some barriers involved. There is not always a great appreciation for that diversity that I have discussed at length. Decision-MakingDecision-making is not the primary function of the DAPC. Much of the work of the group is investigation, documentation, and idea generation. Of course there are many situations that call for a decision to be made. The democratic concept is employed when called for, but many times the group can provide more than one solution or opinion, which leads to less cut and dried decision-making. There are times when the factions within the group take different views and the decision is left up to the undecided middle-grounders. I t is interesting how this type of interaction with the fragmented factions results in the decision making defaulting to those in the group who might be less committed and interested in the outcome. The opinions and attitudes of the factions can sometimes cross-cancel to use a math term. One inspiring thought which is a by-product of the quasi-dysfunctional membership structure is that Group Think rarely is a factor. It would be extremely difficult for the group to agree on anything. Fortunately, in the infinite wisdom of the originators of the committee, the size of the group was determined to be an odd number.Conflict Styles and ProcessingConflict is a regular part of every DAPC meeting. The memberships diversity, which I have attempted to show as an asset, leads to much conflict of opinion and viewpoint. There is a full measure of conflict in the group, but fortunately it is handled well by the members. I wouldnt say that there are any set formulas at work for processing conflict in the group and Im sure that to the unfamiliar, the setting would seem quite difficult, but for this group it is effective. In situations where conflict is a common thread, many times the members develop thick skin and filters that help them get to the point rather than being caught up in the supe...
