When I first began working with Teen Challenge many years ago I had opposing experiences within two different centers. (These centers are no longer in existence.) The first Teen Challenge did not deal with conflict; issues were ignored or avoided. The second center dealt with issues regarding staff and students. This organization was considerably more stable and healthy since conflict was not avoided but embraced as something that was positive. It was viewed as a tool to clarify areas of discord and used to explore ways to promote the growth and health of the individual and organization.
I had the opportunity to experience the pursuit of conflict firsthand when my supervisor cornered me in the van after riding back to the center from a Sunday morning church service. She began to talk to me about some responsibility (which I have no recollection of now) that I had left undone. I tried to avoid the confrontation but could not because when I left the van, she followed me to my room. She talked to me until she got her point across. Her words were hard to hear and uncomfortable to say the least, but it was one of the turning points of my life for moving forward to growth and maturity.
Patrick Lencioni has written several books* on organizational health. In them he talks about conflict within an organization. He suggests that when a organization has a fear of conflict, this is a red flag to examine the health of the organization. Fear of conflict leads to “artificial harmony”. Artificial harmony consists of only saying things that others want to hear. It is being politically correct and keeping the peace at all cost. It is not bringing the real issues, questions and concerns to the table so that they can be worked out. Artificial harmony contributes to things like disgruntled employees and “whispering” in the hallways.
Lencioni states,“When I talk about conflict on a team, I’m talking about productive, ideological conflict: passionate, unfiltered debate around issues of importance to the team. Any team that wants to maximize its effectiveness needs to learn to do this, and doing so can only happen if vulnerability-based trust exists”**
Being skilled and courageous in the use of conflict can bring great benefits to an organization. When my supervisor confronted me, it was unpleasant for me and probably uncomfortable for her. But because she did not back down from her responsibility and saw and used conflict as a positive tool it had great impact on my life even to this day.
The pursuit of conflict can be a great tool in the hands of someone that is courageous enough to practice the art of being skilled in it. How is conflict used in your center to clarify issues and promote growth and health to individuals and the organization? How is conflict avoided? I would love to know what you discover!
*The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, **Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team, The Advantage
