Beyond Harmony: Why Discord is Key to Progress
Peace at any price has significant costs
Awhile ago, I got the chance to do some work with a midsize manufacturing company. I was invited to coach a working team of women with communication issues. The initial meeting with the team manager, “Claire”, was cordial and positive, but I had difficulty getting her to state what exactly the communications problem was that needed addressing. Every question I asked was met with an enthusiastic plug for how well the team was doing, but no specific reason as to why they wanted someone outside their organization to do communications work.
I finally suggested that I meet with the entire team prior to accepting a contract. Perhaps I could get my questions answered once I talked to them. We made arrangements to do so the following week. Claire, however, insisted she be in the meeting as well. I got an unsettled feeling.
The team meeting started out well. It was clear these women enjoyed working together, but once I turned the conversation to more concrete concerns as to what problems had arisen that required an outside consultant – the room fell silent.
Claire then offered, “We thought we’d like to get some new ideas for team building.” Each member of the group nodded their heads, almost in unison. I tried again, “Team building is a rather general term, and I’ve heard from you all that you feel you function well as a team.” Again, heads nodded around the table. “If there are some specific reasons why your group needs team building, or a cultural adjustment of some kind, that would give me a place to start in building a program for you.” No one made eye contact with me. The meeting ended politely, but I never did get a direct response to my question. I took a pass on this opportunity.
Have you encountered this kind of hesitancy to embrace authenticity in your workplace? While on the surface, it appears that everyone “gets along”, there are underlying costs to this “harmony.”
Sometime later, I spoke to a colleague who knew someone on that team. As a manager, Claire was efficient and competent, but she did not follow up on input, or take action on suggestions made by the team, many of whom had decades of experience. Claire would nod politely and then proceed with her original decisions. As a result, they’d decided it was easier to go along to get along. They stopped sharing opinions, ideas, or even new information that would counter Claire’s assessment. Apparently they went even further: the group reinforced their own passivity by discouraging their members from speaking up. The “communications training” had been suggested by the department’s superior, who must have sensed something amiss.
The entire working culture of this team was caught in a restrictive vise, much of it rooted in one manager’s inability to listen to her reports. As a result, she was robbed of their trust, experience, history and creativity. In deciding to avoid disagreements of any kind, everyone ultimately loses.
There are strong reasons to embrace and process difference and discord in work situations:
Discord Encourages Diverse Perspectives & Innovation
Disagreements often stem from different experiences, viewpoints, and expertise. When teams engage in constructive conflict, they can challenge assumptions and generate creative solutions that might not emerge in a purely harmonious environment.
Discord Strengthens Team Resilience & Problem-Solving
When handled well, workplace discord fosters resilience by pushing teams to navigate tough conversations and find common ground. This enhances problem-solving skills and helps employees develop better conflict-resolution strategies.
Discord Prevents Groupthink & Drives Better Decision-Making
Too much harmony can lead to complacency and groupthink, where teams avoid questioning ideas for fear of disrupting unity. Healthy discord ensures that decisions are rigorously debated and refined before being implemented, leading to stronger outcomes.
Engaging productive conflict on a work team requires a balance of communication, structure, and emotional intelligence. Here are three ways to engage conflict:
Facilitate Open and Constructive Dialogue – Encourage team members to express their concerns and viewpoints in a structured manner. Use active listening techniques, paraphrase concerns, and ask open-ended questions to clarify issues. A neutral facilitator (e.g., team lead or HR) can help mediate if needed.
Implement Collaborative Problem-Solving – Shift the focus from personal differences to solving the issue together. Use techniques like brainstorming, root cause analysis, or a structured decision-making framework to find solutions that benefit the team and align with shared goals.
Establish Clear Conflict Resolution Norms – Set guidelines on how the team should handle disagreements, including escalation processes, respect-based communication, and agreed-upon resolution timelines. Having a framework in place helps prevent conflicts from escalating into personal disputes.
Still hesitant to engage underlying discord in your workplace? Let’s talk about it!
I love reading about this topic, Kym, it’s so juicy — and so misunderstood! As we say in ORSC, “conflict is something new trying to happen.” Preventing conflict is synonymous with encouraging “stuckness.” But for conflict to not become destructive, the system (team, group, couple) needs to uphold Deep Democracy, and it seemed like your “Claire” wasn’t ready for that — some ideas are difficult to hear, and insecure leaders tend to be scared of sharing their authority. Great post!