Prevent groupthink with LSP.
Groupthink is when all the members of a collective end up thinking the same. It is a well-known cognitive bias that plays out when the members of a group somehow feel that cohesion is more important than the quality of the decision process. A cognitive bias is usually unconscious: people are convinced to do things right, and no one is willing to challenge the course the group is heading. It can lead to very bad decisions. A famous example is the decision to invade Cuba landing on the Bay of Pigs.
When we use the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method, we ask every participant to build his contribution before sharing with the group. It provides an opportunity to be protected from groupthink for the duration of the building, and come up with a personal or original contribution to a complex issue, instead of elaborating on someone else’s ideas. The diversity of thoughts within the group can be used to contemplate different ways to solve the issue, instead of converging, or tunneling, into one.
Of course, groupthink can happen nonetheless, but a carefully facilitated process makes it less likely, and taps into the knowledge of every individual around the table to produce more robust decisions.