Identifying and Combating Groupthink in Your Team

Last week I posted a poll to have a better understanding of people's thoughts on groupthink. It was truly insightful to find out that more than half of the respondents thought groupthink is a positive aspect of teams working together, and I can understand why. 

After all, when thinking of a group of people coming together to make decisions, you would assume they will naturally develop a sound framework promoting good choices. However, creating a proper framework is complex and requires careful planning and management to cultivate creativity effectively and achieve optimal decision-making. Thus, groupthink is antithetical to a productive framework.

In this article, I will outline what groupthink is and how it develops in teams while providing you with strategies and techniques to combat it so you can prevent it from damaging your organization. 

What is Groupthink?

According to psychologytoday, "Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when a group of well-intentioned people makes irrational or non-optimal decisions spurred by the urge to conform or the belief that dissent is impossible."

The term "Groupthink" was initially pinned by psychologist Irvin Janis in 1971. Janis argued that decision-making in groups is ineffective when groupthink occurs, as team members choose conformity and coherence instead of rational thinking. i.e., they think of themselves collectively as a group instead of putting their individual opinions and ideas on the table. 

This happens when team members are not comfortable debating each other and challenging ideas they may disagree with. The behavior usually arises with good intentions when people desire a strong group identity and a sense of belonging and approval. Unfortunately, however well-intentioned this reasoning may be, groupthink stifles original ideas and halts creativity in its tracks. 

It excludes people who challenge ideas, prevents the consideration of possible problems, accepts facts that only support the group's dominant opinion, and finally yields to bad decisions that could lead to the failure of the organization's objectives. 

Let's say you are launching a new product or service in your company. Suppose your team is working in a groupthink mode. In that case, nobody will challenge possibly detrimental ideas or point out potential problems that could arise with a launch strategy if coherence and conformity are the group's top ideals. Many will be rightfully worried that they would be excluded if they challenged the group's leading ideas. 

Naturally, the results of this unfortunate paradigm can be disastrous for companies, with some such as Polaroid and Enron having failed due to complications brought about by groupthink. It's vitally important to identify when groupthink is beginning to take hold of your team and stop it in its tracks.

Symptoms of Groupthink

Janis identifies eight problematic symptoms of groupthink:  

1- Illusion of Invulnerability: When people assume that rules are no longer applicable, they feel free to act outside of them and codes of ethics. Again, this usually takes place with good intentions, believing that what they are doing is for the good of their team. 

2- Collective Rationalization: This happens when a team feels invulnerable. Thus, they will collectively try to rationalize to explain any mistakes and try to make excuses without finding the actual problem and fixing it. 

3- Belief in Inherent Group Morality: This mindset refers to when team members believe they act morally with good intentions when they conform with the group and justify their conformity, even when it leads to negative results. 

4- Stereotypes of Outgroups:  If you notice your team members begin to negatively describe competition and challenges existing within the organization before thoughtful consideration, this could indicate that groupthink has taken hold. Regularly challenging and testing the systems, processes, and beliefs held within your company leads to innovation.

5- Direct Pressure on Dissenters: One of the most damaging outcomes of groupthink, this symptom refers to when you see your team begin to push back against any challenging or dissenting opinions for the sake of the group's commonly held belief. 

6- Self-censorship: When team members feel that their constructive criticism is not welcomed they are more likely to self-censor any new and unfamiliar ideas they have.

7- Illusion on Unanimity: Even when something is wrong, even if the majority thinks something is bad, they will all stay silent to conform to a leading opinion that assumes everything is going just fine and everything is good. This arises because there is something good in the status quo and that just speaking out could lead to negative consequences.

8- Self-Appointed Mind Guards: These are team members who unfortunately take the initiative to stop and hide any challenging information that could threaten the team's conformity. They could be hiding critical information that indicates failures or missed targets. 

Even when the above occurs with the best intentions, teams must understand that fresh ideas and new ways of looking at challenges lead to company success when presented constructively. Keeping dissenting opinions buried only feeds existing problems and stifles the innovation of systems, processes, products, and services.

If you have a hole in your ship and all those aboard only hide the problem instead of trying to fix it, your boat will surely sink!

What can you do when you notice symptoms of groupthink? 

Combating groupthink

1- Encourage criticism

Criticism is considered harmful in teams that operate in groupthink mode, and any person who makes attempts to combat this mindset is looked down upon. Therefore, to encourage constructive criticism in your team, it's a good idea to promote and reward it actively. 

Ask your employees to challenge ideas and praise them for doing so while pointing out how their unique ideas and individual contribution may have helped achieve better outcomes. In addition, you will be encouraging those around you to speak their mind by making them feel secure against being pushed out and labeled an outsider. 

2- Diversity

Diversity is an essential element in today's workplace and goes a long way in preventing groupthink. When team members all come from similar backgrounds with similar ways of thinking, they are far more likely to fall into destructive groupthink patterns. My research found that diversity leads to success across the board, and by cultivating it, you can help protect your organization from the disastrous consequences of groupthink. 

Yet, with diversity comes another challenge to management. Because diverse teams come from different backgrounds with different ways of thinking, there's sometimes a risk for disagreements that may lead to conflicts that negatively affect operations. To manage diverse teams effectively, team leaders must foster cohesion and a sense of belonging, and respect for everyone's opinion. 

You can achieve this by having a clear vision and goals while making everyone feel that they are working for the same cause instead of working against each other. When fostering team cohesion in diverse teams, ensure that you promote debate and use the other tips outlined here to prevent groupthink. 

3- The Devil's Advocate

The following simple trick can be handy. For every meeting, assign one team member to play the role of "The Devil's Advocate." Ask them to challenge ideas and find possible problems with them. Also, make sure to alternate this role between team members, so you don't only pressure the same people to fill this role and make them feel like outsiders. 

The person assigned to be the "Devil's Advocate" will be less likely to self-censor since they were explicitly asked to challenge ideas, and the role will alternate between all. 

4- Encouraging Everyone to Speak Their Mind

Encourage everyone to speak their mind by having the team leader talk last. When the team leader speaks first, team members operating in groupthink are less likely to challenge the leader's ideas and opinions. So, by having team leaders speak last, groupthink is less likely to occur. 

It would be best if you also asked team members who are usually quiet to speak out and voice their opinion first, especially when you have several dominant voices in meetings during critical decision-making times. 

5- Inviting Outside Experts to Meetings 

By inviting outside subject matter experts to your team meetings now and again, you will shake up the usual routine while introducing new ideas and perspectives for all to consider. Moreover, the perspectives of outside experts are often appreciated and respected by companies, so their unique views are less likely to be challenged by groupthink.