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The Abilene Paradox in Payment & Banking

  • 15 hours ago
  • 1 min read


Fintech, payment and banking today affect every area of the organisation. But every department focuses on its own responsibilities, targets and KPIs while assuming somebody else looks after the complete payment flow.


As a result, companies move forward with decisions that very few people fully understand. Every department reviews its own area while believing somebody else has already looked at the bigger picture.

Everyone believes somebody else has already made the right decision: this phenomenon is known as the Abilene Paradox.


The paradox is a simple story about a family who decided to drive to Abilene, Texas, for dinner on a very hot day. Everyone agreed to go, even though nobody really wanted to. Each person thought the others wanted to go, so they agreed instead of saying what they actually wanted.


Payment and banking create the perfect environment for the Abilene Paradox because many departments are involved in making decisions. Finance understands the money, Tech understands the integration, Product understands the customer, and Compliance understands the rules.

The problem is that very few people understand all these areas well enough to see how one decision affects everything else.


And they just go ahead with the decision - simply because they thought everybody else wants this...


 
 
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