C-Suite Smackdown: The Need to Lean Into Conflict

Back during the Vietnam War, a sardonic slogan popular among the anti-war young was: "War is Good Business: Invest Your Son." The perverse truth is, war really is good for business. During armed conflicts, manufacturers traditionally make millions — if not billions — from defense contracts.

War is also good for scientific and technological innovation. During World War II, the existential nature of the battle between the Axis and Allied powers led to rapid advances in electronics, jet propulsion, rocketry, and data processing. Breakthroughs that might otherwise have taken decades to achieve transpired in mere years. (Later, the Cold War between the U.S. and former Soviet Union spurred the building of the Interstate Highway System, the Internet’s creation, and the moon landing.)

But conflict’s usefulness doesn’t end there. As any TV, movie, or theatre aficionado knows, when it comes to drama, conflict drives the story. Likewise, in sports, competition between adversaries forces combatants to become faster, stronger, and more strategic. And in nature, the struggle between species for scarce resources propels evolutionary change.

In other words ― and to paraphrase Wall Street's Gordon Gekko – "Conflict is good."

So why do so many businesses avoid conflict like the plague? There are many reasons C-Suite denizens and their direct reports tend to eschew internecine combat. The first is the simple human instinct to avoid confrontation. Disagreements make people uncomfortable. We keep negative options to ourselves for fear of losing friends or alienating relatives. As human society is based on collaboration and cooperation, we have an almost primal impulse to not rock the boat. Or, as the saying advises, "If you want to get along, go along."

The second reason is political. In a hierarchy like any average business, power flows from the top down. Frequent challenges, objections, or questions can get you labeled a "troublemaker" or "malcontent." Worse, they can put your job in jeopardy. Finally, companies like to project a culture of unity. A business is supposed to be a "team," a "crew," with everybody pulling in the same direction. Taking Abraham Lincoln's admonishment, "A house divided against itself cannot stand" to heart, many executives are openly hostile to strife at any level.

Yet, study after study has shown tamping down on conflict isn't just bad for morale, it's bad for business. Innovation requires conflict. Change only occurs in environments where people can freely exchange ideas, offer suggestions, propose alternatives, and, yes, raise objections and point out flaws. Employees at all levels need to have an opportunity to contribute, to critique, and speak truth to power without fear of retribution.

Speaking of the need for veracity, today’s senior management needs to be honest with its employees, even when it hurts. For example, prior to a merger, it does little good for top management to whitewash the impending take-over's likely ramifications. When leadership fails to reveal hard truths, employees will fill the void with rumors and speculation often more damaging to morale than the facts themselves.

But while companies need to lean into conflict, they must also manage it carefully to reap its benefits. Without close supervision, internal conflicts can develop into dangerous and debilitating internal rivalries, feuds, schisms, and even outright rebellions. It's therefore mission critical that conflict be used as a tool for improvement, not a weapon to be wielded for settling turf wars or personal vendettas. Equally important, conflicts must not be viewed as "zero sum games" ― i.e., for one side to win, the other must lose ― but rather as pathways to "win-win" outcomes.

As a leadership, culture, and compensation consultant, I have spent years developing a toolkit for helping companies manage conflict successfully. It’s my role to foster difficult conversations in the workplace. A proponent of (constructive) conflict for good, I counsel C-Suites to lean into the fray. As we all know, every delicious omelet requires some good old-fashioned egg cracking.

Ultimately, the best corporate cultures are built, not with delicate kid gloves and toothless platitudes, but rather through a combative, yet collaborative process, one in which ideas are freely shared for the good of the whole. In my tenure generating internal ecosystems for growth, I utilize a fine-tuned, proven eight-step process to help everyone, from C-Suite executives down to team managers, oversee robust internal competitions while maintaining strong, positive relationships.

For more information on how my team and I can help your business lean into danger zones, please email me @ laura@conoverconsulting.com. I look forward to developing the most constructive workplace environment supporting your company’s culture.