in this video we will discuss group think in the professional environment first let's define group think group think is a way of thinking that inhibits appropriate decision making where the desire to maintain group Harmony overrides The Logical considerations of the outcomes of possible decisions the primary objective of group think is to maintain group consensus or uniform thinking group members are persuaded to follow the group's views where outside dissenting opinions are suppressed suppression of dissenting views and opinions lead to the belief of infallibility group Harmony poor decision making and poor problem solving strategies stop to think has a social interaction ever changed how you thought about a specific topic perhaps you have changed your mind about a restaurant Choice after hearing a group of friends discuss how much they love it previously you may have had a negative or neutral thought about the restaurant but the desire to not disrupt the Happy Feelings of the group makes you change your mind to follow along with your friends due to group polarization the beliefs and attitudes we bring to a group grow stronger when we talk to others who share the same attitudes and beliefs this can be socially toxic group polarization leads to an US versus them mentality in which Echo chamber numbers of like-mindedness increases the extremeness of those views eventually suspicions may become convictions where biased thinking leads to prejudicial fact thought processes there are many factors that feed into group think in which we become overconfident that the group knows best we conform to the beliefs and opinions of the larger group we justify our own actions as following along with what the rest of the group is doing and most importantly the effect of group polarization there are several ways at the organizational level to prevent group think group think is prevented When leaders welcome various opinions invite expert critiques of developing plans and assign people to identify possible problems dissent or speaking out against actions that may violate the rights safety or well-being of Others May discourage a group from poor decisions an open debate to shape good decisions at the individual level you too can prevent group think by being open-minded to new ideas and practices challenging assumptions evaluating your evidence critically encouraging diversity facing conflict with respect but not being afraid to speak out engaging in pro-social Behavior by acting to benefit others rather than solely acting to serve your own interest and finally being a positive influence