There are certain individuals who may have a tendency to dominate and create a consensus in their teams not through the willingness of team members to collaborate but through the domination of discussion sessions. This is, in fact, an issue of groupthink, which is defined by Thefreedictionary.com as “the act or practice of reasoning or decision-making by a group, especially when characterized by uncritical acceptance or conformity to prevailing points of view”. From my understanding, I have not encountered any such cases in my classes for the past semesters.

I believe that there are two causes of groupthink, one of which is due to the personality of specific individuals who take on leadership positions and control the direction that the team is heading. For such instances, it is difficult for any one of us to change the personality of someone. What we can do is advise these individuals on the situation and explain to them the benefits of teamwork (such as the benefits of having more interesting ideas from every teammate). If the issue persists, do inform your facilitator.

The other cause of groupthink is due to the fact that there is no member within the team that is assertive enough to find a direction. Hence, the team moves in a direction upon the first suggestion put forward by one of its members. Such cases are rare but it does happen.  When groupthink surfaces in such situations, team members can encourage each other to discuss further before deciding.

Regardless of the situation, we should avoid groupthink whenever possible.