The Abilene Paradox

I learned something new yesterday!

Where Cindy and Kathy work, when everyone is pursuing a bad idea that is really leading nowhere, someone eventually says "We're just driving to Abilene." I had never heard that saying. They described it as meaning you've followed this course and now you have found yourself in a place no one wanted to be, and additionally haven't solved the issue at hand.

Turns out, this is a reference to something called the Abilene Paradox, described by management expert Jerry B. Harvey in an article he wrote in the 70's. He basically said that people are often reluctant to act contrary to the trend of the group. The anecdote he offers in the article to describe the phenomenon involves a bored Texas family who, after a discussion, decides to drive to Abilene. The trip and the visit are terrible, and only afterwards do they figure out that no one really wanted to go there anyway. Each just thought the others wanted to.

Poor Abilene! lol. Laura thinks it should refer to Lubbock instead.