Encouraging The Devil’s Advocate
Prof. Shlomo Ben-Hur (Professor of Leadership, OB and Corporate Learning, IMD) advises how to Create an Environment where Employees Speaking out can lead to better decisions
Issue Date - 01/06/2011

The challenge facing executive teams in ensuring that sound decisions are made is simple: groupthink. Psychologist Irving Janis, who researched the subject extensively, defined groupthink as the systematic errors made by groups when taking collective decisions.

The three layers of groupthink
1. Key causes: Include group cohesion, directive leadership and ideological homogeneity.
2. Common symptomatic behaviours: Include overestimation of the capabilities of the group, being closed-minded and pressure for uniformity.
3. Consequent decision-making flaws: Include inadequate contingency planning, insufficient information and biased assessments of risk, cost-benefits and moral implications.
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ORIGINALLY POSTED AT : http://www.thehumanfactor.in/01062011/storyd.asp?sid=1283&pageno=1

IIPM | ARINDAM CHAUDHURI