Avoid groupthink

Thinking independently and applying your own critical thinking in discussions is crucial

Wikipidea defines groupthink as a “psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome”.

Have you ever had a moment where you were part of a critical and important meeting, only to see people nodding and agreeing with each other? I can only guess that you probably could feel at your core that something is wrong, but maybe it was hard to point the finger on it. Maybe you thought at that moment, “What’s really going on? Why are we not speaking out our minds and opinions boldly? Why aren’t we having discussions over real issues here?” Over time, a team might get used to this and it could become a team’s new norm, if the team is complacent and doesn’t actively do anything about it.

I believe it shouldn’t be this way. First of all, if you are a team lead, you are responsible for promoting a culture of critical thinking in the team. You can promote it by saying something like, “I might have blind spots here reasoning about this problem…please help me here with your original and fresh perspectives”, or, for example, “Let’s all think independently for a few seconds…we need all our brains on this problem and think actively. There are many possible solutions to this problem, and it’s not yet obvious which one to pick…” I could bring more examples, but I hope you get the idea.

But, I believe this can be promoted and supported by all team members. All team members can be leaders and can help its team to grow by showing an example. And if a team member wants a team to grow into applying more critical thinking and avoiding groupthink, this member can lead the way. As long as your team is aligned on its values, principles, and practices, everyone can lead and support the team to move in the right direction!

So, next time you go into that meeting…start from yourself first. Observe and reflect. Do I think critically and independently about the problem here? What do I think about this problem? How would I solve it? What are my opinions on this?

Applying critical thinking and thinking independently doesn’t equal arrogance. It’s a very good idea (I think) to build on top of each other ideas during a meeting, to synergize ideas. But while doing so, think. And listen actively at the same time.

So, go ahead - have good and respectful “creative conflicts” and different ideas floating in the air in the next meeting - it’s healthy - essential even - to build a strong team. Paradoxically, the diversity of ideas and critical thinking of all team members will help you to forge the psychological safety in your team, which is essential to become a highly-performing team.

This post is meant for reflection. We all already know about things that I wrote above…but sometimes we forget about it and it’s good to remind ourselves and reflect again. So this post is a reminder and call for reflection - to myself, and maybe to you, about the importance of thinking independently and avoiding groupthink in your team.