There is a risk on your project few of you have documented. It’s a big problem in any organization when it happens, and it happens all too often. It’s known as “groupthink” and Wikipedia defines it as:
“A psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an incorrect or deviant decision-making outcome. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative ideas or viewpoints, and by isolating themselves from outside influences.”
A saga as old as time itself. People come together with the intent of creating something truly new and different, with the idea of challenging each other to “think outside the box” and then it happens. They get frustrated, bored or whatever and they fall back into the patterns of classic groupthink. The result is a product or idea or process that doesn’t stretch the organization, fails to energize and doesn’t push the innovation envelope one bit. All the signs are there, but the group either can’t or won’t see them.
A LESSON FROM AN UNLIKELY SOURCE
So many professional lessons can be learned not only from business settings but also in other, less conventional ways. In battling groupthink, I’ve found the message from the book Mr. Pine’s Purple House to hit home time and time again. Sure it’s a children’s book – but many lessons we should have learned that early in life warrant revisiting in our adult careers. The story goes something like this …
Mr. Pine lived in a little white house on Vine Street. That was all just great except that there were 50 little white houses on Vine Street and they all looked the same. Mr. Pine got the idea to plant a little shrub (which was soon copied by all his neighbors) and followed that up with planting of a tree. His individuality was short-lived as 49 more trees quickly popped up and al 50 little white houses still looked the same.
Mr. Pine began to think of more radical change now. He headed off to the paint store for the necessary supplies to transform his Vine Street residence to a purple extravaganza. As he finishes, he sees the neighbors come by and admire his latest attempt to differentiate his house from theirs. They begin to discuss the desire to paint their own houses and Mr. Pine has finally had enough. He nearly breaks down as he decries the idea of 50 purple houses on Vine Street.
His neighbors, though, didn’t intend to choose purple. Instead they finally broke through the barriers of their groupthink and selected a wide variety of colors, leaving Mr. Pine with a truly individual place in their community.
Mr. Pine had learned at least part of the lesson that to break groupthink, somebody may have to act in what appears to be a radical way. Painting certainly isn’t radical idea, but the color choice often is. Mr. Pine made a bold statement and, despite his initially grumpy response to his neighbors, did lead Vine Street out of the groupthink vortex. The houses, while still identical in shape, truly took on unique characteristics based on the tastes of their individual owners.
TAKING THE RISK TO BREAK THE CYCLE
Identifying the risks and patterns of groupthink in your organization and project may take just one person on the team to call it out. That challenge is often viewed as a risk itself (at least by the individual making it), but history’s lessons tell of the value in taking it. When we respectfully but firmly call out behavior in our peer, and even leaders, that restrains our progress, the results can be great. The next time you see groupthink taking over, pull out the lessons from Mr. Pine and try to break the patterns. And don’t forget to look for (and overcome) those patterns in your own behavior.
Bio:
Mark Moore has held multiple professional positions in IT and business for nearly three decades serving organizations both small and large, public and private. With over half that time as a project manager, he has successfully managed major initiatives spanning multiple years with a cost of over $3 Million and teams of over 250 people. He has been a Project Management Professional since 2002, served as President of the PMI Western Michigan Chapter, and presented at multiple NCPMI Annual Events. Mark holds a Masters of Education degree from Colorado State University with a concentration in Adult Education and Training. He is an experienced writer, speaker and presenter on project management and team building topics. Mark is the Principal Consultant for Broken Arrow Associates, LTD. He and his family live in a rural area outside of Raleigh, North Carolina.
https://insights.cermacademy.com/2013/10/29-the-great-pretenders-mark-moore/