<p>Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.</p>
<p>Organizations or groups that share a common goal often mention teamwork as their secret to success by insisting that people in the group work together for the good of the entire group. However, by requiring each individual to accept the decisions of the others in the group, organizations may discourage the expression of individual talent. Ultimately, a group is most successful when all of its members are encouraged to pursue their own goals and interests.</p>
<p>Assignment:</p>
<p>Are organizations or groups most successful when their members pursue individual wishes and goals? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations. </p>
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<p>Teamwork is an important virtue, ensuring the very survival of humanity from the times of the Neolithic Revolution on. However, teamwork can only be considered important or virtuous because it supports the team members ability to act and think as an individual. Ayn Rand, in her novel Anthem, clearly outlines how an individuals wishes and goals inevitably lead to a societys, or teams, success. Even in history, one is able to see how an individual-centered approach produces the best result for all.</p>
<p>In Anthem, the protagonist, who is called Prometheus, is considered to be evil in his team-first, individual-second society. He seems too superior to his peers, evident in his greater stature and intelligence. He also has an insatiable curiosity. Prometheus selfishly desires to be placed in the Home of the Scholars, not in order to help his fellow man but rather to feed his own curiosity. Although the Home of the Scholars is the only place one may legally perform scientific experiments, Prometheus still fiddles around with scrap pieces of glass and misplaced chemicals. One day, he discovers an abandoned subway tunnel, which had once contained sophisticated electrical circuits. He puts together a primitive light bulb. In comparison, the various councils of scholars in this society can only advance when (and if) every member of the council agrees on the project. Because this team can only act on the decisions of all, the latest great discovery had been 50 years prior to Prometheus, a mere candle, and a hundred years prior to that, a torch. One must wonder which is better for humanity: an individuals selfish light bulb or a teams selfless candle.</p>
<p>Historically speaking, the concept of pursuing individual goals above a teams goals is most similar to the idea of laissez-faire. In fact, the guiding principle of laissez-faire was best described as the invisible hand. Essentially, a person pursuing his best interests was to inevitably work for the best of his fellow man as well, whether he intended to or not. Economists of the day presented an example like the following: if a man desired to get rich by selling a product, he needed to meet the demands of his consumers. If another man also desired to get rich, he needed to meet that demand better or do so at a lower price. In the end, through competition, both individuals have made a decent fortune, and the consumers could have access to a superior product at a cheaper price. Everyone has benefited from that individualistic, perhaps selfish desire to make more money.</p>
<p>It is not to say that teamwork is intrinsically bad, or that individualism is intrinsically good. It is rather to say that individual brilliance, like that of Prometheus, or individual goals, like that of an entrepreneur, can lead human excellence better than a bulky team. An individual can become a leader. A team can become a people. Let the leader lead his people, and let his people be led. Only when society fills its roles properly can it succeed.</p>
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<p>Hi, everyone. Thanks for taking the time to read my first attempt ever at an SAT essay. I saw this prompt in another poster's thread, and thought sooner is better than later to get started on kind of thing. It was a lot harder to write than I thought (all the time pressure, ideas getting mixed up in your head, etc.).</p>
<p>Looking forward to reading everyone's response.</p>