Groupthink

This is still about groups making poor decisions like allowing the bully to hurt people in the work team. In Groupthink, the wrong thing is done by the group, but they are not aware that it's wrong, as they were in the Abilene paradox.

Groupthink is psychologist Irv Janis's term (1972, Victims of Groupthink) designed to be of the same order as the words in the newspeak vocabulary of George Orwell 1984, the dark futuristic novel. Janis describes a group incapable of critically assessing the pros and cons of decisions. Because the group members feel so tightly connected, so cohesive, they prefer to see only one side of an issue. They are easily led by a forceful leader and busy themselves falling in line seconding the boss, kissing up to stay in good favor. They become a mindless, overprotective clique when assembled as a group, putting the political goal of squashing dissent above all other matters.

Groupthink is relevant to bullying if we imagine a management committee on which the bully sits. She's in the club, so to speak. The target person tries to find an ally among the bully's peers to turn on her. If and when he approaches group members, he will be given the cold shoulder. The management group will not be open to hearing complaints about one of their own. The bully is safe in her cocoon; the wagons are circled to protect a club member.

It's little wonder that appeals to the bully's peers so frequently fail, at any level of the organization--executive suite clubbies to shop floor buddies. Groupthink is designed to protect club members from hearing anything that contradicts their comfortable view of the world. It's the wall that separates the ingroup from all others. It carries with it a code of silence that plays into the bully's strategy.

Note: This page may be copied for personal use only. It is copyright protected © 2003, Gary and Ruth Namie