more on conflict

A common perspective among people is "I avoid conflict like the plague." Many feel there is a social stigma to creating conflict. The way you perceive conflict can have significant influence on your behavior. When you see conflict as negative, you will often not challenge others even though you think they are wrong. Similarly, if you avoid conflict, you will not stand up to challenges from others to your own ideas. Unfortunately, the belief that conflict is always negative and that you should avoid it is misguided. Many organizations fail to innovate in a constantly changing world because members of the organization avoid conflict.

The fact is that conflict is inevitable in organizations and provides a force for positive change. "Inherent in all organizations are divisions of labor (differing goals), interdependence (people need other people), and scarce resources" (Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb 2011). There is a natural need for units in organizations to work with other units that have conflicting goals, such as sales and manufacturing. Solving the natural conflicts is in the organization's best interest. Systemic failure to approach conflict results in "functional silos". When organizational units isolate themselves to avoid dealing with other units, the organization experiences a fundamental disengagement with its strategic initiatives. The same can occur among employees within a unit when each one’s goals do not have an overall purpose and employees become individualistic.

Therefore, one difference between managing and leading is to see conflict as an opportunity to advance the organization’s chances to win in the future. Leaders encourage their employees to see conflict as positive. Leaders give employees permission to challenge others when they believe they are wrong and to appropriately defend their own positions when they believe they are on sound ground. How an employee perceives and responds to conflict within the organization may not only have a significant impact on how well the employee performs their assignment(s), but also the degree the employee will act positively on behalf of the organization beyond their assignment.