Groupthink is your enemy
"Know your enemy, know yourself, and you can fight 100 battles without disaster."
"Know your enemy, know yourself, and you can fight 100 battles without disaster."
-- Sun Tzu
The psychologist Irving Janis did pioneering work on group decision-making[1,2]. His interest was in how political decisions are made under extreme stress. He identified intense conformity pressures within decision-making groups that seriously restricted the range of options considered, biased the analysis of existing information, and promoted simplistic stereotypes.
Phew. In English, what Janis discovered was that groups of otherwise intelligent individuals can make irrational decisions given the right circumstances - and he identified a number of pre-conditions for this to occur. In essence, groupthink strikes when the imperative of maintaining group unity becomes more important than good decision-making.
Does this sound familiar? A project team under pressure can easily fall prey to groupthink because the typical conditions identified by Janis are often present. In particular, a project team is often: highly cohesive, insulated from outside factors, and motivated by a common goal. Together they face stressful situations and may perceive they are facing external threats to their success.
Under these conditions there is often extreme pressure to conform, and this can result in an environment being created in which anyone questioning a decision, or proposing alternative courses of action, is viewed as threatening the team’s success. By stifling debate, and using authority, rather than quality of argument, as the primary means of decision-making the team’s chances of success are actually reduced rather than enhanced.
Experienced BAs learn to spot the signs of groupthink, and work to combat the corrosive effects. Often this is done by acting as a proxy and airing the views of team members and other stakeholders who may be worried about their career prospects if they voice their true opinions.
To unearth the truth, the BA works with smaller groups or one-on-one, and crucially - without any authority figures present. Once trust has been established the BA can take the flak for airing the problems and forcing a debate without exposing their colleagues.
It takes a thick skin and plenty of self-confidence to carry out this role. Difficult questions are rarely welcomed in these circumstances. Are you ready to step up to the mark the next time you see the signs of groupthink?