Case Study #30: Groupthink Is a Problem

You don’t fix groupthink with “encouraging diverse opinions.”

Groupthink is not good.

When people think alike, you end up making unchallenged and poor-quality decisions.

Go with a flow.

Ehm. No.

You don’t want to go with the flow. You want to swim against the tide. Otherwise, you’re a sheep.

My client Michaela was part of a leadership team, and she had this problem with the middle managers:

Her company is undergoing structural reorganization and faces an unexpected problem. No open resistance, but complete disengagement from it’s 12 senior managers.

When leadership presents new plans for team organization, the managers nod in agreement, offer no feedback, and no questions.

In private discussions, however, frustration is evident. They feel their voice doesn’t matter. So they choose silence over engagement. This passive agreement creates a false sense of unity. It hides real discontent that could lead to long-term dissatisfaction.

But what should the leadership team do?

---

Understanding Groupthink

Group think is a well-known psychological and sociological term:

Members of a group will conform to majority opinion to maintain group harmony rather than stating their own opinions.

How many meetings have you visited that gave you a false sense of conformity over critical evaluation and independent thinking? Did people not speak up? Did they feel they would not want to engage in conflict?

In Mikey’s case, the managers do not challenge ideas. They are passive consumers. She was worried how the execution of the plan would go. Rightfully.

They avoid conflict. Rather than voicing concerns or proposing improvements, they go along with leadership decisions without scrutiny.

Why is this a problem?

• Lack of innovation – Without alternative viewpoints, the organization misses opportunities for creative solutions.

• Hidden risks – Unexamined decisions may lead to flawed strategies that no one dares to question.

• Low morale and disengagement – Employees who feel unheard eventually disengage. And you get low satisfaction and productivity.

• Poor implementation – When decisions are made without buy-in, execution suffers as teams lack ownership and commitment.

Groupthink is differentiated from simple group consensus by its often illogical or poorly thought through conclusions.

Do you think leadership knows best how to organize teams of managers? Do they know what people say and how they accept changes?

Not everything leadership says is a good idea. Quite often their ideas are not compatible with what is really happening on the floor.

Yes, they should know the work up and down. Yet, the higher in hierarchy you are, the less understanding you have for what’s happening down. Challenges each team has or product/service specialities.

If employees are not able to question authority without risking their jobs or their standing, they will be much more likely to be pressured into potentially damaging scenarios that can harm them, the business, or the public.

Groupthink could be pretty bad.

---

How to break the groupthink

“Leaders must foster an environment where diverse opinions are encouraged and valued.”

When I hear that, I must smile. It is true but so abstract and unusable. Try to tell that to Mikey who has 12 angry managers who chose to agree with anything they hear.

When I presented this case to a group of managers, they came up with these solutions:

• “Encourage diverse opinions.” Blah.

• “Encourage psychological safety.” Yeah, but how?

• “Use targeted questions.” No one will answer them.

• “Demonstrate feedback leads to tangible action.” It’s a quiet and long-term path.

• “Do an opinion round.” Everyone hates that.

The more you try, the more people dig their heads in the sand. I’ve been there and Mikey as well.

So, what now?

There is one solution that works always and breaks groupthink. It is: