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    The Dangers of Groupthink

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    Sushil Aggrawal
    Groupthink occurs when group cohesiveness and desire for harmony override critical thinking and results in irrational and dysfunctional decision making. The document discusses three cases where groupthink led to negative outcomes: 1) A process improvement for mail handling that took longer, 2) Charging for storage space that led to bankruptcy, and 3) Prioritizing brand over customers. Factors that can contribute to groupthink include isolation, cohesiveness, consensus-seeking, lack of conflict, and absence of impartial leadership. Managers can help prevent groupthink by appointing dissenting voices, encouraging criticism of ideas, collecting anonymous feedback, and inviting outsiders to offer different perspectives.

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    The Dangers of Groupthink

    Uploaded by

    Sushil Aggrawal
    3K views14 pages
    Groupthink occurs when group cohesiveness and desire for harmony override critical thinking and results in irrational and dysfunctional decision making. The document discusses three cases where groupthink led to negative outcomes: 1) A process improvement for mail handling that took longer, 2) Charging for storage space that led to bankruptcy, and 3) Prioritizing brand over customers. Factors that can contribute to groupthink include isolation, cohesiveness, consensus-seeking, lack of conflict, and absence of impartial leadership. Managers can help prevent groupthink by appointing dissenting voices, encouraging criticism of ideas, collecting anonymous feedback, and inviting outsiders to offer different perspectives.

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    The Dangers Of Groupthink

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    Groupthink occurs when group cohesiveness and desire for harmony override critical thinking and results in irrational and dysfunctional decision making. The document discusses three cases where groupthink led to negative outcomes: 1) A process improvement for mail handling that took longer, 2) Charging for storage space that led to bankruptcy, and 3) Prioritizing brand over customers. Factors that can contribute to groupthink include isolation, cohesiveness, consensus-seeking, lack of conflict, and absence of impartial leadership. Managers can help prevent groupthink by appointing dissenting voices, encouraging criticism of ideas, collecting anonymous feedback, and inviting outsiders to offer different perspectives.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    3K views14 pages

    The Dangers of Groupthink

    Uploaded by

    Sushil Aggrawal
    Groupthink occurs when group cohesiveness and desire for harmony override critical thinking and results in irrational and dysfunctional decision making. The document discusses three cases where groupthink led to negative outcomes: 1) A process improvement for mail handling that took longer, 2) Charging for storage space that led to bankruptcy, and 3) Prioritizing brand over customers. Factors that can contribute to groupthink include isolation, cohesiveness, consensus-seeking, lack of conflict, and absence of impartial leadership. Managers can help prevent groupthink by appointing dissenting voices, encouraging criticism of ideas, collecting anonymous feedback, and inviting outsiders to offer different perspectives.

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    The Dangers Of Groupthink

    What is Groupthink?
    • Groupthink is a type of thought within a
    deeply cohesive in-group whose members

    – Try to minimize conflict and reach consensus


    – Absence of critically testing, analyzing, and
    evaluating ideas.
    Depiction of Group Thinking and it’s
    consequences

    Three sub-cases
    • I - Process improvement for a mail system
    • II - Free storage space
    • III - Investing for brand versus customers
    • Problem
    – Better handling of base’s mail for Air force Base

    • Group (civilians)
    – Norm: Experts and will do the best
    – Time taken: 1 month, 8 steps process  19 steps

    • Consequence
    – Suffered for a year for 2 weeks delay occurring in new
    delivery process
    Question 1
    • What are some factors that led to groupthink
    in the cases described here?
    • What teams can do to attempt to prevent
    groupthink from occurring?
    Answer
    • Isolation from the real situation
    • Group Cohesiveness
    • Democratic (Consensus seeking)
    • Lack of Conflict
    • Idea dropped / Ignored
    • Lack of impartial Leadership
    Answer
    • Appoint a devil’s advocate
    • Encourage everyone to be critical
    • The leader should not state a preference while starting the
    discussion
    • Set up independent groups
    • Divide into subgroups
    • Discuss what is happening with others outside the group
    • Invite other into group to bring fresh ideas
    • Collect anonymous reactions.
    • Use suggestion box / an online forum.
    • Problem
    – Charging for storage space

    • Group
    – Norm: Charging for space  Loose customer base

    • Individual (investor)
    – Must start charging for it to sustain

    • Consequence
    – No change to approach. Filed for bankruptcy
    Question 2
    • How might differences in status among group
    members contribute to groupthink? E.g. How
    might lower status members react to group
    decisions?
    • Are lower status members more or less likely
    to be dissenters?
    • Why might higher-status group members be
    more effective dissenters?
    Answer
    • The status impacts the group think based on
    following factors.
    – Minority
    – Dominant majority
    – Its more pleasant to agree rather than dissent
    Question 3
    • Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says that he
    encourages dissent. Can such norms guard
    against the occurrence of groupthink?
    • As a manager, how would you try to cultivate
    norms that prevent groupthink?
    Answer
    • Yes, encouraging dissent as norm or culture
    guards against groupthink.
    How might group characteristics such as size and
    cohesiveness affect groupthink?

    • Large group size


    – Less personal responsibility
    – More Intimidated & hesitant
    – Norm for consensus overrides
    – Low productivity – large size (social loafing)
    – Large size – effective in fact finding, analysis
    • Cohesiveness
    – high productivity, if goals are set upfront
    – low productivity, if goals are not set
    Thank You

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