[NMC EXP]

Groupthink is alive and well in business and industry.

The "6-Sigma" cult being the worst example.

[stevefromcalifornia]

This is like those crappy team-building exercises some companies force their employees to attend. Falling back and letting some shlump catch you, walking on hot coals...what a waste of time and effort.

[Forgiven_Sinner]

"Groupthink is alive and well in business and industry.
The "6-Sigma" cult being the worst example"

Depends on how it's administered. I'm a 6 Sigma Black Belt and I well know how hard each member of my team works. The benefits of the project depend upon measurable results before and after the change.

Any methodology can be gamed and beaten. Don't single out 6 Sigma.

[ScottM1968]

A lot of this is true. I went through business school and can vouch for parts of it.

However, "groupthink" is commonly described as the inability of some to stand up against the rest of the group. The classic example given in one class was the Bay of Pigs fiasco. No one stood up to Kennedy about doing this rather bizarre thing. Because no one offered a differing view, all thought they were the only ones not on board with the President. And so the fiasco came to be.

In business school, we were all encouraged to get our ideas out, but then they would be shot down for one reason or another. That alone stops the classic version of "groupthink."

I would like to see no grades issued for anything save for the midterms and finals. Cheating helps too many as it is when assignments are supposed to be individual. When in groups, the slackers do ride while those working may only grow to understand their part of the assignment (for lack of time to review the other work).

If no grades were given for all non-midterm and final work, slackers or cheaters would wind up with a grade befitting them. And the rest of us would get the grade we earned.

[Jim Robinson]

Yup. It's way past time for individualists to fight back. Individualists United! We should all join the Ludwig von Mises Institute to learn the right way to be individualists.

[Southern62]

not exactly sure why - but i feel strangely compelled to agree ....

[Peter J. Huss]

When I was in college, EVERY single time I was given a group project I told the other members that I will do the whole project and 'we' will get and A. The offer was never refused and I always delivered.

[Jim Robinson]

LOL. Just though the article to be a bit ironic. Perhaps we should all become groupees of the Ayn Rand Institute of Libertarian Thinking and thus avoid falling prey to groupthink.

[Blue Screen of Death]

Karen De Coster and Brad Edmonds

I love studies of individuality done by a team of writers.

[blackeagle]

bump

[KC_for_Freedom]

It is our contention that group projects are criminal in themselves and should be abolished on moral grounds, in that they function as collectivist indoctrination. Like government schools, group projects homogenize thought and neuter high achievers.

In this the author is correct. This mindset is very common in public high schools. High achiever does the text, middle achiever does the poster board, low achiever does the art work and another low achiever films the group in action.

And what is learned? that everyone gets the same grade, and that school work can be a social project. And this is promoted in each grade and in each subject.

[July 4th]

As much as I dislike being a lawyer right now, individualism is one thing that the law firm has got going for it. There's really no such thing as working in a group. Sure, you might have several lawyers working on a case, but they've all got their individual parts that need to be accomplished to the best of their ability, or they'll be singled out for poor performance individually. Most of time time, you're working on your own.

[jonestown]

Groupthink is endemic in our society bump.