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Lesson 1: Introduction to Organizational Behavior
Cognitive Complexity, Mental Maps, and Why Learning This Course Content Is Important!
Please take out a blank sheet of paper. Set a timer to four minutes. Now, draw either the human body, filling in and labeling as much detail as possible relative to the organ systems, or a map of Europe, filling in and labeling as much detail as possible regarding names of countries (and cities, if you have time).
Once you have completed your drawing, click on the arrow below that corresponds to what you chose to draw. This will give you feedback regarding how well you did.
Now, what you drew—the body or Europe—represents a graphic, visual depiction of your inner knowledge. It represents the state of cognitive complexity that you currently possess regarding these two domains of knowledge (the body or Europe). The point of this little exercise is to impress upon you the importance of having a good "mental map" of the world of organizational behavior. For you to become a good manager and leader, it is important that you attain a sufficient degree of cognitive complexity relative to the processes and variables that come into play in the study of organizations. For a portion of this course, you will be engaged in learning concepts and variables relevant to human behavior in organizations. These are important because they give you a map of the territory!
Think of it this way: If you were about to undergo surgery, would it be important to you that your surgeon have a good working knowledge of anatomy? Of course. The same holds true for managers and leaders. It is important, for example, to have a good working knowledge of the nature of groups and group dynamics—how and why groups form, what variables (such as norms, cohesion, and team composition) are requisite to high-performing groups, the potential pitfalls of group decision-making, and so on. The same holds for all of the content areas that this course covers.
But also, wouldn’t it be nice if your surgeon knew a little bit more than simply the locations of different anatomical parts? You would likely expect him or her to have skill, acumen, motivation, conscientiousness, and a good working knowledge of how all the body systems and parts work together. Consequently, while the above exercise is designed to impress upon you the intrinsic importance of knowing the concepts and variables of organization management, in this course you will be engaged in a number of exercises and discussions designed to provide you with various tangible skill sets that managers and leaders need.
Next, take out another piece of paper and put the words Organizational Rehavior right in the center. Then, draw a number of different lines (perhaps eight to start) radiating out from the center. At the end of each line, put some of the following content-area labels: individual differences in organizations, how to motivate employees, group dynamics, power and politics, conflict management, emotional intelligence, leadership, and so on. How much knowledge do you presently possess regarding each of these content areas? If you were asked to fill in or list (as with the map of Europe) everything that you currently know, how detailed would your visual map be? In other words, what is your current mental map, your present degree of cognitive complexity regarding organizational behavior? Throughout this course, you'll be able to fill it in further.