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Management & Leadership vocabulary · Decision Making

Abilene paradox

Meaning in management & leadership, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In management & leadership, Abilene paradox means: A situation in which a group chooses an action its members privately oppose because each mistakenly thinks the others want it.

In Turkish: Abilene paradoksu

How it is used

Use for mismanaged agreement caused by mistaken assumptions about others' preferences, not ordinary disagreement.

Example sentences

  1. The Abilene paradox explained why everyone approved a retreat that none of them wanted to attend.

    Each person supports the choice under a false impression of others' wishes.

  2. Private interviews exposed an Abilene paradox behind the decision to continue the unused report.

    Expressing individual preferences reveals that the apparent agreement was misleading.

Common collocations

  • recognise the Abilene paradox
  • avoid the Abilene paradox
  • consensusGeneral agreement among all or most members of a group, reached through discussion, so that people can support a decision even if it was not their first choice.
  • psychological safetyA shared belief within a team that people can speak up, ask questions, admit mistakes or disagree without being punished or embarrassed.

More terms: Decision Making

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