A634.3.4.RB - The Harder They Fall

Dilemmas are inevitable, whether they are in the workplace, in society, and in our own lives. After reading the article by Kamer I was able to recognize the dilemmas in my own life and evaluate them and their impact. As stated in the article, people often optimistically look to strive to have it all in life, with very little trade-offs, this itself is a dilemma, and this type of thinking certainly can lead to future dilemmas (Kamer, 2003). In my own experience I have certainly seen dilemmas build, and though dilemmas are unavoidable, how you handle them can make all the difference.

Societal dilemmas occur every single day, whether it is an ethical dilemma between the conflicting beliefs of two different church’s, or if it is the public debate over a teachers salary, dilemmas are a key component of what society is defined as. Society itself is defined as a “The aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community”, highlighting the “more or less ordered community”, this just goes to show that conflict and dilemmas are essential to what makes a society ("Society | Definition of society in English by Oxford Dictionaries"). Because of this, I certainly believe that dilemmas have a justified and critical place in society, and we should not shy away from them because they build dialogue and hopefully further understanding.

At work, dilemmas are a dime a dozen, in my own career I can not recall a project that I worked on where there was absolutely no dilemmas. Frankly, I do not think it would be much of a project without dilemmas or conflicts to work though. With that said we do need to be cautious of dilemmas that have lasting effects, for example the situation in which a team of people do not recognize the faulted thinking of their leader and accept their thoughts as perfect. This sort of thinking can happen in the workplace where a team of people feel like their manager or leader is responsible for their own livelihood, which often feels like the case, and this sort of thinking can lead to group think, and really the aversion of positive conflict (Kamer, 2003).

In my own life dilemmas arise all the time, most often dilemmas are small, and have little direct impact but instead add up little by little. Either way, dilemmas are an essential part of life, and they allow us to grow personally, professionally and many other ways.

References

Kramer, R. M. (2003, 10). The harder they fall. Harvard Business Review, 81, 58-66. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/227766832?accountid=27203

Society | Definition of society in English by Oxford Dictionaries. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/society