would affect each other based on the price levels of registering for courses. It had still revolved around relationships within organizations.
Ways to connect what I had written about to course themes other than addressing the prompt had been building upon the answer to the prompt through different ideas that were discussed within the course. When writing about transfer costs as well as transaction costs and opportunism there are different points I could not have made without attending class in person. Looking back on when I had written the posts, my understanding throughout the semester has deepened, the connections are much more obvious because of the fact that the ideas have built on each other throughout the weeks. It is difficult to see the connections clearly while creating the posts, partly because there is still learning to be done as well as the ideas being fresh meaning they did not have time to completely mature while having the knowledge of the other lessons. Due to how the ideas have built upon each other, that larger foundation of knowledge makes it easier to see the connections within the individual posts.
In terms of whether or not my writing has evolved throughout the posts, I believe that it has. At the beginning of the semester, I had not really understood what the course had been about, as well as I had not genuinely understood what was being taught. My beginning posts had been extremely simple and somewhat devoid of any specificity, trying to make sense of the prompt and answer it in the generally correct direction. I have moved passed just going into what I hope is the right answer, to where I am confident in what I am able to say as well as be able to pull experiences from the organizations that I have been allowed to participate in. I am able to discuss hypothetical situations in which something from the course is put into place or enacted.
A prompt that may be interesting to write about would have to be able to build upon the previous ideas from class while exploring new areas to discuss. I believe it would be interesting to tie in some of the ideas from different blog posts. One interesting idea would be to discuss how someone acting opportunistically had affected a successful team structure. To discuss whether or not the team had been turned into something unsuccessful, or if it had affected the hierarchy, If anything from the readings could be extracted and used within the discussion that would add more dimension to the issue. It would be something like melding two of the previous posts in order to talk about a nuanced version of both.
It's good that you see your thinking maturing somewhat with the blogging. But I wonder if it could go much further. In the above you organized the writing by topics of the posts and topics from class discussion. I wonder if you might try an alternative of posing questions on your own and then taking a stab to answer those questions. Let me illustrate. Before taking the course you may have been part of a group that didn't function so well and then be part of a group that worked quite effectively. So the obvious question is why did one group work and the other group succeed? You may then have advanced a preliminary hypothesis - it was the personalities of the group members that mattered. But perhaps, unlike most people, you weren't satisfied with your first stab at an answer and pondered - might it be the methodology of the group that mattered more? Could the personalities that lead to group disfunction be channeled with the right methodology to make the group function well? If so, would the effort in doing so be worth it?
ReplyDeleteIn other words, what I'm encouraging you to do is to make your posts more of an inquiry. That would make them more interesting to read. And, I believe, you would learn more as a result. Writing as if you have the answers, which are definitive, may seem easier at first. But there is less learning in such an approach.
Questions I had asked myself while writing my posts were things along the lines of, why does something like transaction costs matter? What is opportunism? What difference does it make in an organization? Was it really the hierarchy of the team structure that mattered? Or was it just a good team of people to work with? How are transfer costs different from other types of costs? Through the prompts I've ask myself these questions and attempt to clarify them in my head in order to convey understanding in my writing.
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