Tag: disagreement
4 Powerful Steps on the Way to Cross-Functional Agreement
I had a call with an up-and-coming middle manager who presented a complex situation and then asked a sincere question. A small cross-functional working group was trying to resolve some interdepartmental workflow and boundary issues.... Continue reading
How Missed Signals Show When We Don’t Understand Each Other
One day last week after lunch, while walking back to my office, I noticed a man parking in the last of four curbside spots in front of the Post Office. He maneuvered a bit and... Continue reading
The Surprising Truth about Consensus
Consensus sounds so nice: Everyone agrees and moves forward together. Kumbaya! Seems like a good thing, right? But here’s how one client described the way his company practices consensus (with my italics): “We have to... Continue reading
Who Defines Your Service Rules?
According to an old Swahili proverb: “When the elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers.” That’s certainly true in organizations where executives have ongoing disagreements. Whether the situation involves explicit, pitched battles, or covert, passive-aggressive... Continue reading
4 Practically Proven Ways to Disagree Productively
Disagreements and conflicts occur in every organization, no matter how high-functioning the team, how clear the mission, or how lovely the people. As we’ve seen in the last two posts, conflict-averse executives who don’t share... Continue reading
When Leaders Avoid Conflict, They Hurt Their Teams
In last week’s post, an exec who didn’t wish to appear picky or small-minded missed the chance to address difficult and inappropriate situations created by her subordinate Xerxes when they were still small and potentially... Continue reading
Do You Need to Cope with a Conflict-Averse Executive?
When an executive disagrees with a proposal or approach, the situation can go in two directions: In the best-case scenario, the disagreement gets worked through collegially, even if it means that other people -- other... Continue reading
If You Want to Solve a Problem, Think of It as an Iceberg
In business, lingering problems rarely have a single or simple solution. That’s why they linger. Many work problems are relatively unambiguous and easily are understood by the people who deal with them every day. We... Continue reading