Popular Thinking

Popular Thinking is the acceptance of common “wisdom” without challenging assumptions or asking questions. Uncommon Thinking is the antidote to Popular Thinking.

 How does it work?

Uncommon Thinking requires asking questions, challenging norms, and being vigilant to the thoughts and beliefs you accept as true. It also requires a strong inner circle of trusted peers to provide feedback. Most importantly, Uncommon Thinking requires becoming comfortable with not having all the answers.

 Popular Thinking Traps:

1. “We’ve never done it this way before.”
2. “There is only one way to do it.”
3. “Average is good enough.”
4. “Wealth is bad.”
5. “I’m entitled to success.”

 To avoid Popular Thinking traps, you must…

1. Become comfortable with being uncomfortable.
2. Seek out different voices.
3. Look at old things in new ways.

 Uncommon Thinking in action:

In the 1970‘s, Yale psychologist Irving Janis offered a theory on why smart groups of people can sometimes make radically stupid decisions with almost no awareness of how far off base their thinking has become. He called this theory “group think.”

 Janis came up with the idea of group think after reading about the Bay of Pigs fiasco during John F. Kennedy’s presidency. He found himself suggesting that what had happened in the White House might be similar to what happened among ordinary citizens when operating in groups: They often developed a “pattern of concurrence-seeking . . . when a ‘we’ feeling of solidarity is running high.”

As he continued his study, he found similar patterns of thinking in several military and political decisions gone awry, such as the lack of protection over Pearl Harbor and the escalation of the Vietnam War.

Participants in those critical decisions, Janis found, failed to consider the full range of alternatives or consult experts who could offer different perspectives. They rejected outside information and opinion unless it supported their preferred policy.

 Since Janis’ original discovery and naming of this phenomenon, “group think” has become a widely known and understood threat to thoughtful decision making in the military, within foreign relations, and in society at large.

Do it now:

Make a list of the people who have the most influence over your thinking and decision making. Reflect on whether you feel they provide you with a differing voice that helps you avoid Popular Thinking.

Wise words on Popular Thinking:

“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from the old ones.”
 – John Maynard Keynes