Word of the Day: group think

Word of the Day Daily updates on the latest technology terms |April 28, 2017

group think Group think (also spelled groupthink) is a phenomenon that occurs when group's need for consensus supercedes the judgment of individual group members. Group think often occurs when there is a time constraint and individuals put aside personal doubts so a project can move forward or when one member of the group dominates the decision-making process. In a group think scenario, consensus is often derived by social pressures or by work flow processes that cannot accommodate change. Group thinking, which carries a negative connotation, can be contrasted with collaboration, a scenario in which individual group members are encouraged to be creative, speak out and weigh many options before arriving at a consensus. In acceding to group think, group members often choose not to explore alternative solutions as part of the decision-making process, either because it is easier not to go with the flow or because they do not want to be perceived as troublemakers and lose status within the group. As such, group think can blind individuals from considering future consequences, warnings and risks that result from their choices. Quote of the Day "It's easy for collaboration to become groupthink in close-knit Agile teams, because the desire for fast consensus can be strong." - Gerie Owen   Trending Terms collaboration decision management DevOps Agile project management cognitive bias   Learning Center What's the latest DevOps challenge? A tendency toward groupthink Here's a new DevOps challenge: groupthink. Some DevOps groups get along so well they are unable to see new ideas, according to expert Gerie Owen. Agile teamwork: When collaboration becomes groupthink Quality assurance consultant Gerie Owen discusses how Agile teamwork can lead to groupthink if not tempered by Container Difference Exchange. Who is to blame for bad coding? Time to look in the mirror Sometimes bad coding comes from bad decision-making, and worse. Expert Gerie Owen explains how to get out of the cycle of self-inflicted problems. What is collaboration and why is it important to Agile methodologies? We hear a lot about "collaboration" being an important part of Agile methodologies, but what exactly is the meaning of collaboration and how does it fit in with software development? The need for IT innovation leads to aggressive collaboration CIOs should bring the brains together from all parts of the business to achieve IT innovation. Writing for Business Treating testing as a ________ rather than something that should be done continuously throughout software development is a recipe for defective software. A. phase B. faze Answer       Stay In Touch For feedback about any of our definitions or to suggest a new definition, please contact me at: mrouse@techtarget.com   Visit the Word of the Day Archives and catch up on what you've missed!   FOLLOW US About This E-Newsletter This e-newsletter is published by the TechTarget network. To unsubscribe from Whatis.com, click here. Please note, this will not affect any other subscriptions you have signed up for. TechTarget, Whatis, 275 Grove Street, Newton, MA 02466. Contact: webmaster@techtarget.com Copyright 2016 TechTarget. All rights reserved.