Pursue Friction and Pushback for Better Outcomes
Friction does not necessary have to be a negative thing. If you get opposing sides against each other, there will be lots of pushback, but such pushback can also bring out new ideas, inspiration and knowledge.
Sometimes you should pursue this in a structure manner.
My way of doing this is to think in terms of intersections. I often ask myself this question: Where can I find “schools of thoughts” or concepts that not only complement each other, but also provide some friction and pushback?
Some years ago, the intersection of innovation and networking lead me to open innovation. Although this sounds very complementary today, there was actually a lot of friction then as most companies viewed innovation as something that should be handled internally. There was not yet the urge, need or push to open up.
Two years ago, I looked into the intersection of open innovation and social media. This was a whole new thing and most companies have not even begun scratching the surface on this as I describe in my latest book. Although, many buy into open innovation as well as social media today, they still struggle in making the connection in a way that is productive to their companies. This will change in the coming years.
I find that working in such intersections of complementary elements as well as friction and pushback is not only stimulating, but also rewarding in many ways.
What kind of intersections do you pursue today and which ones should you pursue in the near future?
(Cross-posted on LI Innovation Management Group)
I agree that pushbacks *can* bring out new ideas, inspiration and knowledge. This is consistent with the idea of “creative tension” from creativity theory, as well as the Hegelian notion that the conflict arising from thesis/antithesis can lead to the higher truth that is reconciled through synthesis. Or so the theory goes…
Unfortunately, we don’t have the benefit of traffic signals at the intersection of schools of thought. How do we ensure that the conflicting ideas and pushback are channelled creatively such that when conflicts (inevitably) do arise, team members don’t just take their marbles and go home, but work towards new insights and deeper relationships?
Kind regards for starting this discussion.
Panteli
Hi Panteli, good thoughts… Yes, it would be good if we could enable some kind of traffic signals
This might be doable within an organization, but it would probably be a mess if you try to enforce this too strictly when you bring external partners together. Nevertheless, some guidelines could help ease the process.
Even though much of the innovation we see today is delivered in a world of complexity and to some extent chaos, it does not mean that we can not apply some structure to it