True, continuous agreement is virtually impossible to have in a team or a group. When everyone begins to agree constantly with our plans, our suggestions or our new strategies and the number of questions and doubts raised are close to cero, it might be time to get worried.

It either means that your team has handed over completely to you the responsibility for seeing things through or that individual disagreement is not being vocalised.

If you start noticing constant agreement as well as an absence of work-related conflict, you need to start monitoring this. Is agreement with your change proposals really the only way forward? Are you getting away with suggesting new procedures without supplying much data or detail? Have the number of questions, challenges or disagreements decreased lately? Has the spark gone from your strategic discussions?

Before you try to find out the reasons why this is happening, have a look around the organisation and see whether this is happening throughout. Furthermore, before you look at your team members’ behaviour, take a close look at yourself. Think of when you last voiced your doubts or expressed your disagreements to your management team, your peers or to those above you in the organisational hierarchy.

Unconditional agreement is dangerous – it can lead to flawed plans being implemented because no-one points out the risks; unconditional agreement can push away those maverick ideas that can turn threats into opportunities or which can turn a good project into a great one. The feeling that it’s not “cool” to disagree can easily de-motivate the brightest of sparks, those who care about their work, those who want to make a difference.

What is worse, if you don’t ensure that individuals are free to voice their disagreement, you might find yourself on the way to Abilene.

The Abilene Paradox

Jerry B Harvey used a short story to illustrate what happens when individuals in groups don’t voice their true opinions, assuming that they are the only ones thinking in that way. This can sometimes lead to a whole group committing to a course of action which no one wants to take.

I’ll briefly retell Harvey’s story here (you can read the second version of the article The Abilene Paradox After Thirty Years in Organisational Dynamics, 2004). One summer afternoon, Jerry, his wife and parents-in-law were having a nice quiet time at home in Texas. Suddenly, Jerry’s father in law suggested they take a trip to Abilene, about a two hours ride away in a car. Jerry thought this was a terrible suggestion as the town was far away, the heat was unbearable and they were already having a good time, but he didn’t want to disagree because he thought everyone else was excited by the idea. After four long hours travelling in a car with no air conditioning, all members of the group admitted they had only agreed to the trip because they thought everyone else was excited by it. They all had a terrible time on their Abilene adventure, which could have been avoided if only just ONE of them had expressed their doubts.

So, what might the Abilene paradox look like in a team in an organisation:

Hans, the team leader, has recently come up with a new strategy for finding new clients, which includes the organisation adopting a new social media plan. He is not sure about whether he has gone a bit overboard, trying to look at too many channels, so he presents the plan to his team.

Linda doesn’t want to raise her doubts to Hans. After all, Hans has carefully planned out the whole thing and is really passionate about the project.

Eric has serious doubts about the project but is concerned that no-one else around the table seems to have any objections.

Philip is new and younger than everyone else, so he is scared about coming across as a rebel or bad team member if he asks any difficult questions.

Anna has heard on the grapevine, that the other day someone in Accounting was given a warning for standing up to their boss.

And Hans has doubts about the strategy himself, which is why he brought the team together, although he hasn’t shared his doubts in order not to appear “weak”. The team seem to be 100% behind him – surely he can’t back down now. So the plan goes ahead, even though everyone thinks it should be altered in some way.

You can see that the team has missed an opportunity to build on what was probably quite a decent base and make it into something they could commit to. Best case scenario, Hans’ plan was OK and the team ended up with a strategy they could improve on with time. Worse case scenario, the plan did indeed have many weak spots and the team ended up wasting a lot of time and money.

There are many reasons why people, such as Hans’ team members, will not express their disagreement in a group. Like Linda, they might be scared of “spoiling the party”. Like Eric, they might not want to be the odd-one out. Like Philip they might be inexperienced and don’t want to come across as disruptive. Like Anna, they might be scared of becoming a likely candidate for redundancy.

There are some signs you can look out for which might signal that your team members are beginning to avoid speaking out.

• Are those who disagree being shut down?
• Does everyone agree quickly to the first solution offered and fail to see the need for contingency plans?
• Are the honest conversations taking place in the corridors and not at team meetings?

These might be indicators that your team members are feeling like they have to conform.

So how can we make sure our teams don’t go to Abilene?

• Give permission to others to speak up and disagree with you. But do it again and again, as people might not have the confidence to speak out straight away and they might need a smaller push.
• Don’t assume that everyone agrees with you because they don’t say otherwise. Silence does not always mean agreement.
• Welcome the contributions of those who express disagreement and encourage them to share the reasoning behind their thinking.

Disagreement can be healthy if it is completely work-focused. Make sure this kind of conflict stays work related, that people are specific with their comments and that solutions are sought to the problems raised. Hopefully, this will help to avoid many trips to Abilene.