ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Organizational Culture and Leadership, 3rd Edition

70 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND LEADERSHIPTable 4.1. Stages of Group Evolution.Stage Dominant Assumption Socioemotional Focus1. Group formation Dependence: “The leader Self-Orientation:knows what we should do.” Emotional focus onissues of (a) inclusion,(b) power and influence,(c) acceptance and intimacy,and (d) identityand role.2. Group Building Fusion: “We are a great Group as Idealized Object:group; we all like each Emotional focus onother.”harmony, conformity,and search for intimacy.Member differences arenot valued.3. Group Work Work: “We can perform Group Mission and Tasks:effectively because we Emotional focus onknow and accept each accomplishment, teamother.”work, and maintainingthe group in goodworking order. Memberdifferences are valued.4. Group Maturity Maturity: “We know who Group Survival andwe are, what we want, and Comfort: Emotionalhow to get it. We have focus on preserving thebeen successful, so we group and its culture.must be right.”Creativity and memberdifferences are seen asthreat.Stages of Group EvolutionEvery group goes through some version of evolution that can bestbe described in terms of the following stages.Stage One: Group FormationInitially, the group is not really a group but a collection of individualmembers, each focused on how to make the situation safe andpersonally rewarding while struggling with personal issues of inclu-