peace

thoughts on the power of constructive conflict

I’ve had a long career in software and I estimate I’ve seen a few hundred workplace arguments in that time. A lot of those arguments were beneficial and ended with critical decisions being made. Some of those arguments were not (my manager once kicked a hole in wall outside of the “war room” in Microsoft’s building 27 after a blow up with a peer).

It Starts with Trust

The difference between a “good” argument and a “bad” one comes down to trust and psychological safety. Lencioni famously discusses necessity of trust in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Without trust, people can’t have the necessary conflict needed to make decisions - and if decisions can’t be made with input from others, there really isn’t a way to achieve anything.

I’ve been there. I’ve worked for leaders who wanted to call all of the shots. Alternative ideas were shut down. The people on the team didn’t feel bought into the work and they didn’t know why their work was important. They became disengaged, and velocity and …