When is groupthink positive

In situations where extreme levels of disagreement exist, groupthink can impose a level of harmony by seeking and cultivating common ground. Groupthink can also aid in the performance of a new company or organization by placing an emphasis on the familiar and concentrating a coordinated effort toward a single goal.

Groupthink can also promote needed "buy in" by promoting a united front once the decision-making process is complete and implementation begins. Leaders often inspire groupthink in the form of confidence in their ability to lead effectively. Chris Blank is an independent writer and research consultant with more than 20 years' experience.

Blank specializes in social policy analysis, current events, popular culture and travel. His work has appeared both online and in print publications. He holds a Master of Arts in sociology and a Juris Doctor. How Can Groupthink Affect an Organization? By Chris Blank. Each member examines his or her choices and potential outcomes before making a decision. Whether the decision is publicized or privatized is really important. Certain members who feel they have much to lose by making a public decision may opt to for alternative route despite if that is not in the best interest of the group These situational factors largely affect why group members may or may not speak up.

Failure to speak up fosters groupthink, so preventive measures need to be taken. Furthermore, the group fails to explore potential alternatives and different processes. Numerous options just go unrealized. A strong group mentality offers a lot of security to its group members, and; thus, objectives and alternatives are ignored.

The way to ensure a strong group mentality is to ensure each member feels a part of the group. In order to sustain a strong group mentality,. Fostering a strong group mentality is about inclusion, whether it is perceived or actual 1. Make group members feel part of the group and they will be more likely to support the group and its decisions.

As previously mentioned, faulty decision making is integral when groupthink. Unfortunately, sometimes complacency wins, and these issues are not addressed, thus allowing groupthink to fester. Groupthink is a rather situational force. Though largely negative outcomes, it. Identifying when groupthink is a good or bad influence on a group is up to the discretion of the group members.

Such a focus on member complacency also suggests that group protocol and processes must be reviewed and changed accordingly. By improving the group environment, members will feel more. Balcetis, E.

Do collectivists know themselves better than individualists? Cross-cultural studies of the holier than thou phenomenon. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95 6 , Briley, D.

A dynamic view of cultural influence: A review. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 24 4 , Choi, J. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84 2 , Hofstede, G. Journal of International Business Studies, 37 6 , Janis, I. Groupthink: Psychological studies of policy decisions and fiascoes 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Kameda, T. Psychological entrapment in group decision making: An assigned decision rule and a groupthink phenomenon. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65 2 , Packer, D. In essence, it is a major barrier to attentive information appraisal and processing and inhibits inclusive rationalization.

The importance of this phenomenon and the justification of interest in this matter is that many important political, policy and business decisions are currently made in groups, under high-pressure and time constraints, that could result in disastrous consequences if groupthink creeps in. Examples of groupthink can be found in historic events such as the U.

Thompson, In each of these examples, leadership style played a key role in enhancing groupthink conditions. Ironically, the role of leadership is also pivotal in ensuring that teams escape the potential pitfall of groupthink by adopting certain practices that mitigate groupthink. Some of these practices have been discussed below.

Groupthink can be diagnosed or observed when most or all of the following symptoms are present: " a Illusion of invulnerability b Belief in inherent morality of the group c Collective rationalization d Stereotypes of outgroups e Direct pressure on dissenters f Self-censorship g Illusion of unanimity h Self-appointed mind guards" Janis and Mann and Meyers as cited in Nemeth and Goncalo, Leaders do not treat all the members of the team equally and maintain distinct relationships with different members Thompson, This can lead to ingroups and outgroups being formed within a team, impacting group cohesiveness.

A double-edged sword, group cohesiveness can be affected by leader-member relationships and leaders should be mindful of this fact. Studies have found that group leaders who are high in power motivation foster an atmosphere that is detrimental to group decision-making.

In an experiment conducted on college students, Fodor and Smith discovered that people with low scores on power motivation shared more information with the group and also considered more options before narrowing down on a decision. Since closed leaders establish their personal views early in the decision-making process, they reduce the discussion of more alternatives, which can also lead to the fallacies of Common information effect and Hidden Profile.

Directive and promotional leaders are closed leaders who promote a particular alternative and ignore others, giving rise to groupthink symptoms and more observable defects in the group decision-making process Chen et al.

When such leaders express a preferred solution early in the discussion, groups are far more likely to adopt that solution as the final group choice Leana, It has been found that an effective leader is one who has an open outlook and can don different hats, such as those of a consultant, adviser, and facilitator to meet the requirements of the situation. Bay of Pigs vs.

Cuban Missile Crisis : This is an example of when the same group succumbed to groupthink in one account Bay of Pigs and not in the other Cuban Missile Crisis. A leader has to maintain a healthy atmosphere of divergent thinking that steers the team away from premature convergence Small, In addition to creating an environment of trust and openness, in which team members are encouraged to speak up and critique ideas and opinions without fear of being reprimanded, a leader could make use of the following best practices in order to mitigate groupthink.

The Devil's Advocate role is that of a person who takes a position for the sake of fostering argument and conflict and is one of the oldest tools that can be used to mitigate the groupthink bias. Encourage authentic dissent : Conflict in teams is not always a bad thing, especially task and process conflict For more information refer to Types of conflict.

The downside of this is that dissenters are disliked and treated unfairly Greitemeyer et al. So team leaders should establish procedures to protect these alternative viewpoints Thompson, and protect minority dissenters from backlash and being relegated to outgroup status. Use the Six Thinking Hats approach : In the early stages of problem solving, it is imperative to explore the solution space, without narrowing down too quickly.

Better training of leaders in the use of experts could be vital to the decision making process Smith, The presence of an expert can reduce the insulation of the group from the outside world. Monitor team size : Team size is positively correlated with groupthink Thompson, Though there is no magic number that may work, by keeping a team lean the leader may encourage its members to speak versus conforming to popular views.

Encourage diversity : Diversity in groups often facilitates group performance and also reduces group cohesiveness, which in turn increases diverse perspectives Greitmeyer et al.

But while diverse groups are good at generating more ideas, overall task performance is higher in homogeneous groups Thompson Use of sub-groups : The leader first creates sub-groups to explore opposing alternatives and then the whole group comes together to debate the options Roberto, This engenders an atmosphere of open inquiry and impartiality.

Structure discussion methods and alleviate time pressure : By sharing guidelines on methodical decision-making processes and reducing time pressure, leaders can mitigate groupthink antecedent conditions of lack of methodical principals and stress Thompson, By analyzing two consecutive decisions made by the same group of executives at National Broadcasting Company NBC Neck explored the role leadership played in enhancing groupthink in the first case and mitigating it in the second.