On Sep 2, 2008, at 5:14 PM, Dave CROCKER wrote: > > > Russ Housley wrote: >> In summary, email discussion has less tendency toward "group think" >> than >> face-to-face gatherings. > Of course. Humans are hierarchical social animals; it is very hard for most people to disagree with a room full of people. Maybe even more pertinently for technical work, it is very hard (for most people) to think in depth in a room full of people. IMHO confirming decisions on the list is a very valuable sanity check and should not be dropped under any circumstances. Regards Marshall > > Interesting. I hadn't connected with that term, for this, but it's > really quite > apt. > > The Wikipedia article on the term, at: > > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink> > > is useful for considering working group processes that lead to bad > decision-making. > > Notably: > >> Symptoms of groupthink >> >> In order to make groupthink testable, Irving Janis devised eight >> symptoms >> that are indicative of groupthink (1977). >> >> 1. Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and >> encouraging >> risk taking. >> >> 2. Rationalising warnings that might challenge the group's >> assumptions. >> >> 3. Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing >> members to >> ignore the consequences of their actions. >> >> 4. Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, >> disfigured, >> impotent, or stupid. >> >> 5. Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions >> the group, >> couched in terms of "disloyalty". >> >> 6. Self censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group >> consensus. >> >> 7. Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as >> agreement. >> >> 8. Mindguards — self-appointed members who shield the group from >> dissenting >> information. > > > Would that email discussion were enough to guard against these > weaknesses. > > d/ > > -- > > Dave Crocker > Brandenburg InternetWorking > bbiw.net > _______________________________________________ > Ietf mailing list > Ietf@xxxxxxxx > https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf _______________________________________________ Ietf@xxxxxxxx https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf