Illusion of Consensus

Very often leaders are caught in the illusion of consensus by surrounding them with obedient team. This syndrome is also called Group Thinking or Tribal Philosophy or Social Conformity. If you have also come across this behavior, continue reading further…

Why leaders should avoid forcing consensus?

While building consensus gives a lot of comforts, however, this can lead to following behavior patterns that are harmful in

• The desire to build consensus is likely to encourage coterie behavior within the team.
• The team, sooner or later, starts towing the leader’s agenda and the decision-making process will get compromised and blindsided.
• Those who have a different opinion will impose self-censorship to avoid any confrontation. – At times, the leader will experience that team is consciously omitting information for the sake of aligning with the leader or group.

How to I address such a situation?

• I start with keeping the decision-making group lean with representation from impacted parties.
• I have long accepted the fact that it is normal to not have a consensus and this should be encouraged.
• At times, I delegate the decision-making to someone with listening skills and who would not circumvent a different perspective. This is especially true when I have a very strong opinion on a topic.
• I look for Individuals who play devil’s advocate and ensure that do not get painted as hurdle or roadblock or detractors, rather find someone who is good at playing this role.
• While making a hiring decision, I particularly look for signs of Group Thinking practices that can create pressure on panels for conformity. It is better to have each of the panel members to I/v separately and share the findings without having the pressure to align or comply with the findings of others.
• To summarize, The leader should be seen as genuinely interested in learning the pros & cons of the idea, so an informed decision can be taken.

What’s working for me?

As a leader, I am always looking to perform a reality check on whether the team has a true conviction on the idea, before concluding arriving at a decision. Towards this reality check, I handpick the owner for executing the idea from the group who are in favor of the same. This works as an acid test as almost immediately the true perspective of the individual will emerge.

Secondly, Encourage speaking and diversity in the team. As a leader, I criticize my own plan on what may go wrong to see if the team in favor has a way to address the same. If they don’t, then it becomes quite obvious that the idea needs more deliberation.

Sources, Credits, and References

• Wiki – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink
• Tribal Philosophy – https://www.anthonyarcis.com/blog/2018/4/6/tribal-philosophy
• Group Obedience or Conformity – https://thinkibility.com/2016/09/02/group-obedience/
• Avoid Group Thinking in the hiring process

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