CONFLICT IS EVERYTHING

The avoidence of conflict is, without a doubt, one of the biggest problems individuals and organizations have when not reaching their full potenial. The below article was taken from Catalyt's monthly newsletter (here). Quick, simple read that makes a ton of sense:

Conflict is Everything By Nancy Ortberg

One comment said it all. "We never run into any tension; it's just that we aren't moving forward."

Exactly.

In our first phone conversation, a client diagnosed his company's problem - unintentionally. He meant the first part of his sentence as a compliment. But in reality, it was the symptom that described their outcome. On a regular basis, healthy, high performing teams must engage in what Patrick Lencioni refers to as "passionate, unfiltered debate." (Five Dysfunctions of a Team) Conflict is a necessary and important part of great teamwork.

Your organization depends on great decisions, stellar implementation, and complete "buy-in." Without those three things, you aren't positioned to get the results you're working so hard to accomplish. Nor are you building a cohesive leadership team. Healthy conflict is the precursor to those three things.

One of your primary jobs as a leader is to create a culture that fosters this kind of interactive discussion. Intel has coined a great phrase that they practice and teach in each new employee orientation class: "Disagree and commit."

Without a culture that encourages conflict, here's what happens. In our rush to make decisions, we short-circuit the process, leaving many great ideas and opinions unspoken. Not only have we failed to unearth contrary strategies, the very people responsible for implementation are only partially committed. Harley Davidson calls this "malicious compliance." This is a great way to describe what siphons off great forward-thinking energy that ought to be spent on implementing the decisions we come to as a team.

So what's a leader to do?

First, understand that in order for you to create this kind of a culture, you have to be very comfortable with conflict. Take a look at your family of origin. Was it a place of passivity, avoiding conflict? Or was your family more aggressive, taking the offensive in conflict? I can guarantee that you bring a certain style of conflict resolution to work with you, and your style is rooted in the home where you grew up. In order for your team to be comfortable with conflict, you need to be well on your way.

Secondly, know that your role as the leader is to demand spirited debate. Tell your team you want it, and empower them to engage in this kind of debate. Great leadership desires great leaders at every level in an organization, and leaders have opinions and passion. Encourage your team meetings to be places of passionate debate in order to get the kind of commitment that drives decisions into great implementation.

Remember, moving a team from "artificial harmony" takes time ... give your people permission to do it poorly in order to do it well.

Finally, celebrate when passionate debate renders terrific results and reward teams that have the courage to disagree and commit. In addition to great results, you will experience healthier teams. That is a dynamic combination!