Dave Hengartner, Co-Founder/CEO prepared, A SaaS startup that helps corporations to unleash their biggest asset for innovation: workers.
There’s a well-known saying “too many cooks spoil the broth”. Which means the extra folks concerned within the process, the more serious the outcome. I discover this expression to be true on the planet of enterprise the place innovation, adaptability and fast decision-making are essential.
You have in all probability attended a board assembly the place everybody reached a unanimous resolution in file time. Nevertheless, what may look like easy consensus constructing can typically masks an underlying downside referred to as “groupthink.”
First established by social psychologist Irving Janis, the time period “groupthink” describes the phenomenon that happens when a gaggle setting ends in an incapacity to purpose clearly and rationally resulting from a want for concord, consensus, or conformity. Though first explored in high-stakes political and governmental contexts, the high-pressure, collaborative panorama of the trendy office can permit room for groupthink to lurk, unnoticed, because it quietly obscures decision-making processes, hinders innovation efforts, and starves creativity.
How groupthink stifles company innovation efforts
1. Lack of various views and artistic pondering
Groupthink happens when there’s a unanimous want for conformity and sustaining concord to the extent that that is extra vital than expressing an sincere perspective or dissenting opinion. In company innovation, this may be significantly damaging.
In a consensus-based setting, there may be little room for conflicting targets and issues are hardly ever tackled from totally different angles. Totally different views, however, can enrich the artistic course of by enhancing decision-making and decreasing cognitive biases. This in the end permits innovation to thrive, whereas groupthink signifies that a single perspective tends to dominate.
2. There is no such thing as a room for differing opinions
In an setting the place everybody strives for group concord, in the end there isn’t any room for disagreement. Within the occasion that new concepts emerge, people who might need some reservations or doubts about these concepts could in the end determine to not share them.
In corporations the place there’s a “HiPPO” tradition — an acronym meaning choices are largely based mostly on the “opinion of the very best paid particular person” fairly than precise knowledge — or the place a biased chief makes choices in a sure path, the barrier to expressing opposition is far increased.
3. Resisting change and lacking alternatives
Innovation within the true sense of the phrase means the adoption of one thing new, which suggests change. Nevertheless, in an setting dominated by groupthink, the necessity for an answer that maintains concord and the stress to take care of the established order can override the necessity to embrace change. Due to this fact, you may miss the adoption and implementation of modern options or concepts.
4. Failure to evaluate threat and make improper judgments
As a substitute of making an setting the place an thought and its potential drawbacks are totally evaluated, groupthink may end up in a failure to evaluate threat. By downplaying and ignoring warning indicators as a result of group members do not wish to swim towards the present, there’s a lack of open and sincere dialogue on the subject of concepts. That is particularly harmful for innovation, since a lot of iterating on an thought entails objectively assessing the hypothetical flaws related to it.
Recognizing and addressing groupthink
Groupthink just isn’t all the time one thing that’s instantly recognized, as many individuals simply suppose {that a} consensus has been reached. Particularly in environments marked by partisan management or in a top-down tradition the place one’s place within the firm hierarchy determines decision-making energy, groupthink could be deadly to the innovation efforts of all the firm.
However how are you going to acknowledge even the tiniest nuances of groupthink, and extra importantly, how are you going to stop it from infiltrating your organization’s innovation tradition? Listed below are some measures you’ll be able to take to stop the unfold of this phenomenon:
1. Use acceptable decision-making strategies
Utilizing acceptable decision-making strategies ensures a essential analysis of any thought or initiative. One methodology that can be utilized is the “six pondering hats” idea, which makes use of totally different pondering types to find out the validity of an thought. Or you should use the storyboarding course of, the place the thought circulation is organized earlier than it’s executed in order that it may be evaluated from all sides.
2. Assign the challenger function
One other symptom of groupthink is overconfidence, with group members creating an inflated sense of their collective knowledge. Assigning somebody to problem the group’s concepts and assumptions by actively serving to groups poke holes of their plans is a method to fight this.
3. Promote psychological security
When workers discover themselves in an setting the place they really feel unsafe to voice their opinions overtly, they’re extra more likely to soar on the bandwagon and conform as a substitute of standing up and voicing their considerations.
It is very important create a tradition that accepts errors and sees failure as a possibility to be taught. To do that, leaders ought to play an lively function by encouraging and modeling open and inclusive decision-making processes, together with a tradition of open suggestions and making room for dissenting opinions.
4. Implement the Reasonably priced Innovation Program
Implementing an modern program that’s accessible to all workers offers everybody the chance to precise their concepts and interact in an iterative validation course of. Contemplate implementing a bottom-up innovation program that makes innovation accessible to everybody within the firm, no matter hierarchy, experience or prior information. By varied processes, every thought giver needs to be supplied the liberty and assist to show their thought as invaluable to the corporate. Such an innovation program actively dispels groupthink as every innovator takes accountability and accountability for his or her thought.
Groupthink can hinder creativity and promote conformity, in the end slowing down an organization’s innovation efforts. Due to this fact, you will need to acknowledge groupthink and take care of it appropriately utilizing totally different methods. Whether or not it is your subsequent brainstorming session or your morning workforce briefing, ensure you’re in a position to acknowledge the warning indicators and react accordingly.