A family drove 106 miles to a diner none of them wanted to visit
On a hot Texas afternoon, a family sat comfortably playing dominoes at home. Someone suggested driving to Abilene for dinner. Everyone immediately agreed, endured a miserable round trip in a dusty, un-air-conditioned car, ate a mediocre meal, and came home exhausted. Why would an entire family cheerfully agree to a trip none of them actually wanted?
Reveal the answer
Nobody wanted to go, but nobody said so — each person wrongly assumed they were the only one with doubts and didn't want to be the one who spoiled it. Management professor Jerry B. Harvey used his own family's real trip to name the 'Abilene Paradox': a group can unanimously agree to act against what every individual member actually wants.
— Jerry B. Harvey, The Abilene Paradox and Other Meditations on Management — Organizational Dynamics, 1974
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