Groupthink Case

Groupthink hindered the decision making process regarding the space shuttle Challenger in many ways. They seemed to have turned a blind eye in some cases. Just the belief that an in-flight fatality had never happened before, so it would not happen this time is ridiculous. They did not think that the O-ring was not much of an issue this time as it was "true of every other flight we have had", Which is true in a sense because it could have been an issue any other time, but the engineers said that I was an issue this time. When your employee's feel that they had to prove it was unsafe instead of safe seems more like they are pressured to do so.

NASA managers rationalized that the "Secondary O-ring would seal the first under the worst case conditions, although no one had mentioned anything regarding the Second O-Ring being able to seal.

A NASA manager was almost sarcastic when they asked to postpone the launch, he even went to the extent to ask if they wanted them to wait until April to Launch, when it was scheduled for January, This seems terribly unprofessional and I my opinion sounded almost like it was to deter him from further complaints.

Even when the engineer thought it would be the right thing to do to postpone the flight he did not outright say that, he only suggested "low temperatures are in the direction of badness for both O-Rings" Which does not tell them to postpone, just that it may be bad.

It was not mentioned that Thiokol engineers were hesitant with launching, so the readiness review team did not know anything. The engineers were pressured to remove the "no-go" recommendation from the launch, NASA managers thought this would look bad to the American public and that they may lose future contracts. There were asked to think more like management and less like engineers. Even in the end of it the expert on O-Rings was not even asked to give his input.

I think that the engineers were pressured, talked down to or just turned a blind eye to the situation. This really impacts not just this situation but it would in any situation. If something was done, someone spoke out or was allowed to without feeling like they were not supposed to, this may not have happened. Even when they did say something it was not mentioned in a meeting. I feel that when an engineer that deals specifically with the O-Rings says something is unsafe and that they should postpone this should be taken seriously and told to the proper staff members. They have the mindset just like it says in the article. "Hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil.", Which in the end did not do any good for anyone. I feel that their main concern is how they looked to the public and to keep their contracts, not the safety of the people inside the Challenger.

I was a victim of groupthink myself when it came to a project in High School. We were working in