Complications of Working in Groups

Week 7, Friday

Psychology 360
Outline
I. Groupthink: The dark side of agreement
II. The road to Abilene
III. Groups at work
Groupthink: The Dark Side
of Conformity
hyper-agreement, inability to entertain alternative arguments
strong function of group cohesion and group process
“self censorship,” “mind guarding”
The Road to Abilene
conventional wisdom = groupthink results from social pressure (e.g., conformity)
alternative = conformity is a comfortable myth that excuses us from acting
Asch -- coercion in groups is real
we concoct coercion as a justification for not rocking the boat
Groups at Work
Bob Lozen
UM BBA and MBA
plant manager, chip assembly
Hewlett Packard in Ft. Collins, CO
use of groups at Hewlett Packard
failure stories
success stories

Copyright © 1996, The Regents of the University of Michigan, All rights reserved.
Revised - November 4, 1996