Premise:
I stumbled on to The Abilene Paradox earlier today. You can watch a movie where the creator of the paradox – Jerry B Harvey, tells the story of how he realised the presence of this paradox and how prevalent it is in all walks of our lives.
I knew that people do go along to get along and sometimes that leads to groupthink, which is not good for any business. However, I did not know that it had a name, was studied deeply by someone and how prevalent this is.
Even though there is enough research has been done on why this happens and what can prevent it from happening, it still does happen all around us, all the time.
So, what can we do as leaders to avoid this from taking root in our teams and stop doing things that no one wants to do but everyone thinks everyone else wants to do?
Here are a few thoughts:
1. Culture: As leaders, it is imperative that we create a culture where people can speak up and share their views without any fear of consequences. The more confident they feel about voicing their opinions, the better it is for us.
2. Speak Last: As leaders, we need to be the last to speak in any meeting that we are a part of, after hearing what everyone else has to share. This way, we don’t bias the opinions of the people we lead.
3. Language: We can share the concept of the Abilene Paradox with the team. Maybe even watch the movie I have shared above together with our team and discuss with them about the same. Having a common language and vocabulary helps people in communicating better.
4. Question: Every time we have complete alignment or agreement, get into the habit of bringing up the paradox and ask if there is any chance that we are on our way to Abilene and only proceed if we are certain that we are not. This gives everyone an opportunity to raise a red flag if there is one.
In conclusion:
In conclusion, it is important for us as leaders to ensure that there is no groupthink and that we only work on things that are really important and to avoid “going along to get along” kind of behaviour. When done well, this can have a significant impact on our productivity and effectiveness as a leader.
PS: You can also watch this as a video here.
