Question

Essay: Understanding Cognitive Gap

Identify and characterize the Person-Person cognitive style gaps within between two teams A and B; then discuss in short Essay, the impact of those gaps on the resulting performance of the two teams.

Carry out the same type of analysis for Person-Problem cognitive style gaps between these two teams and their assigned tasks, and discuss the impact of those gaps as well.

Tie in examples from your own experience that help illustrate the impact that cognitive style gaps can have in other contexts (personal or professional).

Answer 1

1)PERSON-PERSON COGINITIVE GAP means when members of Team A and Team B have different problem solving abilities. For example, if a manager of a manufacturing unit has given the teams to use a machine that makes bottle caps, but the problem solving skills of every individual is different and this becomes difficult because every individual in the team would have a different approach on working on that machine.

To overcome this problem the manager has to understand these gaps and try to appreciate and respect each team's and each individual's approach and come to a conclusion. The manager needs to assign small critical projects to each individual having the right skills to ensure success of the bigger project.

2)PERSON PROBLEM COGNITIVE GAP- this difference occurs between the nature of the problem and the person's problem solving skills. for example, if the manager assigns the individual to utilize the machine to make bottle caps and the individual has no skill to use the machine so the manufacturing would suffer.

If the manager would not have knowledge about the skills of his employees his manufacturing unit would suffer. In order to bridge this gap a proper training needs to be provided to the teams beforehand.

Also the nature of the job needs to be explained in detail by the manager to the teams so that people with appropiate skills and training can come forward to use the machine and achieve their target of making bottle caps.