what is groupthink 
groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when a group of individuals reaches a consensus without critical reasoning or evaluation of the consequences or alternatives groupthink is based on a common desire not to upset the balance of a group of people this desire creates a dynamic within a group whereby creativity and individuality tend to be stifled in order to avoid conflict understanding groupthinkin a business setting groupthink can cause employees and supervisors to overlook potential problems in the pursuit of consensus thinking because individual critical thinking is de emphasized or frowned upon employees may self censor and not suggest alternatives for fear of upsetting the status quo yale university social psychologist irving janis coined the term groupthink in 1972 janis theorized that groups of intelligent people sometimes make the worst possible decisions based on several factors for example the members of a group might all have similar backgrounds that could insulate them from the opinions of outside groups 1some organizations have no clear rules upon which to make decisions groupthink occurs when a party ignores logical alternatives and makes irrational decisions groupthink is not always problematic in the best cases it allows a group to make decisions complete tasks and finish projects quickly and efficiently in the worst cases it leads to poor decision making and inefficient problem solving groupthink characteristicsjanis identified eight signs symptoms or traits of groupthink all of which lead to flawed conclusions in summary the group may have an illusion of invincibility and consider that nothing the group decides to do can go wrong the eight traits of groupthink according to janis are 2collectively these behaviors may make members of a group be excessively optimistic about their success ignoring any possible negative outcomes members are convinced their cause is right and just so they ignore any moral quandaries of the group s decisions the group body tends to ignore the suggestions of anyone outside the group any dissenters are pressured to come around to the consensus after the pressure is exerted members censor themselves to prevent further shunning once decisions are made the group assumes them to be unanimous some members of a group may act as a mindguard these sentinels prevent any contrary advice from reaching the leaders of the organization time constraints may exacerbate all of these issues and any decisions that need to be made fast may not undergo due diligence groupthink is a dynamic that can lead to bad decisions and even disasters it is a phenomenon in which a group of individuals may consider themselves infallible 1