I participated in a reading group the other day. The discussion was on Goffman's concept of teams, different from what we ordinarily understand by teams. I have bumped into Goffman here and there and always found my interest piqued. There is so much to read and so little time!

He looks at a team as a group of people who want to maintain a particular idea of the team. This could just be two people or more. His examples explain the point better. Say there is a husband and wife. The wife is the dominating one. But when a guest arrives, she pretends to be submissive. The husband intuitively knows to play along. Or say there is a boss who speaks familiarly to his secretary. If a new client comes in, they both might pretend to be very formal with each other. Without ever explicitly agreeing, they both know what impression they want to give as a team. Goffman talks about how some individuals may not play along to the team definition and may give away the game. Someone who mentions inside info in front of a customer for example.

One of the things that struck me as I was reading this is that Goffman assumes that everyone is constantly doing 'impression management' or playing a role for the benefit of an audience. I do think many people do constantly do that. It's as if they are always wearing a mask and you really have no clue who they really are. Goffman talks about how there can be single person teams, where you are your own audience. These perpetual mask-wearers, I have a feeling, sort of internalize the mask after a point. They believe their own lies. Unlike those who are conscious of the mask and take it off when they feel safe enough. I suppose my favourite people are those with whom I do not feel the need to wear a mask. On the other hand, if I sense a person is wearing a mask with me, I infer: 1. They do not trust me, and 2. I cannot trust them. I do not see these people as team players in Goffman's sense because a team has to have internal loyalty. Which to me means revealing oneself to the other. The thing that Goffman doesn’t seem to be worried about but is rather high on my list is authenticity. The question might be, isn't playing a role essentially inauthentic? My answer is yes but it doesn't have to be. For instance, the definition of the team itself could place honesty and authenticity at the core of it? The impression we want to give then is congruent with who we believe we are or who we want to become, not a fake persona we want to display depending on who is at the other end.