Using Conflict as a Catalyst for Change

Organizational transformation can elicit intense conflict. Here’s how to harness it as a

positive force.
by Karen Lehman and Marty Linsky

D
eep organizational change inevitably produces
conflict. Those who lead change usually try to THIS ARTICLE EXPLAINS HOW TO:
suppress conflict, with the goal of keeping the
energy positive and the forward momentum ■ Help employees feel safe expressing their
strong. opinions in a high-pressure environment
But our work at Cambridge Leadership Associates with
individuals from a variety of organizations has shown us ■ Learn from dissident voices
that successfully leading change requires actively using
conflict and even heightening it at strategic moments. ■ Use conflict strategically
We encourage those who are engaged in the hard work of
leading change to think of conflict as a healthy sign that
Our advice to those beginning the work of deep
the organization is on a journey to a better place.
organizational transformation is to build a safe structure
To harness conflict and turn it into a catalyst for change,
to hold the group together through the high-pressure days
implement the following four practices:
and weeks ahead. We suggest that leaders think of this
n Build a container to hold the core group together structure as a container, with thick walls to keep heated
conversations from spilling outside and protect the group
n Leverage the power of dissident voices
from external threat. For one global professional services
n Give the work back: let others resolve conflicts firm we worked with, a series of no-holds-barred off-sites
n Raise the heat to uncover conflicts that need to be served as this container. Each event was devoted to airing
addressed questions and concerns about the change; participants
were assured that nothing was off-limits and no one
BUILD A CONTAINER TO HOLD THE GROUP would suffer repercussions for speaking out.
TOGETHER Townley did something similar for his agency. First
Emil Townley’s first day at work was tougher than most. he assembled a team of people who were committed to
The agency he’d just been brought in to run was in change and had them go off-site for intensive training
receivership. Fraud committed during his predecessor’s in meeting and defusing the strong resistance they
tenure was serious enough to warrant criminal would encounter as they tried to change the culture of
prosecution. As a result, critical outside funding was patronage, favoritism, indifference, and even fraud that
in decline. What’s more, racial issues were simmering, had dragged the organization down. After this initial
as a traditionally African-American-led agency with a period of training, the team met frequently to vent
traditionally African-American clientele was becoming frustrations, celebrate successes, and seek guidance from
a Latino-led organization serving an increasingly Latino their peers. Townley also skillfully used his board of
population. directors to protect his team from pressure to back off
Although Emil Townley’s name is fictional, he and from those both inside and outside the organization who
the issues he faced are not. Never one to shrink from had enjoyed the benefits of the old regime.
a challenge, he knew that leading the agency through He also made the entire organization a safe place
the painful process of recovery and redefinition would for those who were willing to play fair and work hard.
require embracing conflict, not avoiding it. He promoted talented and credible staff from within,
often jumping people with potential several levels in

Copyright © 2008 by Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.
Making Conflict Positive continued

