The Rise of the New Groupthink

Dear Susan Cain,

After reading your article, The Rise of the New Groupthink, I feel I can honestly relate to most of what you were saying.   The thing is it did not take me to get to page three and four to really start agreeing with you.  This is because in the beginning I felt you were attacking groupthink and the advantages it as amongst the ones who work mainly in groups.  I am a college student and in almost all of my five classes I work mainly with others.  Which I like and find it beneficial because I am able to expand on my own ideas but hearing other thoughts and or opinions in which I would probably have never thought of on my own.  Then the middle of your article I started realizing what you were trying to really say is that even though working in groups or around others can be great it can also take away from “serious work.” On page two you say, “ Culturally, we’re often so dazzled by charisma that we overlook the quiet part of the creative process.”  Here is a thought.  Maybe I like working in groups so much because the work is usually distributed, and because I like working with others, which has a lot to do with my personality.  For me I like being around people, and really dislike being alone, but does that take away from my own personal creativity, privacy, freedom from interruption.  Do we waste more time in with group environments? Do you think that we do?    Your article really got me thinking.  When you talk about the New Groupthink and how it has overtaken our workplaces, our schools, and our religious institutions, I had to agree with the New Groupthink of today compared to when I was in elementary school.  You say that today, elementary school classrooms are commonly arranged in pods of desks, the better to foster group learning.   I visited my cousin in school and saw the same thing.  It reminded me of when I was in elementary school.  Our desks were set up the same exact way. I even remember getting upset when the few times they would change the groups around how upset I would get.  Were talking a long time since I was in elementary school to.  You also talked about the fourth grade classroom you visited in New York City.  Here you observed students engaging in-group work where they actually were forbidden to ask a question unless every member of the group had the same very question.  This I do not agree with and think that the New Groupthink cannot be good if children at such a young learning experience are interacting this way.  I think we should be able to share and express our own thoughts especially when working within groups, or group settings.   I also could relate to being that person that is “corralled into endless meetings or conference calls." For me this are usually conducted at the on-campus library.  Where I have to commute and my group members do not.  During these times I would like to work at home.   Also when we decide to meet up at a members house just like you mentioned the noise, and gaze of other workers, affords no respite.  In Conclusion, I think everyone has his or her own preference, but so far even with this New Groupthink I do not think anything has to be changed, I think that companies and organizations need to make that decision to determine what will be the most effective way.   Everyone has the freedom to be creative and choose to be solitude with his or her own fashion. Great article! Really had me thinking.