The Abilene Paradox

Have you ever been in a situation where you find yourself saying yes upon doing something, when you really mean to say no? Well this strange situation is known as the Abilene Paradox. Firstly, we are talking about a paradox; that is, an unexpected behavior, originally from the Greek word «παράδοξο». Secondly, the name of the city Abilene in the United States is used here metaphorically. This is not the first time in literature that a city is used as a metaphor to refer to a destination people “visit” when they exhibit certain behaviors or beliefs. The Abilene Paradox has been named and studied by Professor Jerry Harvey.

What is the Abilene Paradox

The Abilene Paradox is a phenomenon that appears in group decision making. More specifically, is described as a circumstance where a group of individuals agree to a course of action based on the believe that this action will serve the common good of the group, despite going against the preferences of the group members.

This scenario is caused due to the fact that group members don’t have enough will to support their views. For example, if they come across to a situation where there is disagreement between other group members they prefer to distance themselves or remain silent in order to avoid speaking out their true feelings about the situation. This common pattern and behavior of many people shows their unwillingness to get out of their comfort zone. Nevertheless, taking no action often causes more problems than taking any action.

As a matter of fact, this lack of action causes to the individuals the so-called action anxiety. An example of this is when an organization wants to implement an unethical course of action. The individuals, who prefer the ethical way, might not have the strong will to oppose. However, in order for them to feel better they use the psychological mechanism of negative fantasies. This involves the negative thoughts they make about what could happened to them if they oppose to the suggested action. For example, this might be the negative though of them losing their job for supporting or implementing an action where the majority of the people don’t agree upon.

The core element of this paradox is the fear of individuals to isolation and separation. Furthermore, this includes the fear they have that by expressing their different opinion will make them seem disloyal employees and not team players. In order to avoid the appearance of the Abilene Paradox in group decision making, first of all the individuals should try to overtake these fears. This mentality of not going against the will of the many because you think you will not be likable should be replaced by responsibility and self-confidence. Different opinions should be raised and discussed.

Abilene Paradox in group decisions

Decision making process is a critical factor on how effectively and efficiently an organization functions. Bad decisions taken by managers might have negative impact to the organization and the employees in particular. This decision making procedure can be examined from the individual point of view as well as the group point of view .

Firstly, individual decisions can be considered particularly easy, for the logical and decisive person. The manager takes a decision usually using his/her own judgment, experiences and knowledge without other’s people input. The responsibility of the decision is fully on the manager and is often a quicker process. However, in organizations group decision making is unavoidable process.

Group decisions are the decisions taken as a result of the input and agreement of the members of the group. Therefore, many times group ideas and group work are likely to be more creative than any individual ones. On the other hand, it is considered to be a time consuming process. This is due to the fact that everybody has to explain their point of view, solve any disagreement they might face and finally come to a common decision, reflecting the group as a unity.

It is in this setting, where exactly the Abilene Paradox can appear. The understanding of the group decision dynamics will assist them to overcome problems leading to this paradox. Many times, consulting a “third” person can help clear a situation where there is inability of agreement.

Coping with the Abilene Paradox

Teams are the cornerstones of any organization. For this reason, it is of paramount importance to have teams that can work effectively and efficiently. The solution to avoid the Abilene Paradox and any other problems within teams is the development of leadership skills and effective team communication skills.

Furthermore, organizations nowadays are characterized by multiculturalism. Hence, there is also high necessity for development of intercultural communication skills and cultural intelligence (CQ). These are skills than can be taught and improved and will help individuals to understand better the way of how other individuals communicate. Additionally, these skills will give to team members more self confidence, which actually should be one of the main goals of any leadership training program.

An ideal style of leadership that could be adapted from any team leader is the transformational leadership style. Using this style of leadership the leader gives the option and power to the team members to decide, that is, there is autonomy. The leader without dominating the voice of the individuals, stimulates their creativity, supports encourage and motivates them, who in return become high performers.

Consequently, provided the above conditions are satisfied, many problems such us misunderstandings, underperforming and inefficient teams as well as cases like the Abilene Paradox can be overcome leading to successful team work.