Page 268 - Effective group discussion theory and practice by Adams, Katherine H. Brilhart, John K. Galanes, Gloria J

Problem Solving and Decision Making in Groups 251

Thus, both cognitive and psychological factors appear to be involved in decision mak-
ing, and both are affected by the participation of others. It is interesting to note that
one of the major advantages for group decision making— that several heads are better
than one— is distinctly helpful during the information- processing phase of decision
making, even for burglars.
Thus, decision making can be impaired or improved by the particular norms and
arguments that prevail in a group. Being aware of these normal group tendencies can
help group members guard against bias in decision making.

Groupthink
A factor that can significantly impair critical thinking in a small group is groupthink.
Coined by Irving Janis, groupthink occurs when a highly cohesive group wants to Groupthink
maintain consensus so much that it suppresses confrontation and disagreement, so The tendency of
84
that the group’s decisions are not carefully thought through. The group’s balance some cohesive
tilts toward maintaining cohesiveness and harmony rather than toward thinking criti- groups not to subject
cally. Janis compared two decisions by President John F. Kennedy’s National Security information,
Council. The first, a disastrous one, occurred when the United States decided to reasoning, and
invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs shortly after Fidel Castro had established a communist proposals to
government there. The second is considered a model of effective group decision mak- thorough critical
ing; it was the 1963 decision to blockade Cuba when missile sites were discovered analysis.
there and ships with nuclear warheads to arm them were photographed on their way
from the Soviet Union. Janis was intrigued by the fact that essentially the same group
of people made decisions of such divergent quality. He found the reason not in the
individual decision makers’ personalities or intentions but in the throughput processes
they used. Groups making effective decisions and proposing high- quality alternatives
are willing to engage in open conflict, challenge one another’s reasoning, and test all
information and ideas for soundness. Janis found that Kennedy’s advisers did not
thoroughly test information before making the Bay of Pigs decision, which explains
how such well- educated, intelligent individuals, in the face of evidence to the contrary,
as a group allowed such a stupid decision to be made.
Please note that just because a group decision turns out badly does not automat-
ically mean groupthink is the culprit. Sometimes decisions go awry because of factors
over which the group has no control or can’t have known about. What makes a deci-
sion faulty because of groupthink is the group’s failure to consider all the information
available at the time of the decision in a thorough and unbiased way. Highly cohesive
groups are particularly vulnerable to the groupthink trap because that very cohesion
creates a general desire to keep the members together on a decision. This then leads
to pressure for consensus and touches off a fear of anything that seems to threaten the
cohesion, particularly conflict. The pressure to achieve consensus is particularly acute
in groups experiencing time pressures and with leaders who have a preferred alterna-
tive that they attempt to promote and may even support the hidden profile biases we
discussed earlier. 85
Groupthink is revealed in members’ communication. Cline compared the conver-
sations of groupthink and non- groupthink groups and found several surprising differ-
86
ences. Although levels of disagreement were similar in both sets of groups, the

gal37018_ch09_225_258.indd 251 3/28/18 12:37 PM