"Conflict can be good because you get the devil's advocate position," says Mary Osswald, senior manager at Kamehameha Schools, Honolulu, Hawaii. "Conflict usually comes because someone doesn't want change or doesn't agree with how you're making change. It certainly inspires better conversation and more thought about what's being done and why it's being done. It forces the project to evolve." You learned about groupthink in Chapter 1. It describes a behavior characterized by a lack of critical thinking and extreme conformity to the values of a group.
The absence of conflict is not always a good sign, Ms. Osswald believes: "If you have a project with no conflict, you might have just as much of a leadership problem as if you were experiencing massive conflict. In such a case, Ms. Osswald suspects groupthink is at work: "It's very unlikely everybody always agrees with how the project activities are progressing. If you have zero conflict, my thought is you've got a bunch of 'yes men' who are keeping their mouths shut and simply doing what they think the leaders want."

Your Task. Do you agree with Mary Osswald's views on workplace conflict and groupthink? Look back at your teamwork experience and consider tensions that arose. How were they addressed and settled? Have you worked on teams that were conflict free? Were you ever afraid to speak up? Could negative situations have been salvaged by using the tips suggested in this chapter? Discuss these and similar questions in small groups or in front of the class. If asked, provide a written assessment of your views on workplace conflict.