Article August 23, 2004 Issue

DONE ANY GROUPTHINKING LATELY?

R.E.D.

When maintaining group harmony is more important than reaching hard but honest answers, watch out.

Here are a few of the signs of groupthink:

• Feelings of invulnerability: believing that if the team and its leader say a particular course of action is all right, it is going to succeed, even if this action involves risks.

• False unanimity: suppressing one's doubts about a course of action, or failing to raise practical objections in order to prevent disagreements.

• Fear of being a troublemaker: discerning serious pitfalls in a proposed course of action, but failing to voice one's concerns in order to remain "a team player."

• Suppression of useful dissent: refusing to revisit a decision if someone raises an objection after everyone else has agreed to a particular line of action. Whether this is done on the part of the team leader or a team member, it may prevent important issues from coming to light.

R.E.D.

Editor's note: The term groupthink was coined by lrving L. Janis, a professor of psychology at Yale University. He explored the subject in his book, Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascoes (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983).

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