Groupthink explains our tendency to favor harmony or conformity in a group, which can result in poor quality decision making.
Groupthink occurs when the thinking of a group slides towards the views of the dominant group member.
In any organization with a hierarchy youāll probably find groupthink to be common. You might be able to recall times when you just nodded along with others even though you disagreed - not wanting to speak up? Or maybe you were leading and no one seemed to question you on a decision that turned out to be quite wrong?
Sometimes groupthink occurs unconsciously and itās not very obvious.
Other times itās more conscious and can be kinda gross to witness. (Have you ever had a colleague who terms like
bootlicking or
brown nosing were made for?)
Either way, deliberate or not, itās groupthink.
What is the HiPPO effect?
HiPPO stands for highest paid personās opinion.
Maybe itās a board member, or a CEO or some other executive. This personās opinion is at risk of dominating all judgements and decision making - and this is the HiPPO effect.
Sometimes the HiPPO can be a driver of groupthink. When Iāve been in organizations with a HiPPO problem Iāve noticed a couple of subtle signs. Communication tends to be more hidden, rooms go silent the HiPP arrives, and there are a lot more direct messages via email/Slack or equivalent instead of broadcast activity. This is not good!