People are often driven by different goals, and so there can be disagreements. It is an understandable result of different purposes. Other factors that cause conflict are personalities and different personal values. Blend it all together, and there is no wonder that we experience clashes and professional rivalries regularly, perhaps even on a daily basis.
Are you of the opinion that managers should try to downplay conflicts and try to foster team harmony? Do you think that the highest aspiration of a leader is to facilitate their team's efforts and make sure there no conflicts emerge? According to the knowledge.insead.edu website, you aren't right.
Conflicts can enhance performance
Conflict can be a gateway to higher creativity and productivity. Researchers at the INSEAD business school found out that when you help people see themselves in relation to others, each conflict can be turned into an opportunity to understand and learn more about their deepest aspirations.
Furthermore, people are likely to chase their true goals by more creative means than before. Why? It is because the majority of people want harmonious relationships with their colleagues. When things don't seem to be working out, people become more determined to overcome whatever is causing the conflict.
Different conflicts for relational and independent people
We tend to define our self in relation to those around us, our friends and colleagues. Some cultures are more relational; however, even less relational individuals can be motivated by conflict.
Researchers found that during the course of the study, relationship conflict boosted creativity for relational people. It motivates them to think harder to find solutions to the conflict. For more independent individuals, it is a process conflict, disagreement about how something should be done or how resources should be allocated, that sparks their creativity.
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