Tag Archive: Road to Abilene

Tattoos, Group Think, and The Road to Abilene – Part 4

Group dynamics in meetings and decisions are influenced by the social pressures of the group. You’ve heard the cynical old expression that the best decision of a committee is worse than the best decision of any one individual in the meeting. Here are some signs that you may have a problem and what you can do about them.

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Tattoos, Group Think, and The Road to Abilene – Part 3

In the past two posts, I’ve tried to answer why we, as humans, are so ready to agree with others, even when we know it’s wrong, or not what we think? The real question is what can we do about it?

People who know me might say I am a bit of an iconoclast, always questioning the prevailing norm (see There Are alligators in the Sewers of NY). But I often have others say to me after a meeting, “I wished I’d asked that question.” It’s a kind of a pain in the ass trait, and not one that will endear you to some management or others.

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Tattoos, Group Think, and The Road to Abilene – Part 2

A recent experiment and research at the Weizmann Institute by Prof. Yadin Dudai and his students may show why we are suseptible to group pressure. So what do you do when everyone around the conference table nods in agreement to an idea that no one individually would agree to?

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