How can you avoid groupthink

That is where the true opportunity to avoid groupthink lies. Recognizing diverse personalities is one thing; however, fostering chemistry amongst those diverse personalities is the most important thing. Being able to play well in the sandbox together is a hallmark of our leadership team. Intentionally structure meetings. The structure of a meeting — in terms of both its consistent schedule and format — can help to avoid groupthink. In my opinion, meetings should never be a monologue or led by any one person - even the CEO.

They can tend to be boring and lack audience attention and effectiveness. For over 25 years our leadership group has met each Wednesday with assigned topics and shared responsibilities for content. I have found this format has helped us avoid groupthink and I feel it has led to better decision making in our organization. If leaders harness the creativity of someone like Wozniak and channel it into more diverse collaborative efforts, then it may lead to a much better bottom-line — whether the team is friendly with one another or not.

In this article, we talked about ways to avoid groupthink, and how friendships can contribute to less desirable outcomes. If empowering yourself, your team, or your entire workforce to solve their own problems with the right technology sounds good to you, click here to learn more about Quick Base. Here are some tips from experts: Plan for it. Art Petty, founder and principal of the Art Petty Group, says any risk plan should include a way to monitor and reduce emerging groupthink. Encourage debate.

As Dattner mentions, Kennedy learned that getting his own way with no debate might feel good for a short time — but the end result can be terrible. We want to all get along. We strive to have workplaces where we identify and are working for the same goal. Knowing how to keep the group strong and connected is crucial — but at the same time we never want to mistake this as our only priority. Our goal is to create a safe and respectful workplace which at the same time fosters growth, creativity, and productivity.

Receive a Conflict Resolution Skills e-manual when you subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Here are a few ideas to help you avoid groupthink at your next team meeting: 1. Access now. Find a workshop near you. Learn more.

Have a Question? Contact Us. Online Training. Training Topics. Public Trainings. Private Training. National Events. Members failed to share their dissenting opinions and information that could have avoided embarrassing or tragic decisions. How can smart people get together and come to seemingly inexplicable conclusions?

There are three main reasons groups create pressure that leads to flawed decisions. First, all humans want to feel a sense of belonging with others — our brains are wired to find our tribe, the people with whom we belong. In any group situation, we want to feel accepted by other members and seek approval, consciously and unconsciously.

One way to gain acceptance and approval is to find common ground with others. But, when all members do this, it has the effect of biasing group discussion toward areas of similarity and agreement, crowding out potential differences and disagreement. Read more: To what extent are we ruled by unconscious forces?

For instance, if a member of a group says they like a particular TV show, other members who also like it are most likely to speak.