Thread: Reflection
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Old 10-08-2010, 20:59   #7
nmap
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: San Antonio, Texas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dr. mabuse View Post
Nmap, I believe the problem is that those eight symptoms tend to develop as a package in the civilian world. How to cull out the possible good traits without the bad?
I doubt you can avoid the bad - since the attributes lead to both good and adverse outcomes.

My thinking goes back to the classic motivational tape that one might provide to salesmen. The salesmen do more business for a time. Then, their productivity slumps. But the improvement in business during the "up" time more than offsets the losses that are sure to follow.

So - does the same pattern apply here? The people involved in groupthink are unified, see themselves as superior, and function accordingly. I came across an item that found that high expectations of students led to a "small but detectable advantage on subsequent academic achievement." LINK

I realize it can lead to disaster, as in the case mentioned by 219seminole, but I wonder if it might actually be positive much (most?) of the time.
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