In the present-day environment of global connectivity and vast cross-cultural communication opportunities, it is hardly possible to imagine oneself being stranded in a setting with no options for contacting the civilization. However, should the specified situation occur to me, being surrounded only with a small group of strangers, I would still do my best to survive. By focusing on conflict management, resource sharing, and active planning, the other teammates and I would be able to survive in the specified circumstances.
The first and the most important rule would be managing conflicts properly. As an active player of competitive basketball, I am aware of the tensions that may emerge within a team in a scenario involving high levels of pressure placed on each participant. In the context where team members are deprived of most of the resources that allow them to succeed, every minor issue may result in a rapidly developing confrontation. Furthermore, the specified context creates premises for the emergence of confrontations and misunderstandings fueled by emotions due to the presence of multiple threats and dangers. While competitive basketball does not involve putting one’s live on a line as being stranded on an uninhabited island does, it also involves creating increasingly high stakes where participants have to manage their pent-up emotions. Since avoiding confrontations would only lead to increased tensions, I would establish the rule of actively discussing the issues that discomfit team members, therefore, providing objective solutions and preventing fights from taking place.
Additionally, I would set a rule for resource sharing so that all participants could contribute to the survival process and support one another. Ince the premises for conflicts are removed, the foundation for supporting one another actively should be introduced to create a team spirit and build team-oriented values. Several years of hiking experience have taught me that people are unwilling to display altruism in the environment where resources are scarce. However, hiking also demonstrates that teamwork represents the quickest path to building a strong resource base (Loom et al. 11). With a pool of available resources being created and constantly renewed, we would thrive even in a completely alien setting.
Finally, the third rule to which everyone would have to adhere involves developing and following a specific plan that would allow us to utilize the available resources sparsely and sustainably. Both hiking and competitive baseball have demonstrated to me that relying on luck as opposed to planning minimizes one’s chances for success and leads to resource waste. In turn, alignment with a certain planned course of actions introduces order into the process of completing a goal, while also increasing the extent of the participants’ confidence and positive attitudes (Soni 49). Specifically, Soni states that “The role of team management has proved to be the most successful in an organization which work according to the planned strategies” (49). Thus, the survival options will be extended to multiple years creating an opportunity to thrive in the new environment.
Establishing the rules geared toward resource sharing, planning, and proper conflict management, I would succeed in navigating a context where I am stranded with several strangers. While not being the only rules by which everyone in the target context should abide, the specified principles would allow minimizing the core risks to survival and contribute to productive management of the situation. With the specified principles in place, the group in question would be able to survive and, possibly, even thrive in the target setting, utilizing the available resources to build a mini-community.
Works Cited
Lum, C. S., Samuel J. Keith, and David Scott. “The Long-Distance Hiking Social World along the Pacific Crest Trail.” Journal of Leisure Research, vol. 51, no. 2, 2020, pp. 165-182.
Soni, Vishal Dineshkumar. “Importance and Strategic Planning of Team Management.” International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology, vol. 7, no. 2, 2020, pp. 47-50. Web.