ABSTRACT
In talking about the kind of meeting where a group of people are brought together with an objective of some kind, where something has to be accomplished, or where there is a policy to be formed—groups not coming together to play bridge—in this setting I raise the question of the techniques that have been developed, some in the laboratory and some not, to make sure that the outcome of the meeting shall be a 'satisfactory' one. My comment is that such devices are very often suspect because many of them raise the assumption that someone knows better than the others, or that the organization he represents knows better. But whether or not a group is used efficiently when the procedures throw away unopened potentialities that exist, is a question for consideration. It seems to me that one thing that can be said for a group process is that it may lead to very significant growth, and anything that inhibits growth may well rob the group meeting of its most important feature.
