“Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.”
William Ellery Channing
Conflict becomes productive . . .
“In great teams conflict becomes productive. The free flow of conflicting ideas is critical for creative thinking, for discovering new solutions no one individual would have come to on his own.”
Peter Senge
An environment of supportive conflict . . .
“The whole business starts with ideas, and we’re convinced that ideas come out of an environment of supportive conflict, which is synonymous with appropriate friction.”
Michael Eisner
Conflicts are laden with . . .
“Conflicts are laden with information that is essential for our growth, learning, intimacy, and change.”
Ken Cloke
Difficulty as opportunity . . .
"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity"
Albert Einstein
Successful leaders . . .
“Successful leaders manage conflict; they don’t shy away from it or suppress it but see it as an engine of creativity and innovation. Some of the most creative ideas come out of people in conflict remaining in conversation with one another rather than flying into their own corners or staking out entrenched positions. The challenge for leaders is to develop structures and processes in which such conflicts can be orchestrated productively."
Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky
Cooperation and competition in biology.
"A concept that is deeply ingrained in biology is competition. This is often described as the driving force of evolution...However, there is as much cooperation in biology as there is competition. Mutualism and symbiosis, organisms living in a state of mutual dependency...are an equally universal feature of the biological realm. Why not argue that cooperation is the great source of innovation in evolution?"
James Goodwin
Perceive all conflicts as . . .
“Perceive all conflicts as patterns of energy seeking a harmonious balance in the whole”
Dhyani Ywhoo
Differences!
“Differences can be the sources of creativity, or they can serve to divide.”
Craig Runde
The leader’s job is . . .
”The leader’s job is to contain conflict—prevent the disequilibrium from going too high and the conflict from getting destructive—and simultaneously to keep people addressing the hard questions without opting for a technical fix, an easy solution, or a decision from on high.”
Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky
Conflict and Diversity!
“Our ‘opponents’ are our co-creators, for they have something to give which we have not. The basis of all cooperative activity is integrated diversity.... What people often mean by getting rid of conflict is getting rid of diversity, and it is of the utmost importance that these should not be considered the same. We may wish to abolish conflict, but we cannot get rid of diversity. We must face life as it is and understand that diversity is its most essential feature... Fear of difference is dread of life itself. It is possible to conceive conflict as not necessarily a wasteful outbreak of incompatibilities, but a normal process by which socially valuable differences register themselves for the enrichment of all concerned.”
Mary Parker Follett
From discord . . .
“Opposition brings together, and from discord comes perfect harmony.”
Heraclitus
Leverage conflict rather than be leveled by it!
"The better able team members are to engage, speak, listen, hear, interpret, and respond constructively, the more likely their teams are to leverage conflict rather than be leveled by it”
Runde and Flanagan
Conflict lies at the core of . . .
“Conflict lies at the core of innovation.”
Emanuel R. Piore
If we manage conflict constructively . . .
“If we manage conflict constructively, we harness its energy for creativity and development.”
Kenneth Kaye
Conflict prevents . . .
"Conflict prevents the ossification of the social system by exerting pressure for innovation and creativity."
Lewis Coser