Flock Theory 19
Illustrating this point is the case of a scientific revolution (Kuhn, 1962), where the group
is defined as an academic community and the direction is the communally defined body of
knowledge. For example, when a scientist introduces a revolutionary concept there should
ideally be initial support from their colleagues to facilitate the exploration of the concept. This
also relates to Axiom 1, where the idea must be relatively different from the current knowledge
base, but not too far or the academic community may reject the concept altogether. Likewise,
the proposed structure is designed to foster a climate that catalyzes the birthing of potential
revolutionary concepts.
Tenet B: Velocity Matching (Tempo).
Tenet B of Axiom 2 states that the group members must accommodate the rate that the
other members are delivering messages, making successive moves, and allowing for space
between these moves. In a face-to-face context this is theoretically justified through
communication accommodation theory (Gallois, Franklyn-Stokes, Giles, & Coupland,1988; and
Kincaid, 1988), defines further moves of the group whether convergent or divergent. As
presented by Gallois et al. (1988), the marginalized other is converged toward when they are not
a threat to a dominant group’s identity, but this changes when this person’s identity is perceived
as a threat to the dominant group. The marginalized other is diverged from when a threat to a
dominant group’s identity, changing when this person’s identity is not perceived as a threat to the
dominant group. This happens in conjuncture with Tenet A of Axiom 2, direction, for if the
velocity is matched but not as to converge to a similar direction, than the system breaks down.
A cross-functional team, for example, must maintain the rate at which the attention
moves from function to function amongst its members. Likewise, as bursts of activity are
demanded from the group, it becomes increasingly important for the individuals to attempt to
Convention