No Friction? That's a Problem.

Last week I facilitated a discovery workshop with a leadership team.

I asked them about their ways of working on shared solutions. "We don't have any frictions when we get together" they told me.

No frictions? None at all?

Either they had become so psychologically unsafe that nobody was willing to voice disagreement anymore. They smile, nod, agree to mediocre ideas, and quietly resent each other for not speaking up.

And/or they are so conflict-avoidant they actually don't have any friction, even when that is what is required.

We should have frictions. The right kind, anyway.

Friction in our conversations is how we evolve our thinking, meet somewhere closer to truth, and build clarity in our decisions and actions. A 2012 meta-analysis of team conflict studies found that when teams can separate intellectual challenge from personal attack, task conflict actually fosters creativity and innovation¹.

The problem isn't friction and the solution isn't avoiding it.

We need to have intellectual friction without interpersonal friction.

We need to be able tell the difference between the two.

How are your team doing?

DR AMY SILVER www.dramysilver.com

| High Performing Exec Team programs |

| Between Team programs |

| Workplace mediation |

| Exec Coaching |