In Mixed Company Chapter Seven

1
In Mixed Company Chapter Seven

• Defective Group Decision
• Making and Problem Solving

2
Information Overload Too Much of Good Thing

• Information is the raw material of group decision
  making and problem solving.
• Information overload occurs when the rate of
  information flow into a system and/or the
  complexity of that information exceed the
  systems processing capacity.

3
Information Sometimes Impairs Critical Thinking

• A glut of information makes it very difficult to
  distinguish useless from the useful information.
• Critical thinking and effective decision making
  are hampered because group members have trouble
  digging through the garbage heap of useless
  information to discover the treasured nugget.

4
Information Bulimia

• Information bulimia is a binge-and-purge cycle of
  information processing.
• Cramming for an exam.
• We become so focused on the quantity of
  information that we hardly is substandard.
• Little information is retained, no meaningful
  decision have been made in the process no vital
  answers to problems have been discovered.

5
Group Attention Deficit Disorder Difficulty
Concentrating

• When cell phones and pagers go off during group
  meetings, classes, and the like everyone is
  distracted and attention is diverted from
  decision making and problem solving.

6
Coping with Information Overload

• Screening Information Separating the Useful form
  the Useless
• Screening information much like you do phone
  calls by simply choosing to ignore much of the
  information is one effective method of coping
  with information overload.

7
Specializing Knowing More and More about Less and
Less

• When you specialize you can manage to know a lot
  about a little.
• No individual or group can possibly manage
  information sufficiently so that experts on vital
  subjects will never be required.

8
Becoming Selective On a Need-to-Know Basis

• Another method of coping with information
  overload is selectivity.
• Setting group priorities helps members select
  which information requires their urgent attention
  and which can be delayed or ignored entirely.
• Setting priorities distinguishes what we need to
  know from what there is to know.
• Selecting the specific information that is
  required avoids burial by the information dump
  truck.

9
Limiting the Search When Enough is Enough

• The search for information must stop at some
  point to allow time to reflect and evaluate
  information.
• Setting deadlines fro group decisions is
  critical, deadlines force a group to bring a
  search for information to a halt.

10
Information Underload

• Information underload refers to an insufficient
  amount of information (inadequate input)
  available to a group for decision-making purpose.
• Increasing the quantity of irrelevant or
  minimally useful information will confuse rather
  than assist the group in making effective
  decisions and solving problems.
• Mindsets are psychological and cognitive
  predispositions to see the world in a particular
  way.

11
The Problem Poor Decisions and Solutions

• The consequences of confirmation bias to group
  decision making and problem solving are serious.
  Looking for the potential weaknesses and
  disconfirming evidence regarding decisions and
  solutions is a significant element of effective,
  group decision making and problem solving.
• Confirmation bias was common.
• Positive information about a candidate that each
  subject initially favored was readily shared and
  discussed with group members negative
  information, however, was about disfavored
  candidates but positive information was not.

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Combating Confirmation Bias A Plan

• The competent communicator combats the problem of
  confirmation bias by taking the following steps
• Seek disconfirmation and evidence
• Vigorously present disconfirming evidence to the
  group.
• Play devils advocate
• Gather allies to help challenge confirmation bias.

13
False Dichotomies Either-or Thinking

• A false dichotomy is the tendency to view the
  world in terms of only two opposing possibilities
  when other possibilities are available, and to
  describe this dichotomy in the language of
  extremes.
• Describing objects, events, and people in such
  extreme polarities as more-immoral, good-bad,
  rich-poor, locks us into a mindset of narrow
  vision.

14
False Dichotomies

• The competent communicator combats the problem of
  false dichotomies in small groups as follows
• Be suspicious of absolutes- when group members
  argue only two extreme possibilities, look for a
  third or even fourth possibility.
• Employ the language of provisionalism. You will
  be using terms such as sometimes, rarely,
  occasionally, mostly, usually, unlikely, and
  moderately, not always, never, or impossible.

15
Inferences

• Inferences are conclusions about the unknown
  based on what is known.
• The principal problem with inferences is that we
  too often assume our inferences are mere
  descriptions of fact, even when they rest on
  insufficient or faulty information
• If we don't exercise our critical thinking
  abilities by closely examining important
  inferences central to decision making in groups,
  bad decisions are highly likely to result.

16
Limited Information Base Information
Insufficiency

• Inferential error resulting from severely limited
  information is equally problematic for a group.
• Group members are prone to make inferences based
  on extremely limited or faulty information
  without even realizing that they have made a
  guess, and not identified a fact.

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Specified Sources of Inferential Errors

• The graphic, outrageous, controversial event
  draws our attention and sticks in our minds, that
  is called the vividness effect.
• We tend to overvalue shocking example and
  undervalue statistical information that shows
  patterns and trends.
• Unrepresentativeness distorting the facts- when
  we make a judgment, we assess the resemblance or
  accuracy of an object or event presumed to belong
  to a general category.

18
Correlation Inferred as Causations

• A third specific source of inferential error is
  correlation. A correlation is a consistent
  relationship between two or more variables. The
  are two kinds of correlations positive and
  negative.
• A positive correlation occurs when X increases
  and Y also increases.
• A negative correlation occurs when X increases
  and Y decreases.

19
Error Correction Practicing Critical Thinking

• Group discussion promotes higher-quality of
  decision making when the following conditions
  occur
• The validity of inferences is carefully examined.
• Inferences are grounded in valid and plentiful
  information.
• As least one member of the group exerts influence
  to guide the group toward higher-quality
  decisions.

20
General Conditions Excessive Cohesiveness and
Concurrence Seeking

• Groupthink- a mode of thinking that people engage
  in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive
  in-group, when the members strivings for
  unanimity override their motivation to
  realistically appraise alternative courses of
  action.
• Cohesiveness and its companion,
  concurrence-seeking, are the two general
  conditions necessary for groupthink to occur.
• Groupthink is rooted in excessive cohesiveness
  and a resulting pressure to present a united
  front to those outside of the group.

21
Identification of Groupthink Main Symptoms

• Overestimation of the groups power and morality.
• Closed-mindedness, clinging to assumptions.
• Closed-mindedness is manifested by
  rationalizations that discount warnings or
  negative information that might cause the group
  to rethink its basic assumptions.
• Pressures toward Uniformity
• To maintain uniformity of opinion and behavior
  among group members.

22
Preventing Groupthink Promoting Vigilance

• Groups must become vigilant decision makers.
  Vigilant decision making requires that several
  steps be taken.
• First, members must recognize the problem of
  groupthink as it begins to manifest itself.
• Second, the group must minimize status
  differences, high status members exert a
  disproportionate influence on lower-status group
  members.

23
Preventing Groupthink Promoting Vigilance

• Seeking information that challenges an emerging
  occurrence.
• Close related , developing a norm in the group
  that legitimizes disagreement during discussion
  sessions is a final way to prevent groupthink.
• Reminder role- the reminder raise questions in a
  non-aggressive manner regarding collective
  inferential error, confirmation bias, false
  dichotomies, and any of he myriad symptoms of
  groupthink that may arise.