Replying to LO29198 --
Jan,
Group Think is more the norm in large groups than out of the ordinary.
It's an evanescent cloud which develops and hovers over our heads; it
comes from out of thin air.
In reality, it probably comes from the deepest recesses of our brains
where the vestiges of animal group behavior propel us to react under the
right circumstances.
Our rational side may provide warning against Group Think. With hindsight,
with distance, being removed from an input requiring reaction, it's easy
for you and me to discern when judgment and assumption rear their
dangerous heads within organizations of all kinds.
And then there's the factor of being tired of life -- isn't there a good
German word for this feeling which comes to us from psychoanalysis? Like
leaves on the edge of the stream whose center flows swiftly, one by we we
leaves are drawn into the stream, irrevocably, irrationally, giving up our
last hope, uncurling our last clinging finger. And all because we give in,
we're tired of fighting, we just hope to survive for the next moment.
Group Think is always all around us.
Best regards,
Barry
--Barry Mallis The Organizational Trainer 110 Arch St., #27 Keene, NH 03431-2167 USA voice: 603 352-5289 FAX: 603 357-2157 cell: 603 313-3636 email: theorgtrainer@earthlink.net
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <Richard@Karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>
"Learning-org" and the format of our message identifiers (LO1234, etc.) are trademarks of Richard Karash.