Spreadthink is a kind of conceptual pathology of groups unable to reach any "genuine consensus, or even majority view toward component aspects of a complex issue".
[citation needed] The word was coined by systems researcher and mathematical cybernetician John N. Warfield to describe ineffective thinking in groups.
Warfield cautioned, "Facilitators who try to bring groups to a majority view or a consensus without the aid of some methodology that resolves the difficulties caused by Spreadthink may well be driving the group to Groupthink, and thus helping to arrive at a decision that lacks individual support and, usually, lacks substance.
"[6][7] Spreadthink needs to be understood in the context of the nominal group technique (NGT), interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and interactive management (IM) developed by Warfield and his team.
One further outcome was the phenomenon of erroneous priorities effect (EPE)[8][9] first demonstrated as a spreadthink (group) pathology by Kevin Dye[10] as a central element of evolutionary learning.