The Warning Signs Are Always There—A shot of fearless culture #431

Your weekly dose of culture insights and exercises, one topic at a time.

Jul 01, 2026

Technology keeps getting better. Why do leaders keep repeating the same mistakes?

The Titan sub was built to visit the site of history’s most famous shipwreck. It ignored its own warnings.

Investigators concluded that the Titan implosion wasn’t just an engineering failure. It resulted from something more dangerous.

Groupthink doesn’t force people to make bad decisions. It slowly convinces us to stop thinking for ourselves.

It happens gradually. We surrender our judgment to social pressure. We censor our ideas to fit in. Consensus feels like evidence. People usually mistake confidence for competence. Before we realize it, we’ve traded our common sense and critical thinking for conformity.

That’s why groupthink is so dangerous: we gradually lose perspective on the consequences of inaction.

The Titan is an extreme example. But it’s a reminder of the price we pay when we ignore early signals. Issues don’t disappear. They accumulate until the cost of addressing them becomes far greater.

In my latest article, I unpack the five patterns behind the Titan tragedy and what you can learn from it.

Explore this week’s newsletter:

→ The Titan’s Fatal Flaw Wasn’t Engineering. It Was Groupthink.

→ Exercises and practical resources

Stay fearless, my friend.

Gustavo

In Case You Missed It

→ How Groupthink Kills Good Decisions

Ask Your Team This

What warning signs are we dismissing?

⚠️ Try This - Silent Brainstorm

Research shows that people often generate more original ideas when they think alone first. When teams brainstorm out loud, the first few ideas shape the discussion. Groupthink often takes over, and people gravitate toward the ideas everyone supports (usually the safest ones).

Before your next brainstorming session, give everyone 5-10 minutes to write down their ideas in silence. Then invite each person to share one idea at a time. As others listen, ask them to write down their questions and comments.

Once everyone has shared one or two ideas, start the discussion.