EP 41 - How to Combat Groupthink

Groupthink happens when consensus becomes more important than correctness...

Transcript

Groupthink happens when consensus becomes more important than correctness.

The American Psychological Association defines groupthink as “a strong concurrence-seeking tendency that interferes with effective group decision-making”.

A good example is BlackBerry. Remember them? They used to dominate the mobile device market for business, but they lost it all to Android and Apple because they all agreed that consumer-oriented “apps” would never be allowed on business devices.

A form of groupthink is what psychologists call the “Abilene Paradox”, which occurs when everyone in the group publicly agrees on a decision because they think it’s what the rest of the group wants, even though privately, they disagree and would prefer to take a different course of action.

There are a lot of things that can cause groupthink and the Abilene Paradox. Things like -

A successful leader that no one wants to disagree with; a friendly team wanting to maintain harmony; or a simple lack of diversity and outside perspectives.

Stress can cause groupthink, too. It feels safer when everyone’s bought in, because it’s harder to assign blame. And when you’re under time pressure, it’s easier to just go with the crowd.

Let's say you work in a company like this and you want to help avoid groupthink. What do you do?

You have to promote what’s known as “constructive conflict”.

“Constructive conflict” refers to a type of disagreement or conflict that is managed and handled in a positive way. It’s when people have different ideas or opinions, but instead of causing harm or negative feelings, these differences are used as an opportunity to learn, grow, and improve. It involves open communication, understanding each other’s viewpoints, and working together to find a solution that benefits everyone involved.

Here’s how you do it.

If you're in a meeting, keep your ideas to yourself until you hear what everyone else has to say. That way you won't influence what people are thinking.

You should encourage disagreement. In fact, when consensus comes too easily, you should assume there's groupthink. And you can say something like: "We're missing something. What is it?"

You can invite outsiders into your meetings and ask their opinions because they’re not worried about hurting feelings, they don't care about your sacred cows, and they can see things the group may miss.

And appoint a “devil's advocate”, someone that can shoot holes in the group's assumptions, present counterarguments, and think through unintended consequences.

We once worked with a CEO who would tell her executive team, "I want to debate this, who has a different view?"

If no one spoke up she'd say, "Okay. I want someone to be the contrarian and poke holes in this. Who’s it gonna be?”

Usually, people would start to speak up, but if they didn't, “she’d” be the contrarian, and she’d play the devil's advocate herself.

Reaching consensus is the hardest way to make a decision because you need a high-functioning team to do so.

If the team doesn't work well together, you're going to have a slow decision based on groupthink, and the group may even agree on the wrong decision.

So, consensus is a “nice-to-have”. It’s not a “must-have”. If you've got a high-functioning team and they reach consensus, that's great, because they're more likely to own the decision.

But the real challenge is living with differences. That's what diversity is all about. Different ideas, opinions and, priorities.

When you ask people to reach consensus, there's going to be winners and losers.

Every team has their alphas and there's always a pecking order. Some opinions carry more weight and the loudest voices and strongest personalities tend to prevail. So people will “go along to get along”.

So instead of consensus, focus on commitment. The fact is, teams often reach consensus but aren’t committed to see the decision through.

When it’s okay to disagree, you're acknowledging the differences and celebrating diversity. Everyone had a say and everyone feels heard.

There are different ways to make a decision. You can own the decision but seek everyone’s input. And when you do, you tend to get more honest input.

Here’s what you might say to your team - "I'm going to make this decision and I want to hear what everyone has to say. I'd like to reach consensus, but I'd rather get this decision right. So I need to know what each of you think - what each of you really think. Now, I expect some differences and think that's good, so don't hold back. But whatever I decide, I'm going to ask for your commitment. Is that fair?"

When you do that, you put everyone on the same footing. If you've got a healthy team dynamic - great. But this works even if you don't. It works with ad hoc teams, cross-functional teams and even dysfunctional teams. So give it a try.

And remember, “commitment” is more important than “consensus”.