PACK to CHAIN to TEAM?

The initial motivation for Teams, Packs and Chains was to provide substantive meaning for solutions to the problem of non-physical concatenation (RMT 9:2 432-433). Once posited, it is intriguing to ask how Teams, Packs and Chains relate and progress.

A Pack succeeds when any member succeeds. It works best when everyone tries something different -- like hunting for food in the Artic. Any new project begins as Pack searching, abduction, intuitive leaps, wild hypotheses, anything goes,brainstorming. The only agreement is in what the core problem most likely,probably, might be.

A Chain relies on solidarity. It works when everyone is in lock step, but it fails when any member stumbles -- like a link of a chain breaking. As projects develop,as possibilities are separately, accidentally encountered, the need for coordination emerges. Only Chain-building can weave a cooperating work force. Chain-building is deduction, if there is a single break, gap, disagreement in the chain, then there is no future for the project.

A Team relies on consensus. Nothing happens till all agree -- like a well-functioning jury. Disagreement paralyzes. The aim of Chain-building is a workingTeam. As agreement develops, not only does the problem become sharply defined,but so also does its seemingly best solution. A Team emerges when members become united in the induction they are to undertake, in the experiment that will test the wild Pack hypothesis that was abducted, and in the Chain deductions which follow from it.

The core sequence is Pack to Chain to Team. Each time a challenge is faced by a Team, its solution may succeed, encouraging the Team to continue cooperation. Or its solution may fail. In failure, there are two options:

a) become defensive, circle the wagons, regress to a previous Chain in desperate hope of weathering the storm and regaining the Team mentality of "good old days". If this strategy fails, the Chain disintegrates destroying the Team, and the former members are forced to fend for themselves.

b) become aggressive, send out scouts, progress to new Pack behavior in ambitious hope of constructing a better project, leading to a better Chain and thence a betterTeam. If this fails, members may fall back into a defensive Chain or disintegrate.

Only a Pack can solve hard problems. Darwinian evolution and the human immune system are Pack processes. Only when problems can be made easy, because we have become better able to manage them, can Team-work succeed. In betweenTeams and Packs, there is the necessity of Chain building and maintenance, but also the danger of Chain breakage.

Benjamin D. Wright

Wright B.D. (1996) Pack to Chain to Team. Rasch Measurement Transactions 10:2 p. 501.

Pack to Chain to Team. Wright B.D. … Rasch Measurement Transactions, 1996, 10:2 p. 501

Rasch Books and Publications
Invariant Measurement: Using Rasch Models in the Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences, 2nd Edn. George Engelhard, Jr. & Jue Wang	Applying the Rasch Model (Winsteps, Facets) 4th Ed., Bond, Yan, Heene	Advances in Rasch Analyses in the Human Sciences (Winsteps, Facets) 1st Ed., Boone, Staver	Advances in Applications of Rasch Measurement in Science Education, X. Liu & W. J. Boone	Rasch Analysis in the Human Sciences (Winsteps) Boone, Staver, Yale
Introduction to Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (Facets), Thomas Eckes	Statistical Analyses for Language Testers (Facets), Rita Green	Invariant Measurement with Raters and Rating Scales: Rasch Models for Rater-Mediated Assessments (Facets), George Engelhard, Jr. & Stefanie Wind	Aplicação do Modelo de Rasch (Português), de Bond, Trevor G., Fox, Christine M	Appliquer le modèle de Rasch: Défis et pistes de solution (Winsteps) E. Dionne, S. Béland
Exploring Rating Scale Functioning for Survey Research (R, Facets), Stefanie Wind	Rasch Measurement: Applications, Khine	Winsteps Tutorials - free Facets Tutorials - free	Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (Facets) - free, J.M. Linacre	Fairness, Justice and Language Assessment (Winsteps, Facets), McNamara, Knoch, Fan
Other Rasch-Related Resources: Rasch Measurement YouTube Channel
Rasch Measurement Transactions & Rasch Measurement research papers - free	An Introduction to the Rasch Model with Examples in R (eRm, etc.), Debelak, Strobl, Zeigenfuse	Rasch Measurement Theory Analysis in R, Wind, Hua	Applying the Rasch Model in Social Sciences Using R, Lamprianou	El modelo métrico de Rasch: Fundamentación, implementación e interpretación de la medida en ciencias sociales (Spanish Edition), Manuel González-Montesinos M.
Rasch Models: Foundations, Recent Developments, and Applications, Fischer & Molenaar	Probabilistic Models for Some Intelligence and Attainment Tests, Georg Rasch	Rasch Models for Measurement, David Andrich	Constructing Measures, Mark Wilson	Best Test Design - free, Wright & Stone Rating Scale Analysis - free, Wright & Masters
Virtual Standard Setting: Setting Cut Scores, Charalambos Kollias	Diseño de Mejores Pruebas - free, Spanish Best Test Design	A Course in Rasch Measurement Theory, Andrich, Marais	Rasch Models in Health, Christensen, Kreiner, Mesba	Multivariate and Mixture Distribution Rasch Models, von Davier, Carstensen

Forum

Rasch Measurement Forum to discuss any Rasch-related topic

Go to Top of Page
Go to index of all Rasch Measurement Transactions
AERA members: Join the Rasch Measurement SIG and receive the printed version of RMT
Some back issues of RMT are available as bound volumes
Subscribe to Journal of Applied Measurement

Go to Institute for Objective Measurement Home Page. The Rasch Measurement SIG (AERA) thanks the Institute for Objective Measurement for inviting the publication of Rasch Measurement Transactions on the Institute's website, www.rasch.org.

The URL of this page is www.rasch.org/rmt/rmt102s.htm

Website: www.rasch.org/rmt/contents.htm