The Abilene Paradox In The Workplace

710 Words3 Pages
Conflict is always an issue in a workplace and sometimes when we try to deal with it, it causes another conflict to arise and thus it is a cascading effect. Say you have a good idea and you think that it is the one that will make you and the company millions, but when you leave that meeting your manager or boss says to people that that idea was ridiculous. This can cause unexpected issues to arise that could have been avoided by getting a response right there in that meeting. What we are most concerned about is the feeling of the person(s) that brought that idea up. All of these issues that arise in life and Management stem from what is called the Abilene Paradox. Which according to BusinessDictionary.com, “a circumstance where a group of individuals agree to a course of action based on the theory it is best for the group,…show more content…
We are presented with these situations day in and day out in the workplace and the management must understand where the line must be drawn. This is in order to manage conflict and keep the peace in the workplace. I know that it is very apparent to speak you mind and but also control your turnaround of an issue. What I saw from one of the articles spoke as to what went wrong in drawing the line to a situation. According to Article B “But each one goes along, so as not to be perceived as a spoiler of the group,” (p. 43). I think they are right to bring up this idea because we are so worried about what people think about us and that we should go along with the norm to be socially accepted. But me as a manager I have learned that you need to be accepting but then provide another idea for the group and create needs awareness. One of these points I have seen is where I work in the bank we had an
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    The Abilene paradox was first identified by Jerry Harvey in 1974 when the family took a trip to Abilene to get food. At first they all said yes, but when they got home everyone stated they didn’t want to go in the first place and they only said yes to please everyone. The Abilene paradox is a dilemma where a couple of people say one thing and the others go along with their decision just to come to an easy agreement. In present time, the Abilene paradox is a problem in many places. Specifically, the

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