Propaganda, Groupthink, and Corporate Terrorism
If you went to public high school in the US, it is likely that, at some point, you were required to read William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. The novel begins with a plane carrying a group of students crashing onto an isolated island. The boys establish a working society with its usual hierarchy, but the group slowly descends into chaos, panic, and death. As accepted standards of behavior collapse, the boys become ever more susceptible to groupthink. The novel is often touted as a cautionary tale about “the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart.”
Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when a group of otherwise well-intentioned people makes irrational decisions out of an urge to conform. This is problematic because groupthink is often fueled by a particular agenda. In the case of Lord of the Flies, Roger’s sadistic cruelty, combined with Jack’s appetite for violence and power, fuels the agenda that leads the rest of the boys to follow them into mob violence and ritualistic killing.
Unfortunately, groupthink is not limited to works of fiction. It can exist and thrive in virtually any social setting, including the workplace. And it can have dire consequences. In 1986, NASA’s space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral. Before launch, aerospace engineers expressed concern about the ability of the seals on the rocket booster to work properly in cold temperatures. However, there was pressure from NASA leadership and the White House to push Challenger’s mission forward. After repeated delays, the NASA leadership team, adopting groupthink, ignoring concerns, and endorsing a made-up consensus, went ahead with the mission to disastrous results.
One of the most useful tools for promoting groupthink is propaganda. Many of us associate propaganda with hostile foreign governments, but corporations are well known for pushing their propaganda onto employees, customers, and shareholders. Propaganda is especially insidious when employees are the target. Corporate propaganda can be used to agitate, anger, and encourage fealty among employees. People come to believe company propaganda because they’ve been convinced that the company exists as an entity separate from the people. When this illusion of separateness persists, it can have devastating and even bizarre consequences. Anything good is the company. Anything bad is due to people.
Consider the case of eBay and the terror campaign the company launched against a middle-aged couple from the Boston suburbs. This case was first reported in 2020 but has resurfaced recently as 60 Minutes recently broadcast their interview with the victims, Ina and David Steiner. The Steiners run an e-commerce blog that frequently offered commentary on the online auction platform. At some point in 2019, eBay executives became enraged by an article Mrs. Steiner posted to her blog and decided to fight back. What ensued was both bizarre and terrifying. eBay’s director of corporate security dispatched a team to Boston to stalk and terrorize the Steiners. Some of the tactics this team of terrorists employed included sending the couple live roaches and spiders, a book on surviving the loss of a spouse, and a funeral wreath. They also attempted to place a GPS tracking device on the couple’s car and made anonymous, threatening tweets.
Federal authorities prosecuted seven eBay employees, all of whom have been sentenced to federal prison. But the question remains: How did these people get on board with something obviously wrong and illegal? Groupthink. And in true groupthink fashion, the lone employee who balked at the orders of the security team was promptly fired.
Groupthink is a terrifying phenomenon but one that is all too common. It represents the death of truth and the prioritization of rhetoric over reality. Most instances of groupthink do not have the deadly consequences that Golding depicts in his famous novel, but they nevertheless undermine individualism. Groupthink is a powerful force that relies on people ignoring their moral center. If your management tries to compel you to do something that feels wrong, go with your gut and push back. The immediate consequences may be unpleasant, but ultimately, nothing negative will come from doing the right thing. The right thing is often not the popular thing, the pleasant thing, or the most profitable thing. But it is still the right thing. Quite simply, there is NO RIGHT WAY TO DO THE WRONG THING.
Click here to watch the 60 Minutes story on eBay’s corporate terrorism.