CHAPTER 15 Case Synopsis: The Rise of the New Groupthink Solitude is out of fashion. Our companies, our schools and our culture are in bondage to the idea that creativity and achievement comes from collaboration. Most of us now work in teams, in offices without walls, for managers who prize people skills above all. Lone geniuses are out and collaboration is in. The author of this article calls this ‘The New Groupthink.” But there’s a problem with this view. Research strongly suggests that people are more creative when they enjoy privacy and freedom from interruption. And the most spectacularly creative people in many fields are often introverted, according to studies by psychologists. They’re extroverted enough to exchange and advance ideas, but see themselves as independent and individualistic. They’re not joiners by nature. Solitude has long been associated with creativity and transcendence. “Without great solitude, no serious work is possible,” Picasso said. Culturally, we’re often so dazzled by charisma that we overlook the quiet part of the creative process. This helps to explain why the New Groupthink has overtaken our workplaces, our schools and our religious institutions. Virtually all American workers now spend time on teams and some percent inhabit open-plan offices, in which no one has “a room of one’s own.” During the last decades, the average amount of space allotted to each employee shrank 300 square feet, from 500 square feet in the 1970s to 200 square feet in 2010. Its one thing to associate with a group in which each member works autonomously on his piece of the puzzle; it’s another to be corralled into endless group environments that offer no respite from the noise and gaze of co-workers. Studies show that open-plan offices make workers feel hostile, insecure, and distracted. They are also more likely to suffer from high blood pressure, stress, exhaustion and the flu. And people whose work is interrupted make 50% more mistakes and take twice as long to complete it. Many introverts seem to know this instinctively and resist

being herded together. The author of this article is not suggesting that teamwork be abolished, since it can offer a fun, stimulating, and useful way to exchange ideas, manage information, and build trust. However, most human beings have two contradictory impulses: we love and need one another yet we crave privacy and autonomy. To harness the energy that fuels both of these drives, our offices should encourage casual, café-style interactions but allow people to disappear into personalized, private spaces when they want to be alone. Questions: 1. What are the potential benefits of high levels of teamwork? - The benefits of high levels of teamwork are: increased information and knowledge, increased acceptance of solution, higher performance levels, increased level of focus, improved social skills and increased level of dependability. 2. What are the potential drawbacks of high levels of teamwork? - The drawbacks of high levels of teamwork are: groupthink, hidden agendas, and free riders. 3. Do you think it is important for workers to have a good balance between time spent working alone and time spent working together in groups or teams? Why or why not? - Yes it is important for team members to spend the same amount of time in and out of the group. It is important to think and work independently so that you are not influenced by anyone else initially. On the other hand, once your thoughts are gathered on your own, collaboration is just as critical. Working in groups is the new trend in corporate America. 4. Do you think organizations should provide two kinds of work areas for employees—places to collaborate with others in teams and places to work quietly on one’s own with little in the way of - Yes, because both, self and group, skills are highly needed in the work place.