Workplace Creativity & Conflict
Lucy Fraser
Consultant
 
 
Be it the global or local stage, to remain viable an organisation must do more than maintain the status quo.  To be sustainable over the long term, the ability to encourage creative and innovative thinking must be fostered and encouraged in the workplace.  This is why “innovation” is often stated in a company’s vision or mission statement, and may also be a company value.  Yet in practice, it can remain an elusive concept.   Given innovation and creativity are people processes, it is the organisations who can access the best of each employee and support effective team functioning that will continue to grow.  
 
Therefore, alarm bells should be ringing for organisations who have a significant amount of unmanaged and unhealthy conflict, as well as for those who have no conflict at all.  Conflict, defined as “a struggle over incompatible goals” (Wilmot & Hocker, 2001) is a part of our everyday human experience.  Research tells us that some conflict is useful, and often necessary, to encourage creativity.  Healthy disagreements can lead to dialogue that brings new perspectives and ideas, resulting in better solutions.  However, much workplace conflict, especially when it relates to relationships or processes, embodies a negativity that absorbs the energy of all involved and signals the death knoll for a creative culture.  Luckily, there are creative conflict resolution options that can be employed by proactive organisations.  These options both assist in the resolution of damaging conflict and help to encourage a creative and positive mindset towards conflict management and problem solving within an organisation.
 
An absence of conflict
 
Let us first consider the absence of conflict in the workplace and its impact on creativity.  It is not a stretch to suggest that an organisation where the status quo is maintained will not develop creative solutions, much less emerge as innovative leaders in their field.  The lack of any type of conflict, whether as a result of complacency, fear or avoidance, will inhibit all initiative to improve and grow at both an individual and group level.  This is noted by Kurtzberg & Mueller (2005) who state that, “though it is theoretically possible to stifle all conflict at work (Thomas, 1992), lack of disagreement of any kind can hinder both productivity and creativity (Nermeth, 1995).”  Dr Steven Berglas, a management consultant and psychologist from Harvard Medical School, urges organisations to foster healthy conflict by “encouraging your creative, achievement oriented employees and reinforcing radical ideas, not ritual”.  The ability to safely challenge “the way we do things around here” is essential to the generation of new ideas which can lead to profitable innovations in systems, processes, products, services or business model.  The presence of healthy conflict in the workplace is evident where people are willing to engage in debate and dialogue to challenge the status quo.
 
Overwhelmed by conflict
 
Alternatively, consider a pattern too common in many workplaces where the existence of unhealthy and unmanaged conflict generates negative emotions and reactions within the parties involved.  It is fairly clear how this situation impacts negatively on the processes of creativity and innovation; however, two elements are worth highlighting.  The first element is that the existence of ongoing conflict, particularly in the context of relationships or processes within the workplace, reduces our ability to think flexibly.  This ability to think flexibly is critical to the process of creativity (Amabile, 1996).  As such, conflict can rob us of one of the most essential creative competencies.  The second element is the time and energy that is absorbed in workplace conflict, for which there is little doubt.  Conflict hinders creativity by causing  a distraction which drains energy and makes anything more than just keeping the ship afloat a difficult proposition.  As Kurtburg and Mueller (2005) note in their research, “conflicts literally take time away from direct progress on work tasks”.
 
Creative conflict resolution
 
The way an organisation elects to deal with conflict in the workplace sends a powerful message to employees about what is valued within the organisation.  Choosing to manage conflict proactively and creatively can provide a positive signal of optimism and possibility within an organisation.  
 
Organisations can undertake training and team based activities that will both assist in preventing unhealthy conflict, as well as encouraging and fostering creativity and innovation.  For example, improving communication and conversation skills within employee groups is likely to improve and support productive dialogues that stay on track even when differing opinions arise.  This will make it much more likely that employees will stick with conversations for long enough to discover the gems of new ideas and better ways.  
 
Using diagnostic instruments such as the Myers Briggs Type Instrument (MBTI) in a team environment can build understanding and encourage acceptance of the diversity of thought that is critical for creativity and innovation.  The value of these types of tools in the management of conflict has been noted by Leonard and Straus (1997) who suggest in their article on using these tools in the workplace to stimulate innovation, “People who do not understand the cognitive preferences tend to personalize conflict or avoid it – or both.  The realization that another person’s approach is not wrong-headed or stubborn, but merely predictably different, diffuses anger.”
 
Mediation is another example of a valuable tool organisations can utilise to resolve conflict that is preventing creativity.  As a process that assists participants to develop their communication and creative problem solving skills, mediation provides a creative alternative to more traditional models of dispute resolution where two opposing views fight it out.  In stark contrast to what one observed described as the “clash system” (De Bono, 1994), mediation is designed to bring parties together and empowers them to resolve their own dispute.  Participants are therefore encouraged to look at their experience of conflict from a new perspective and draws on creative tools, such as brainstorming, to find common ground.
 
Most particularly, mediation has the potential to provide great results because it can overcome a key paradox in the conflict-creativity dynamic.   For whilst most conflicts demand our best creative thinking to work towards a resolution, the intensity of the conflict can deplete these instincts.  Mediation assists by providing a skilled facilitator to provide assistance with the process, while leaving the content of the dispute to the participants.  Although often considered only at the later stages of a conflict, mediation can be employed effectively at any stage during a conflict and its use as part of an early intervention strategy can prevent further escalation and widening of disagreements.
 
The value in harnessing the true creativity and innovation contained within each individual in most businesses remains largely untapped.  The good news is that under the right conditions, most employees are excited by the chance to be a contributing member of an innovative and creative high performing culture.  However, creativity and innovation are people processes and do not flourish in the presence of mismanaged or avoided conflict.  There are lots of great solutions for conflict resolution but sometimes the hardest part of the process is the diagnosis.  So, why not start right now and consider the possibility that conflict is acting as a trigger or a block to creativity and innovation in your business.