Groupthink
Groupthink can probably be summarized as an apparent agreement/concurrence/consensus in a group, which is, in fact, conformity/sucking up to the group and/of its leadership. Characteristics include:
- Individual self-censorship (refraining from communication private doubts, uncertainties , and/or and any views that could be seen as opposing the group's actions/decisions to other members because it seems that everyone else is in agreement)
- Mindguard(s): group member(s) who,by hook or crook,shield the group decisions from doubt/disagreement/controversy. He/she engineers the group's apparent agreement using threats, information.
- Feeling of safety in numbers.
- Overall morality of the group overrides any individual's sense of right and wrong.
- People abandon their own information in favor of inferences based on earlier people’s actions (Information cascade)
Thought leadership
Contrast all of the above with work in "Built to last" by J Collins & J.I Porras. They discuss how "cult-like" cultures have propelled companies into greatness. Their research looked at a selection of companies that have demonstrated resilience, among other great qualities, over long periods of time. Their criteria was so stringent that Microsoft didn't make their list of great (visionary) companies, and this was published in 2002. But I digress now.Then there's the similar contrasts of hedgehog v/s fox concepts in "A mind of a fox" by scenario planner, Clem Sunter, and strategist Chantell Ilbury.
On the one hand,there's the view of consensus because it's the path of least resistance (individuals are wimps), and on the other, there's the view of single-mindedness/consensus around a (set of) core value/belief/idea (and rejection of anything non-conformant), which necessarily propels organizations into greatness.
The pertinent question in this post is whether ideas, as generated by organizations, can thrive "in a vacuum." Is it not, indeed, necessary to build a hedge around an idea in order for it to germinate? And is this not groupthink? Of course, ideas need to be incubated in some way, controlled or not, and I think it was Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher, Jean Piaget, who surmised: "man imposes order on the universe." Civilization, itself, could arguably be attributed, (at least in part) to groupthink! People believed in ideas and hedged them into the world we find ourselves in.
Conclusion
If I sound like I'm splitting hairs, I'm not. The high-order bit is that organizational success requires coordinated, cohesive, efforts by leadership and, equally important, followers; and the group consensus could stem from a place of timid conformity or courageous conviction. The former is groupthink, and the latter is not.Side note: What guides the group's effective leadership style and direction, I argue, are personal convictions around political and/or religious convictions held by members of the group. People will rally around things they believe in, and they'll always be motivated by either the fear of the undesired effects, or by attraction to desired effect (pull/push motivation); but they'll always gravitate towards what they believe in, unless they have higher priority Maslow hierarchy-type needs or survivalist issues.
I wish you (and myself) more and more of a pull towards what you desire. At the end of this journey, there's got to be a fulfilling destination.
Further reading: http://www.stanford.edu/
Groupthink, http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/
07/
yes_you_can_brainstorm_without.
