ABSTRACT
In a group taken over by basic assumption mentality, the formation and continuance of the group becomes an end in itself. Leaders and members of groups dominated by basic assumption activity are likely to lose their ability to think and act effectively: continuance of the group becomes an end in itself, as members become more absorbed with their relationship to the group than with their work task. In this chapter, we have seen how the functioning of teams can be promoted by the sophisticated use of a basic assumption in the service of work, or impeded and distracted by their inappropriate or aberrant use. [. . .]
