GoKawiilManagement research warns 'Abilene Paradox' silences dissent in workplace teams
An Entrepreneur contributor revisits management professor Jerry Harvey's 1974 'Abilene Paradox,' a story about a family taking a miserable road trip none of them actually wanted, to illustrate how groups can arrive at decisions nobody supports because each person assumes others want it. The piece argues that agreeableness has a cost: dissenters face pressure to justify their views, so teams often default to false consensus unless leaders actively build a culture that welcomes disagreement.