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Disagreements are everywhere. In life. In our society. And also in organizations. By nature, people tend to want to eliminate contradictions. Because they are often seen as 'hassle'. But are disagreements in your organization really undesirable? If you look further, you will discover that they are a rich breeding ground for joint success.
Let me get straight to the point: an organization without disagreement is a utopia. Disagreements and discussion between people, teams and organizational layers? No matter how hard you try to avoid or smooth them out, they will always be there.
Yet organizations always have the natural urge to make disagreement disappear. Alignment of vision and approach. Closing the gap. Unity in thought and action. And with one face and one story outwards. Because then it will be fine, that's often the thought. Quite strange, when you consider that in today's organizations we strive for diversity more than ever. Compared to the tendency to strive for uniformity as just outlined, this is at least a considerable paradox. After all, diversity is intended to be the strength of a variety of employees. Differences in their ages, backgrounds, knowledge, experience and roles automatically lead to differences in ideas, perspectives and interests. And that undoubtedly leads to ... disagreement.
Reasons enough to embrace disagreement. This requires the courage to be diverse and also to enter into discussion. By listening to each other and being inspired by other ideas and perspectives. And to make decisions partly on that basis. This creates important elements like involvement, enthusiasm and ownership. With which you can build the right team spirit and cooperation. The energy you put into getting rid of disagreements would be better spent on learning to have good dialogues together.
Of course, there are also negative examples of what can cause disagreements and conflicts. Look at the current polarization in our society. All the more important to emphasize the positive effects of disagreement in organizations. It is precisely from multiperspectivity that the much-desired unity will then be achieved. Because it's only when it rubs that it starts to shine.
Judith Bekel, Development Partners
'It is precisely from multiperspectivity that the much-desired unity is achieved.'