Course: Groupthink: Understanding the Need for a Diverse Workplace

Not many of us get taught how to debate properly – but it’s an important skill. If more of us learned how to debate, we could talk about just about …

In groupthink theory, stereotyping doesn’t necessarily refer only to the kinds of cultural stereotyping we often see in our daily lives. It also, and more specifically, refers to stereotyping of …

The illusion of invulnerability is when group members create excessive optimism and encourage taking extreme risks. This symptom can manifest in many ways, and it’s extremely difficult to spot from …

Businesses can’t expect someone who satisfies a checkbox to represent everyone else who satisfies that checkbox. Every single person is different, and no one person can represent the entire perspective …

A friend once related this Arabic proverb to me: ‘Anything a man says of himself is a lie.’ The same can be said for companies. Is there anything more cringe-worthy …

Group thinking leads to positive movements and actions where everyone has a voice, and everyone gets listened to. The final product will be an amalgamation of everyone’s perspectives. When we …

There is another way we might define groupthink that provides a slightly different perspective on its outcomes. To define it negatively is necessary because it helps us see how it …

There is no way to achieve a balanced opinion. It’s not an active process. Instead, it’s a process of inactivity – of vulnerability. At the beginning of this course, we …

We all make decisions based on both implicit and explicit biases and assumptions. There is no way around this. The human mind has evolved to react to minute pieces of …

We consider the creative sector to be diverse from an outside perspective, but from the inside, it’s clearly not. Over time you start seeing yourself in different positions and roles, …

In their PhD thesis, Xi Yeng conducted a Latent Semantic Analysis of a design team at an Asian automotive company, searching for the semantic coherence between people of different departments. …

The shared illusion of unanimity happens when group members believe the silence of other group members is a signal of their agreement. 1. The silent voters It has happened time …

In this article, we’ll explore some potential strategies teams and organisations can use to mitigate the effects of the illusion of invulnerability. 1. Set up a critical advisory board Any …

We all hold beliefs grounded in fact, emotion, life experiences or various mixtures of all three. It’s natural to view our own beliefs as rock-solid and believe those who disagree …

Groupthink is defined as: ‘the practice of thinking or making decisions as a group, resulting typically in unchallenged, poor-quality decision-making’ Irving Janis, a Yale psychologist, coined the term in 1972 …