The Need for Conflict.
Adapted from a TED presentation by Margaret Heffernan.
Conflict of ideas is almost universally seen as a bad thing - provoking or creating conflict is something to be avoided. But it actually forces us to do our best thinking. Very often it is only by not being able to be proved wrong that we can have the confidence that we are correct.
Critically, it is important to understand how an organisation deals with conflict, because this shows how it develops ideas. The reality is that most organisations can’t develop a meaningful range of ideas because they are too afraid of conflict or cannot generate it. When an organisation consists of people who are simply mirror images of one-another, ideas can only be challenged on the most superficial of levels. They cannot be fully interrogated or developed. The truth is that very few people dare to be surrounded with collaborators who are different from themselves.
The common held understanding is that if we can collect enough information then we can create successful solutions. Information is great, but on its own it is not enough – we cannot reach the best solutions until we have the skills and confidence to challenge each other. We must resist our instinctive attraction to people like ourselves – we have to seek out people with different backgrounds, disciplines, ways of thinking and experiences, and find ways to engage with them.
We must actively seek to create conflict around our ideas. In fact we must aim to be good at conflict – in many ways it is how an organisation thinks. As professionals our roles are, in part, to prove our colleagues wrong. This is how we get the best out of individuals and a team. This requires patience, respect and energy and most importantly it means that we have to be prepared to change our minds – to think and then think again. And it can only work if we are all passionate about the company we work for and the higher purpose that it serves.
Critically, it is important to understand how an organisation deals with conflict, because this shows how it develops ideas. The reality is that most organisations can’t develop a meaningful range of ideas because they are too afraid of conflict or cannot generate it. When an organisation consists of people who are simply mirror images of one-another, ideas can only be challenged on the most superficial of levels. They cannot be fully interrogated or developed. The truth is that very few people dare to be surrounded with collaborators who are different from themselves.
The common held understanding is that if we can collect enough information then we can create successful solutions. Information is great, but on its own it is not enough – we cannot reach the best solutions until we have the skills and confidence to challenge each other. We must resist our instinctive attraction to people like ourselves – we have to seek out people with different backgrounds, disciplines, ways of thinking and experiences, and find ways to engage with them.
We must actively seek to create conflict around our ideas. In fact we must aim to be good at conflict – in many ways it is how an organisation thinks. As professionals our roles are, in part, to prove our colleagues wrong. This is how we get the best out of individuals and a team. This requires patience, respect and energy and most importantly it means that we have to be prepared to change our minds – to think and then think again. And it can only work if we are all passionate about the company we work for and the higher purpose that it serves.