A type of thought exhibited by group members who try to minimize conflict and reach consensus without critically testing, analyzing, and evaluating ideas. Individual creativity, uniqueness, and independent thinking are lost in the pursuit of group cohesiveness. During groupthink, members of the group avoid promoting viewpoints outside the comfort zone of consensus thinking. Tendency of the members of a group to yield to the desire for consensus or unanimity at the cost of considering alternative courses of action. Groupthink is said to be the reason why intelligent and knowledgeable people make disastrous decisions.

Tip excerpted from: The Professional's Guide to Maintenance and Reliability Terminology by Ramesh Gulati, Jerry Kahn and Robert Baldwin