The Abilene Paradox is a psychological construct in Decision Making theory. Formulated by Jerry Harvey after he and his family were on the way to Abilene, which it appears was an unpleasant journey on a hot day when it was finally realised that none of them wanted to go but had agreed because they thought the others did.
In terms of organisations the Abilene Paradox can be stated as follows:
Organisations frequently take actions contradictory to their real requirements, therefore defeating the very purpose they are trying to achieve. A major consequence of this paradox is therefore that the inability to manage agreement is the major source of organisation dysfunction.
It is the inability to manage agreement, not the inability to manage conflict that is the characteristic of organisations stuck in the Abilene Paradox.
Does your organisation display symptoms of the Abilene Paradox?
- Members agree privately about the problems facing this organisation
- Members agree what the solutions to these problems should be
- Members don’t communicate these true feelings. In fact they hide them in public.
- With such inaccurate information decisions are often poor and counterproductive
- Members become angry, frustrated, irritated and express dissatisfaction. They form subgroups, cliques, and blame other groups and authority figures
The cycle repeats unless ways are found to manage agreement. Managers should not only recognise the symptoms but be skilled enough in techniques to resolve the issues.