One of the most common obstacles to effective decision making by teams is groupthink. The term is used to describe the observation that many groups make poor decisions because they try to reach a consensus and minimize conflict. In doing so they suppress dissenting viewpoints, eschew controversial issues, and isolate themselves from outside influences. The result is that they do not seriously consider alternatives to the group’s view.

The phenomenon of groupthink was investigated in the 1970s by Irving Janis, a research psychologist at Yale University. He identified various causes of this problem, including the desire for cohesiveness, lack of impartial leadership, homogeneity of group members, and stressful external threats.

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