the organization. As part of this effort, he placed several regional VPs and store general managers to visit with
African-Americans in key positions to allay concerns several of them and see how they did things. He also
that he would substitute a Latino regime for an African- brought a few to headquarters to present their operating
American one. He prioritized an internal audit to philosophies to others.
communicate that fraud would not be tolerated. Did this focus on a few renegades create conflict in
In every way he could think of, he communicated an organization that had long prized toeing the line?
to all the organization’s constituencies that there would Yes, definitely. But it was healthy conflict. It forced
be support for those who were willing to adapt and those who wanted to cling to the old ways of doing
encouraged individuals to voice their concerns. Thus things to confront the successes of the new model.
he combined zero tolerance for fraud and abuse with a
remarkable tolerance for letting dissent, frustration, and GIVE THE WORK BACK
anger be aired. Dave Handler is the founding CEO of a large and growing
10-year-old advertising and design firm. (Like the other
LEVERAGE DISSIDENT VOICES people mentioned in this article, his name is fictional but
Townley’s willingness to tolerate angry voices was he is not.) Beloved and respected by his employees, he
motivated by more than a desire to allow people to let was always available to hear their stories and resolve their
off steam. Like other savvy leaders, he recognized that disputes.
sometimes dissidents have acutely valuable ideas. Finding But as the firm grew, so did the conflicts, and Handler
dissidents and shining a light on them was a key part of found himself enmeshed in conflict after conflict: between
the culture-change strategy put into place by the CEO of design and sales, between production and design,
a major U.S. electronics retailer—we’ll call him Simon between print champions and new media champions.
Waterson. Morale began to sag, as did Handler’s energy and sense of
Waterson’s company had thrived for years with highly optimism about the firm’s future.
centralized decision making: corporate chose what to
sell and how to sell it. But Waterson recognized that this
Those who lead others are usually
model stifled innovation and was beginning to send the
company into decline. He had to take an organization expected to keep things calm, not raise the
committed to doing things by the book into a new era heat on their own people. But sometimes
where innovation at the store level would be prized.
heat is exactly what’s required to uncover
a conflict that could compromise an
Our advice to those beginning the work of
organization’s performance.
deep organizational transformation is to
build a safe structure to hold the group Handler began to understand that if the firm was to
grow, these value conflicts would have to be worked
together through the high-pressure days
through by the staff, not decided on an ad hoc basis
and weeks ahead. by him alone. So he took two steps to begin to give the
work back to them. First, he added a Thursday morning
He knew that there were a certain number of store problem-solving meeting to his senior staff ’s schedule.
general managers who had always pushed the boundaries And second, he started telling disputants to figure it
to try to do things their way. Labeled “cowboys” by their out themselves and let him know the outcome. Letting
regional vice presidents—and this was not a flattering go in this way was difficult for him—he loved being the
designation—they tended to be unpopular with colleagues “corporate dad” and helping everyone out, and he also
because they didn’t play by the rules. worried that the resolutions his staff came up with would
But Waterson loved them, because their willingness not be optimal for the firm.
to innovate in response to local customers’ needs offered At the Thursday meetings, team members held back at
a model of the culture he was seeking to foster. first. But once they saw that there would be no retribution
As it happened, these so-called cowboys tended to for what was said at the meeting, they began to have the
cluster in the West, so Waterson gathered a group of hard conversations they needed to have for the firm to

4 HARVARD MANAGEMENT UPDATE | APRIL 2008

Making Conflict Positive continued

go forward. When complaints and concerns were out in

the open, they became opportunities for learning and
growth.

RAISE THE HEAT

Those who lead others are usually expected to keep
things calm, not raise the heat on their own people. But
sometimes heat is exactly what’s required to uncover
a conflict that, if not addressed, will compromise an
organization’s performance.
Take Arthur Gaither, the CEO of a huge professional
services firm. He had a particularly loaded issue to bring
out into the open and address: his firm had a tradition of
carrying longtime partners at high compensation levels
well after they stopped bringing in revenue commensurate
with their compensation. He took two steps to raise the
heat around this issue and force partners to make a
critical choice. Were they willing to continue to honor
the highly valued tradition of treating longtime partners
generously? Or did they want compensation to be pegged
to productivity for all partners, regardless of seniority?
First, Arthur assembled scads of data on productivity—
way more than had ever before been collected. Some
partners pushed back; they called him a micromanager
and complained that they were spending too much
time filling out forms, taking them away from revenue-
producing activities.
Second, he convinced the executive team to put a
cap on year-end bonuses for very senior partners whose
productivity was low, even though the firm had had a
very profitable year. Understandably, the affected partners
and their allies were very upset. But these two steps,
taken together, forced a difficult but crucial firm-wide
conversation about productivity, compensation, and, by
extension, the future growth of the firm. u

Karen Lehman and Marty Linsky are, respectively, senior as-

sociate and cofounder of Cambridge Leadership Associates,
a leadership development consulting firm. Linsky is also on
the faculty of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and
coauthor, with Ron Heifetz, of Leadership on the Line (Har-
vard Business School Press, 2004). They can be reached at
[email protected].

Reprint # U0804E: To order a reprint of this article, call 800-668-6705

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