1.1 Organizational Behavior
Organizational Behavior evolved over the past 50 years as a result of the need to understand how and why humans behave in large groups. Humans have been thinking about, studying, writing about, and hypothesizing about organizational behavior for millennia, but the academic field is relatively new. In part, this is a reaction to the World Wars and the Holocaust. Most people find it impossible to believe that humans can be convinced to do horrible things to other humans, yet that type of behavior continues today.
Although most of us will never have to deal with anything as serious as a war or a holocaust, project managers also need to understand how humans behave when they are in groups--specifically, how to predict human behavior in team settings. Although we are unlikely to think about it in those exact terms, we all want our lives to be stable. Anticipating how another one, two, or even a hundred people will act makes us feel more secure and safe. In my opinion, the number one priority in teaching organizational behavior is to make us better able to predict human behavior in our workplace.
To put this in specific terms for project managers, we need to know, before they happen, the people-related issues and problems that will occur over a project's duration. Which team members will not perform as necessary? Which team members will become frustrated or discouraged? Which team members will cause problems? Which team members will need extra guidance or emotional support? How will team members react under periods of high stress?