So-called ‘healthy’ conflict leads to innovation

By Ave Rio of clomedia.com

To reach our full potential, we need a little more conflict in our lives, provided it comes with productive dialogue.

I don’t believe as a society we have truly learned how to have difficult conversations,” said Doug Upchurch, chief learning architect at Insights. “And it’s in part because of that, that we see so much divisiveness in our world.”

Employees must be able to have those conversations and be an example, not just for organizations, but for wider society, he said. Chief learning officers and leaders can help improve this problem by encouraging healthy conflict and modeling productive dialogue to their employees.

Upchurch said how people handle conflict determines whether it is healthy or unhealthy. A healthy response involves several factors, he said. It should be public, confronted directly, seek to move to resolution and it should consider each person’s personal experience, as not everyone responds to conflict in the same way.

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