Janis Groupthink

Have you ever thought about speaking up in a meeting and then decided against it because you did non exigency to appear unsupportive of the sort outs efforts? If so, you have probably been a victim of Groupthink. Irving Lester Janis (26 may 1918 15 November 1990) was a research psychologist at Yale University and close to famous for his scheme of convocationthink which draw the systematic errors made by groups when taking collective decisivenesss(Wikipedia). Janis described groupthink as a mode of thinking that people engage in when they be deeply involved in a cohesive in-group.When the members air for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of sue(Janis,1972,p. 8). Janis identified eight symptoms(features) of groupthink. They were- 1)Illusion of Invulnerability-This leads the group to unwarranted optimism, over confidence lead them to take extraordinary risks. It may also lead them to fire surface signs of risks. 2)Collective Rationalization-Victims of groupthink construct rationalizations and discount and discredit negative feedback and advice from the oppositions. )Illusion of morality-Group members often tend to ignore the ethical and moral consequences of their decisions. 4)Stereotyped views of others-Victims of Groupthink have a stereotyped view towards opponents who succumb different depressions. They consider them to be too stupid or weakened to handle the problem. 5)Pressure on Dissent-Group members apply direct pressure on anyone who opposes the fancy or validity supporting a decision or opinion favored by the legal age. Example-Body language,Voice tone. 6)Self-censorship-They tend to censor themselves when they have opinions opposing the majority of the group.This minimizes the members doubts and opinions to themselves and not to the group. They withhold dissenting views and counter arguments. Example-Keeping quiet and not boastful an opinion due to opposing views. 7)Illusion of unanimit y-Victims of groupthink have an illusion that the whole group is in unanimity. This symptom is caused by the preceding symptom. This is due to the false presumptuousness that anybody who doesnt give an opinion is in unanimity with the groups decision. Silence is taken as consent. )Mindguarding-A few group members take up the role of mind-guards so as to protect the other members of the group from excessive information and facts that might destroy the majority decision. They stand up to establish the information wrong and label them stupid(stereotyped). This type of dysfunctional operation of an geological formation has many opportunities for go againsture. The basic fundamentals of this process are the beginnings of failure as groups seeks conformity and unity as they sacrifice everything in order to confirm peace within the group.These eight symptoms of groupthink identified by Janis leads to sorry decision making. Victims of grouthink never consider all the alternatives,they do not re-examine the alternatives,they cull negative information and have no calamity plans. The above are due to the stereotyped view of the victims and they act in this way to not disrupt the idea of the majority. This is what the organizations should be careful of. A real tone example of groupthink leading to a defective decision making is competitor Space Shuttle disaster.This occurred on January 28,1986 reared from John F. Kennedy space centre. It was considered to be the most tragic event after John F. Kennedys assassination. The presidential committee that investigated the accident showed that defective decision making was the main cause. MTI engineers presented that the mission would fail as the shuttle would not succeed in such parky temperatures. But,the flight officials put forward technical rationalizations faulting MTIs analysis. One of these rationalizations was that the information was incohensive showing their stereotyped view.The officials also forced Thio kol officials to change their recommendation from avoiding confine to the launch. This shows pressure on dissent. Hence,as expected the mission failed after 73 seconds of the launch killing 7 astronauts aboard. This example shows us how the officials had symptoms of groupthink and how it lead them to a defective decision making process. The challenge for any team or group leader is to create a working environment in which Groupthink is incredible to happen.Hence we could avoid groupthink by exploring objectives,exploring alternatives,encouraging ideas to be challenged without reprisal,examining the risks if the preferred choice is chosen,testing assumptions,gathering applicable information from outside sources,processing this information objectively,have at least one contingency plan. References 1)Moorhead,Gregory,Ference,Richard and Neck,Chris P. 1991 Group decision fiascos continueShuttle challenger and a rewrite groupthink framework. Human Relations 44/6 539-550. 2)Wikipedia.