Why conflict and disagreement are essential for high-performing teams.
AS a leader you have an important role in facilitating open dialogue and honest feedback. A high-performing organization is one that has an environment of trust where staff is empowered to be candid and respectful, both with each other and with external stakeholders. Your goal is to create an optimum balance between consensus and conflict – you want people to get along and achieve stated objectives, but you also want them to speak up when they need to, even if their message is unwanted or controversial.
Many communication strategies focus on creating agreement and harmony, but I want to shift attention to the opposite end of this spectrum – what happens if agreement is total and there is no conflict?
In 1974, Dr. Jerry Harvey and three other family members embarked on an 85 km road trip to Abilene, Texas in a 1958 Buick without any air-conditioning. Not only was the temperature a scorching 40 degrees Celsius, the entire drive was through a dust storm. Only when they returned home did they discover nobody actually wanted to go to Abilene. Each person had agreed because they thought the other people really wanted to go.
Dr. Harvey said later: “Here we were four reasonable, sensible people who had just taken a (170 km) trip across the Godforsaken desert in furnace-like temperatures through a dust storm to eat unpalatable food at a hole-in-the-wall cafeteria in Abilene, Texas, when none of us really wanted to go! In fact, we had done just the opposite of what we really wanted to do.” Today, the “Abilene Paradox” is used to describe any communication breakdown in which members of a group don’t want to “rock the boat.” In their desire to minimize conflict, each mistakenly believes that his or her own preferences are counter to the group and therefore does not raise any objections.
Groupthink is a further extreme of the Abilene Paradox. It arises when people get so focused on trying to minimize conflict and on reaching consensus that they don’t critically evaluate alternative ideas or viewpoints. Left unchecked, groupthink can deteriorate into an atmosphere of superiority, exclusiveness, and invulnerability. At its ultimate extreme, groupthink may result in unethical behaviour and poor decision-making.
The Abilene Paradox and groupthink can happen anywhere. If that is what you are facing, all the good things about working as a team – improved communication, new idea generation, higher morale, and focused goal-setting – will be lost. As a leader, it’s important to create an environment where healthy conflict is welcomed and encouraged. Hold back from stating your personal preferences and expectations until members of your team have shared their ideas; it will encourage others to offer differing perspectives.
Be the devil’s advocate – take a position you don’t necessarily agree with just for the sake of argument. It will test the quality of the original position and identify weaknesses. Play the role of questioner to solicit more input from others and stay silent as you wait for a response. Keep an open mind and paraphrase as needed to keep the dialogue going. Above all, switch your communication approach to facilitate productive disagreement.