“If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.”
– George Patton, US General during WW II
Please extend my apologies in advance to James Surowiecki, the author of “The Wisdom of Crowds”. His best selling book suggests that groups make better decisions than any made by a single member of the group. To this notion I say “bull hockey” (note that I am expressing this opinion as an individual and I belong to no partisan group).
“Group-think” is flawed for a number of reasons. The chief flaw is the raw emotion of the crowd or “mob”. Call it herd instinct, but the weak and intellectually inferior will follow the strong and manipulative. Think of the failure of the crowd to second guess the lunacy of Nazi Germany during World War II. Of course, fear was a factor for many who blindly followed the crazed leadership in Germany.
By examining current events in business, we can find the same blind subservience to the wisdom of the crowd. Consider that General Motors has been given market feedback for two decades that the US auto consumer prefers small, fuel efficient vehicles such as those offered by Honda, Toyota and Nissan. Despite this consumer demand, GM decided to build large SUVs and full sized trucks. When the price of oil jumps, GM has no choice but bleed red ink.
(Note to self: consider selling the ¾ ton Chevy Suburban in the front driveway before it is too late.)
Entrepreneurs are often rejects from large corporate culture—they cannot follow the crowd, so they choose to do it on their own. Abandoned or fired by the crowd, entrepreneurs take it upon themselves to create better products or services. They may deserve the reputation of “control freaks” for their compulsion to do it their way, but at least they won’t be lead by the crowd, goose stepping off into oblivion.
Other examples of dumb crowds: Enron, the New York Knicks, AOL merges with Time Warner, IBM rebuffs startup Microsoft, Ford and the Edsel, Napoleon and the Louisiana Purchase, etc, etc.
My message? Think differently. Reject the crowd.
John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.
I agree with your comments about GM! I’d be willing to bet that over the years there’s been a few, lower-level associates at GM that have muttered the same thing you wrote. I’m sure all of them have since lost their job. So much for that open-door policy and suggestion box. Oh, and don’t worry, I’m sure our taxes will keep the company alive and the CEO will get his bonus (or golden parachute).
Brian,
In defense of GM, we must remember how big it is—it is bigger than some small countries. Changing directions is not easy.
Still, you cannot help but wonder who was listening to the customer?
JBJ