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Can more number of brains lead to superior problem-solving ability? The capacity of groups producing more or improved ideas than individuals working alone has been debated for long.

Groupthink is the cruelest predicament in our society. It is a grave mental ailment that has not been recognized. It changes members of a group into supporters and adherents of rites and rituals. They firmly assert that the group is right and the rest are incorrect. It shrinks communication from the group to outsiders. In staid instances of groupthink, members use might and violence to persuade non-believers. The essential truth is that the majority of individuals are not mindful that they suffer from group-think.

Governments and other institutions (fundamentalist groups, anti-social groups, religious sects, and so on) splurge large amounts of resources to defend and uphold their group-think. Power and politics damages the cause of peace, within a nation or among nations. White lies are hyped in the name of diplomacy. To solve the menace of group-think, there should be a focus on the reality; that reality which is in relation to humankind and the reality of the inter-dependence of all entities.

Groupthink is a thought demonstrated by members of a group who attempt to reduce inconsistencies and reach a common agreement sans critical investigation, analysis, and evaluation. Groupthink makes groups to make impulsive, unreasonable decisions, where individual qualms and suspicions are set aside, for fear of disturbing the group's stability.

The term "Group-Think" was coined by William H. Whyte in 1952. Irving Janis worked extensively on this and, thus, he is considered to be the pioneer in this area. Irving Janis defines Groupthink as a kind of thinking where people in the group strive for unanimity and this striving eclipses their motivation to truly assess alternatives.

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* Contributed by: -
Dr. (Ms) G. Prageetha Raju,
Faculty Member (HR),
ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad.