No Tension? No Team

I know, sounds dangersome!

Your body, your cells, and your team all have one thing in common: They need tension to function.

Need, as in, require.

A lot of the people and teams I work with believe that tension is terminal. If there’s tension, something is wrong and that’s a big problem.

The opposite is true.

In biology, without tension cells collapse.

And, as in nature, teams need tension to function too.

To be cohesive. To perform at high levels. To avoid groupthink and promote trust. To produce great ideas and handle setbacks. The list goes on.

Shifting your mindset around tension is vital.

Because once we approach tension as a necessary part of group function, and an opportunity to deepen understanding, and strengthen performance, we drop the defensiveness and open the space for curiosity.

It also removes some of the fear or shame around the fact that tension is there in the first place.

Importantly, it also makes space for courage.

Courage to walk towards tension and conflict knowing that although it might be uncomfortable (at first), it’s incredibly worth it.

Courage to be vulnerable.

On the other side of tension lives deeper understanding, better ideas, higher-performance and more trust.

If we stay on the sidelines throwing stones, complain, criticise, or bulldoze our way through conflict, we’re avoiding tension and opting for the safety that we believe resides in isolation.

And I get it. Tension in group settings is scary. It’s important to validate that. We’re hard wired to need belonging, and when that feels under threat in a group, it’s scary. Full stop.

That’s why I suggest starting small.

So, two questions.

What is your current story about tension and conflict in teams?

What small change can you take within your team to explore tension?