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Introduction to Group Decision Making
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"If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?"

- Anyone's Mom

Below are some brief descriptions of three historic events in U.S. and world history.

 

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. . In 1961, the Kennedy Administration, along with recommendations from the CIA, initiated the disastrous Bay of Pigs plan against communist Cuba. Despite serious misgivings among group members, and obviously inaccurate intelligence information, the plan was pursued invoking worldwide criticism of the U.S. . .
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. . In 1941, Japan shocked the U.S. and the world, by bombing Pearl Harbor. In the weeks prior to the attack, several members of Naval Intelligence raised concerns over the vulnerability of the U.S. fleet. In fact, Admiral H.E. Kimmel and his staff received suspicious reconnaissance warnings just hours before the bombing raids began. The warnings were dismissed. . .
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. . In 1987, the space shuttle Challenger exploded minutes after liftoff killing seven astronauts. Immediate investigation into the tragedy, revealed that a sequence of decisions made by NASA technicians, contractors, and scientists contributed to the disaster. Ironically, outside the group, those involved expressed concerns weeks before the launch. Many did not support the decision to liftoff. Some almost guaranteed the disaster. . .
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Obviously, one would need to make a stretch to relate the above events to managing our businesses. However, they illustrate a powerful phenomenon that jeopardizes the quality of any teams' decision making - Decision Paradox - so called because there is not really consensus on the group's decision. They have reached a decision because they couldn't reach a decision!
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....G E T T I N G.....S T A R T E D
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This module:
 
describes common obstacles and dynamics that interfere with a group's ability to make effective decisions.
provides tips for testing the decision making process of a group for true consensus.
provides a case study of one company's mismanagement of a decision making process and the costly outcome.


Why is this important? When the responsibility for a decision is spread across members of a group the effectiveness of the decision making process can be severely corrupted. While the group enjoys a sense of unity and consensus, powerful underlying dynamics may have steered them into the wrong decision. Though typically associated with larger companies the impact is no less a hazard to small companies. This topic is a must for any manager who needs to gather input from other sources when making important decisions or when a group is faced with making a significant decision.

 
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Make a decision - how hard can that be? Well here's a rule of thumb - if there's more than a couple of people involved proceed cautiously. Group dynamics have an incredibly powerful influence on a group's ability to make a clear, logical decision. Why? Decision Paradox! Click to learn more.
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