group activity and groupthink

At first I really didn't see how the activity we did in class was educational at all. after the discussion however, I realized many things about teams and their interactions that I had never given any thought. the first major thing was the fact of how we were simply oriented around the tables led to having an influence of how our structures were built and who may have taken charge over the process. Not only was there this aspect of this activity but the fact that we had a pretty limited time for the activity at hand. I think that this lead to an accelerated chain of events that to allow for group norms emerge in a very short amount of time rather than being apparent after a prolonged period of time. Even when just taking these factors into consideration, this makes me think that when groups and teams are formed to accomplish tasks, it is important for the team to lay out and examine all factors that may have even a slight effect on processes that lead to a final outcome. As far as the idea of groupthink, I think that it is important that teams take careful precautions to avoid this phenomenon. If groupthink emerges I feel that it is very detrimental to the objectives of the group and can even result in complete failure. Not only can it create a situation of failure but may give results that are even worse than the original position the team was in. I think that if there isn't already, that a model be created to prevent organizations from finding themselves in the scenario. Overall there are many factors that groups should immediately consider so that they can properly accomplish their tasks and not be hindered by outside factors.