Peak Potential Article

Not all conflict is bad. Both a small degree of conflict about how work should get done, and low-moderate degrees of conflict when discussing what work should be done (eg team performance goals) are both associated with higher levels of group performance. And while most leaders tend to be conflict avoiders – not wanting to hear the negatives from staff, such complacency is becoming increasingly less tolerable in a globally competitive world. Here are 4 ways to stimulate productive conflict:

1. Hewlett-Packard  actively identifies dissenters, those black hat thinkers whose natural tendency is to critique whatever is before them. While the comments made by such staff are often misconstrued as negative, they are in fact highlighting holes in logic and reason that need to be attended to.
2. In the early days of implementing conflict stimulation strategies within your organisation, it may be useful to bring outsiders into the decision-making meetings – be they from other units within the organisation or from outside the organisation entirely. Outsiders typically have different perspectives, backgrounds and values that lead them to challenge what others simply accept as ‘the way it is here’.
3. Appointing a devil’s advocate is a formalized strategy used by both Royal Dutch Shell and General Electric. For example, whenever a major move is considered, 2 temporary teams of dissenters are formed, one charged with building a case for the move and the second with building a case against it.
4. Rewarding conflict and frowning upon conflict avoidance. Behavioural psychology tells us that when a person experiences a pleasant consequence for any behaviour, they are far more likely to repeat that behaviour. Social psychology adds further insight, by highlighting how we shape our own behaviour by watching the consequences (or lack thereof) that flow from other people’s behaviour.

Remember that interpersonal conflict should never be encouraged. When stimulating conflict, you should aim to produce and critique differing views on:

• What should be achieved and done such as goals and tasks (low-moderate conflict)
• How things should be done (low level of conflict)

In this light, conflict stimulation is appropriate in certain situations such as when there is an existing problem that needs to be addressed.