Group failure

We have probably all been in groups that make great decisions and in groups that make poor decisions. How do we determine what went wrong when groups fail? Groups sometimes fail to make the best decisions based on the information the members of the group actually have. Sustein argues that group members often silence themselves based on the views of other in the group because of two reasons, information and social influences (65-69).

"If members are listening to one another, they might defer to leaders or to the apparent consensus and thus silence themselves" (67). A group will not be "smart" if its members imitate one another, be afraid to voice their own opinion, or wait for someone to tell them when and what to do. Groups tend to be wise only if individual members act responsibly and their own decisions. Incentive to make an individual decision is also productive. If each member is encouraged to voice his or her opinion and experiences on a subject, more often the group will keep an open mind about the subject.

In addition to information and social influence, some bad decisions are often the result of conditions outside of the groups control: time restraints, financial limitations and a host of other issues which encourage poor choices. These types of limitation should be recognized by the group and addressed. This type of acknowledgement could lead to more open discussion and possible options based on the limitations.

When a group is productive, it relies on its members to do their own part within that group. For those of us who sometimes wonder if it is really worth the extra effort to go that extra mile, to speak up in the last minutes of a meeting, or volunteer to take on a leadership role in a group, we need to keep in mind that the bottom line is that our actions matter, even if we do not understand the entire picture at the time. .