Morning All
“Tolerance only for those who agree with you is no tolerance at all.” Ray Davis
During the past week or so I have been reading James Hillman's book The Force of Character which invites consideration about the difference between character and the current more popular word - personality. In a world of build 'em up and knock 'em down - personalities come and go and we seem to lap it up, every hungry for more and new. Indeed I would go so far as to say that we really do devour them. The media obsesses and sells us the larger than life personal habits of our celebrities - remember Jade Goodey?
Only yesterday I was at the hairdressers and picked up a well known red-top (sorry I have to admit I did - it was that or OK magazine) which proudly displayed a photo of Simon Cowell patting the stomach of his pregnant girlfriend, the copy went on to ask whether this showed that he loved her - or was he simply moving her out of his way? Mmmmm - love that level of debate! But hey - at least its something to talk about .....
And we do all enjoy a bit of agreement too - don't we, makes us belong - doesn't it? And belonging is a great feeling. Indeed the recent ARKA visit was a case in point, a real celebration and coming together of community. But wonderful as this is - and I do believe its wonderful, it does also come with a health warning.
The dangers of the Tribe...... when wanting to belong far outrides our own personal compass and ability to disagree healthily with others. God forbid the tribe might oust us! Remember the Nazis.
Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon in which everyone in a group goes along with a decision without critical evaluation of alternative ideas or viewpoints. The desire for harmony or conformity is so strong that no one dares to say, “Wait a minute, this may not be such a good idea.” And it happens all the time in the workplace.
Signs that a group is engaging in groupthink include collectively rationalising its decisions, demonising those who are not part of the group, and maintaining a culture of uniformity in which individuals censor themselves so as not to obstruct that unanimity.
Additional symptoms include the illusion of invulnerability, rationalisation of warnings, the tendency to overlook negatives, and the fear of challenging a decision.The well-known story about the Abilene paradox * is a compelling example of groupthink. This story, in which a family takes a miserable car trip during a hot summer day even though none of them wanted to go, highlights how easily faulty decisions can arise within a group.
Trouble is that although we’re all clever enough to appreciate the dangers and risks of groupthink, most of us are susceptible to it. For example, have you ever wanted to raise an issue in a team meeting but refrained so as not to interfere with the team’s decision or to avoid being the only unsupportive member of the team?
Among the steps you can take to prevent groupthink: encourage group members to raise objections and concerns, seek input from outside experts, and require the group to develop scenarios of how events might play out. Diligently avoid a no-criticism culture and a no-criticism decision-making policy.
In addition, for important decisions, give someone the job of acting as devil’s advocate to challenge the thinking behind a group’s decision. This can be someone from within the team. Or employ someone to be a permanent devil’s advocate, as described in The Corporate Fool, by David Firth. The job of the corporate fool is to challenge the consensus when others can’t or won’t see the risks and dangers they may be facing.
Its true of course that most organisations won’t employ a corporate fool, and people who persistently challenge decisions quickly make themselves unwelcome. But a group in which people feel comfortable raising concerns is more likely to make good decisions and mitigates the self satisfaction and 'feel good' that can be so seductive along with the donuts.
"The tribe often thinks the visionary has turned his back on them. When, in fact, the visionary has simply turned his face to the future." Done by the Forces of Nature (Ray Davis)
* The Abilene paradox was introduced by management expert Jerry B. Harvey in his article The Abilene Paradox: The Management of Agreement.[3] The name of the phenomenon comes from an anecdote in the article which Harvey uses to elucidate the paradox:
On a hot afternoon on a holiday in Coleman, Texas, the family is comfortably playing dominoes on a porch, until the father-in-law suggests that they take a trip to Abilene [53 miles north] for dinner. The wife says, "Sounds like a great idea." The husband, despite having reservations because the drive is long and hot, thinks that his preferences must be out-of-step with the group and says, "Sounds good to me. I just hope your mother wants to go." The mother-in-law then says, "Of course I want to go. I haven't been to Abilene in a long time."
The drive is hot, dusty, and long. When they arrive at the cafeteria, the food is as bad as the drive. They arrive back home four hours later, exhausted.
One of them dishonestly says, "It was a great trip, wasn't it?" The mother-in-law says that, actually, she would rather have stayed home, but went along since the other three were so enthusiastic. The husband says, "I wasn't delighted to be doing what we were doing. I only went to satisfy the rest of you." The wife says, "I just went along to keep you happy. I would have had to be crazy to want to go out in the heat like that." The father-in-law then says that he only suggested it because he thought the others might be bored.The group sits back, perplexed that they together decided to take a trip which none of them wanted. They each would have preferred to sit comfortably, but did not admit to it when they still had time to enjoy the afternoon.
