Introduction
Human is a social animal: it has been the case more than 2000 years ago, during the times of the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle, and it still is. A man cannot live in isolation. To exist, develop and learn a human being needs society. The basic capacity to acquire new knowledge, think, regard, play, work and respect are developed by the means of communication. A man is compelled to be a part of a group both biologically and psychologically. Society fulfills all human needs and provides individual with security. A man comes into this world, grows, lives and dies in society. It seems natural that individuals want to avoid conflicts and strive for consensus in a group. However, sometimes the desire to stay a part of the team is so strong, that people may set aside their personal opinions and adopt the beliefs of the rest of the group. Those who keep their initial views, opposed to the majority in the group often remain quiet, for the sake of peace and uniformity in their community.
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"Organizational Leadership: Groupthink".
Definition: “Groupthink is a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members’ strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action” (Janis,1982, p 9).
1. Dangers of Groupthink
The main danger of groupthink consists in a tendency to undermine the ability of critical thinking, which often leads to improper decision-making. Teams consisting of individuals with different opinions, ideas and arguments, are more likely to be critical on the way to finding the most realistic solutions of the problem. In such a team members openly review available ideas and find the best ones. Groupthink, on the other hand, is able to eliminate the thought competition in the team, immediately giving preference to one argument and excluding the rest of options. The sub-optimized decisions, taken as the result of the groupthink, directly relate to a team’s negative performance and possible failures (Turner and Pratkanis, 1998, p.105).
2. The Role of Groupthink in the Challenger Shuttle Disaster
There are numerous examples in history how wrong decisions have been made due to groupthink. The Challenger Shuttle disaster is one of them. Engineers involved in preparation of the space shuttle were aware of the defective parts a long time before the takeoff, yet, being subjected to the groupthink they agreed for the launch against their real convictions. In this particular case, the management and other members of the team were so convinces of the project success, they could not predict possible negative consequences (Turner and Pratkanis, 1998, p.110).
Engineers tried to convince the project managers that the problem existed, however, their opinion was rejected. The majority of the launch group, considering themselves as invincible has taken the side of the management and agreed to take a high-risk decision. Irving Janis described this phenomenon as the illusion of invulnerability, when the team members believe in their success only because they consider themselves special (Janis, 1971, p. 35).
3. Groupthink Management Strategies
Though it is not possible to turn back the time and fix the mistakes that have been made, the analysis of these mistakes and discovering possible solutions could help prevent similar problems in the future. Smarter management and better leadership could become decisive factors in preventive the catastrophe. “The leader of the policy-forming group should assign the role of critical evaluator to each member, encouraging the group to give high priority to open airing of objections and doubts” (Janis, 1971, p. 36). Had the management given importance to the objections of the engineers and delayed the takeoff, the tragedy might not have happened. Had the leader of the group given enough attention to the opinions of his subordinates, excessive cohesion of the team might be avoided. Another strategy that could have prevented the crash is inviting outside experts. Janis suggests that an external option is a powerful weapon against groupthink (Janis, 1971, p. 36). A safe environment outside the launch team could have helped the engineers and others to discuss the problem in a less pressurized atmosphere.
Conclusion
Groupthink is a phenomenon that an efficient leader cannot afford to ignore. Its implications and dangers are detrimental for the growth, success and survival of any project. One of the worst tragedies in the space exploration history – crash of the Challenger Shuttle was the result of a poor decisions taken under the influence of groupthink. Therefore, all possible measures should be taken to avoid Groupthink before it starts. Effective leadership, paying attention to alternative views, and opinions of external experts are the key strategies that may help to prevent similar tragedies from occurring.
- Janis, I. (1971). Groupthink.’Psychology today, 5(6), pp.43-46.
- Janis, I. (1982).’Groupthink. 1st ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
- Turner, M. and Pratkanis, A. (1998). Twenty-five years of groupthink theory and research: Lessons from the evaluation of a theory.’Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 73(2), pp.105-115.
