Facts About Groupthink

CHAPTER 9: THE VERDICT ON GROUPTHINK 1. In my experience, I found that decision-making groups do not tend toward groupthink. Groupthink is a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members’ striving for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action. Groups displaying most of the symptoms of groupthink are more likely to display symptoms ofdefective decision making, resulting in poor policy outcomes. There are seven ways to prevent this: * Leaders should assign the role “critical evaluator” to each group member to allow each member to freely voice objective and doubts. * Leaders should not express an opinion when assigning
This is called bounded rationality. Once juror have identified a problem, they begin to search for criteria and alternatives. But the list of criteria is likely to be far from exhaustive. They identify a limited list of the most obvious choices, which usually represent familiar criteria and tried-and-true solutions. Next, they begin reviewing them, but their review will not be comprehensive. Instead, they focus on alternatives that differ only in a relatively small degree from the choice currently in effect. Following familiar and well-worn paths, they review alternatives only until we identify one that is “good enough” that meets an acceptable level of performance. That ends their search. So the solution represents a satisfying choice the first acceptable one they encounter rather than an optimal one. Intuitive decision making is a no conscious process created from distilled experience. Its defining qualities are that it occurs outside conscious thought it relies on holistic associations, or links between disparate pieces of information, its fast and it’s affectively charged, meaning that it usually engages the emotions. Intuition is not rational, but that does not necessarily make it wrong. Nor does it always operate in opposition to rational analysis rather; the two can complement each other. Intuition can be a powerful force in decision making. But intuition is not superstition, or the product of some magical or paranormal sixth sense. Ethics is the study of moral values or principles that guide our behaviour and inform us whether actions are right or wrong. Ethical principles help us “do the right thing.” An individual can use four different criteria in making ethical choices. The first is utilitarianism, in which decisions are made solely on the basis of their outcomes or consequences, ideally to provide the greatest good for the greatest number. A