The Dubai Meltdown and the Importance of Creative Conflict

The Dubai meltdown is another disaster caused by groupthink.  No one in the emirate was willing to question the soundness of its development plan until it all came crashing down.  

One of the most difficult things in Asian business is encouraging a culture of frankness and the willingness to challenge opinions of one's co-workers, even one's superiors. In most Asian cultures, conflict is something to be avoided at all cost. You will almost never hear an outright argument in an Asian boardroom.

Yet conflict is essential in any healthy organization. An organizational structure naturally puts people in conflict with one another - Sales is in conflict with Operations since more sales means more of a burden for Operations, at the same time Sales may be selling something that Operations cannot effectively deliver. Finance is in conflict with other departments as it seeks to control costs, while at the same time it may be hampering the ability of the departments to operate effectively.  And there should be a natural conflict between the CEO and his department heads since it's his role to critique the others' work, while the department heads should question the soundness of the CEO's overall plans.  

If people care about their work, they will end up coming into conflict with one another. Many of these conflicts can be resolved amicably, but not all of them. Either an outright conflict can occur, or people just bury their disagreements in silence. In most Asian cultures, an outright conflict is usually taken as a personal attack, and permanently harms working relationships, which is why they're usually avoided. Burying disagreements in silence is the more common choice, though very little gets resolved in this route.

The worst case is when people stop caring about their work! Conflict stops, everyone is enjoying cordial relationships, but a disaster is lurking just around the corner.

What you want to encourage in your company is a culture of "Creative Conflict". Everyone in the company should come to expect that conflict, even outright arguments, are a natural part of their work environment. In an environment where everyone cares about their work, each one should be willing to argue their opinion on what they think is best for the company. Each one in turn should be willing to listen to the logic of another's argument, argue back if necessary, with the intention not to win but to find the best solution to the issue - something that's not easy to do when tempers are already involved.

At the end of the day, people should have the attitude of considering arguments as all part of a day's work.  Arguments should never be taken personally.  Two people who just had a yelling match during the afternoon should be able to have a drink together after work.  

It's a huge cultural leap for most Asian companies to embrace conflict as a part of their culture.  The amount of effort to change people's mindset about conflict is huge since it's ingrained in our upbringing.  However, if you seek an environment where people care about their work and where problems are resolved quickly instead of being swept under a rug (where they continue to grow), a culture of creative conflict is key.