Starting with the story of a family outing one hot day, Jerry Harvey establishes a metaphor for how groups frequently agree to take actions that contradict what individual members really want to do or believe is right. Calling this the "Abilene Paradox", the author explores how events and decisions within organizations gather momentum once set in motion and often take on lives of their own - a concept familiar to any team-based organization. The book presents stories and events, which should be familiar to each of us, in order to show how organizations continually set themselves up for failure by fostering alienation, distrust, deceit and a fear of risk-taking among their members.
The Abilene Paradox & Other Meditations on Management
Description
Table of Contents
- Introduction 2. The Abilene Paradox: The Management of Agreement 3. Organizations as Phrog Farms 4. Management and the Myth of Abraham; or, Go Plant a Cabbage on God's Behalf 5. Captain Asoh and the Concept of Grace 6. Eichmann in the Organization 7. Group Tyranny and the Gunsmoke Phenomenon 8. Encouraging Future Managers to Cheat.
Author Description
JERRY B. HARVEY is professor of management science at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and author of the widely used McGraw-Hill management development film "The Abilene Paradox."