Divide or Conquer May 01, 2008 How Great Teams Turn Conflict Into Strength(Portfolio, $25.95)
When it comes to business, nothing stands in the way of effective teamwork like dysfunctional relationships. In her new book, Divide or Conquer: How Great Teams Turn Conflict Into Strength, business advisor, scholar and management expert Diana McLain Smith reveals the power of relationships to make or break a business.
When people's goals are exactly the same and differences don't run deep, conflict among team members is easy to resolve. But when dealing with high-stakes issues and hot button topics, people often dig themselves into untenable situations that are impossible to resolve with facts alone. In the book, Smith explains that the biggest roadblock is two-fold: we expect others to change first and we expect them to change independently of the relationships in which they operate. The same is true for teams and even organizations: we expect them to change independently of the relationships that make them up.
In Divide or Conquer, Smith shows how people can disrupt the patterns of behavior that are getting them into trouble with each other; how they can create new behavioral patterns to accelerate the pace of change; and how to make those patterns stick. Each stage gives way to the next, with each creating more significant and lasting change than the one before it.
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