Janis basically defines groupthink as when the dominant opinion in a group of people becomes so strong that is overrides consideration of alternative tactics. He also made the point that a more cohesive group is more likely to experience groupthink. It makes sense that a group that’s better at working together would start to think together, but these two things have very different connotations. We are taught that groupthink is a dangerous concept, which I agree that it is, but on the flip-side, cohesion in a group is something that we are taught to strive for. Cohesion helps a group be more efficient, another quality that we think of as positive in a group.
The movie Thirteen Days shows the aftermath of groupthink. The failed Bay of Pigs invasion was a consequence of groupthink. JFK believed his military advisors because he was a new president who placed too much trust in their expertise. His newly elected status caused him to not feel strong enough to question or defy the dominant opinion. Because no one raised questions, the mission failed miserably. The Cuban Missile Crisis shows the aftermath of this decision. JFK takes calculated moves, even with his military advisors, because he now understands that every individual person has their own agenda which influences their opinions. The military generals wanted to redeem themselves after the Bay of Pigs failure, so they supported an all-out invasion (according to the movie). The movie paints JFK as the unmoving obstacle between the Pentagon, Cuba, and World War III, an adversary to groupthink. While I am not sure whether this is historically true, it shows the value of fighting groupthink, because if he had blindly followed the majority opinion, we would have fought another World War, most likely a nuclear one which would have changed the world as we know it.
I think the point you illustrate when considering JFK’s decision making as being an adversary to groupthink to be extremely accurate. This is because JFK refrained from following the majority opinion, and ended up making choices that prevent violent conflict and another potential world war.
I think you bring up a great example of how leaders are imperfect and can learn from their mistakes. Having suffered from groupthink before, JFK radically changes the way he approaches the Cuban Missile Crisis and made smart choices after learning from his previous blunders.
I really like your example of how JFK strayed from the majority to make the decision that worked best in this case. However, I think that this one example is not representative of all possible scenarios; in some cases “groupthink” is the best option and in some cases the majority opinion could be correct.
I also really liked the highlight of how JFK was hesitant to question or deny the situation due to “his newly elected status”. I see this on smaller scales as well. When people are new to a group they often are more hesitant to interject their opinions, especially if they are oppositional. This is an issue because often new perspectives offer new solutions!