Paul KeijzerI’ve talked numerous times about the importance of creative conflict to improve the performance of teams or organisations. We all know that there are benefits to creative conflict and constructive critism; Hawkeye consulting lists the following 6 benefits of constructive conflict for teams and organisations:
- Increased participation in decision making
- Better information
- Better choices
- Reduces anxiety
- Encourages collaboration
- Increases understanding
Despite all these benefits the ‘state of creative conflict’ in the workplace is dismal. 85% of managers in a recent survey across America and Europe (and I’m sure it’s even higher in Asia) indicated that they were afraid to raise an issue in the organisation if they disagreed. The reasons for this were either
- the fear of repercussion,
- not knowing how to handle it, and/or
- how to move on from it.
On an intellectual level we all know that healthy conflict can benefit organisations and in many cases avoid disastrous decisions (remember the Challenger Space Shuttle). But on an emotional level we try to stay away from it.
In order to nurture the willingness and ability of a team to raise, deal and get the best out of creative conflict I’ve listed suggestions below on making it easier for employees to raise their voice.
1. Dare to Disagree
In a previous blog I shared the communication issues that caused Asiania flight 214 to crash. First and foremost was the inability of the junior pilot to disagree with his senior. The courage and ability to disagree is a very powerful element for pairs, teams and organisations as a whole to work better and create significantly more value in the negative scenario avoid disaster.
In an interesting Ted Talk; Margaret Hefferman states that people that were able to solve issues of significant importance didn’t do this by agreeing with the status quo. They dared to challenge and were seeking out ‘thinking partners’ that weren’t echo chambers but people they could have good conflict with. They saw having creating conflict as thinking.
Most people can only do this if they really care about the issue and if they have accepted that the ‘worse thing that could happen is that they get fired’ is not that bad anyway.
On a team or organisational level it is all about leaders creating a safe environment for people to speak up. As Susan Heathfield says: foster an organizational culture or environment in which differences of opinion are encouraged. As a leader, you must make people feel like healthy debates are expected and the norm in the team. A way of doing this is by creating specific ‘challenge events’ in which people are encouraged to questions norms, raise issues and the way we do business.
2. Constructive Conflict is a Skill
It’s not only about having the courage or the environment, it’s also a matter of skill on how to handle disagreement. My favourite book on this topic is from Kerry Patterson: Crucial Conversations. It explains in very practical terms on how to conduct tough conversations (not only if you disagree). For this reasons it’s important that a leader not only helps and guides her subordinates in learning these skills but also selects team members that already do this.
3. Set Rules
Even if people are willing to challenge, know how and got the right environment to do so, healthy conflict can still go wrong. It’s important to set rules on how, what and when to challenge. Rule #1 should always be to see conflict as creative thinking and never ever make it personal. Discuss it with your team and agree on how you can encourage disagreement, how you would like people to voice it and how to deal with it.
Even when you set rules, conflict can still sometimes go out of control. For this it’s important to have agreed in your team the way people can escalate conflict and/or distance themselves from it. Look for signs that conflict is getting out of hand and notice whether tension is becoming unhealthy. Listen for criticism of fellow staff members and negative comments about the solution or process. Are ‘hush-hush water cooler’ meetings emerging?
4. Maybe You’re The Reason
And if after all this you find that the team still doesn’t come up with different ideas, challenges the status quo or doesn’t come up with ideals that go against the politically correct view points than maybe, just maybe you as their leader might be the reason. Maybe your leadership style has traditionally been seen as autocratic and you don’t expect your authority to be questioned. Maybe you come down hard on people when they fail or make a comment that doesn’t make sense. Maybe you dont give people the time for them to share their point of view, maybe your team has an ‘I-scratch-your-back-if-you-scratch-mine’ way of working in which people don’t publicly disagree with each other, maybe team members go to your colleagues to ‘vent’. Reflect, introspect, ask for feedback, talk to your peers, see how others do it and bring the importance of healthy conflict up in your next team conversation.
It’s a conscious effort you have to make and of course, most importantly, you have to accept that healthy conflict is a necessity. It helps to connect with the latest trends in leadership so that you have an arsenal of knowledge at your disposal to motivate and encourage your team members. Make sure to share any experiences you have below with healthy conflict stories (and any unhealthy ones we can all learn from).
Eid Mubarak to all those celebrating. Have a great week everyone!
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