Complex dynamics in small groups

Abstract

Why do groups whose members have seemingly equivalent skills and potential develop so differently, with some achieving surprisingly good results while others dramatically underperforming their apparent potential? This chapter explores this puzzle using a group thermodynamics lens. It illustrates how structural links either facilitate or dampen the flow of social energy, promoting or impeding flexible behavioral coordination. Examples of groups from the classroom, team sports, and military aviation show how emergent structures shape group processes, sending groups on more positive or negative trajectories. Teachers, coaches, and leaders can guide groups toward synergy by facilitating link formation and regulating the intensity of energy flow. Repeated cycles of “heating” and “cooling” can temper a group’s structure to help it attain the complex dynamic state that confers behavioral flexibility and resilience and promotes high performance in groups.