Every now and then I pull out a long forgotten piece of information from the deep freeze of my brain. The Abilene Paradox is a perfect example. While in Business Management school over 20 years ago, my professor introduced Jerry Harvey's classic parable on managing agreements (actually disagreement would be a better description). Harvey first published the Abilene Paradox in 1974.

Basically, the Abilene Paradox shows how a group ends up doing something, when not a single person in the group supported the decision in first place. They each assume the others wanted to do it, so they merely went along with the program so not to make waves. Sound familiar? This is a quick fascinating read.

Click here for the entire reprint. What's your thought and reaction?

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive