The tyranny of groupthink

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Seems like the tyranny of the group is all the rage today in the workplace. I wonder if it's more so now than before? Maybe it's just more acutely stressed given how many otherwise intelligent people are out of work.

If you qualify for an interview but are then deemed not to "fit in" to a team and get rejected for it (even if you make no obvious mistakes or do anything embarrassing), then I think that yes, that's proof that groupthink is gaining power, especially in management culture.

I also think it has a strong connection with the high litigiousness and liability aversion in today's society. If everyone in the hiring group thinks so and so is a good fit, then it will look like they made the correct decision if crap hits the fan at some later point. In other words, they are proactively covering for themselves.

What do you think?

It's huge... and yet the "normals" don't seem to recognize it at all (or pretend they don't.) I can't help but wonder if they actively, quickly choose to do/act like everyone else to protect themselves by remaining in the group - or is it just unconscious instinct??

*sigh*

why would I want to be around people all acting the same?

Groupthink has been around since the first Craftsmen's Guilds (ca. 200 BC or earlier). It's just that "Groupthink" was not always known as such. Back then, it was likely called, "Adhering to Standards" or something similar.

When everyone in a guild or corporation has the same values and similar reasoning skills, then it is more likely that the guild or corporation will produce goods and services of consistently high quality.