There were many thoughts going through my head while watching The Traitors last week. Is there a real link between how trustworthy someone is and the job they do? The doctor! The solider! The priest! The diplomat! The barber! The gardener! (Very Agatha Christie…) Whether choosing to conceal or reveal, people’s professions have been regularly raised… do we really believe our values and personalities are defined by our careers?
Does Charlotte regret making the bizarre choice to speak in a Welsh accent? I would have definitely slipped up by now.
And do any of them realise just how swayed they all are by groupthink?
As someone who works collaboratively with large groups of people, where decisions frequently have to be made, I’m very alert to the persuasive power of groupthink, the phenomenon where groups make decisions based on the influence of a powerful or loudly spoken person. Tyler’s banishment last week was like a textbook example played out before our very eyes: the power of one person to steer an entire room away from the decision they had planned to make based on nothing more than a hunch.
Research suggests we defer to groupthink when we are scared of making a different decision – often the case in work where we follow the HiPPO (highest paid person’s opinion) – or where fear of offence or vulnerability is at play, which is obviously happening at The Traitors’ roundtable. By following someone else’s lead, it is only one person’s ‘fault’ if they are wrong about Tyler, and that helps everyone sleep better at night.
If you start looking for groupthink, you’ll see it everywhere; you may even notice yourself conforming to a group decision you disagree with. So how do you avoid this from happening in the workplace?
Businesses and managers that follow a few simple rules can manage to break free from groupthink, so if you think you’re nodding along in meetings while disagreeing entirely, or are noticing that no one ever challenges your decisions or received wisdom, you might want to consider the following:
1. Open up the room to offer conflicting opinions. One way to do this is to ask: “Before we make this decision, is there another way?” or “Can I offer an alternative view before we make this decision?” Once one person shares conflicting thoughts, others often follow. The best decisions are made on the back of discussion, debate and thorough analysis. You can’t do that without different viewpoints.
2. If you are the HiPPO – and be aware, it’s not always the highest paid; it can also be the loudest or most influential person – speak last, especially when offering solutions. Invite other opinions before you give your own view; otherwise, you may just end up with a room full of nodding dogs.
3. Appoint someone to be a devil’s advocate. Want to avoid groupthink? Challenge individuals to disrupt the status quo and bring in subject matter experts who can share factual rather than subjective opinions too.
Eliminating groupthink benefits everyone – businesses, colleagues, you, and your team. And after watching The Traitors, I’d say it especially benefits poor young Freddie. Fingers crossed that the team will learn from its groupthink mistakes!
