Stirring the Pot When we know there’s issues, disagreements or other conflicts happening at work, that’s one thing. But what about when everything seems totally and perfectly okay? If the latter sounds familiar, you may be working in a “yes” culture. One where nobody wants to rock the boat, nobody wants to disagree. People are proud of a pleasant work culture and don’t want to be “that person” who ruins it. If everyone seems equally motivated about a company’s shared goals and how to achieve them, maybe it’s time to stir the pot. Stoke a little controversy. This week, I was chatting with an entrepreneur friend who can honestly boast of a solid team dynamic. Theirs is a hospitality business with extremely high retention, morale and engagement. While many in their industry have reduced hours and can’t attract staff, this business gets flooded with applications every time they post an opening. What’s their secret? They don’t prioritize getting along, but they do welcome ideas. When they hire, they welcome people to the team for their unique skills, experience and backgrounds. They want each person to contribute their own flair. As a result, this team is passionate about the business’ products, but they all contribute to the discussion about tastes, trends, ingredients and ambiance. Each team member gives and expects feedback and suggestions, because everyone cares about giving their customers the best experience. In essence, they welcome disagreement. And it’s working. They’ve got the awards to prove it! In her “Dare to Disagree” TedX talk (here), serial entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan dives into her rationale for creating conflict to boost the outcome. She describes productive conflict as “thinking out loud” and suggests we actively seek out and engage different people for our teams so we have the ability to change our mind. She notes that business issues rarely arise from secrets, but from silence about a company’s known ideas. If you have a pleasant, polite workplace, that’s great! But if it feels like an echo chamber, you can and should encourage productive disagreement. Like Heffernan suggests, try to prove one another wrong. If you can’t prove someone wrong, doesn’t it confirm you’re on the right track? Create those opportunities. Host an all hands meeting and assign people a position or competing ideas, then let them debate. Have a theme if it helps people get into it, like Springfield vs Shelbyville, or Fight Club (but without the violence!). Let people vote for the winner, or perhaps don’t declare a winner at all. Keep it fun, make space for humour, but don’t forget to take notes. Because when the ideas start to flow, they just might transform your business.
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