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PROJECT MANAGEMENT - COMMUNICATION
Creating a communications plan
"The
Abilene Paradox" (a movie based on a true story).
It
starts out by showing an older gentleman, his wife, his daughter, and his
son-in-law, sitting out on the front porch playing dominoes. It was filmed in
the 60's and was to have taken place in late July, 53 miles outside of Abilene,
Texas. The
older gentleman suggests they all take a drive into Abilene for dinner. His wife
had a strange look on her face, but agreed that it was a good idea. The daughter
chimed in and said let's go, and the son-in-law also agreed. They all piled in
an old car with no air conditioning and proceeded to make the 1 hour journey to
Abilene. After their return (3 hours and 106 miles later) they each took turns
complaining about the trip and how miserable they were that they had even gone. The
older man said he never wanted to go in the first place and that he thought
everyone else was bored. The wife said she agreed only because she thought he
wanted to go, the daughter was upset and said she only went because she
thought her mom wanted to go, and the son-in-law got mad because he thought
everyone wanted to go. In reality, none of them wanted to go, but nobody stepped
up to the plate and made their feelings known. They just followed along because
they thought that was what was expected of them. It later became known as
"The Abilene Paradox". The
movie then relates how many businesses today suffer from this phenomenon. People
are afraid to speak up in fear of being wrong, or fear of losing their job
because of being too confrontational. When a project isn't going well, and a
company is in fear of going under, people are still sometimes reluctant to speak
their mind or change their course. The
Abilene Paradox affects people from all ages and classifications within a
company, from the CEO all the way down to the janitor. The movie is
almost comical to see how people react, and it shed light on how
things can get so bad, yet how we sometimes allow the situation to
continue until it is too late. |
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