Healthy Disagreement Vs. Tension

12/19/2018

Healthy Disagreement Vs. Tension

The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without a teacher.
Elbert Hubbard

In the popular book, Developing People (part of the Art of Leadership series) Nancy Rosenow writes about Dan Bobinski’s description of the difference between disagreement and tension (found in his book, Creating Passion-driven Teams):

"Disagreements are a part of life and are to be expected. It’s important to help people understand how disagreements can be expressed and heard in a positive way without ‘taking it personally.’ When disagreements are consistently places on the table for discussion, with all issues fair game, Bobinski defines this as healthy conflict. When conflict is suppressed and kept unspoken, Bobinski defines this as tension. The leader’s goal should be to encourage and teach healthy conflict resolution, while discouraging unhealthy tension among people."

Gryphon House - Creative Investigations in Early Art.

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