Symbolic Interaction and Social Change
George Herbert Mead, an American philosopher, affiliated with the University of Chicago founded the theory of symbolic interactionism. A major aspect of this is that people interact by symbols both verbal and non-verbal signals and every interaction makes a contribution to the mental make-up of the mind thus every interaction with someone, changes you and you go away a different person signifying that humans and change go together.
George Henry Mead, of Chicago University, lectured much and wrote very little. His ideas were so powerful that his students felt the need to take detailed notes and produced his material so that we, after his death, can reflect upon it. He gave rise to a sociological and psychological theory, academically known as 'symbolic interactionism'. Symbolic interactionism also referred to as the Chicago sociological tradition.
Dynamic Human Experience
According to Mead, the mind is not just reducible to the neurophysiology of the organic individual but is emergent in "the dynamic, ongoing social process that constitutes human experience. In every waking moment, we humans are taking new impressions of the world around us and rearranging the old impressions in the light of the new. Mead states that "the self is a social process," meaning that there are series of actions that go on in the mind to help formulate one's complete self, and hence there is no such thing as stability. Several significant schools of philosophic thought have stressed this.
The Constant Change Process
We are all the time taking into our minds new impressions through the senses. We see things, we hear things, we touch things, we taste things, and beyond that, we have feelings about the messages our five senses bring to us.
These impressions make us sad, happy, impatient, excited, worried, angry, uplifted, determined, uncertain, jealous, envious; they make us love, hate, sympathize, empathize, co-operate, oppose, fight; and these emotions, being stirred, provide us with energy and impel us to action. All these impressions and the emotions they stir are recorded in our memories.
All these related emotions are written down in our human audio-video brain machines and this data keeps on evolving all the time. As more ingredients come into the mind, so the earlier ones seem just a little different- they are expanded and perceived in a new light. Human memory is also selective and the entire recordings that we have done over time do not make its presence felt consciously all the time. Most of it is buried in the depths of the unconscious and sometimes get triggered by new events. We have an exciting picture of the human mind as a flow of impressions, and emotions, and ideas that connect them. The thinking we do about impressions is part of the change process.
Human Life as Interaction
As we are constantly developing new connections hence we are constantly changing them as well. Hence change is the microsecond by microsecond essence of living. It is important to understand that this way, change actually fits with the very structure of our minds and of our thinking. Hence the principles of change management discussed in this section and the need for a change mindset should not be difficult to absorb.
A major aspect of it is that people interact by symbols - words and non-verbal signals in particular. Every interaction makes a contribution to the mental make-up of the mind. When you have had an interaction with someone, you go away with a different person. You have each added something to the other.
Mead made a distinction between the 'I' and the 'Me'. The 'Me' is the accumulated understanding of "the generalized other" i.e. how one thinks one's group perceives oneself etc. The 'I' is the individual's impulses. The 'I' is self as a subject; the 'Me' is self as an object. Mead described each individual as having of being a central 'I' around which a whole lot of 'me s'-- less stable and derived from the interactions with others were revolving. The 'I' then constantly reacted to all these constantly changing 'me s' and absorbed them into itself.
Take the example of the social act of economic exchange. In any exchange, both buyer and seller must take each other's perspectives towards the object being exchanged. The seller must recognize the value for the buyer, while the buyer must recognize the desirability of money for the seller. People who have influenced us have changed us. Once you have read this article, as a result of this interaction, are will be a slightly different person from the one you were a few moments ago.
So being human and change go together and this should make the quest of this unit easier.
A Positive Approach to Change
The task of the business or any commercial enterprise is to make better things, using less of the effort and resources. Management is designed to maintain the highest rate of change that the organization and the people within it can stand. Yet even when we acknowledge all this, we are prone to resist change. We fear it; we avoid it and we sign for the status quo.
These perceptions of what is to be human can help us to take a positive approach to change and make it work to our advantage and to that of our enterprise. You are only really alive when you are changing. Change is the essence of personal growth, it is the basis of relationships with other people, and without it, there is no learning and no progress.
Related Links
You May Also Like
-
A good leadership style is something that every effective leader must have in order to succeed, but identifying what that entails or does not entails might be difficult to understand. Most of the research on leadership focuses on the exemplary, best practices, and positive attributes of effective and successful leaders. This article talks about a new approach to learn leadership using lessons from bad leadership. That is the lessons to be learned by examining leaders who have not effectively exercised their power, authority, or influence.
-
Evidence of the medically damaging symptoms of work stress necessitates applying the treatment of stress management. Stress management is increasingly drawing the attention to the management experts not only as a remedial measure but also as a way to resource management. If the workplace can be made a little more lovable the increase in the achievement of the organization may be much time more. If group stress can be removed by introducing group discussions and recreational facilities a long-lasting team spirit may get developed.
-
Understanding Corporate Strategy
Management outlook and procedures have been revolutionized by more and more innovations over the recent years. It is no longer possible to follow traditional approaches to develop your organization's direction, its management as well its effectiveness. Senior managers need to be good decision-makers. In this section, we introduce concepts for strategy, strategic planning, strategic leadership, their exact meaning and associated terms, and how to use them.
-
Stress is a product of the busyness of modern life. It has assumed grave dimensions ever since the emergence of industrialism. In fact, stress is a natural, ongoing, dynamic, and interactive process that takes place as people adjust to their environment. Stress can be brought about by positive or negative life events. Distress can cause disease and eustress or positive stress can promote wellbeing and increased productivity. Learn to recognize and be responsible for your stress, and learn the ways to manage stress.
-
In our present Hitech scenario, society is changing very fast. What are the skills that are most relevant for leaders in relation to the changing economic environment? Leaders need to develop skills to drive innovation and change in order to play a more central role in their organizations’ activities. How do managers accept the change and meet business expectations by becoming a key figure in driving change and innovation?
-
Thinking & Problem Solving Skills
Today's dynamic business world demands that you make decisions that significantly boost productivity and drive competitive advantage. But how do you know whether a decision will benefit the organization? And how do you know that the decisions are based on rational and statistical reasoning? Explore how to become a dynamic problem solver with the skills to make accurate decisions.
-
Many different types of teams have been identified by social scientists. Managers may encounter the diverse types of challenges while managing different kinds of teams. Challenges associated with Cross-Functional Teams might be different from that of a Geographically Dispersed Team or a Virtual Team. This article explores some common categories and subtypes of teams.
-
All the teams are dynamic in nature and they take time to come together, they form, develop, and grow in stages, over a period of time. Teams go through five progressive stages: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning. In this article, we want to introduce you to these stages of team development and certain strategies that you can use to help the team grow and develop in each of these stages.
-
Concept & Definition of Stress
Stress is a popular expression used by people in day to day life. Pressures of day to day living sometimes necessitate coping or dealing with them and stretch the body beyond its natural capacity. They are called stressors. Stress is a natural, ongoing dynamic, and interactive process that takes place as people adjust to their environment.
-
Productivity is defined not in terms of the number of goods produced, but in terms of value-added per employee. Customers don’t really buy goods and services but in fact, they buy a value - something they value. The future is all about tangible products fulfilling intangible needs. Ideas like this can transform a business and provide them a competitive advantage to thrive in the future.
