The inherent issues with groupthink

From my experience, groupthink is one of the more detrimental things in terms of creating quality outcomes through decision making.

Groupthink refers to the desire (of a group) for harmony in reaching a decision, which most of the time creates a one-dimensional perspective. It also creates an illusion of productivity – everyone is on the same page and we are moving forward, thus we are productive. In reality, the decision is most likely suboptimal because it only has the perspective of 1 person, which is then supported by everyone else. Ultimately, it will block cognitive diversity.

Orgs that are hierarchical in culture suffer the most from this. When decision making is centralized and done by the highest paid person, groupthink will naturally start to form. Because this level of hierarchy gives 0 incentive for anyone to take the opposing view, what’s the point of it when you will be overruled by rank?

One of the most interesting studies on this topic is one from Harvard Business Review, summarized in the table below. There is an almost linear positive relationship between cognitive diversity and the group’s ability to solve a problem fast – the higher the standard deviation of perspective in a group, the faster they solve problems. Cognitive diverse groups solved challenges 3x faster than their counterparts which were less cognitively diverse.

The conclusion here is: it is almost impossible to create teams that are functioning with cognitive diversity if groupthink exists. Those different voices are silenced by the highest paid person in an hierarchical setup.

I’ve come to understand that building teams that are comfortable to take and defend an opposing or different view, regardless of seniority level, is one of the most valuable things you can do to increase the output and wellbeing of your team.

It’s also more difficult and messy. Strong principles need to be put in place on how to navigate it, such as the team’s ability to disagree and commit. Yet if done right, this type of team will be very hard to beat.