The Wisdom of Crowds and the Folly of Groupthink
Writing by Darrin Dickey on Tuesday, 5 of February , 2008 at 10:00 am
“A person is smart. People are stupid.”
- Agent K, Men in Black
Several years ago, the “wisdom of crowds” became a popular concept. The theory follows the old adage that “two heads are better than one”. Today, the phrase “wisdom of crowds” has fallen out of favor with many people, but the theory is still sound when implemented in the right circumstances and manner. For instance, it works well with reader ratings and reviews on Amazon.com or Travelocity.com. It works well because the feedback informs a user and then they make a final decision themselves.
Where “wisdom of crowds” fails is when it’s utilized as a decision-making tool. Essentially, it was seen as an inclusive way of making decisions. One of the ways it was instituted was to let everyone air their opinions on the matter at hand and then a decision was made in a way that incorporated those opinions and “validated” everyone’s input. The trouble with this “decision by committee” is that it’s a breeding ground for a virus known as Groupthink. Groupthink is a type of thought exhibited by group members who try to minimize conflict and reach consensus without critically testing, analyzing, and evaluating ideas. During Groupthink, members of the group avoid promoting viewpoints outside the comfort zone of consensus thinking.
There is validation in seeking other opinions, from both people experienced in your subject and those who aren’t. Fresh outlooks are great to solicit. But eventually, someONE must make a decision for the process to move forward. Decisions made by multiple people tend to be muddy and lackluster.
A creative director I know recently went through this “design by committee” purgatory. She needed to get a new company logo, business papers and website designed and approved in 8 weeks. A daunting task under any circumstances. But in this case she had to run EVERYTHING through a committee of company executives and every one of them had to have a say about every little item and every change thereafter. The continual nitpicky changes back and forth and lack of a leadership decision frustrated the creative team and nearly broke their relationship with an outside agency they were using. After nearly ending up with ugly, in-distinctive art the creative director finally pushed through something decent by sheer force of will and a bit of subterfuge. However, the silliness of the decision process took seven weeks and obliterated the roll out time line. Everything had to be rescheduled and the executives grumbled that they couldn’t figure out what the delay was.
Decision by committee is a terrible way to get things done. Take other people’s opinions into account, but then task someone with being the decision-maker and get it done. Besides, everyone’s got better things to do with their time than to site in committee meetings.
Do you have an opinion on this? Share it and leave me a comment!
Category: Lessons Learned, Personal Observations
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