Command Red Team

Red Team Challenges
assumptions, and efficiently focus their efforts on assigned tasks while excluding
seemingly-irrelevant issues. These traits usually indicate that a working group has a
common understanding of its goals and the methods it intends to use to achieve them.
However, efficient decision-making processes may not always deal well with unusual
problems or novel conditions, where a working group’s unstated assumptions do not
correspond to the situation at hand.
e. Common forms of institutional bias and influence are summarized as follows.
The red team must be integrated into the working groups and simultaneously maintain
sufficient intellectual and institutional independence to be able to see and help counter
these common forms of institutional bias and influence.
(1) Groupthink (see Figure III-1). Cohesive working groups composed of
like-minded individuals may promote solidarity, consensus, and professionalism, but they
may achieve these benefits at the expense of not fully examining assumptions or
considering alternatives. Such organizations can make decisions quickly and efficiently,
but their conclusions and solutions may not always be optimal, especially in novel
situations or when dealing with paradigm shifts. Individuals who try to get the group to
reexamine its stance on an issue may be marginalized, especially if they are seen as
outside interlopers who have not earned membership in the group. The red team can help
counter groupthink by joining the group early and sensitizing the group to its role, and by
contributing to the group as it acquires its sense of identity. Red teams can support
people who raise contentious issues and minority views that would otherwise be
marginalized or ignored by the group. This will slow down the process, allowing more
time to better think through and evaluate the problem, rather than reaching a premature
consensus. The group will be more likely to accept input from an accepted group
member, and any red team input will more likely be considered if the group has been
attuned to the team’s role.
CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPTHINK
-Illusion of unanimity.
-Self-appointed “mindguards” who protect the group from conflicting
information.
-Perception of infallibility, promoting excessive optimism and risk
taking.
-Unquestioned belief in need for group to continue, despite changing
conditions; tendency to rationalize away contrary information.
-Stereotyped views of the adversary and other relevant actors.
-Pressure for conformity regarding the group’s assumptions,
decisions, and processes.
-Self-censorship of deviations from consensus.
Figure III-1. Characteristics of Groupthink
(2) Tribal Think. Some working groups include action officers whose primary
task is to protect or advance their directorate’s position during the group’s deliberations.
This can help improve the group’s work by ensuring the approved positions of all
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