How Groupthink Kills Good Decisions (And Five Ways to Fight Back)

The Reason Smart Teams Make Stupid Decisions

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Your leader asks your team to interview a candidate – a brilliant analyst they want to hire. The group interview feels more like a friendly chat than a professional assessment. Everyone wants to look cohesive and supportive, like a team that works well together. So, the questions become softballs. The conversation turns personal and fun, and real connections happen.

When it wraps, everyone agrees the candidate is great – a perfect culture fit.

Six months later, you're managing him out. The technical skills weren't there. The work quality was inconsistent. The “great culture fit” became workplace drama. Your team members privately admit they had concerns during the interview, but they didn't want to look difficult.

Groupthink is one of the top three conversation killers. It gets teams stuck or, even worse, moves them backward. Together with blame and avoidance, it’s the root cause of unhealthy collaboration, as I explain in my upcoming book Forward Talk. However, gro…