Combating Groupthink

We have seen that it is important for task groups to feel cohesive and confident. Sometimes, however, a group gets too confident and begins to make poor deci­sions. This state is called groupthink, and it can have very serious repercussions. What exactly is groupthink? Irving Janis, who coined the term, defines it as “a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members’ strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action.” In groupthink, group members believe they can do no wrong. This problem can occur when cohesion is too high, when group members are too similar (so that no new ideas challenge group consensus), or when the group is isolated from out­side influences.

Groupthink has several symptoms. The first is an illusion of invulnerabil­ity. A group immersed in groupthink believes so strongly it is the best that it loses all sense of reality. The second symptom is belief in the group’s own morality. Members feel that their actions and beliefs are more valuable than those of people outside the group. This symptom is closely related to a third symptom, the tendency to hold shared stereotypes. Members take on an “us ver­sus them” mentality, believing that anyone who opposes the group is stupid or wrong. Problems or failures are explained away by collective rationalizations, which allow members to stick to an ill-advised course of action even in the face of contrary information. Individual members who begin to doubt the group feel strong pressures toward self-censorship. They hesitate to speak up because they know they will encounter disapproval. In fact an illusion of unanimity arises, whereby a doubting member believes that everyone else agrees with the group’s chosen action. Should a dissenting member speak up, he or she is severely sanctioned as other members place pressure on dissenters. Finally, the leader and key members of the group are protected from outside information by self-appointed mind-guards who “protect” them from negative information.

As a result of the groupthink atmosphere, problem solving is disrupted. Members ignore alternatives, fail to test their ideas against reality, and refuse to make contingency plans.

How can groups guard against this kind of overconfidence? Croups can assign a member to take on the role of critic or devil’s advocate. They can take criticisms and warnings seriously. When they hear themselves denigrating the competition or bragging about their own talents, they can become aware that they may be slipping into groupthink. And they can also make a rule that once a decision has been made, they will hold a second-chance meeting to review it and find its flaws.

Group leaders can prevent groupthink by:

1- encouraging members to raise objections and concerns;

2- refraining from stating their preferences at the onset of the group’s activities;

3- allowing the group to be independently evaluated by a separate group with a different leader;

4- splitting the group into sub-groups, each with different chairpersons, to separately generate alternatives, then bringing the sub-groups together to hammer out differences;

5- allowing group members to get feedback on the group’s decisions from their own constituents;

6- seeking input from experts outside the group;

7- assigning one or more members to play the role of the devil’s advocate;

8- requiring the group to develop multiple scenarios of events upon which they are acting, and contingencies for each scenario;

9- calling a meeting after a decision consensus is reached in which all group members are expected to critically review the decision before final approval is given. By carefully monitoring their behavior as they pass through the common stages of group development, groups can avoid serious errors in problem solving.

Group Development: Phases in Problem-Solving Groups

Recognizing the symptoms of groupthink can help groups make better deci­sions. Recognizing the stages through which groups pass can also help group members prepare for some of the stresses and strains they will normally en­counter. Groups pass through identifiable stages as members come to know one another better.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16