Worked example 1
A hospital committee rushes to approve a new rota without consulting junior nurses. Members who had doubts stayed silent because the head nurse strongly favoured the plan and the team had worked together for years. Patient care errors rose after implementation. Analyse using Tuckman and Janis.
Show solution outline
Tuckman: The committee may have appeared at norming/performing (long history, cohesion) but skipped healthy storming — dissent was never aired, so norms suppressed debate.
Janis — groupthink: Cohesive in-group + directive leader + time pressure = classic antecedents. Symptoms: self-censorship (doubting nurses silent), illusion of unanimity, mindguards protecting the head nurse's view. Outcome: failure to appraise alternatives and incomplete survey of objectives (junior staff excluded).
Fixes: Devil's advocate role, anonymous feedback, subgroup analysis, leader withholds preference until others speak.
Evaluation: Groupthink explains silence but oversimplifies — power imbalance (LMX out-group juniors) also explains fear. Not all cohesive groups groupthink; psychological safety allows cohesion with open dissent.