Building Adaptive Organizations: Creating Safe Conflict
In their book on adaptive leadership, the authors raise the concept of “orchestrating conflict” (Heifetz, et al., 2009, p. 149) and the implications of actually increasing the level of discord in an organization. The analogy of a symphony or orchestra—a metaphor being used more and more frequently in the literature—seems quite on point. But how do you ensure the creative conflict level is optimized to ensure good ideas, while not raising the temperature to a boiling point? How does a leader work to increase the collective idea-base (which almost always conflicts) and yet also ensure the psychological and physical safety of all? Establishing rules of engagement is a critical first step. These “ground rules” are essential to ensuring everyone is on the same page, as well as a mechanism to hold people accountable. The leader should not dictate them, but rather should be co-constructed among the group. The expectations or "group norms" should be mutually agreed upon going int...