Title: Groupthink or deadlock : when do leaders learn from their advisors? /
Authors: Kowert, Paul, 1964-
Publisher: State University of New York Press,
Year: 2002
Subjects: Presidents United States Staff; Presidents United States Decision making.; Political consultants United States.; Political leadership United States; United States Politics and government; United States Politics and government
Abstract: "The danger of groupthink is now standard fare in leadership training programs and a widely accepted explanation, among political scientists, for policy-making fiascoes. Efforts to avoid groupthink, however, can lead to an even more serious problem - deadlock. Groupthink or Deadlock explores these dual problems in the Eisenhower and Reagan administrations and demonstrates how both presidents were capable of learning and consequently changing their policies, sometimes dramatically, but at the same time doing so in characteristically different ways. Kowert points to the need for leaders to organize their staff in a way that fits their learning and leadership style and allows them to negotiate a path between groupthink and deadlock."--Jacket.
Contents: Introduction -- Who learns, and when? -- Eisenhower and Reagan: comparing learning styles -- Learning -- Groupthink -- Deadlock -- Conclusion.