Have you ever been in a meeting where things are going a little too smoothly? There are no objections and no critical feedback. Everyone is just nodding their heads and agreeing with each other. There’s no issues at all, it seems.
You might ask: what’s wrong with that? The team is on the same page; we’re united front!
Well, you might want to ask yourself, is there any progress being made?
A lack of conflict can indicate that your team is working well together, but if you all agree on everything all the time, your team might be showing symptoms of stagnation. Think about it 
this way, if everyone always agrees on a proposed solution, there’s nothing new being added which means nothing is getting improved.
Maybe you’re not convinced. Here’s a little science behind the idea.
Steven Sloman, a professor and cognitivist scientist has spoken out about the issue. In his book, “The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone,” Sloman explains that most of us intuitively believe that we will pay a price if we express sentiments that contradict or even disagree with what the majority hold to be true or good. The scary part, he says, is that this phenomenon often takes place without getting noticed. Groupthink feels like the most natural thing – everyone is getting along and moving in the same direction. There’s no sense of friction to shake people out of it.
Just take a look at these controversial ads. You would think that someone in the business would have said something about the advertisements before they were made public, but no one did. Probably because they all thought they were on the same page when, in fact, they were sharing one brain.
So what’s the solution?
Instead of settling for groupthink, work for consensus at your team meetings. The very idea of consensus being reached means that there may have been disagreement or concerns when an idea was proposed. But after a thoughtful discussion, the disagreements have been negotiated and a compromise was reached. Concerns, in the same way, were treated with respect and dealt with appropriately. By coming to a consensus as a group, the proposed solution will evolve because it will have been supplemented by critical feedback from a variety of perspectives.
We won’t lie to you. Opting for a consensus over groupthink means more work. You’ll have to spend a little more time in your meetings in order to sift through the opinions of your team members. You may even have to endure feeling uncomfortable at times. Working towards a consensus means that things may get temporarily complicated but that’s okay! Because out of that complexity will come innovative ideas and fresh perspectives that will propel your business into bigger and better success.
It’s better to ask the challenging questions now, before actions are implemented and you get stuck in a plan that no one really believes in. That’s the really scary part. Discussing possible risks might be intimidating but the fear of speaking up is always less than the fear that comes with being stuck in dangerous, unclear, and chaotic territory later down the road.
Remember: groupthink can be absolutely devastating if it is left to fester in the shadows. If you’re worried that your team is starting to share the same brain instead of merely being on the same page, speak up now! Or you may have to forever hold your peace.
P.S. Did you know that the cliché, “Great minds think alike,” actually is an incomplete version of it’s original form? The actual saying is, “Great minds think alike, but fools seldom differ.”
