On January 28, 1986, the blue skies above Cape Canaveral in Florida seemed to be ripped open when the U.S. Space Shuttle Challenger suddenly exploded shortly after liftoff. One of the worst disasters in NASA history (the second being the explosion of the Columbia seventeen years later), it claimed the lives of seven astronauts. Investigation into the tragedy found that faulty fittings (called O-rings) had failed during takeoff, causing the explosion. But a large part of the blame for the disaster was laid on communication failures within NASA. Prior to launch, there had been some concern among NASA engineers that the O-rings might fail, but the shuttle launched in spite of these concerns.

How could a collection of such brilliant minds have committed such a grave error? Although some faulty leadership may have played a role, there were many people involved in the exchange of information as well as in the final decision making. Indeed, decision making in a group is more complex than decision making by one leader or between just two people, and thus it is important to examine the forces that influence the group decision-making process. In the following sections, we examine each of these topics in detail, looking at the Challenger disaster specifically as an example of what can go wrong in group decision making.