Hannah Kern

Critique #1
The television show I chose to do for the first critique is Designated
Survivor on ABC. The background of the show is that every year the
President of the United States, cabinet, and congress all meet in the Capital
building for The State of the Union. However, because this risk to have that
many government officially in one building there is one member of cabinet
chosen to stay behind in a safe location in case something would
hypothetically happen. Additionally, it is important to note that the opposing
party, either democrat or republican party, will also have a member stay in
an isolated location just in case to keep their party alive. In the show, the
worst case situation happens and the capital building is blown up and every
member of government dies and the only people left are the two in this case
designated survivors. One of these survivors becomes the new president and
the other the only member of congress.
In this particular episode the new elected president has to work with
his core team that is comprised of his chief of staff and security adviser. In
the show this was one of the most impactful teams because these two
advisers help the president make decision that greatly affect the countrys
fragile state. I think of the most important dynamics of this team is that
everyone on the team has a very different personality. For example, the chief
of staff has a very strong and dominant personality that focuses on how to
make the post politically correct decision. Next, the security adviser is a

young female in a very male dominated position and she is constantly

conflicted between doing the right thing, doing what is best for her country,
and then finally trying to seem strong to her male counterparts. Lastly, there
is the president who is trying to assert himself in the new role of president
after only being a cabinet director while he is a more shy and reserved
character he has a strong morale compass that allows him to lead well. This
team is one of my favorites because it allows me to think in terms of myersbriggs and how different personalities when working together to achieve a
common goal can truly achieve greatness and limit groupthink. For this
particular team the chief of staffs strong personality helps to achieve goals
set by the group. While the security advisor helps add a sense of
personalization by making sure the decision being made will translate best
with the country. Finally, the president is important because he acts the
counter balance to his two politically ambitious copartners and make sure
the entire group is maintaining a high moral integrity.
Another important team is the CIA in relation to the president. The CIA
at this point in the show is very fragile because they dont know who blew up
and capital building and their lead suspect was just killed in his jail cell by
another officer. So, at this point the CIA team is relying on a lot of blind trust
with hesitation of who is working for the government and who is plotting
against it. This brings up an important aspect of team which is how do you
get everyone to buy into the common goal. In this case someone within
the CIA chose to break away from the team because they either did not feel

valued or possibly were seeking a better reward from another group. This
brings up an important aspect of team which is making sure every member
of the team feels valued and included. One way the CIA in this show could
have done this is focused on a more inclusive style of leadership rather than
a top-down approach where those at the bottom are often undervalued and
excluded.
The final relationship that is important is that between the newly
elected president and his wife. At this point in the show their marriage is
truly being tested because they are under an immense amount of pressure
and in the spotlight of America. Currently, the First Lady feels as if she is
constantly missing time with her husband he is not present to her and there
for her as he has always been in the past. And, the President feels as if he is
constantly letting his wife down because he never gives her enough
according to her. This relates back to a lecture from class that focuses on
identifying your other partners interest. In this situation that strategy could
be especially useful because it would bridge the communication gap
between the two parties and allow the limited time the President has to be
spent more effectively with his wife.
In all, this critique allowed me see there are relationships and team
everywhere all with similar problems that often require a complex answer.
However, by learning to address how teams function best we can work to
prevent those problems from arising and learn how to work in teams most
effectively.