This is a phenomenon where a group agrees to do something despite the fact that privately most, or even all, members of the group disagree on doing it. The Abilene paradox is seen whenever people who disagree think that their private opinion is in deep contrast to the overwhelming opinion of the group, which it is in fact not. Thus, even when a group privately agrees on something, it might decide to do something that is contradictory. The term was coined by management professor Jerry B. Harvey in his 1974 article “The Abilene Paradox: The Management of Agreement”.
