Idea in Brief
The Problem
Employees in a politically charged work environment often disagree about how to handle practical and strategic matters. Left unchecked, those differences can lead to conflicts that spiral out of control. Many leaders don’t know how to cope.
The Root Causes
People see and interpret information in ways that serve their political allegiances, and that tendency is not random: Those on the left are more inclined to notice bias, but primarily against socially disadvantaged groups. Those on the right are less inclined to notice bias across the board.
The Way Forward
Leaders can adopt a two-part strategy for managing political conflict in the workplace: Following the practices outlined in this article, they can develop norms and procedures for averting conflicts altogether while also making plans for managing them when they arise.
In April 2021 two employees serving on a diversity, equity, and inclusion committee at the software company Basecamp posted an apology on the company’s internal chat platform. Along with others at Basecamp, the two had previously contributed to the so-called Best Names Ever list, an internal compilation of “funny sounding” customer names. Now they argued that such a practice was deeply problematic, serving to uphold systems of racial supremacy and extreme actions such as hate speech and genocide.