Question

Deviance at IDEO

All groups, whether top management teams, self-managed work teams, or command groups, need to control their members' behaviors to ensure that the group performs at a high level and meets its goals. One important way in which groups influence members' behaviors is through the development and enforcement of group norms, the behavior expected of group members. Another important element of group dynamics that affects group performance and effectiveness is group cohesiveness, which is the degree to which members are attracted to or loyal to their group or team. Increasing levels of group cohesiveness result in increasing levels of conformity to group norms. However, when cohesiveness becomes too high, there may be so little deviance in groups that group members conform to norms even when they are dysfunctional. In contrast, low cohesiveness can result in too much deviance and undermine the ability of a group to control its members' behaviors to get things done.

Developing norms that encourage creativity and innovation are especially important for teams. You are about to read and analyze a report about IDEO that will highlight for you the importance of both conformity to norms and deviance from them.

Read the case below and answer the questions that follow.

IDEO has designed many products we now take for granted: the first Apple mouse, stand-up toothpaste containers, flexible shelving for offices, self-sealing drink bottles for sports, blood analyzers, and even equipment used in space travel. Managers and designers at IDEO take pride in being experts at the process of innovation in general rather than in any particular domain. Of course, the company has technical design experts such as mechanical and electrical engineers, who work on products requiring specialized knowledge. However, these same teams might also include an anthropologist, a biologist, or a social scientist.

A guiding principle at IDEO is that innovation comes in many shapes and sizes, and it is only through diversity in thought that people can recognize opportunities for innovation. To promote such diversity in thought, new product development at IDEO is a team effort. Moreover, both conformity and deviance are encouraged on IDEO teams.

Deviance, thinking differently, and not conforming to expected ways of doing things and mind-sets are encouraged at IDEO. In fact, innovative ideas often flow when designers try to see things as they really are and are not blinded by thoughts of what is appropriate, what is possible, or how things should be. Often, constraints on new product design are created by designers themselves conforming to a certain mindset about the nature of a product or what a product can or should do and look like. IDEO designers are encouraged to actively break down these constraints in their design teams.

Managers at IDEO realize the need for a certain amount of conformity so members of design teams can work effectively together and achieve their goals. Thus, conformity to a few central norms is emphasized in IDEO teams. These norms include understanding what the team is working on (the product, market, or client need), observing real people in their natural environments, visualizing how new products might work and be used, evaluating and refining product prototypes, encouraging wild ideas, and never rejecting an idea simply because it sounds too crazy. As long as these norms are followed, diversity of thought and even deviance promote innovation at IDEO. In fact, another norm at IDEO is to study "rule breakers"—people who do not follow instructions for products, for example, or who try to put products to different uses—because these individuals might help designers identify problems with existing products and unmet consumer needs. All in all, IDEO's focus on encouraging both deviance and conformity in design teams has benefited all of us; we use IDEO-designed products that seem so familiar we take them for granted. We forget these products did not exist until a design team at IDEO was called on by a client to develop a new product or improve an existing one.

IDEO advocates _____ levels of conformity and _______ levels of deviance in its design teams.

Multiple Choice

• low; low

• high; high

• low; high

• moderate; moderate

• moderate; high

2-

Understanding what the team is working on, encouraging wild ideas, and never rejecting an idea simply because it sounds too crazy are examples of _______ at IDEO.

Multiple Choice

• deviance

• motivating factors

• values

• norms

3-

IDEO believes that innovation frequently is the result of

Multiple Choice

• norms.

• deviance.

• effectiveness.

• conformity.

• efficiency.

4-

After reading a description of the many products designed by IDEO, one could assume that _______ would definitely be a source of cohesiveness in the teams at IDEO.

Multiple Choice

• strategy

• bureaucracy

• low levels of diversity

• large team size

• success

5-

A team that developed a norm for following set procedures for new product development would _______ at IDEO.

Multiple Choice

• definitely succeed

• most likely come up with more ideas than other teams

• most likely fail

• be popular

• follow the norm for teams

6-

Teams at IDEO like to observe consumers who don’t follow the rules on how to use a given product because

Multiple Choice

• they show IDEO teams additional items to add to the instructions for proper use of products.

• it might suggest new products that IDEO could design.

• it points out the problems with the products' initial design that need to be fixed.

7-

Deviance at IDEO can be defined as

Multiple Choice

• hiring diverse types of employees.

• total nonconformity.

• not refining prototypes in order to get products to market faster.

• nonconformance to expected ways of doing things.

Answer 1

1. D) Moderate, Moderate

It has been outlined in the article that IDEO has been using the best of both Conformance and Deviance for its benefit. They don't over-emphasize on one factor.

2. D) Norm

From the text- "These norms include understanding what the team is working on (the product, market, or client need), observing real people in their natural environments, visualizing how new products might work and be used, evaluating and refining product prototypes, encouraging wild ideas, and never rejecting an idea simply because it sounds too crazy"

3. B) Deviance

Emphasize on study of rule breakers and many other facts concludes that IDEO believe upon Deviance for innovation

4. B) Bureaucracy

This point rhetorically tells us that the IDEO abstinence from bureaucracy helps it in increasing cohesiveness

5. B) most likely come up with more ideas than other teams

The norms of IDEO are laid out while keeping this point in mind, ie to bring in innovation

6. C) it points out the problems with the products' initial design that need to be fixed.

From the text- "because these individuals might help designers identify problems with existing products and unmet consumer needs"

7. D) nonconformance to expected ways of doing things.

IDEO doesn't expect its employees to just do things about which they are being instructed about. They want their employees to be diverge from their path to some extent and bring innovative ideas.

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