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.