How Groupthink Spectacularly Undermines Venture Capital

Avoiding negative information won’t make shit disappear. Likewise, railroading people — particularly subordinates — into going against their good sense and better judgement, will not make a shitty idea, any less of a shitty idea.Take Enron, for example. Someone had to have known that ‘cooking the books’ was a terrible idea. But, oh… that’s right, if they voiced their objection, they wouldn’t be considered a “team player.” Can’t have that.Or take JFK’s Bay of Pigs. You mean to tell me that no one in the room voiced concern over the fact that the mission was already compromised because it was leaked to the Soviets; so that carrying out the invasion as planned would end in total death and disaster?We’ve all been there at one time or another…haven’t we? Whether on the giving or the receiving end, we have all been participants in groupthink. The simple urge to avoid the boss’ wrath and be perceived as a team player has a powerful pull, leading many to ignore common sense and defer to the consensus. In fact, neglecting to even consider price fluctuations was a major point of failure across the US banking industry and widely contributed to the 2008 financial collapse. In that instance, homogeneous thinking was powerful enough to convince banks — who are in the business of preserving and growing wealth — to ignore basic derivative models, and you know, reality.Homogeneity is a fast track to mediocrityAt first glance, homogenous teams seem to make sense. Similar cultural backgrounds, education, and appearances should make communication and general understanding smoother. Right? Not quite. Data collected and observed by Harvard researchers highlights the perils of similarity among venture capitalists:Graduating from the same undergrad school increased the likelihood of collaboration between VCs by 34.4%, compared to VCs from other schoolsInvestors who attended the…