Making Natural Tensions Constructive

Virtually every company has natural tensions built into its DNA.

For example, there’s the classic rub point between sales and operations… it’s easy to sell something, but then – your company has to deliver it.

Sales people have a natural tendency to “over sell” a product, sometimes to the point where it’s almost impossible for the company to deliver that product profitably.

To find a balance between sales and fulfilment requires a comprehensive  exploration of these natural tensions.

There’s also a natural tension between a CFO and an asset owner, especially in an industrial business.

When it comes to spending capital, the CFO wants this to be as efficient as possible, because they monitor metrics such as ROA. 

So their job is to limit the amount of capital that the business deploys.

However, the operators are incentivised to provide asset availability and reliability, so the more capital they have to spend, the less issues they’re likely to have to manage…

… they’re also more likely to hit their KPI targets.

Which is why it’s in their best interests to spend as much money as they can on building and maintaining the company’s assets.

So, how do you manage these natural tensions so that people work together to achieve the best outcome for the company, not just for their immediate team?

Single-point accountability is critical. It has to be clear who the decision maker is for every initiative your company undertakes. 

When it comes to higher-order issues, like capital investment in assets, accountability often rests with the CEO or the Board… 

… that’s the only way you can ultimately resolve the tensions between a Chief Revenue Officer, and a COO.

But no matter what, a clear decision has to be made by an accountable executive, who is in a position to weigh the relative merits of competing positions.

If you’re a leader trying to balance natural tensions, there are a few cardinal sins.

One of the worst you can commit is “dumbing down” your team.

A lot of leaders encourage their people to collaborate, to avoid conflict, and come to a consensus agreement on how something should be done.

But this doesn’t harness the constructive tension… it removes it. And without it, you’re extremely unlikely to arrive at the right answer.

Consensus decisions usually deliver the worst outcomes… because when you seek consensus, the focus shifts from solving the problem to appeasing the people.

It pushes you to the lowest common denominator!

What you end up with is a decision that everyone can live with, but no one is really happy with.

This is reason #426 for overcoming your conflict aversion.

If you don’t, you’ll be completely unable to harness the value of your team’s natural tensions.