Groupthink Reflection

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4) I was fairly successful in persuading the group to adopt my positions because I was the President, which automatically comes with a certain amount of decision-making power. My role was already established prior to the beginning of the simulation, and people recognized that I was going to be the facilitator and main spokesman for the group. I do think, however, that my interpersonal style helped me win over the group as well. I was careful to include everyone in the discussion and generally tried to establish a consensus, even if it, in retrospect, it may have been based in groupthink, before making a complete decision. I also think I developed my role as a pragmatist well. I was well informed about the issues and open to changing my opinions or perspectives depending on the information provided. I was open to other people’s advice and criticism, and I sought facts. I generally stayed calm besides when I rushed the decision to declare DEFCON three. I think that, as a result, people trusted me to lead them and listened to my opinions. When I arrived at a decision it was generally after much discussion (perhaps too much at times) and was therefore well respected by the group. 5) The most …show more content…

The amount of effort that the professor and TAs’ put into this simulation was incredible and made it actually feel as if I was the President of the United States in a cabinet meeting. By having everyone write papers ahead of time, the professor ensured that everyone was informed and ready to participate, which made the exercise more realistic, more complicated, and more fun. Also, the simulation is a great way to see the theories we learned play out in real life. I always thought I could avoid groupthink, but now I understand how easy it is to slip into such troubling behavior. In order for students to truly understand international affairs, they need to have a simulation like

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