Course: Groupthink: Understanding the Need for a Diverse Workplace

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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. …

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 …

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, …

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 …

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 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 …

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 …

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 …