Groupthink In The Workplace

A)

Generally in my experience groupthink tends to make you act and/ or do what the other members of the group are doing without having consciously thought about your actions before performing them. This can be a good thing or a bad thing for me. If a group is doing something that is above what I would normally expect of myself, it tends to be much easier to encourage myself that I can perform similarly to the group members. On the other hand, if the group that I am a part of is being immature, acting recklessly, etc. I am more likely to engage in those things before thinking logically about the situation. The place where I encounter group think the most would have to be at work. I work in a restaurant and my co-workers and I often get fed-up with the

While they are often times being unreasonable so are my co-workers and I. A specific example of this would be when a customer asks for something and then the waiter or waitress will warn them that it is spicy, a bit sweet, etc. and then when it comes out the customer complains about what the waiter or waitress had just explained to them. Once they get back into the kitchen they immediately start bad mouthing the customer and all of the other co-workers add to the negativity of the situation by agreeing and saying how unfair it is etc.. Symptoms of what happens during this group think includes rationalization and stereotyping the enemy. What usually happens next is the waiter or waitress tends to be slightly rude or give a lesser quality of service to the customer ultimately resulting in a decrease of their tip and a spread of negativity throughout the kitchen. I believe that this groupthink could have been prevented by the leader (other co-workers) avoid stating their opinions on the situation and appointing devil’s advocate of the situation to question the waiter or waitresses next course of