Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon whereby pressure within a group to agree, results in failures to think critically about an issue, situation, or decision. This is considered by many to be the reason otherwise knowledgable and intelligent people make terrible decisions. In addition to the pressure to agree, a loud, boisterous member of a group can sway the thinking of a meek but more intelligent person or group of people simply by being more vocal.
Lots of people in power have gotten there by being the loudest, look-at-me, let-me-tell-you-what-we-should-do person. These people know the power of Groupthink and play it to their advantage. I’m writing to make sure you are aware of the phenomenon. I want you to know how to prevent yourself and/or team from being a victim of it and how to make sure no one in your group, circle, or family is taking advantage by using the power of it for evil.
First, we will touch on how to recognize and prevent groupthink. We’ve all been in a group with a goal and a deadline. If you haven’t worked in an office/corporate setting, just look back to group projects in college or high school. You sit together and everyone has their ideas and are generally excited about them. Almost immediately after the first meeting or two, the pressure of the task at hand and sticking to the timeline rears its ugly head. The highest-ranked, loudest, or strongest willed person in the group takes the lead. The others follow suit deferring to the person who seems to be most confident in accomplishing the task. The issue here is the ideas and excitement of the group cease. All ideas come from one person. Although some members of the group may have suggestions, they keep it to themselves in fear of rocking the boat and not being a team player.
These thoughts are the reason many projects or endeavors fail. Groupthink forces team members who may see an issue to look the other way for the good of the team which is completely wrong. The strength of the team is always the team. The minute that is lost the team and the goal is at the mercy of the person making all the decisions. Keep this in mind when you are in any group. If you see the ideas or direction of the group is being dominated by one person you should decide to speak up and change it or remove yourself from the group. Even in the case of being knowledgeable about groupthink, you can fall victim to the culture of it fairly quickly if you allow it at its introduction in a group. It is very rare for a person to experience a eureka or ah-ha moment after being in a groupthink circle for a long period. An exception would be not knowing of it, reading it somewhere, and then speaking up. 😊
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Worse than being stuck in one of these groups is being in one where the leader of the group is fully aware of what’s going on and taking advantage of it. Not all people utilize knowledge for good. Not all reading this will but hopefully, the majority will learn to spot these disgusting people and save unwitting people. Let’s discuss the traits of these false leaders. They are usually extremely charismatic, have the gift of gab, and are comfortable taking the lead regardless of skill/ability to complete the task. Their charisma and gift of gab enable the ability to convince others that they know what they are talking about. Not only do they believe they know what they are talking about but they should also be in charge.
It’s all over the history books and is peppered all over your life too. With the ability to cover their shortcomings and convince the masses they should be a leader, their final trait of comfortably taking the rains of something they have no business controlling fits in perfectly. Now all that was enamored by the facade of this person has their lives, at least the immediate future of their lives, under the thumb of a person who will lead them right into failure. This may hit home for a country or two right now. The USA agrees with me. I’m sure of that much.
In closing, groupthink like many other larger issues in life starts on the surface looking like not much of a threat. You look up one day and realize you have no control over certain aspects of your life. It can be at work. You going with the flow because the last person that spoke up was considered a trouble maker and had to leave the company because they couldn’t get a promotion. It could be your friends. You wanting more for not only yourself but for all of them. This nudge toward the better feels like a full-on push to those comfortable where they are. You can choose to keep nudging and risk the friendship or stop and risk losing the desire to do better yourself.
It can also be your family. You see that your family is stuck in the ways of their upbringing but you’ve seen and know there are better ways to do things. You can become a broken record until you see a change in the family with the chance of never seeing it or pull away from those who seem to have no desire for different even if it’s better. Hey, to each their own. Just be aware that there is always a choice. Don’t stunt the potential of any aspect of your life out of fear of rocking the boat. Flip the entire thing over. It’s your life we are talking about.
Food for thought…You do the dishes.
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