Creative Conflict

Tip: You can preview more of Hirshberg's book "Creative Priority" on Amazon than on Google books

Katharine Mieszkowski's article featuring Hirshberg's musings and Hirshberg's own book both describe how having people who may have different points of view on the same team can make your team more creative. Hence, Hirshberg argues that you should take the unconventional approach of hiring people with conflicting points of view and then make them work as a pair.

If this was all there was to it, then the point made here would only be mildly interesting. What makes it a bit more interesting is Hirshberg's description of why this is important, how to handle such individuals and how to institutionalize this practice so that it is part of the company culture.

What makes it authoritative is the experience that he has had with both the corporate world and the quasi-entrepreneurial world of NDI and the ability to clearly contrast those two experiences.

In fact, in my place of work, my best ideas have come via interactions with a highly talented & experienced colleague who always has strongly held views on how things should be done.

In one of our brainstorming sessions, when things between him and another colleague were getting heated, I was able to cool tempers and get everyone laughing by observing that " ...X is like a grinding tool - used properly, he will make you sharp".

This reflects the key point made in the book is that creative abrasion when handled properly does not have to wear you down - it can make you sharp.

Final thoughts

This does not mean that pairing divergent pairs is the only route to success though implying that it is so is a good way to market books and magazine articles. You can also follow the more common advise of partnering with people who have complementary skills.

One example of such a partnership is that of serial entrepreneurs, Wences Casares and Meyer "Micky" Malka, who have started multiple companies such as Patagon, Lemon Bank and Bling Nation.

Check out their very interesting talk at the link below.

The value of true partnerships