“Tolerance only for those who agree with you is no tolerance at all.” Ray Davis
During the past week or so I have been reading James Hillman's book The Force of Character which invites consideration about the difference between character and the current more popular word - personality. In a world of build 'em up and knock 'em down - personalities come and go and we seem to lap it up, every hungry for more and new. Indeed I would go so far as to say that we really do devour them. The media obsesses and sells us the larger than life personal habits of our celebrities - remember Jade Goodey?
Only yesterday I was at the hairdressers and picked up a well known red-top (sorry I have to admit I did - it was that or OK magazine) which proudly displayed a photo of Simon Cowell patting the stomach of his pregnant girlfriend, the copy went on to ask whether this showed that he loved her - or was he simply moving her out of his way? Mmmmm - love that level of debate! But hey - at least its something to talk about .....
And we do all enjoy a bit of agreement too - don't we, makes us belong - doesn't it? And belonging is a great feeling. Indeed the recent ARKA visit was a case in point, a real celebration and coming together of community. But wonderful as this is - and I do believe its wonderful, it does also come with a health warning. The dangers of the Tribe...... when wanting to belong far outrides our own personal compass and ability to disagree healthily with others. God forbid the tribe might oust us! Remember the Nazis.
Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon in which everyone in a group goes along with a decision without critical evaluation of alternative ideas or viewpoints. The desire for harmony or conformity is so strong that no one dares to say, “Wait a minute, this may not be such a good idea.” And it happens all the time in the workplace.Signs that a group is engaging in groupthink include collectively rationalising its decisions, demonising those who are not part of the group, and maintaining a culture of uniformity in which individuals censor themselves so as not to obstruct that unanimity.
Additional symptoms include the illusion of invulnerability, rationalisation of warnings, the tendency to overlook negatives, and the fear of challenging a decision.The well-known story about the Abilene paradox * is a compelling example of groupthink. This story, in which a family takes a miserable car trip during a hot summer day even though none of them wanted to go, highlights how easily faulty decisions can arise within a group.
Trouble is that although we’re all clever enough to appreciate the dangers and risks of groupthink, most of us are susceptible to it. For example, have you ever wanted to raise an issue in a team meeting but refrained so as not to interfere with the team’s decision or to avoid being the only unsupportive member of the team?
Among the steps you can take to prevent groupthink: encourage group members to raise objections and concerns, seek input from outside experts, and require the group to develop scenarios of how events might play out. Diligently avoid a no-criticism culture and a no-criticism decision-making policy.
In addition, for important decisions, give someone the job of acting as devil’s advocate to challenge the thinking behind a group’s decision. This can be someone from within the team. Or employ someone to be a permanent devil’s advocate, as described in The Corporate Fool, by David Firth. The job of the corporate fool is to challenge the consensus when others can’t or won’t see the risks and dangers they may be facing.
Its true of course that most organisations won’t employ a corporate fool, and people who persistently challenge decisions quickly make themselves unwelcome. But a group in which people feel comfortable raising concerns is more likely to make good decisions and mitigates the self satisfaction and 'feel good' that can be so seductive along with the donuts.
"The tribe often thinks the visionary has turned his back on them. When, in fact, the visionary has simply turned his face to the future." Done by the Forces of Nature (Ray Davis)
* The Abilene paradox was introduced by management expert Jerry B. Harvey in his article The Abilene Paradox: The Management of Agreement.[3] The name of the phenomenon comes from an anecdote in the article which Harvey uses to elucidate the paradox:
On a hot afternoon on a holiday in Coleman, Texas, the family is comfortably playing dominoes on a porch, until the father-in-law suggests that they take a trip to Abilene [53 miles north] for dinner. The wife says, "Sounds like a great idea." The husband, despite having reservations because the drive is long and hot, thinks that his preferences must be out-of-step with the group and says, "Sounds good to me. I just hope your mother wants to go." The mother-in-law then says, "Of course I want to go. I haven't been to Abilene in a long time."
The drive is hot, dusty, and long. When they arrive at the cafeteria, the food is as bad as the drive. They arrive back home four hours later, exhausted.
One of them dishonestly says, "It was a great trip, wasn't it?" The mother-in-law says that, actually, she would rather have stayed home, but went along since the other three were so enthusiastic. The husband says, "I wasn't delighted to be doing what we were doing. I only went to satisfy the rest of you." The wife says, "I just went along to keep you happy. I would have had to be crazy to want to go out in the heat like that." The father-in-law then says that he only suggested it because he thought the others might be bored.The group sits back, perplexed that they together decided to take a trip which none of them wanted. They each would have preferred to sit comfortably, but did not admit to it when they still had time to enjoy the afternoon.
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