FIGHT! Conflict Can Be Healthy in Business
You Can Only Become a Champion if You Step in the Ring
People in general will do almost anything to avoid pain, and move towards pleasure. Let’s be honest, none of us are jumping at the chance to step into a punch and take the full brunt of a hit. Even if we are training in mixed martial arts, or some other kind of combat, there’s a natural mechanism inside of us that wants to defend itself and generally has a tendency to want to strike, not to take the hit. Yet there are so many examples that we are encouraged to remember, pointing us to the reality that taking the hit might be the very best strategy.
If you ask most people today who the greatest boxer of all time is, you will likely get the name Muhammad Ali thrown back. Yes, sometimes someone will say Mike Tyson, or even Floyd Maywhether, but the most common answer is Ali. It is a highly contested title, with various sources crediting many of the greatest names in the sport. Ali Crowned himself “The Greatest’’ through loud and boisterous incantations that he would shout during press conferences to the crowd as well as to his opponent. And then he would step into the ring, and take hit after hit after hit. Some might have watched thinking that Ali had finally met his match, but he wasn’t being pummeled at all. It was a strategy. Ali invented an approach to facing conflict in the ring called “Rope-A-Dope.” Oxford Languages defines it as “a boxing tactic of pretending to be trapped against the ropes, goading an opponent to throw tiring ineffective punches.” Ali used the technique most famously in 1974 when he fought George Foreman in the classic “Rumble in the Jungle’’where he defeated Foreman in one of the greatest sporting events of the 20th Century.
Ali stepped into conflict as a strategy. By taking the hits over and over again he learned a number of things about his “opponent.” He was able to truly face the brunt of a hit and see just how hard his opponent could come at him. Gauging stamina by seeing when his opponent would tire was another benefit, and as they tired he could formulate his counter strike. And by taking the hits his body and mind began to build the most important virtue any athlete or business owner can take away from a conflict — Resilience. What can we learn from Ali when it comes to facing conflicts with our co-founders and partners in business? A lot. Let’s unpack a few lessons.
Training builds muscle
Every Boxer trains. If you’ve ever seen the Rocky or Creed films, or followed professional athletes they tend to put a lot into training. We just witnessed Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr come back for an exhibition and both men documented a very rigorous training regiment that prepared two aged athletes for the fight of their life. In both cases the men trained with athletes that were far more poised to do damage than the actual opponent. Remember that conflict inside your business is in essence training. While there may be disagreement or challenge internally — it is often resolved because the team is moving towards the same outcomes. Discomfort, facing a few punches, even getting knocked down are all part of the sport of Business. Tony Robbins famously states that “business is a gladiator sport!” It is much better to build some trained muscle and resilience in the sparring ring of your internal ecosystem, than it is to face those major blows for the first time with external opponents.
On Resilience
What is resilience? In common language its the ability to take a hit and get back up. More than any other virtue, an entrepreneur must learn to embrace taking hits. Walt Disney received over 200 no’s to build his dream. Hit after hit after hit. The man himself Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken had his recipe rejected 1,009 times before anyone accepted it. If you are to raise the capital that you desire to build your dream, you are going to need to develop some thick skin. I’ve watched founders develop a pitch deck, work tirelessly on its message and branding, and be afraid to deliver it to their own team. It was even more of a disaster when they pitched to potential investors. If you can’t step into the arena and take some practice hits, you’ll never build the resilience needed to last through your no’s until they become YES’ in the real arena of business and fund raising.
Get In the ring — often
There is only one way to practice getting better at handling conflict and that’s to jump in. Conflict can be a great thing in business. If all parties involved are committed to an outcome, conflict opens space for conversation and spirited debate. The need for consensus among a team can lead it down a spiral of never ending iterations with no clear path to delivery, or worse yet paralysis of analysis. I recently spoke with a startup that is deep in developing a smaller, seemingly more marketable approach to their product. The COVID19 Pandemic forced a pivot for them, and while they already have most of it ready to test in the market, they found themeless stuck trying to get agreement on additional hardware and software that just didn’t warrant the amount of time they were spending. They all shared their frustration around the issue and what was clear is that each of them was on eggshells. No one was truly willing to jump into a little conflict — get in the ring — and fight for movement. If you don’t get in the ring, if you aren’t in the game, then you have zero chance of winning. Take a swing and you may just get a knockout.
Harvard Business Review in January of 2018 published an article titled “Why We Should Be Disagreeing More at Work.”In summary it gave five great points that help us to see how constructive conflict can be of benefit. They mention that better work outcomes can come from creative friction, causing everyone to step up their game. A key point is made that the challenges are an opportunity for you to learn and grow. It goes on to mention that many times improved relationships come from a closeness that is developed by working through conflict and getting a better understanding of those around you. Often higher job satisfaction comes when you aren’t afraid to constructively disagree. No more eggshells! You can walk confidently in a space safe to share. We have come to appreciate that today, more than ever, having diversity of thought is essential, and thus constructive conflict can lead to a more inclusive work environment.
While no one wants to take an unexpected punch to the face, embracing conflict can be our friend. As partners in any venture, growing a business comes with its ups and downs. While much of what we do in business is process driven, it is made special through the magic of diverse thought and the human elements that will eventually bring disagreement. Embracing that can sharpen us, train us for the next phases of our growth, help us build resilience, and contribute to a more satisfying work environment for all. And if you learn to shout “Im the greatest” strong enough and loud enough, like Muhammad Ali, you might incant that very belief into reality as an undisputed truth. Our discussion, however, on the power if incantations is for another time.
I close with the immortal call to action of one of my all time favorite classic video games…
… because you might just learn a thing or two once you stop avoiding conflict and get in the ring.
Prime Movers Lab invests in breakthrough scientific startups founded by Prime Movers, the inventors who transform billions of lives. We invest in seed-stage companies reinventing energy, transportation, infrastructure, manufacturing, human augmentation and agriculture.
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