@evan M. Scott Peck's phases of community comes to mind. He calls the first phase "false harmony" or "pseudo community" and describes it as a way for the group to avoid differences and conflict until it is ready to come to grips with them. All groups pass through some version of that or end up there from time to time. Some groups never develop further and they can become extremely stifled and lose contact with reality (e.g. the reality that decisions are made other places).