School-based teams will always be, and should always be, a major part of our professional roles. Group decisions are typically better than the average individual but much worse than the best individual. Groups usually do not live up to their potential. If, however, team members can not reach consensus on these or some other measurable outcome criteria, perhaps everyone concerned ought to be questioning the values of teams such as these. The power of the majority- People accept the opinions of others as accurate believing that there is truth in numbers.
People fear rejection that is likely to result from holding a minority position.
Creativity and consideration of wide range of alternatives are needed. One of the best antidotes for groupthink is minority dissent. Even if only one person dissents and even if they don't come up with a viable alternative, benefit remains for minority dissent. Minority dissent increases creative problem solving, the recall of information, and the search for divergent points of view. Minority dissenters who hold consistent positions across time are typically substantially more influential with majorities than those who vacillate in their position.