The Science of Productive Conflict

You don’t have to agree to disagree. You just have to agree to disagree respectfully.

The clearest sign of intellectual chemistry isn't agreeing with someone. It's enjoying your disagreements with them. Harmony isn’t the combination of identical sounds. It’s the pleasing a...

Status conflict is about where we fit in the hierarchy that we're in together.

For example: "I think I'm higher in this informal status hierarchy than you. And you think you're higher in this informal status hierarchy than me or we're equal, but you're acting like you...

Extensive research shows that conflict has a big impact on cohesion and performance. The key issue, though, is not how often we have conflict-- it’s how well we manage it.

The goal isn’t to have less conflict; it’s to have the right kind of conflict. And ...

• Conflict comes in multiple flavours. Walking down the ladder of inference can help with identifying what kind you’re having. Task conflict is disagreeing about the problem, the solution, or the decision—and that can be both necessary and productive.
• Relatio...

Research shows that fault lines are common within teams -- and between teams. You can have entire groups that dislike and disrespect each other. Which is not good for performance or morale.

Some fault lines are around status conflict-- there are tensions between groups around who’s run...

Leaders often say, “Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.” They want people to be constructive-- not to whine or complain.

But if people can only speak up when they have a solution, you’ll never hear about the biggest problems-- which are too complex for ...

Psychologists have demonstrated a pattern called solution aversion-- when people don’t like a particular solution, they often deny or dismiss the problem altogether. And if you can’t get people on the other side of a fault line to even recognize the problem, you’re not going to s...

Creative tension can make beautiful music.

In a culture that deals with conflict effectively, people aren’t afraid to bring their problems to the table. If you can agree on the problem, you have a better shot at finding a solution that works for everyone. And even if you don’t find tha...