The Field Guide › Paper

Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascos

Janis · Team Learning, Voice & Silence · Houghton Mifflin · 1982 · Paywalled

Defined groupthink — the deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment in cohesive groups under pressure toward unanimity. The canonical account of what happens when psychological safety is absent and conformity replaces honest dissent. Used to explain the Bay of Pigs, Challenger, and numerous other catastrophic decisions.

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