Friday, January 17, 2025

Collaboration Versus Groupthink: How to Tell the Difference


When teams are collaborating to design a project solution, they risk falling into groupthink for two reasons: 

   1. they have worked projects in the past, all using one approach.
   2. the team is dominated by one or two strong personalities.

The warning signs are:

    1. The team rapidly makes decisions.
    2. Only one or two approaches are considered.
    3. There is no questioning.
    4. A few people dominate the discussion.

When this occurs, the team leader should start asking questions to provoke more out of the box thinking, such as: What if we could not do X, what would be an alternative?  Let's start with a blank slate. How would you approach the design from scratch.  He/she should also encourage others in the group to give their opinions.

© 2025 Praveen Puri