Group think – the challenge for facilitators

Group think is in the news today, as a Canadian bank has made a decision to employ from outside rather than within, in order to challenge a climate of group think that has grown to prevail throughout the organisation. Group think is a key challenge for all organisations and for the facilitator. The need for the facilitator to play devils advocate, to explore the unexplored, to test out assumptions, surface uncertainty and encourage divergence in a climate where the need to nail decisions and get on with the job in hand is predominant, is never an easy one! The facilitator has a fundamental role to play in ensuring the group think is not working against the best possible decision, no matter what the consequences. The Bay of Pigs and Challenger Mission are two occassions in history where group think prevailed. Follow the link for a fuller explanation of the issue and some tips on how to avoid facilitate in a climate where group think might prevail. http://www.softpanorama.org/Skeptics/groupthink.shtml