Groupthink, Janis found, is typically discovered after a problem has arisen. The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an utter failure which should be attributed to the process of the group leader, the President of the United States, succumbing to the menace of groupthink. In fact, After the Bay of Pigs invasion fiasco, John F. Kennedy sought to avoid groupthink during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The issue is that groupthink turns otherwise brilliant, independent-minded people into herd animals. Janis came up with the idea of groupthink during a Yale seminar on the psychology of small groups. The Bay Of Pigs invasion was one of the biggest disasters in modern politics. In fact, Groupthink theory originated as a result of the failed invasion. Groupthink has become a widely studied and accepted phenomenon. Bay of Pigs. In 1961, President John F Kennedy assisted Cuban exiles in launching an invasion to overthrown Cuban President Fidel Castro. Consider these two cases. All such conditions were present at the time of making the decision of conducting the Bay of Pigs Invasion on Cuba. The first is the landmark study conducted regarding the Bay of Pigs … His reading about the Bay of Pigs fiasco had led him to wonder how intelligent people like John F. Kennedy and his advisers could have been "taken in by such a stupid, patchwork plan as the one presented to them by the CIA representatives." It was a massive failure and led to a decline in relations between the US, Cuba, and the Soviet Union. Groupthink is a widely utilized theory in social psychology, organizational theory, group decision-making sciences, and management fields. Subscribe Sign ... after the Bay of Pigs Kennedy brilliantly retooled his group decision-making process. It showed a lack of thought and openness on the part of the group involved, and led to an investigation by psychologist Irving Janis into the thinking practices which led to the catastrophe. Groupthink and the Bay of Pigs Lessons Learned Outcome of groupthink and Bay of Pigs One small group of people cannot make decisions for an entire nation. How Groupthink was Involved For example, before the Bay of Pigs, Janis contends that the backing of a plan by Cuban rebels to overthrow Fidel Castro – a disaster – was the result of ill-conceived consensus. While groupthink has been effectively used to explain not only foreign policy mishaps, such as failure to anticipate Pearl Harbor attack and Bay of Pigs … Burned once by groupthink, Kennedy came up with a process to root it out. It is important to consider more than one possible outcomes when making an important decision. This case study examines the Bay of Pigs crisis in 1961 and the inadequate decision-making process that led to failure. [3] During meetings, he invited outside experts to share their viewpoints, and allowed group members to question them carefully. GROUPTHINK by Irving Janis (early draft) "How could we have been so stupid?" As difficult as it may be to believe, it happens to the best and brightest of us with alarming regularity. President John F. Kennedy asked after he and a close group of advisors had blundered into the Bay of Pigs invasion.