In a message dated 1/29/2007 8:28:34 AM Central Standard Time, guy.chapman@spamcop.net writes:
Seeing how a few detractors here have been throwing around the term "groupthink" I have to ask, is there any real difference between the two or does it depend on which side of a "consensus" decision you are on? That is, if an article you wrote/are involved with survives AFD, then it's "consensus", if it gets deleted, it's "groupthink". Of course it's the other way around if it's an article you don't like.
Consensus is where people discuss and agree on something, usually after hearing all options. Consensus is often modified. On the other hand, groupthink is where people shut themselves off from minority ideas or ammendments, because they believe everything is already "just fine". In other words: consensus means constantly being open to new discussions and change, whereas groupthink shuts the valve for new ideas. And if you don't comply to groupthink, you are shut out instead of looked on respectfully.
Most companies fail because of groupthink.
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