The Strengths Antidote to 'Groupthink': Why Great Teams Need Difference

There's something reassuring about being in a room where everyone agrees. The conversation flows, nobody pushes back, a decision comes quickly and everyone leaves feeling aligned.

But what is agreement isn't always a sign that a team is working well?

I recently revisited the work of social psychologist Irving Janis and his research into groupthink which is the tendency for people within a cohesive group to prioritise agreement and harmony over critically examining different options. It made me think of my work with strengths.

Because when strengths work is done well, it can create almost the opposite environment. Not a team where everyone thinks the same, but a team where people understand why they think differently, and know how to use that difference.

When agreement becomes the goal

Janis developed the concept of groupthink to explain how intelligent, capable people can collectively make poor decisions. The problem isn’t necessarily a lack of intelligence, it’s the group dynamic. When maintaining harmony becomes more important than challenging an idea, people can begin to:

• hold back doubts

• dismiss information that doesn’t fit the prevailing view

• assume everyone agrees because nobody speaks up

• feel pressure to conform

• stop exploring alternative options.

  
  

One of the most interesting aspects of groupthink is that the individuals involved may not even realise it’s happening. But underneath it, people may simply have stopped bringing their differences into the room

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This is where good strengths work becomes powerful

Strengths work isn’t about telling everyone to “play to their strengths” and then sending them back to their desks. At its best, it gives a team a shared language for difference. It helps people recognise that:

• The colleague who keeps asking questions isn’t necessarily being difficult.

• The person who wants to slow the conversation down isn’t necessarily resistant.

• The person who immediately starts generating possibilities isn’t necessarily unfocused.

• And the person who keeps bringing the conversation back to the practicalities isn’t necessarily lacking vision.

They may simply be bringing something different to the team.

A healthy team doesn’t need everyone to think alike

If everyone approaches a decision in exactly the same way, the group's conversation might feel wonderfully easy, however, easy isn't necessarily effective.

The value of a team is partly found in what one person can see that another person can’t. Good strengths work helps make those differences visible, and once they are visible, they become much easier to work with.

From “Why are you doing that?” to “What are you seeing that I’m not?”

This might be one of the most valuable shifts strengths work can create. Without a shared understanding of each other’s natural ways of thinking and working, difference can easily become personal:

• Why does she always have to question everything?

• Why does he want to move so quickly?

• Why do they need so much detail?

• Why can’t they just make a decision?

But when people understand how their colleagues naturally approach situations, the interpretation can change. The question becomes: 'What is this person noticing that I might be missing?'

Instead of defending our own perspective, we become more curious about someone else’s, and curiosity is a much better foundation for good decision-making than conformity.

From groupthink to collective thinking

A team where people are connected enough to trust each other, but different enough to challenge each other, brings positive, collective thinking. It builds a team where agreement isn’t the measure of success, its a place where people can comfortably say:

• “I don’t see it that way.”

• “Here’s what I’m concerned about.”

• “I think we’re missing something.”

• “What if we looked at it differently?”

And these responses are seen through the lens of curiosity (rather than defensiveness).

That’s what I believe good strengths work can help create. Build teams where everyone’s way of thinking has the opportunity to make the team better. Which is perhaps one of the most important things we can do for employee engagement too. People are far more likely to feel that they belong when they don’t have to leave their natural way of contributing at the door.

Good strengths work helps teams understand what people naturally bring.

Great strengths work helps the team make use of it.

And that’s where the real value lies.

Common Ground can give your Brisbane team more clarity in a focused half-day workshop. Book a free 15-minute alignment call with Common Ground to check our upcoming availability.

Author:

Rachael is the Founder and Lead Facilitator of Common Ground. Drawing on years of experience across the Australian public and private sectors, she has managed and worked within teams of all shapes and sizes and understands what it takes to improve the way a team operates simply and effectively. Her workshops combine a real-world perspective with the rigour of the Gallup CliftonStrengths® framework.