Creating (Healthy) Conflict

Conflict resolution is a popular topic – everyone has encountered difficult situations and combative people. Yet for every person I have observed causing too much conflict, I have observed nine people who don’t cause enough conflict.

This sounds strange to say, as most of us have been conditioned to avoid conflict whenever possible – and that’s the problem.

The ability to both initiate and resolve conflict is a critical life skill to building healthy relationships and teams. Without it, passive-aggressive behaviors and silent dissent quietly corrode connections until they “suddenly” collapse. When this happens teams fall apart, people leave, and projects fail.

Join me as we explore conflict and answer these questions:

  • How can I confront a colleague about something without it coming across as an attack?
  • How do I improve my receptiveness to conflicting ideas?
  • What can we do to engage in healthy conflict, rather than avoid it?
  • How do we build team environments where constructive conflict is regular and encouraged?

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About Me

Chris Powers

Chris Powers has been leading software development teams for the last fifteen years, and he loves sharing his passion for building teams and software with audiences nationwide. As a Clean Coders author, Chris produced an educational video series entitled "Clean Code in the Browser". Chris is VP of Engineering at Thinkful and lives in the northern Chicago suburbs with his wife and two children. In his free time he enjoys drumming, woodworking, and tabletop gaming.

Contact Info

Email: chrisjpowers@gmail.com

Twitter: @chrisjpowers