Creative Tension: Why good conflict makes great teams

It’s OK to start conflicts at work. In fact, you probably should do it more often.

The teams I’ve most enjoyed working with embrace creative tension — conflict with a purpose, and a powerful tool for high-performing teams.

At times I’ve felt at odds with work, conflict was viewed like a “days without an accident” sign — that disagreeing would break a streak, and someone now has to walk to a whiteboard and reset the timer to zero again. Success is measured by how long you hold consensus, vs results achieved.

Some people see low conflict as a sign of a well-aligned organization. But this is often only surface level — more manners than reality. Alignment works best when people have shared confidence in purpose and direction. Without that, the lack of dissent becomes almost… ominous. If things could be better, would someone say so?

It’s easy to view friction as failure or distraction, especially if you’ve worked on teams with toxic feedback loops or are under constant pressure to get work done. But some conflict is constructive and necessary. Especially when working between departments to get the right feedback from customers.

Solving problems requires conflict

One thing I've learned across multiple startups is that great teams remember the last time they disagreed. Not for a grudge, but because it’s core to how they reach conviction to act on great decisions. And the quality of their work reflects it.

If you’re in a leadership position, the stakes are higher. Your reaction to conflict is critical. How you handle curiosity can have a chilling effect on how your team solves problems. Good ideas are rarely complete in the first draft — sometimes you need to disagree a bit to discover the best version.

When in doubt, go tumble rocks:

Further Reading

• Why are we Yelling? (Buster Benson)