Groupthink: How and Why to Avoid It

Groupthink can happen to anyone, from a group of moms watching over their children to a government panel guiding the country. What happens is this: the group, which is full of otherwise logical, intelligent adults, ends up making poor, irrational decisions. This is because members of the group become more concerned with keeping the group intact than with expressing a contradictory opinion, criticizing someone´s idea, or suggesting an alternative.

As a result, groupthink, which was coined by psychologist Irving Janis in the 1970s, often results in faulty, sometimes disastrous decisions. Rather than thinking for themselves, people caught up in groupthink fail to do the following:

Examine the downsides to the group´s decision

Search for adequate information

Keep an unbiased opinion

Search for alternative options

Seek out expert opinions

Be critical of other group members´ opinions

The Eight Symptoms of Groupthink

You have likely experienced groupthink on some level, perhaps during a meeting at work or even in a discussion with your family. Yet, some groups are particularly vulnerable to this type of flawed thinking. According to Janis, a group may be at risk of groupthink if they have:

A strong, persuasive leader

A high level of group cohesion

Intense outside pressure to make a good decision

Typically, however, once you are engaged in groupthink you won´t realize it. So what are some signs that you may be blindly accepting the majority opinion of a group you belong to? Janis defined eight main symptoms of groupthink that you should be aware of:

Illusion of Invulnerability: Members ignore obvious danger, take extreme risk, and are overly optimistic

Collective Rationalization: Members discredit and explain away warnings contrary to group thinking

Illusion of Morality: Members believe their decisions are morally correct, ignoring the ethical consequences of their decisions

Excessive Stereotyping: The group constructs negative stereotypes of rivals outside the group.

Pressure for Conformity: Members pressure any in the group who express arguments against the group's stereotypes, illusions, or commitments, viewing such opposition as disloyalty

Self-Censorship: Members withhold their dissenting views and counter-arguments

Illusion of Unanimity: Members perceive falsely that everyone agrees with the group's decision; silence is seen as consent

Mindguards: Some members appoint themselves to the role of protecting the group from adverse information that might threaten group complacency

Groupthink Stems From Insecurities

 To some extent, groupthink results from a climate of fear and a desire to stay cohesive. In this regard, having strong members of the group encourage members to share any objections, doubts, or alternatives to the decision at hand can be very beneficial.

Setting up certain decision-making standards, such as consulting an outside expert or having certain members play "devil´s advocate," can help stop groupthink from occurring. However, on a deeper level groupthink can be squelched on an individual basis because this form of thinking is the direct or indirect result of low self-esteem.

"Most of us have such insecurity about our own knowingness and self worth that we feel we can get it from outside ourselves by belonging to, or thinking with, a larger group of people that we feel either knows more or has more value than we do," says Hale Dwoskin, CEO and Director of Training at Sedona Training Associates.

However, seeking to boost your own self worth by gaining the acceptance and recognition of others is destined to fail.

To learn more about the transformative, easy-to-learn and use Sedona Method, visit our web site at www.sedona.com