Was groupthink responsible for three deaths?

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It is often difficult to present credible examples of the complexities and dynamic nature of “real-world” decision making. In a Pulitzer prize-winning article, the actions of the Stevens Pass Marketing Director that led to a 2010 avalanche in the back country of a Washington State ski resort is documented. In debriefing the thirteen surviving skiers, symptoms of groupthink and other cognitive biases emerge that led professional skiers to trigger an avalanche on the back side of a mountain killing three of them. Could anything have stopped this tragedy?

Author(s):

Jan Hillier    
Kelley School of Business Indiana University
United States

Linda Dunn Jensen    
San Jose State University
United States