Is there any such thing as good tension? Most uses of the word are negative – there was tension in the room, my back is really tense.
But tension isn’t always bad. Avoiding it can cause bigger problem.
This was the core idea of a recent HBR article that’s worth reading. It’s about what makes a genius leadership team, and a key characteristic is that they don’t avoid tension or conflict. They welcome it.
Individual executives challenge ideas and in each other constructive, respectful way. The intent isn’t to prove who is smarter or better. It’s to make the best possible choices they can for the business.
The article’s authors call this type of conflict “generative tension.”
When it happens, it’s magic. I know because generative tension is what made my decade as an analyst so rewarding. Analysts’ favorite thing to do is debate ideas with a group of smart people. Whether it was chatting in the lunchroom or collaborating on a stream of research, we made a sport of challenging assumptions and ideas. Did it get heated? Sometimes. But the arguments were never personal. They happened because we shared a fierce passion for understanding the true nature of things.
It takes a certain kind of culture to support constructive confrontation. Psychological safety must be extremely high, and employees need to know when to stop talking and start doing. Otherwise you risk falling into rabbit hole after rabbit hole without producing results.
Have you ever experienced “generative tension” or “constructive conflict?” Have you seen teams that operate this way? What about those environments made it possible?
If you haven’t experienced this, what do you think gets in the way?
