In an age of disruption and diminishing resources, we have to plumb even into deeper levels of capacity as individuals, teams and organisations. To get full access to the intelligence, creativity and capacity of teams, you need a culture that makes people feel safe to express their ideas – even when these contrast and even conflict with the dominant view.
But so often individuals and teams avoid such differences and prefer to say nothing and fit in because the potential for conflict is too scary. But this can be turned around so that differences are encouraged and do not have to degenerate into destructive conflict. Such differences are actually the source of synergistic intelligence which is the intelligence of a group that greater than the combined intelligence of the individuals within it. To tap this intelligence and avoid destructive conflict, you need to understand your relationship to conflict, have skills to integrate and negotiate differences and conflict, and predictable processes for dealing with conflict when it is destructive.
If you want to develop this insight, skills and strategies for turning conflict into synergistic intelligence, then join us in our one-day program, Managing Relationships and Conflict, on August 12, 2016. You can also register for the whole Clinician to Manager: Acceleration Program, here.
