Taming Interpersonal Conflict in Strategic Choice: How Top Management Teams Argue, but Still Get Along

Conflict is commonplace in strategic decision-making. When that conflict is focused on substantive issues, it is enormously effective in improving the range of information considered, the depth of understanding, and the quality of the choice. But, when it becomes interpersonal such that negative emotions (eg anger, frustration, anxiety) take over, it can strangle the choice process. So, skillful decision-makers temper interpersonal conflict, even in the context of high substantive conflict. This chapter describes how they do it by exploring the management of interpersonal conflict. Using case studies, we find several tactics that contain interpersonal conflict: Keep conflict focused on issues (not people) through (1) factual data, and (2) multiple alternatives; maintain a collaborative (not competitive) frame with (3) common goals and (4) humor; and create a sense of fairness (not inequity) through (5) balanced power structures and (6) consensus with qualification. Finally, these tactics not only limit interpersonal conflict, but also work together and, unexpectedly, build substantive conflict, speed the process, and are associated with high performance.