Hidden Potential: Embracing Conflict Can Pay Off For Teams

both the potential for innovation and

creativity and the seeds of team dis-

agreements and discord. It’s

inevitable that the members of a team

will experience conflict, but the most

effective teams find ways to manage

members’ differences, leverage their

disagreements, avoid polarization,

and capitalize on their diversity of

perspectives.

For many teams, conflict exists at

the root of some of their best ideas as

well as some of their worst failures.

Imagine for a moment what the

world would be like if people had no

differences—if we all looked alike,

acted alike, thought alike, and

behaved alike. It sounds like one of

those grade B horror movies on late-

night ...