Conflict is Good

Source: Possibilities for CPA Firm Leaders

Following is a blog entry by Rita Keller, reproduced with permission.

As mentioned in yesterday's post, people hate meetings because they are boring and because they are unproductive.

When asked about what he would say to a CEO that thinks meetings are a waste of time, Patrick Leniconi, author of Death by Meeting, said:

“I'd say that CEO is failing. Anyone who leads and manages people needs to understand that meetings are critical to any organization, and there is no good excuse for bad ones. A bad meeting is a function of its leader.”

Most meetings are boring because they lack conflict. If we lead meetings, we need to give our people something to care about, something worth engaging in conflict over. We need to raise their level of anxiety about what could go wrong if they don't engage. And we need to raise these issues at the beginning of our meetings, before our audience checks out. The good news is that there are plenty of issues at every meeting that have the potential for productive, relevant conflict.

As a general statement, most accountants hate conflict and avoid it like the plague. Yet, conflict — lively discussion, differing opinions and airing all sides of an issue — is invaluable in moving a firm forward. When partners (or other meeting participants) do not speak up and nod through meetings, you can bet the best decisions are not being made.

To read the entire blog entry, click here.

From Possibilities for CPA Firm Leaders, the blog of Rita Keller, president of Keller Advisors, LLC, [email protected], September 9, 2009, “Why People Hate Meetings.” Visit http://cpamanagement.blogspot.com.