Organizational Conflict may not be visible. Passive Aggressive executives may not exhibit the classic signs of stress.
The stresses of everyday business are well understood by those in that mix. Each individual has an agenda based on his/her personal desires as well as organizational job description and target (goal) requirements.
By definition, this puts all in an organization conflict situation. Moreover, this is not necessarily a negative environment. Stress between individuals and division can lead to synergies beyond the immediate.
This so-called Tension at the Margin concept is taken from the physical construct Surface Tension, a relationship between two different substances such as water and air. In other words, there is always a bit of tension or stress between two or more different entities–living or inanimate.
The problem manifests itself when conflict becomes counter productive. Political agendas overtake the goals of the organization and individuals see themselves as superior to the organizations of which they are employed. We first addressed this issue in our 1994 peer reviewed article, Organizational Conflict and Dispute Resolution.
Managed stress can add significant value; we see this in competitive sports everyday. Unmanaged stress can lead to a cardiac event both personally and organizationally.
How is your organization managing its Tension at the Margin?
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See our Economic Value Proposition Matrix® (EVPM) for additional information and a free version to build your own EVPM.
The author’s credentials in this field are available on his LinkedIn page. Moreover, Dr. Shemwell is a coauthor of the just published book, “Smart Manufacturing: Integrating Transformational Technologies for Competitiveness and Sustainability.” His focus is on Operational Technologies.
“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” (Martin Luther King speech at Cornell College, 1962). For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross Cultural Serious Game. You can contact this author as well.
For more details regarding climate change models, check out Bjorn Lomborg ands his latest book, False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet.
Regarding the economics of Climate Change, check out our recent blog, Crippling Green.
For those start-up firms addressing energy (including renewables) challenges, the author can put you in touch with Global Energy Mentors which provide no-cost mentoring services from energy experts. If interested, check it out and give me a shout.