One Man Band: Does it work?

Dear Susan,
After reading your article I began to think about both the pros and the cons of groups and groupwork. I know in your article you state ""individuals almost always perform better than groups in both quality and quantity, and group performance gets worse as group size increases", which I partly agree with because I don't like working in groups myself, however I do think that sometimes group work is necessary and important for self-development, production and life in general. Although working all has many advantages, the main one being not having to deal with various opposing views, however dealing with multiple points of views and insight is the beauty of life. Working in a group allows more than one person to contribute to the thought process, which may help people view something from a different angle and perspective. I think you should read Andrew Keen's article to get a better understand of how group work works! In terms of dealing with the media group work works because there are multiple jobs and tasks to do for multiple people.

Lately with the rise of "freedom" and user friendly production tools everyone is able to be there own editor, producer, director, etc. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, but with amateurs that lack the proper training and understand of tools and production methods, them being a one man band isn't helping their audience, nor is it helping themselves. Everyone needs some sort of guidance and feedback; especially amateurs on the come up. I do agree with Keen that in this sense being a part of a group, and something grander than self, is important and necessary. Without amateurs being a part of a group they are short changing themselves as individuals and their work which they produce. If my ramblings don't make sense think of it this way, you can't have a machine with only one part and expect it to work; even a pencil is comprised of different parts which makes it work and properly do it's job function.

Ayesha Go.