The conflict continuum

The best teams engage in conflict.

The best leaders must just make sure it’s healthy conflict.

Patrick Lencioni, author of The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, gives us the conflict continuum, to help us understand how.

On one side, we have artificial harmony. That’s where people sweep things under the rug, don’t disagree, or avoid conflict. There can be many reasons for this group behavior. Maybe there’s a domineering person on the team that shuts people down. Maybe the leader doesn’t encourage or reward behavior that confronts problems head-on. Maybe people don’t feel safe.

On the opposite end of the continuum, there’s mean-spirited conflict, the nasty, back-stabbing, personalized attacks that everyone hates about working with other people. There are many reasons for this group culture as well.

Yes, we want to be in the middle, between constructive and destructive conflict, and yes it’s possible for you, as a leader, to define when someone has crossed the line.

But here’s my question.

Is it okay for someone on your team to step over the line, maybe just a little, into the destructive zone? Perhaps, they say something mean, or make a personal “dig,” or snub.

Is that OK with you, on your team?

The answer is that it’s inevitable. It happens. We’re dealing with people.

What’s important is that as a leader, you handle that situation and bring everyone back into the healthy conflict zone, so they can continue debating the issues and so the best ideas rise to the top.