How to have good fights on your data team

…Making mistakes.

…Trying hard things.

…Empowering creativity

…Aiming for ambitious goals.

…Interacting with other teams.

…Attempting things that may not work.

All of these things are healthy for a data team aiming to make real difference in their organization.

And they are also a common environment for conflict to arise.

Yet, not all conflict is created equal. Knowing what’s healthy conflict and what’s damaging to the team is challenge I’ve often wondered about.

This comment on LinkedIn gave me a lot of clarity.

“…There are two kinds of conflict - (1) affective conflict where you don’t like the other person and (2) cognitive conflict where you don’t agree with the ideas of the other person.

Cognitive conflict is good and necessary and provides for a better solution to the issues that the team/organization is facing because a number of different alternatives are placed on the table and debated and discussed.

Whereas affective conflict is bad because you don’t like the other person and that prevents you from sharing information or withholding information because someone you don’t like is leading the discussion or proposing a solution, that could help the organization.”

As a leader, your job is to encourage cognitive conflict. It’s stimulating and healthy for your team.

At the same time, craft ways to reduce affective conflict. It’s toxic for your team.

If your team is going to fight, make sure they are fighting about the things in the right way.

The most important data challenges aren’t about technology or data itself.

It’s about people.

I’m here,

Sawyer